The most unfortunate part about actually arriving at the beach, was knowing that eventually, you’d have to leave it. The buses had parked in a public lot within view of the surf. It was here that a mechanic from the road crew bus would come to look at our dysfunctional air conditioning unit on top of the bus. The early evenin’ was creepin’ in and we got dressed appropriately. I already felt under-dressed for the sands and we weren’t even off the bus yet. The coastal breezes would become cooler as night crept closer and naturally, I hadn’t the slightest idea where my jacket was. I had my gaze fixated out the window. It had been years since I’d been to the coast. My parents and I would always holiday to someplace like Paris or Rome or the Swiss Alps. If it wasn’t someplace like that, it was some holiday to do with the horses and the business side of it.  We seldom took holiday at the beaches. “Roger…Roger, look.” I tapped Roger’s shoulder with the back of my hand. He spun around on the couch and looked out the window in my direction.

 “Wow…Look at that Lyd’. That is really somethin’.” I think Roger was just as engrossed as I. The door of the bus came squeaking open and Vince, the driver, appeared.

 “Hey. We made it! We have chairs and such underneath the bus. Come on out and unload. Did you all do okay in the heat? I know you did ‘cause you bring it.” Vince winked at me. I rolled my eyes.

 “I bring a lot more than the heat.” I assured him. “And trust me, you couldn’t handle it.” I told him. David smiled nervously.

 “So, uh…about the heat? You all…did okay, then?”

  I looked at Roger and tried to hide my smile. He looked over at John, John looked at Veronica, Veronica at Chrissie, Chrissie at Brian, Brian at Mary and Mary at Freddie. The reaction to this question was obvious.

 “Yeah…” Freddie cleared his throat. “…yeah…we did…great!” he smiled. David nodded his head approvingly.

 “Road crew is comin’ over with their stuff as well. C’mon! We’ll carry everything to the beach. The energy among us was high and full of life. John pulled Veronica up from the couch. They were the first ones to make their way off the bus, slowly of course. I had to admit, as Roger interlaced his fingers with mine and we headed off the bus behind John and Veronica, I think I found myself insatiably attracted to him all over again. Not that it was anything new, really. But oh god, whenever he put those aviators on no matter what he was wearing with them…it did something to me. It cause a tingle that’s for sure…okay I’m lying…Roger had his tank looped on his jeans and a denim jacket slung over his shoulder. It was causing much more than a tingle for me.

 Freddie and Mary were next off the bus behind Roger and I followed by Chrissie and Brian. The unofficial plan was this: unload chairs, and coolers from underneath the bus in the storage areas. Then, fill the coolers and turn the beach into our own alcoholic paradise for the evening. Mary hesitated on the bottom step of the bus as the faint air moved through her hair. She gazed out over the parking lot to the ocean in the distance.

 “Oh my…that’s perfect.” She mumbled, taking in the distant sight. She then proceeded out of the bus, the late day sun still hot as it reflected on the now open hatches of the bus. We would probably regret it, but somehow Roger and Freddie had become the unofficial delegates to fill the coolers. Mary and I were in charge of the chairs. John was in charge of keepin’ Veronica comfortable. Chrissie and Brian were responsible for the plastic cups…plastic cups. That immediately reminded me of drinking champagne out of plastic cups at John’s cousins’ country home a few years ago…it felt like only a few weeks ago. That memory was still so strongly etched in my mind.

 “Alright, Lydia. I’m gonna’ pile you up with chairs. Hey, I don’t mean to be…droolin’ here but damn…Roger looks…” I stopped Mary as she handed a folding chair over to me.

 “I know…believe me Mary, I know. It is takin’ everythin’ in my power tuck my libido back into my handbag here.” I shook my head and took another chair from her. She laughed and dug around in the hot hatch for a moment to pull another chair from deep in the back.

 “We’re gonna’ be here until like…well into the night. Just fuck him on the beach. God, that would be hot, Lydia.” Mary told me. I sighed. That was even more frustrating.

 “One word. One unpleasant word. Sand.” I said.

 “Hmm…oh!” Mary became excited as she stumbled upon something. “This solves ya’ sand problem. Mary threw a rather large blanket at me. I didn’t say anything immediately, just examined it.

 “Mary Austin…you…are a genius.” I sighed audibly. “Well, I know what I’m gon’ be doin’ later.”

 “How many more can you take?” she asked of me.

 “I’m good. Keep ‘em comin’.” I assured her. We could hear ice hitting what was presumably a mountain of beer and god only knows what else in one of the coolers.

 “Do you think we’re gonna’ be drunk or buzzed every day of this tour?” Mary asked me, handing over a fifth folding chair.

 “I have coke in my handbag right now, what do you think?” I asked her, hoping that Roger had remembered to put a lighter in his pocket. She started laughing wildly.

 “Lydia! Lydia…you’re…you’re killin’ me here! Oh my god…hey. I gave you your fix, now you give me mine.” She managed to say amongst her laughter.

 “Don’t you worry sweetie. I got you covered.” I nodded at Mary slowly as my hands were now completely overloaded. She began piling her own arms full of chairs. Mary and I couldn’t handle anything else and we could hear Freddie yelling at Roger about something alcohol related. “Come on, Mary. Let’s follow the road crew there.” I tilted my head toward the sandy path that led to the beach. “Roger! Rog! We’re goin’ to the beach!” I yelled at him as Mary and I walked away.

 “Okay, babe! We’ll be right there…if Freddie would fuckin’ listen to me!” Roger was irritated with him about the whiskey versus vodka ratio as he yelled back at me.

 “Four cups? No. No, Brian. We’re gonna’ need more than four cups. Keep looking. We’ll take them from the bus if all else fails.” Chrissie told Brian. John and Veronica were walking slightly behind myself and Mary. John had his arm around Veronica’s shoulders. I continued to delight in the way he doted and adored Veronica as Mary and I heard their conversation.

 I had never interacted with any of the road crew until right now when Mary and I had caught up to them.

 “Shit. Who are you two?” One of the members of the crew wasted no time in getting into the beer they had brought.

 “We’re your wildest dream and your worst nightmare.” Mary answered.

 “You with the band?” he asked laughing at Mary.

 “We are.” I assured him.

 “Damn! I was hopin’ you’d say no! You girls can come drink with us if ya’ want. Offer’s there for ya’ all night.” He said.

 “Hey, hey, hey! We know how to have a good time! You think your bus knows how to party? Come join us!” Another roadie told us. I looked at Mary and tried to hold back my laughter as we got closer and closer to the beach.

 “Let’s be honest, Lydia.” She began after they were out of earshot. “Their idea of a good time is which of them can get in your pants first.” I laughed at her because there was some truth to that. “I think you should go over there and break their hearts later. I’d pay to see the look on their faces.”

 “Fred! What the hell is so hard about holding on to a handle!? If we just run with this thing, we can slide it across the sand!” We could hear Roger yellin’ at Freddie behind us.

 “You’re so damn scrawny! My god, Roger! I can’t carry this whole thing myself! Pick up your side, damn it! We can’t drag this on the…Roger! Slow down you stupid arse! Oh, I hate you!”

 “Should we go check on that? Maybe trade them? Mary asked, looking back at me.

 “Nah, they’ll be fine. They’ll have a vodka tonic in their hands and be lovin’ all over each other in no time. Just let them scream at each other a bit longer.” I assured Mary. She had stopped walking and I nearly ran into her.

 “Oh my god, look at this. Just look at this.” Mary was breathless as we stepped onto the sands of Perranporth.

 “Oh, Mary.” I found myself as much in awe as she. We just stood there momentarily, staring out over the wet sands and the rolling surf. The smell of salty sea air hit us in a torrent as the gulls and pelicans floated on the currents overhead. The shoreline was dotted with rocks and the dry sands collided with the wet, causing a transition of soft, powdery grains into a near pavement like finish on the dark, shell spotted surface. The waves chased each other, leaving outlines of white foam in their wake.

 “Hey, Veronica. I’ll have you know that we loaded up the best chair for you!” I said turning around to face she and John. We were all piling up here at the edge of where the path met the pale Perranport sands.

 “Um…just so two know…Roger and Freddie are on the verge of fuckin’ up that cooler. I mean, they are about to spill the thing.” Chrissie said, about to drop a hoard of plastic cups in her hands. Veronica and John laughed.

 “They’ll just drink it all if they spill it.” Veronica said. She was so very accurate. Here we were. We had arrived. It was time to stake our claim at the edge of the surf and sand.

Okay, I'm sorry for the semi short chapter but I really needed to break it up otherwise it was going to be super long. There's quite a lot happening in the next chapter :) As usual, thank you SO much for reading!!