Now they were back on Scottish soil, Charlie had a decision to make. Did she go to the work party on Friday or not? She was pretty torn. She wanted to see a certain person, obviously, but she also knew it was hopeless as he was taken; and even if he was still interested despite this, she didn't want him on those terms. She'd definitely had enough of love triangles.

By the time Friday afternoon rolled around she was still undecided. She was lazing in the garden, trying to keep her tan topped up when her phone vibrated. It was a text from Josh.

So, please tell me you're coming tonight? You'll be the only one who isn't there if you don't!

She ignored it for now, propping herself up on her elbows and scrolling through her social media. Her holiday photo album had done well, she noted, loads of comments and likes. Aaron had of course liked it. She hesitated over his name, much as she had that very first time she'd looked him up on Facebook before she gave in to having another wee nosey on his page.

He'd been tagged in a photo just the previous night, she noted immediately. The tagger was Kkaayylla Wd, which was obviously Kayla, doing that thing some folk do on Facebook to make them harder to find. She rolled her eyes but forced herself to look at the photo.

"All the Wards in one place at last," Kayla had captioned the photo, which was a group photo of an older woman along with three younger women and two younger men. All dark haired, dark eyed, and very attractive. One of the girls was Kayla, one of them she recognised as Aaron's sister Carmel. And one of the guys was Aaron.

And that's when the penny dropped.

"Three older sisters and a younger brother," Aaron had replied when she'd asked about siblings.

And considering she'd already made the mistake with Carmel, she couldn't believe she hadn't realised that Kayla was also one of his sisters too.

And to be fair to him, he'd never actually said Kayla was his girlfriend. She'd just assumed.

Things were making more sense now. Sasha's PS had seemed weird but Kayla was clearly Sasha's friend. And Kayla asking her if she wanted to come for a drink wasn't her being inappropriate, it was... actually what was that? Had that actually been Kayla trying to set them up?

She'd been such an idiot.

She glanced at her watch. It was half past three, and if her memory served her right, the boat was leaving at half past five. She had better get a move on if she wanted to get there on time.

"What are you up to?" Thea asked as Charlie came hurtling through the back door. She was lying on the couch reading a book. She'd just returned from spending the last two days at Dave's and was a new woman. The tension of the last few months was completely gone.

"No time," Charlie cried, chucking her unlocked phone at Thea in lieu of an explanation. Thea sized up the situation far quicker than Charlie had and followed her to her room.

"So what are you going to wear?" She asked as Charlie started flinging clothes on her bed. "And can I come? I want to see this guy in person."

"I can probably sneak you on board if you really want," Charlie puffed. She held up a strappy turquoise maxi dress. "How about this if I stick a belt on it?"

"Perfect." Thea clapped her hands. "Right I'm away to get ready and then I'll come back and do something about your hair."

"What's wrong with my hair?" Charlie called after her, then spotted it in the greasy mane she hadn't washed since Crete in the mirror and realised her friend had a point.

Two hours later they approached the boat. "Do I look okay?" Charlie asked Thea nervously.

"How many times do I have to tell you; you look amazing!" Charlie was a golden goddess tonight. Thanks to her tan she was glowing and Thea had managed to blow dry her hair in a way that made her feel like she was in a nineties sitcom - in a good way.

"Hopefully he thinks so," she murmured, taking a deep breath.

And there he was, standing just inside the doorway of the boat chatting to someone. Dressed in jeans and a casual blue and white checked shirt and looking utterly delicious. She almost choked on the aforementioned breath.

"That's him, right?" Thea checked under her breath. "Yep, I can see why you fell for the prick."

"Don't call him that," Charlie chided.

He looked up at this point and caught her eyes, and surely it wasn't her imagination that his face lit up when he saw her. "I wasn't sure if you were going to make it!" He greeted her, walking away from . . . Ugh, Sasha. Sasha looked her up and down, clearly found her lacking, then clicked away on her super-high stilettos.

"Neither was I," she said lightly. "Can I sneak my friend on? This is Thea."

"Sure," he said easily, smiling at Thea. "A couple of folk have pulled out last minute so there's plenty of room." He glanced back at her. "You look lovely," he said quietly. "Good holiday?"

"It was great, thanks." Were they having a moment? It was like he could see something in her expression that made his own seem more . . . Open, maybe? Thea cleared her throat and they both looked away from each other.

"So here are some drinks tokens and the bar is just through there," he pointed. "See you later."

"Well, I'm so glad I was a third wheel in that eye-fucking," Thea sniggered as they ordered themselves a wine. "Seriously, you could have cut the sexual tension there with a knife."

"At least now you probably see why I never quite got over our little thing," Charlie replied. Her heart rate still hadn't quite returned to normal and her face felt ridiculously warm.

"Well, now is the time to go for it surely," Thea pointed out. "You're single, it appears he is too now that we know that he's not with . . ."

"Kayla!" Charlie cried as Aaron's sister appeared by their side. "What are you doing here?"

"My friend works here; she smuggled me on," Kayla grinned. "I believe you've had the pleasure of meeting Sasha, yes?" She giggled as Charlie failed to conceal a grimace. "Yeah, she doesn't like competition much." She turned to Thea. "Hey, I'm Kayla, Aaron's sister!" A quick glance back at Charlie. "Sorry, I was under strict orders not to reveal my true identity last time but I'm hoping you've figured it out by now."

Charlie nodded. "It took me a while but yep!"

"Maybe that's not only thing you've figured out," Kayla smiled, grabbing a glass of gin and winking as she walked away.

"What did she mean by that?" Charlie asked Thea. Her friend gave her a look.

"You absolutely know," she replied, nodding across the room. Charlie looked over to see Aaron standing there. When their eyes met he smiled slowly and raised his glass. She did the same and turned away, her heart beating faster again.

"Yep," she said quietly. "I think I do."

--------------------------

It didn't take long for the sea-sickness to kick in. And so it was that within an hour of being on the boat, and a few drinks in, Charlie was ready to possibly puke.

"I'm going to go sit in the toilet for five minutes and hope this feeling passes," she whispered to Thea and Belinda. She downed a glass of water at the bar and then sat down on the floor of a cubicle just in case she needed to vomit. She closed her eyes, the cool tiles against her back calming her down slightly.

She hadn't had any further chances to interact with Aaron since the boat had left but she could feel the anticipation building all the same. Something was definitely going to happen between them, she had never felt so certain of it. She just needed to stop feeling sick first.

As the vomit feeling started to fade, she pulled herself off the ground and perched on the loo itself, pulling a mirror out of her bag to check her face. As she did so she heard a burst of conversation just outside as the door to the ladies swung open and a couple of girls moved to the mirror to touch up their make-up.

"You're just so obvious it's embarrassing," the first voice said. Charlie was fairly certain it was Kayla.

"I just know what I want," the other girl said. Overly-confidently. It had to be Sasha.

"I'll tell you what I don't want, and that's my best friend hooking up with my wee brother," Kayla was using a joking tone but Charlie could tell she meant it. It also felt like that they'd often had this conversation. "And how many times do I have to tell you he's not interested in you?"

"Cos of that wet wipe from his office, you mean?" Sasha snorted. "He can't seriously be into her."

Wait - was Charlie the wet wipe? Charlie wanted to burst out of the cubicle and throw Sasha through a mirror. She'd show her she wasn't a wet wipe, she thought angrily. While hoping neither of the girls would realise she was there. The irony of this did not escape her.

"Well he is, whether you like it or not. And she's not a wet wipe, she's lovely and she would be perfect for him." Charlie wanted to hug Kayla. "And as much as I love you, you're a nasty cow sometimes."

"The sooner he finishes up at that company and moves to Aberdeen the better that's all I can say, then maybe I'll have a chance with him." They started walking towards the door.

"Trust me, doll, you'll never have a chance with him," Kayla said confidently as the door swung shut behind them, leaving Charlie behind in shocked silence.

Aaron was leaving work? He was moving to Aberdeen?

God, she needed to get out of here, she thought frantically. But how? She was trapped on a boat, a captive audience for the next few hours. Suddenly the anticipation she had been feeling was gone; all she felt was defeated.

She wished she had never got on the bloody boat.