Summer Nights Read online

  SUMMER NIGHTS

  Serena Jennings

  PUBLISHED BY:

  SHAKTI Copyright © 2012

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

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  SUMMER NIGHTS

  Prologue

  She sat across from him at the dinner table in one of the most fashionable New York restaurants trying to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes.

  “But why?” her voice faltered, “I thought things were going well between us.”

  Mick looked at her coldly, and she searched desperately for a glimmer of emotion in his eyes.

  “Look, it just isn’t working for me” he said, avoiding her stare.

  “Is there someone else?” she asked.

  He paused.

  “No, no it’s not that.” He put his napkin on the table and called to the waiter for the bill.

  “I better go.” He said once he had paid.

  “Just like that?” she asked.

  “Just like that.” He said, and stood up to leave.

  And just like that her three years relationship with the man she loved ended. And she felt heartbroken.

  Chapter 1

  Sunlight streamed in through the windows of Selena’s New York apartment in Upper Manhattan. She tried to shelter the light from her eyes and hide under the duvet yet it was resilient. She got out of bed frustrated and slammed the shutters closed, climbing back into bed and hiding her face under the pillows. Selena had finally thought things were going well. She had a successful job in a leading market research company, and she had thought she was about to settle down and get married. She felt as if her whole world had fallen apart. After Mike had told her it was over, she had walked back in the rain from the restaurant, and crawled into bed, not even taking off her wet clothes. She didn’t want to face the world anymore; it was a dark and horrible untrusting place in her eyes now with nothing she could believe in.

  Viv, her best friend had called her three times this morning. Selena had texted Viv last night with three words “He just left me.” though she had not wanted to answer any calls.

  She tried desperately to fall back asleep even though it was almost midday. She couldn’t.

  Walking over to the coffee machine, she took her mobile out of her jeans pocket and dialled Viv’s number.

  “Babe” said Viv’s voice on the other end of the phone sympathetically. “What happened?”

  Selena burst into tears.

  “It was our anniversary in two weeks.” She sobbed.

  “I thought we were about to get engaged.”

  “I’m coming over.” Said Viv.

  Selena carried on sobbing and hung up the phone.

  Viv was a no nonsense businesswoman, having built up a property empire from scratch. She went through men like knickers, and wore aftershave and very sexy hats. She had been Ambar’s best friend since school, they had grown up together and their mother’s had been best friends to. Though they were totally different. Selena was soft and romantic, liked to listen to classical music and believed in falling in love, having children and living happily ever after. Viv on the other hand liked listening to punk rock and thought happily ever after was a fairytale, and the only way to enjoy life was to look out for yourself and fuck whom you wanted to fuck. But they loved each other and respected each other’s views, both wondering if perhaps they were wrong and the other one was right.

  It took Viv half an hour to reach Selena’s house by cab. Half an hour which Selena had spent sobbing what seemed to be uncontrollable tears.

  When she opened the door to let her best friend in and fell into her arms her best friend consoled her, reassuring her, telling her it was for the best, that he did not deserve her.

  Selena’s soft blonde curls fell lightly around her shoulders as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Her innocent blue eyes were red and bloodshot, yet she was still stunningly beautiful. Viv smiled at her gently. Tall, and broad, with short blonde hair and sharp features, both women were very attractive in very different ways. They both had slim, tanned bodies, yet Selena was petite, and Viv was tall. Selena’s hair was long curly and feminine, and Viv’s hair was cut straight and short.

  “Darling” said Viv.

  Selena looked at her, almost desperately.

  “I was thinking on the way over here. Let’s get out of New York. Let’s go to Bocas del Toro. There are more species of butterfly and exotic birds there than anywhere else in the world. We can go there and study wildlife.”

  Selena looked at her as though she had completely lost her mind.

  “Are you joking?” she said.

  “Why not?” Viv replied.

  Selena looked at the ceiling.

  “Go to Bocas del Toro and study wildlife?” she exclaimed incredulously.

  “Yes” replied Viv unflinchingly.

  “Fuck it.” Said Selena.

  “Let’s do it.”

  “Ah my dear” said Viv.

  “It is not that simple, we need to get accepted on the wildlife course first. It begins in April, which is only three weeks away, and places are limited. They only allow ten people on the course.”

  “How do you know all this?” asked Selena.

  “I did research on my iphone in the cab on the way here.”

  Selena looked at her best friend as if she didn’t know whether she was dreaming, or what was going on. This is why she loved Viv, because she always made her feel different, and even though she had known her all her life, she could always surprise her.

  “Come on, let’s order in some Chinese and rent a movie.” Said Viv.

  Selena nodded weakly and when the Chinese food arrived the two girls curled up on the sofa to watch the Rolling Stones Crossfire Hurricane documentary.

  “Oh my God!” squealed Viv. “How can Keith Richards possibly be so sexy and cool?!”

  Selena smiled, starting to feel better.

  Before the movie had ended Selena had fallen asleep, curled into a little ball by her friends side.

  Viv tucked her into bed and gently and quietly closed the door behind her as she left.

  Chapter 2

  That week Selena had thrown herself into her work, in order to distract herself from the pain she felt every time a memory of Mike floated across her consciousness, which happened countless times a day.

  She stood at the window of the 11 floor skyscraper looking over New York, the endless traffic in the street below. She surveyed her desk and picked up the phone to call her secretary in the next room.

  “I will need those research reports back in my office Tracy”

  “The ones on 14-17 year old girls?” asked the secretary’s voice at the end of the line.

  “Yes” she put the phone down and bit her lip pensively.

  Moments later the phone rang again.

  “Yes?” she asked

  “Viv for you on line 1 – can you take it?”

  “Put her on.” Said Selena.

  “Darling.” She heard Viv’s voice on the other end of the phone say.

  “Hi sweetheart, sorry I haven’t called, I have really been working hard”

  “Oh shut up, you know I only want you to call me if you have something to say. Drop the charity.” Viv said in her usual matter of fact tone.

  “So anyway” she continued.

  “I have some exciting news.”

  “Tell me” said Selena.

  “Guess what? We have been accepted on the course! At the end of next week we will be in Bocas del Toro baby! I have already bo
oked the flights and made all the arrangements. I found out this morning, I was going to tell you, but I didn’t want you to try and squeeze out of it, so I took care of all the details. All non-refundable.”

  Selena felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension, and tried to think of an excuse, even though Viv had made it clear to her that that would not be an option. It was not that Selena did not want to go, she did. She just felt scared at the moment. The only thing she felt confident in was her work.

  “Are you free this evening?” asked Viv.

  Selena knew she was. She had not been out in the evening since that night with Mike at the restaurant.

  “Yes” she replied slowly.

  “Great, yours or mine?” asked Viv.

  Selena didn’t want to spend another evening at home so she suggested they meet at Viv’s around seven. That would give her time to go home and shower and change.

  Viv said she wanted to go over the details of the trip with her and that the only thing Selena needed to bring was an open mind and a bottle of wine. Selena laughed and hung up the phone.

  When she arrived at Viv’s penthouse apartment, filled with original Andy Warhol and Rembrandt paintings, tiger skin rugs and hanging exotic silks, Viv was barefoot in short dress and already drinking champagne.

  “Darling.” Said Viv. “You look so much better. You look back to your old self.”

  “Ha!” said Selena. “I don’t know about that. I have just been working, trying to keep my mind off things.”

  “I know sweetheart.” Said Viv sympathetically.

  “Have you heard from him at all?”

  “No” said Selena sadly and shook her head, her eyes looking down at the floor.

  Viv quickly changed the subject, went over to her desk, and pulled out flight tickets to Bocas del Toro. She waved them in the air excitedly as she went back to join Selena on the sofa.

  “Ooh yes, Bocas baby!” Viv exclaimed with enthusiasm.

  She pulled up the brochure of the wildlife course they would be attending and the hotel where they would be staying.

  “Wow. It really does look beautiful.” Said Selena.

  “Darling, Bocas is apparently the most beautiful place on earth.” Viv emphasised.

  Selena looked over the photos and the flight itinerary. So they would be gone for two weeks. She would tell work in the morning. They would be fine. She pretty much ran the place anyway.

  Chapter 3

  Selena and Viv got out of the yellow cab that had dropped them outside the airport. The driver placed their bags beside them and smiled gratefully at the huge tip Jess had dropped him.

  They wheeled their bags inside excitedly and looked around for the checking desks for Bocas.

  As they joined the back of the queue Viv squeezed Selena’s arm.

  “MMmm’ she said excitedly. “Just LOOK at that eye-candy.” She had spotted two men, a few places in front of them. One was tall broad and tanned with blue eyes, brown hair, and a dashing smile, and the other was darker, with black hair and green eyes.

  Selena looked at her friend disinterestedly. “Viv, I really do not want to think about men right now.” She said.

  “Just look.” Said Viv.

  Selena glanced over at the two men, and had to admit that they were both very attractive. But she really didn’t care.

  After checking in they headed to the boarding gates, stopping to have a coffee in the way. Boarding the plane, they found their seats and put their hand luggage in the compartments. Viv looked around for the two men, but could not see them. Selena did her best to ignore her friend’s interest in the eye-candy. It was something she had learned to do over the years.

  Just then she heard a man’s voice asking her something. She looked up. It was the tall man with blue eyes that Viv had spotted in the queue.

  “Can I move this jacket?” he referred to her coat in the overhead luggage department.

  “Yes, yes sure.” She stammered.

  She turned to face Viv who sat to her right by the window. Viv stared at her with dramatic excited eyes, which Selena tried to ignore.

  The tall man settled in the seat beside her, smiled at her, and then turned to face his friend sitting in the seat across the aisle from him.

  “This course is going to be great,” he said to his friend.

  “The wildlife in Bocas is absolutely incredible.” He continued.

  Viv leaned across Selena to squeeze the man’s arm.

  “Oh my God!” she said dramatically.

  “Are you doing the wildlife course in Bocas?”

  The man turned towards her and smiled.

  “Yes, we are all booked on and ready to go? Have you done it?” he replied politely.

  “No! But we are about to! It looks absolutely fabulous!”

  “It sure does.” The man replied. He held out his hand to introduce himself.

  “My name is Ivan, and this is my friend Luciano.”

  “Viv, and this is Selena.” Jess said seductively, and gave Selena a naughty wink.

  They all introduced themselves.

  “Oh my GOD! HOW sexy is Luciano?!” whispered Viv in Selena’s ear.

  The plane lifted up into the clouds and the four got chatting, about their work, and what they knew about the upcoming course. Ivan was in investments and Luciano was a film actor.

  Selena stayed quiet most of the journey, not really feeling like socialising, though both her and Ivan exchanged glances on a number of occasions, at the flirtatious comments being exchanged by Viv and Luciano that somehow they had found themselves in the middle of. It made for an entertaining plane ride.

  On arrival in Bocas they decided to all share a cab to the course as they were all heading to the same destination.

  The beaches and mangroves on the way to the course certainly made for spectacular sightseeing.

  The four arrived at the course, tired and yet filled with enthusiasm. They were shown to their rooms and given the course timetable, which was to begin the next day. Bidding their goodbyes, they retired to their rooms.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning as Selena awoke she heard the unfamiliar cry of tropical birds. She rubbed her eyes for a moment forgetting where she was. As she looked around the room it suddenly came back to her. They were in Bocas del Toro!

  She went over to the balcony and looked out over the jungles of La Amistad. A toucan flew past her.

  “Ah!” she gasped, for a moment taking in the incredible beauty surrounding her.

  Over breakfast the group of ten students were given their inductions, and told they were to be paired off and go into the wildlife. They were given 20 species of birds and butterflies and would be trying to spot them and recording their behaviours.

  They were told that Viv would be paired with Luciano and Selena with Ivan.

  Jess raised a naughty eyebrow toward Ambar.

  “I could not have arranged it better myself.” She whispered with a smile.

  Luciano sidled over.

  “Hello partner.” He said flirtatiously to Viv.

  “Hi darling.” She returned the flirtation.

  Ivan joined the group.

  “So that sounds exciting!” he said. Selena smiled.

  At 11.00 am they all met outside the building and were given their directions. They were told to get their supplies ready and head off in an hour.

  After Selena had packed up some food water, blankets, camera and notepads she looked around for Viv.

  “Her and Luciano headed off already.” She heard the familiar voice of Ivan say beside her.

  “They looked eager to begin.”

  “Yeah, I bet.” Said Selena.

  They both laughed.

  As they headed off into the jungle Ivan asked.

  “So do you wildlife courses often?”

  “First time.” Selena replied. “How about you?”

  “Yeah, I have done about ten. Been doing one a year for about ten years now.” He said.


  “So what made you decide to suddenly start?”

  “Ummmmm.” Selena’s voice trailed off uncertainly.

  “It just seemed like a good idea.” She finished quickly.

  Ivan looked at her curiously, wondering what he had said to offend her.

  They continued to walk in silence.

  About half an hour into the journey they reached a point where many birds and butterflies congregated and decided to stop for a snack and to see what they could see.

  Selena laid out the blankets and some food, and took out her notebook, sitting and placing it on her lap.

  They sat in the spot for a few hours, talking and pointing out the different species they recognised to each other. As the mid-afternoon shone, and having already spotted and recorded eight of the twenty species they had been given, feeling pleased with their progress, they decided to head deeper into the jungle before heading back for the evening.

  Chapter 5

  They sat together deep in the jungle, Selena looking through the binoculars at a bird she had spotted in the tree, trying to determine whether it were one species or another. She concentrated hard, squinting, trying to notice distinguishing features that would give her the answer she needed. They were so deep in the jungle they could barely see the sky overhead for the tree growth.

  Not knowing that storm clouds had gathered above their head, Selena jumped startled when a loud clap of thunder rolled overhead.

  “What was that?” she asked Ivan.

  “Sounded like thunder.” Ivan replied.

  “Oh God, I hope not.” Said Selena.

  Sure enough, within moments a burst of heavy rain began to pour down upon them.

  “Fuck!” said Ivan as they both rushed to quickly gather their supplies.

  They searched for the biggest tree for some shelter and managed to find a dry sheltered spot.

  “Oh God.” Said Selena. “What a disaster.”

  “I know.” Said Ivan.

  “Looks like we are stranded. At least for now.”