Page 12 of The Seaside Cocktail Campervan

‘Here, sit down.’

There was a table and two chairs set out by her pizza stand, and she ushered Jack onto a seat. A small crowd had gathered to see the action.

‘Okay folks,’ Lucy called out, ‘the show’s over, you can get back to your partying again. Help yourself to pizza, but you might just have to wait a little while for a cocktail. I think the bar guy needs a short break.’

Lucy hated the way the one-way fight had suddenly become a spectator sport. She abhorred any kind of violence or aggression. She also hoped the Anniversary Couple wouldn’t get alerted to the trouble. The guests thankfully began to disperse, amidst a murmur of chatter.

‘Hold fire,’ she turned to Jack. ‘Just stay right there, I’ve a First Aid kit in the truck.’

She returned a minute later, kneeling beside Jack as she opened up her box of bandages, plasters and more. She found some antiseptic wipes, and dabbed at the wound.

‘Ouch.’

‘Sorry, best to clean it up first.’ It looked sore. ‘Hah, who’d have thought that running out of ham and mushrooms could lead to a black eye,’ she said with a small laugh, trying to take the guy’s mind off it.

‘Huh, glad you can see the funny side,’ Jack remarked, wincing as he quirked his painful eyebrow. ‘The bloody tosspot,’ he continued, still worked up about the drunken idiot.

‘Yeah, he was a bit of a dickhead. But I am quite capable of looking after myself, you know,’ she added snippily. ‘I don’t need saving, I’d have handled it fine … probably better than you did, in fact.’ Her tone was sharp, but then she gave him a wry smile.

‘Yeah, well …’ Jack sighed.

Jeez, the Ice Queen wasn’t even grateful for his valiant efforts! And she could be a bit bloody lighter with her touch. She was whacking on some kind of dressing now.

‘Can you keep still a moment?’ her tone was impatient, and she was shaking her head at him.

Jack suddenly realised just how close Lucy was. And, damn, she did smell rather good, an intoxicating mix of fresh-baked pizza and perfume. Perhaps it was just the blow to his head making her seem alluring.

‘Thanks, I’ll be fine now. Cheers, Lucy.’ He went to stand up, still feeling slightly giddy. At least he was bandaged up and wouldn’t be dripping blood into the cocktails. He brushed himself down, thanked Lucy once more, and headed back – still feeling slightly wounded – over to his campervan bar, where a few partygoers were loitering, ready for another drink.

‘Bloody Mary anyone?’ he blurted out comically.

The group waiting at his bar couldn’t help but laugh.

Across the way, the pizza oven was cooling down whilst Lucy and Tamsin cleared the decks. Lucy’s feet, even in trainers, were throbbing. It was her fifth pizza gig, and probably the hardest so far, she hadn’t quite realised what the effects of standing on your feet for five hours solid would be. She was glad she’d left Daisy with her mum this evening. It had been a long and rather dramatic night.

She glanced over at Jack the cocktail guy, still bemused as to why he had stepped in all gung-ho like that. At least he seemed to be okay; he was working away again, serving some of the dwindling guests with a couple of beers. They caught each other’s eye, just for a second, and she couldn’t help but give a brief smile – daft idiot that he was, bet his head would be sore in the morning.

‘Are we nearly done here?’ Tamsin asked, sounding shattered and slightly grumpy.

‘Yeah, no worries. I’ll get you back now. You did a good job tonight, thank you. Even amidst all the drama.’

‘Those stupid lads …’

Lucy wasn’t quite sure if her assistant was including Jack in that too. ‘Yeah, what a bunch of schoolboys, eh?’ she added.

‘Arseholes,’ Tamsin cut to the chase.

Lucy had to give a wry grin. ‘Right, let’s get out of here and get home.’

Jack was still riled up about those bloody idiots as he was driving home, grumbling out loud to Ruby. It was very rare for something like that to happen; since he’d owned the Cocktail Campervan, he could count on one hand any drunken issues they’d encountered, and none of them had ended in violence. Most of the events were great, with the guests just out to celebrate and enjoy themselves. In fact, he’d never been punched whilst working at a bar anywhere. And he’d done bar shifts in all kinds of places around the world, having taken on casual work to fund his travels. That was when he’d fallen in love with the bar-side banter, making friends, the mixology – picking up tips and cocktail recipes along the way. It was just the best feeling to serve the perfect cocktail, with a sea view and a smile; whether it was Barbados or Beadnell.

He still wasn’t sure why he’d gone and got himself involved this evening; he usually steered clear of all that loutish behaviour. It was the girl, Ice Queen Lucy, there was just something about her. It had got to him, and he wasn’t quite sure why. Why had he felt so protective of her? She hadn’t exactly seemed too impressed with him trying to help. This girl was definitely a bit of a cool cucumber. If she were a cocktail it would have to be a Frozen Margarita, all crushed ice, tequila and sharp lime.

He gave a groan, and pulled over briefly to turn on some music on his phone, something easy listening. Anything would do. He just needed to get his sore head into a better place.

Fifteen minutes later, he was pulling Ruby up on the driveway. All the lights were out in the small semi-detached house he currently called home; his mate Matt, who he lodged with, no doubt having gone off to bed hours ago. Jack crept in, not putting on any of the downstairs lights, trying hard not to disturb his pal.

Time for bed, time to sleep, if his throbbing head would allow that.