She stood up and handed Freya three packages and a handful of envelopes.
‘I presume it’s your birthday?’
‘Yes, today. My thirtieth.’
‘Well, happy birthday. It’s pretty special getting to celebrate that milestone in paradise. Now, what do I need to order?’
Freya went through the plans for her first book-themed cocktail evening with Meena and then set off along the shady forest path with her parcels tucked under her arm. There was a bit of time before she had to reopen the bookshop after lunch, so she made a beeline for her room and sat down on the bed to open her post.
Freya recognised her mum’s writing, so she opened that card first.
Happy birthday, darling.
Consider your flights paid for when you next come and visit us, perhaps after your stint in the Maldives?
Give us a call sometime so we can wish you a happy birthday properly.
Love, Mum & Dad xxx
Freya sighed and put the card on the bed. Unless she made the effort to go and see them, they’d potentially go for years without seeing each other. She’d give them a call, it had been far too long since she’d spoken to them, but she wasn’t going to bother today. She had a box of luxury praline chocolates from Aisha, and her brother and his family had sent her an assortment of notebooks and pens. He knew his stationery mad sister well.
She turned over the last package and studied the writing on the front. She’d had cards from friends, but the only people left who’d think of sending her anything was Amber’s parents. She read the card with a tightening in her chest.
Dearest Freya,
We know how difficult it will be for you celebrating your special 30th birthday without our dear Amber. Even if you’re in a place as magical as the Maldives and far away from the reality and hardship of the past two years, we just wanted to let you know that we’re thinking of you. We were going through some of Amber’s keepsakes in her room and came across this drawing you’d given her, I think when you were both in the first year of secondary school. I’m sure Amber would have liked you to keep it, and we thought we’d take inspiration from it and turn it into a fitting 30th birthday present.
We’re always here for you.
Lots of love, Vanessa and Mike xxxx
Freya’s eyes blurred with tears as she opened the package and pulled out a hand drawn card on worn paper that looked like it had been handled a lot over the years. It instantly took her back to school and sitting on a back table in English when she’d drawn the heart with F&A, Friends Forever, written in the middle of it. She’d passed it to Amber who’d given her a big toothy grin.
She put the drawing next to her on the bed and opened the box that came with it. Inside was a heart-shaped silver pendent engraved with the same message she’d written to Amber all those years ago. The tears wouldn’t stop as she clutched the heart pendent to her chest. The overwhelming sadness and grief of losing her best friend so unexpectedly hit her. She cried until she had no tears left.
She tided away her presents, put the pendent in the bedside table drawer, splashed her face with cold water, and headed back to the bookshop.
~
The fire pit on the edge of the beach glowed. Aaron was already there with his friends from the dive school, Lin and Khadeeja too and a couple of others Freya was beginning to get to know.
Drew’s hand landed on her shoulder as she stepped on to the sand.
‘Hey, that was good timing.’ Freya put her arm around Drew’s waist and they walked over to the fire pit together.
Even in the warmth of the tropical evening, there was something rather lovely about the fire crackling as it cast flickering light across the sheltered part of the staff beach and the faces of her new friends. They were cocooned by bushes that had sprawled from the treeline on to the beach. They were hidden from the wood-clad building by the towering palms and lush ficus trees that screened the fire pit from the busyness of the courtyard.
Freya sat down with Drew to a chorus of ‘happy birthday’, and Aaron handed them both a cold bottle of beer.
‘This is the life,’ Freya said, leaning back on her hand and taking a sip of the refreshing beer.
‘Although we don’t get much time off,’ Bohdi from the dive school said. ‘This place is certainly about enjoying the simple pleasures.’
‘It’s not a bad spot for a thirtieth birthday,’ Freya said, clinking her bottle against Drew’s.
‘How would you be celebrating back home?’ Aaron asked.
‘Probably a quiet night out with a couple of friends. A nice meal somewhere.’ She tried hard to not think about her last birthday, the first without Amber, and how the birthday before that she’d had no clue that her best friend was struggling. Two weeks later she’d taken her own life. Freya swigged the beer and tried not to allow those thoughts to take over. She watched the flickering flames and listened to the calming sound of the surf hitting the shore. ‘It’s funny, I’m not really missing “going out”, you know, like back home to a bar or restaurant. And I like spending my spare time reading and writing rather than vegging in front of the telly doing nothing.’
‘Like Bohdi said, it’s the simple pleasures in life that mean so much here.’ Aaron met her eyes, his gaze making her wonder exactly what ‘simple pleasures’ he was referring to.
‘Yeah, it’s a real slow pace of life, even between working loads.’ Drew leant back on her hands and stared up at the sky. ‘For my birthday
