A Summer Storm

The storm had caught us completely by surprise; we hadn't noticed the darkening clouds on the distant horizon as we lay in the late afternoon sun, talking about how our lives had changed since we last saw each other, nearly eight years ago. We had been best mates since primary school, doing everything together until we finished university and went our separate ways, chasing our different dreams. We had kept in touch for a year or two but we both had busy lives with busy jobs and eventually the e-mails got less and less frequent till they ceased altogether.

That was until last month when an unfamiliar e-mail address appeared in my inbox. Opening it, I discovered it was from Cat's little sister, Michelle, inviting me to her wedding. She had all the details covered, even a luxury suite in a nearby beach resort hotel. This, Michelle had booked in Cat's name, knowing we had a lot of catching up to do. The wedding was all organized for the second Saturday of the next month which suited me fine as it gave me time to sort out my crew of roughnecks on the North Sea 4 oil platform. They were all guys at the top of their game, top of their fields and I knew my rig was in good hands as I rode the supply chopper back to North Sea's base where my old Norton motorcycle waited for me. While I was in the air I had phoned ahead to book a single ticket from Gatwick airport to Auckland, New Zealand.

The long flight was uneventful with the boredom only broken by the cabin crew bringing a meal every two or three hours until finally the landmass that slowly shaped itself into New Zealand became visible. The flight had taken twenty three hours to turn a grim North Sea winter into a South Pacific summer. Customs was easy as I always travelled light with only one hiking pack as luggage and then I was out into the mid December sun with a quick taxi ride to my hotel. I had taken a flight to arrive four days early to give my body a chance to reset its internal clock, take in a few sights, and get a tan to show the boys at work, but what I hadn't expected was that Cat had had the same idea.