Week 30 - Andy - Sydney

It was Brussels this time. I had arrived on an early Eurostar from London, meetings until 4, then check in, and a couple of hours work with a bottle of Jupiler getting warm on the desk. At eight, I was to go to the hotel bar, where the local office rep (Funny character named Tomas) was going to take me out for an awkward dinner of moules frites and too much pilsner.

Mam called me. The phone rang while I was in the shower, and in the last normal moments of my life, I stumbled out of the cubicle, wrapped a towel around me (even when there’s no-one around, I feel strange talking naked on the phone), and picked up my phone just as it went to voicemail.

I redialled, and we did that thing where both people try to call each other for about four minutes until one of them gives up - then the other gets through.

It was the same phone call - Mam sobbing, Cait was missing.

Cait was in Sydney. She took a year on her J1. As far as we knew she was living in an apartment in Bondi with five other girls. All of them worked doing traffic control on roadworks. Facebook (never something Cait would have chosen to introduce into her peer group) showed a steady stream of pictures of nights out, sunburns and hilarious faces in high-viz vests.

Mam said Cait had missed their weekly call yesterday. It should be noted that Mam had gone silent for a week when Cait announced the J1 plan. She had gone with her friend Linda. This, more than the trip, was a surprise.

I’d always imagined that Cait should have a slim bunch of european friends - all of them studying the international baccalaureate, planning ski trips, and arguing about the books they’d read. Linda Costello had never willingly read a book. She grew up in Athy, and only moved to Dublin for college. She was all county jerseys and crucifix, phone calls to mammy and big dramas about boys she’d kissed.

I told Mam I’d see what I could do, and looked up Linda’s number (transported from Sim card to Sim card since I was a teenager).

“Hello?”

“Linda - hi, Tom here”

“AAHH!”

(Linda frequently screamed - as an exclamation of surprise, when seeing one of her friends, to announce a laugh)

“Oh my god” she said “C’mere, can I give you a call back on my aussie number! the roaming is runining my credit!”

She hung up abruptly.

I stood in the hotel room. I could only tell i was in Brussels because one of the magazines on the table was in Flemish. (cover: a man wearing a sash holding some cheese in front of a mountain)

My phone rang -

“Linda.”

“AHHHHHH - Tom, It’s so great to hear from you!”

Linda had had a crush on me. I know this because Cait told me. In front of Linda. This was apparently in revenge for Linda demonstrating some minor independence.

“yeah, yeah - how are you getting on?”

I regretted this instantly. over the next five minutes, I learned more about the girls in the house, the guys on the crew, the craic in the tea gardens, and how Bondi is like Dublin, there’s so many Irish. The one subject that she didn’t mention? Cait.

“Linda, I’m sorry - we’re a bit worried about Cait. have you seen her lately?”

“Ah, she’s always, y’know, around.”

“Is she there now?”

“I think she’s out - hang on, I’ll check her room. She might be with a fella- God, I’m sorry Tom, I don’t want to rat her out!”

“You’re grand Linda, I don’t care - I just want to tell Mam she’s ok”

“Ah right, how is your Memmeh?”

“She’s grand - Is she there?”

“Jesus Tom, She’s not - should I be worried? God, I can’t remember - we saw her the day before yesterday. She had her tea here! but we’re always in and out of this place - sure you know what it’s like!”

“Linda - can you check something for me?”

“What?”

“Cait has a furry rabbit - it’s a mangy thing, a bit burnt”

“God, yeah, I know the thing”

“Can you see if you can see it - she always has it near her bed”

“Oh sure I know it well - One of the girls was only slagging her about it - it’s always on her night stand, actually - no, looking at it now, it doesn’t seem to be there, It’s gone -”

I shouldn’t have hung up. Genevieve was gone. Cait took her with her. I had assumed that this was because she was moving away for a year. She was making a break for it.

In my head, I started doing sums, time and money. It would be harder to get to Sydney than to Brittas.