"Give it up, Christie. This is me, your best mate, you're talking to." Maddy sighed. "You stood on the steps of our awesome Sydney Opera House and right before I took your photo you said you wished Charlie could be here."
Christine shrugged. "He'd love to see the building, the way it soars above you and makes you feel so small and insignificant yet powerful at the same time."
"You stood at the rails of the ferry and wished for him."
Christine couldn't deny it either. She'd felt the rush of wind as the ferry glided through the water, smelled the salt of the sea, and looked to the rocky opening of the Pacific. Across the water lay Hawaii and Charlie, but she wanted him at the rail with her.
"Every shot you took of the Fort you said, 'Oh, I can't wait to show these to Charlie'." Maddy mimicked her voice almost to perfection.
"He loves history." Christine tossed her hair back. "Fort Denison and its infamous convict first settlers is a story he'd dive into with both feet."
"I guess you think he'd say the same about all the street performers?"
"What do you mean?"
"We've walked these brick sidewalks end to end." Maddy rubbed her foot as it rested on her lap and grinned. "Every time you tipped the performers and said how much you wish Charlie could hear their music."
"He loves music. We've heard every sort here. It's beautiful." She breathed deep of the scent of the water again, now mingled with the rich scent of coffee. "Plus, since he's in a big tourist state and likes to meet new people, he'd love seeing the dozens of different nationalities here."
"We do indeed have plenty of those." Maddy gazed out at the people passing them. They both listened for a few moments and heard Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, and Dutch spoken. "When we climbed the Tower of Harbor Bridge you said what?"
"Oh my dear God, I must have been crazy to come up this high. Get me the hell down from here."
Maddy chuckled. "After, you said, 'look at the water, how it glistens'."
"It does from that height." Christine gave a shudder as she recalled the terror and then joy at the height letting her see the whole harbor at once. "The Sydney skyline shines in it as do the reflections of those crazy people climbing the massive curved supports up to the top of the bridge."
"We could have climbed too if you wanted." Maddy grinned.
Christine narrowed her eyes and almost smacked her. "The tower was quite enough."
"You wanted him with you on Manly beach too," Maddy said it as casually as if they were still talking about the Harbor Bridge.
She'd looked out at the ocean and wondered what he might be doing hundreds of miles away. "I did. The town of Darling with all those expensive mansions is quite a sight."
"We called them divisions here, mate." Maddy corrected. "We almost saw Nicole K. gardening in her yard."
"More likely we'd have seen her in the shops at The Rocks." Christine mentioned the oldest part of the Harbor, filled with exclusive small shops and restaurants.
"What did you buy Charlie from there?" Maddy twisted her gold wedding band around and around.
"The bright yellow jacket emblazed with Australia on it and the driver's cap." Christine almost bit her tongue when Maddy raised her brows.
"I buy presents for all my friends and wish they were with me whenever I go on holiday too." She wagged her brows. "Not."
Christine nudged her. "You never go on holiday."
Maddy shrugged. "We have, just not lately. Why would we need to when we have all this? Point is I've never bought an expensive jacket for 'just a friend'."
"True. All you've ever sent me were postcards of the ancient church on George Street." Christine smiled as she imagined the ancient chapel in the middle of downtown. "It's one hundred times more amazing in person. The open timbers and carved stone altar with all the gorgeous colored glass windows are breathtaking."
"You have no argument from me there." Maddy said nothing for a moment. "He's more than your friend. He has more details about your personal life than I do."
Christine focused on her friend. "No one has more info on me than you."
"He's aware of your kids, their ages, what they do, where they go to college, where you live, where you went to college, your extended family, what you did last Fourth of July, your birthday, your plans for the future, all the home improvement stuff you're doing, and what you eat for dinner every night." Maddy waved her hand. "We've been best friends since eighth grade, and you didn't tell me all that."
"You already knew most of it. Plus, you married your soul mate and moved across the world."
"Charlie's almost across the world from you." Maddy pointed a red tipped nail at her. "He's who you go to for guidance and all your questions."
"Not with everything." Christine shrugged. "Some things I needed his advice on. I had to fix things in the house and the people at the home improvement places were less than helpful. They acted so condescending toward me, like I was some helpless little woman. Charlie offered to assist me, and I took him up on his offer." Christine sighed. "He's being a good friend."