All At Sea by Pepper Ellison

it’s all interesting stuff that she’s doing. She has this incredible house up in the jungle with all kinds of movie memorabilia, and an amazing view. Also you never know who is going to be there. It’s an eternal party.
    I would set up a permanent hammock there if she wasn’t so far from the beach. She’s kind of an inspirational woman who set up her production business from scratch and I really admire that. She wasn’t, like, born into it.
    Yeah Lachie told me you two had been hanging out a bit, so I heard about your Vegemite adventure on the yacht. You’ve got to be indoctrinated into Vegemite I think. Yanks just don’t get it.
    We can catch up if you want. I’m playing golf with Olaf at the moment.
    ‘Drittsek! I haff hit der ball in der drink again!’
    I’ve got some new clients lined up this week, (Jacqueline! ;P) so I’m kind of busy, but you can come around if you like. Whatevs.
     
     
    Sunday 2 nd March 1.12pm
    —Paia Contemporary Gallery—
    Glad you’ve been having such a ball. Your friend sounds amazing. Who doesn’t admire a self-made woman with a decked-out jungle retreat? Maybe you can invite her to that house party luau thingy we’re going to next weekend and introduce us. One of Lachie’s students is hosting it? He says it’s going to be a real blow out. I invited Cristina. Lachie thinks she and Olaf will really hit it off. (I’m not inviting Jacqueline. I’ve decided she’s the walking brain-dead who can’t handle her liquor. She’ll be dancing on the table with her top off and puking on everyone by ten.) But if your producer friend can’t come, feel free to invite Jac if you want. A playdate for you. Be warned though: if she gets wasted, you’re in charge of getting her home. I don’t want to break another designer shoe hauling her back through the marina.
    I’ll be in Hilo til then. We’re moving to the Big Island for a few. (My mom and I are hitting the spa. Facials, manis-pedis, the works!)
    Whatevs.
    See you Saturday.   
     
     
    Tuesday 4 th March 10.12am
    — Koa Boxing Club & Gym —
    The house party is not really Sasha’s kind of thing. I probably won’t go anyway. But you have fun!
    (BTW Jac did really great this week. I don’t know if she’ll stick with it, but she was fun and easy to spend time with. You’re kind of hard on people. I’d hate to tell you what to do or anything, but we’re all just doing our best with what we’ve got. You might find it easier to make friends if you let people make mistakes once in a while.)
     
     
    Thursday 6 th March 9.02am
    —Hawaiian Graphix—
    Hey, Kody. I’m sitting on the curb outside the art store after buying a crap ton of paintbrushes I don’t need and a 500-piece jewelry making kit I’ll never use. (Note to self: Retail therapy is a short high.)
    Okay. So.
    I’ve tried really hard not to respond before thinking on it a while. I had all these clever snaps lined up in my brain to fire at you but all of them looked bratty in the end. So I’ve backspaced my way out of the insanity and want to tell you something real, something not based in anger or defensiveness but something that I’m really feeling about what you’ve said to me about how I relate to others.
    I know I’m hard on people and not easy to be around a lot of the time. You’re not pointing out anything I don’t already know. It’s an established fact of the known universe that Amelia Beauchamp has trouble making friends. With Jac, I think it’s because she reminds me of girls back home. I shouldn’t do that to her, make sweeping judgments about her based around my past experiences. Simon, too, I suppose. And his brother and the rest of the people who are calling this place home for the season. They’re their own selves with unique histories, and I shouldn’t assume to have them all wrapped up in a tidy word or two. It’s not fair to assume that you know a person inside and out when you don’t.
    With you, it’s different. I don’t know