Seven
Kalami Cove Apartments
‘I’m burning, aren’t I? Do you think I’m burning? See, if I turn this way … there’s a line – ow – muscle spasm.’
Tess turned her head away from the view of the calming sea to the body of Sonya, now laying on her side, pulling away the skin on one thigh for inspection. Sonya hadn’t been able to lie still for a second since they had changed into sunlounger wear. She had twisted and shifted in her new Bettylicious 1950s’-inspired bikini, talking about the heat, asking why the birds flitting to and from the paving around the pool didn’t seem to suffer from the high temperatures, and wondering what the weather was doing where Joey was. Apparently battle re-enactment costumes had very little in the way of venting. If that’s what he was actually doing. There had been conversation about how Sonya no longer actually knew what he was doing because they were on a break and Tess knew the break was all but breaking her friend’s heart.
‘Pop a bit more cream on,’ Tess suggested. In between the heart-to-hearts she had been trying to find her Zen, except she was sure she would have a better chance of nailing it down if she could just check there were no emails from McKenzie Falconer. She had left the Blackberry Boudoir wine-bar chain portfolio still in limbo over their branding. At the last meeting it was down to a dancing berry as its avatar or a bottle peeping out from behind a sexy-looking curtain. Maybe it wasn’t exactly a potential Act of God to avoid, like the annoying Greek guy had poked her with earlier, but it mattered. And in this day and age, there should be accessible Internet connection in all corners of Europe.
‘Ooo, look, it’s a lizard!’
Tess leapt up off the lounger in less time than it took a traffic warden to arrive when your parking ticket had run out. Sunglasses falling off her face, feet struggling to get into her shoes, she slipped sideways, bottom dropping then quickly connecting with an inflatable doughnut. She sunk down into the hole.
‘Oh, Tess, are you all right? Goodness,’ Sonya said, trying to get up. ‘What happened?’
‘That!’ Tess exclaimed. ‘That brown thing!’ She kicked her legs, trying to get up and out of the rubber ring.
‘What? Is there something in the pool?’ Sonya asked, her eyes darting to the water. ‘That child who’s been pulling at her swim nappy for the last half an hour?’ She tutted. ‘I’ve never been convinced of the elasticity of swim nappies but not being a mother myself I’ve—’
‘The lizard!’ Tess interrupted. She eyed it. It was no longer than a Snickers, the width of a KitKat, but it had a bright blue head and it was looking back at her like it wanted to get intimate. God, was this what happened when you pledged to stay single for the summer? The local wildlife smelled a loner from thirty paces?
‘It’s so cute,’ Sonya said. ‘I’m going to take a photo of it.’
The lizard advanced, a scurry of six inches or so that had Tess clinging to the doughnut and holding her breath. ‘Make it go away,’ she breathed.
‘Make it go away?’ Sonya asked, easing herself off the lounger and picking up her phone. ‘Don’t be silly. People go out hiking, searching for days to find beautiful little lizards like this. It’s one of the reasons Joey and I booked this holiday. Wildlife wherever you look!’
As Sonya’s camera on her phone made a click, the lizard shot forward and Tess let out a scream that had everyone around the complex looking her way.
‘Tess, you’re not scared, are you?’ Sonya asked.
‘No! Of course not!’ Tess answered. She let out another scream as the lizard darted back out from under the table. ‘Help me! Get me out of this doughnut!’
‘He won’t hurt you,’ Sonya said, taking another photo of the reptile as she slowly moved towards Tess.
‘I’m pretty sure that’s what my father said about the horse at pony club just seconds before it tried to savage my cheek.’
Tess swallowed back her fear, remembering her dad, holding her up to the dappled grey gelding. She was four, a novice rider, inquisitive enough to reach out over the stable door to try to pat the horse’s nose. In a split second the horse had rounded, knocked her riding hat off her head and tried to bite a chunk out of her face. Only her dad’s quick reactions in smacking the horse on the nose and pulling her away stopped the injury turning from bruising to open wound. There were tears over the drama that day but no permanent scars. Completely the opposite to her wedding day. If only her dad had just held her that day like he had after the incident with the horse. She took a breath. It had been almost six months since she had last had any contact with either of them. Every time her mum phoned she let it go to voicemail then listened to the ‘checking-in’ message she just couldn’t face hearing live any more. Then, when she was certain her mum wouldn’t be home, she left her own message on her answerphone. Still paying off the loans they had taken out to cover the cost and nothing to show for it. Tess knew they would never forgive her. And why should they? She couldn’t forgive herself.
‘Come on,’ Sonya said, holding out her hand. ‘Up you get.’
‘Where is it? It’s not nice when they creep up on you and invade your space,’ Tess stated, straightening her sunglasses.
‘Your space?’ Sonya queried with a laugh. ‘You’re outside. Outside is his space.’ She giggled. ‘Fresh New Day isn’t just an Ambi-Pur fragrance you know.’
Tess picked up her cocktail and put the straw in her mouth. She wasn’t outdoorsy, some people just weren’t, and there was nothing wrong with that. But if you were that way inclined you should really add it as a hobby to your online dating profile. She had wasted three one-night dates on secret outdoorsy men. There had even been one who felt the need to talk about the workings of a cow’s stomachs during a steak dinner.
‘So,’ Sonya began, sitting back down on the sunlounger and putting her phone on the table. ‘What are we going to do tonight?’
‘Hopefully not hiking through the mountain looking for rare species of reptile.’
‘Well, my thoughts were that we check out one of the cute little tavernas there’s meant to be on the beach and spend the evening just sitting back, relaxing, taking it all in, you know, filling ourselves with something Greek.’
Tess swallowed. Yes, her immediate thoughts to the words ‘filling ourselves with something Greek’ meant she really did need to get back on the metaphorical horse – not the vicious grey from pony club. She needed to find some sort of companionship distraction despite this ridiculous all-girl rule. Alex at the bar said the restaurant the queue-jumper worked at had Wi-Fi. That would allow her to sift through potential mates ready for her return to London, and perhaps, if she was careful – when Sonya wasn’t looking – there might be someone able to provide a little flirtation action. It had been over a week since the proposal. She needed to know her pheromones were still giving off ‘no strings attached’ rather than ‘desperately seeking a husband’.
‘There’s a taverna called … something beginning with “G” that’s supposed to be good,’ Tess stated, sitting back down.
‘Is there?’ Sonya asked. ‘Have you been reading my Marco Polo?’
Tess looked at her quizzically. ‘The barman told me.’
Sonya laughed. ‘Sorry, it’s just Joey and me had this joke about guidebooks.’ She sighed. ‘He would hide them right before a trip and I’d call out “Marco” and he would say “Polo” until I got close and …’ Sonya stopped, tears filling her eyes. ‘Obviously, we didn’t get to play that game this time.’
‘Stop,’ Tess said. ‘Put your cocktail straw in your mouth and stop.’ She picked up Sonya’s drink and pushed it towards her. ‘I propose we lay here a little bit longer, peacefully, letting the sun and that sea breeze gently rock us into maybe a little bit of a sleep …’ She watched Sonya’s eyelids drop slightly. ‘Then we get showered and changed and head out for some Greek food and even more drink.’
Sonya sighed, putting down her cocktail glass. ‘That’s a good idea. I am a bit tired from the journey. Travelling does make you tired, doesn’t it?’ She yawned.
‘You lie back and relax,’ Tess said, her hand snaking down into her bag. If Sonya nodded off for half an hour she was almost sure she could shake some life out of a GPRS signal and peruse some potential mates on Hooked Up. Or she could find a site she hadn’t tried before, maybe use a different name, like Patricia.
‘If I drop off,’ Sonya said, closing her eyes, her voice thick with tiredness, ‘you have to promise me you won’t fall in any more doughnuts.’
Tess smiled. ‘I promise.’
‘And no dating apps,’ Sonya whispered, voice close to sleep.
What? Tess swallowed. Perhaps if she held off answering right away Sonya would slip into a snooze and she wouldn’t have to say anything.
‘Did you hear me?’
Shit. ‘Mmm … I heard you.’
‘And no flirting with the barman either,’ Sonya added. ‘Although he does have a lovely smile.’
‘Looking’s allowed, I remember,’ Tess answered.
She took her hand out of her bag and focused again on the beautiful view of the coastline. Two sail boats, their multicoloured sails waving in the light breeze, moved across the ocean like a pair of elegant skaters on ice. Tess knew that keeping single shouldn’t be this hard but she was the self-styled Queen of the Dating Scene. Without that OCD need to have someone on her arm, she wasn’t sure who she was any more. And that was the biggest problem of all.