‘How did we let them talk us into this?’ Alekos wonders out loud.
‘Never underestimate the persuasion skills of an Entertainments Officer,’ I explain. ‘Even if they are now retired.’
‘Okay, we need to ride out for about ten minutes to get to the best stretch of water,’ Alekos advises. ‘So just follow us.’
‘Aye, aye, Captain!’ Richard is as exuberant as ever, reaching to give Alekos a sporting ‘may the best man win!’ handshake.
Meanwhile I’m taking one last shot at convincing Cherry to call the whole thing off. ‘Are you sure Richard’s not going to hurt himself?’ I wheedle, trying to appeal to her protective girlfriend sensibility.
‘Don’t be silly – he’s an old pro,’ she dismisses my concern.
‘Do you know for certain he’s even done this before?’
She leans close. ‘When I say he’s an old pro I mean it – he was the Hampshire monoskiing champ two years in a row.’
‘What?’ I reel back. ‘Well, how is that going to make Alekos look good?’
‘Don’t worry, we’ve got it all sorted . . .’ She winks and taps the side of her nose.
‘He’ll know if he fakes a fall,’ I caution.
‘It’s all going to be fine,’ she assures me. ‘Come on, let’s get going!’
Alekos instinctively goes to take the wheel but I tell him I need the practice, especially since I’ve never driven at night before.
‘Lights?’ he suggests as I pull away from the jetty.
‘Oh yes, please!’
It hadn’t occurred to me that the boat would have headlamps just like a car. Nevertheless, I am aware that I’m driving like one of those people who refuses to believe that the world is round – right now it seems far more likely that the sea will end abruptly and we’ll tip over the edge into oblivion.
‘You know there are no walls or lamp-posts to hit out here,’ Alekos reasons. ‘You can go faster.’
This really is a test of nerves. I know I can’t inch along like this indefinitely or Alekos will never be able to rise up on to the surface of the water. Gingerly I push the lever forward.
‘There you go,’ he encourages. ‘Now when we get to the spot and I’m in position I want you to hit it and then keep it at around thirty-three miles per hour. If for any reason I fall—’
‘Don’t fall!’ I beg.
‘I won’t. But if I do, just pull back the throttle and turn the boat to the right to stop smoothly. Then slowly – slowly – come back around to get me. You’ll have to be very careful because it won’t be easy to see me and I don’t want you to run me over.’
I roll my eyes. Great. That would be the perfect end to the perfect day.
‘Any questions?’
I only have one: ‘Why did you do it?’
He frowns back at me. ‘Why did I do what?’
‘Why did you have sex with Jules?’ I yell, ostensibly so I can be heard over the noise of the engine but mostly because I’ve bottled up my reaction to this for too long.
‘Well?’ I pout. Why is he still saying nothing? I demand a response! ‘Look, obviously I know now just how full on and manipulative she can be, and she mentioned you’d had a drink and of course she’s stunningly attractive and yes, I suppose you could argue that I had been rejecting you, but after that moment we had in the infinity pool at the hotel . . .’
Only now does his face change.
‘The way you held me and moved me through the water . . . I thought – I mean, did I imagine . . . ?’ Suddenly I feel horribly out on a limb.
‘No,’ he says, so quietly I have to strain to hear his words. ‘It was real.’
‘But then why?!’ I implore, utterly exasperated.
He contemplates me for a second and then says, ‘You’re not going out with Richard, are you?’ nodding to the boat powering alongside us.
‘No, and for the record, Richard is actually the millionaire businessman from The World; Greg is the father-of-two renting the villa. I wondered if you might recognise him from the beach?’
He shakes his head.
‘He had problems boarding the kayak on my first day?’
‘Oooh.’ His eyes narrow. ‘The one with the silly hat?’
‘Well. Yes. Anyway, I’m not going out with either of them, it was all just part of the ploy to catch Jules out.’
He nods, taking a moment to process the information.
‘I’m sorry you had to get caught up in it all. I didn’t realise you and Jules were no longer an item or I would have spared you.’
‘We were never an item,’ he says sternly.
‘Well, it certainly looked that way for a while.’ I pout.
‘Well, apparently not everything is as it seems,’ he grizzles.
Right, that’s it! I can’t stand any more of this evasive, ambiguous talk – I cut the engine and turn to face him down.
‘What are you doing?’ He looks confused.
‘We’re not going anywhere until we sort this out.’
‘Oh really?’ he challenges me, hackles rising.
‘Really,’ I confirm. He’s not the only stubborn person in this boat.
Alekos makes a thoroughly Greek grunt and then stares moodily out to sea – it’s only when Richard pulls up to find out what is going on that he decides he has nothing left to lose.
‘Just give us five minutes,’ Alekos requests.
Finally he faces me. I can almost feel the effort it takes for him to heave his heart up on to the slab.
‘I never wanted you to leave with Jules,’ he begins, speaking like the telling of his side of events is one big chore. ‘I wanted you to stay with me. But your friend needed you – or so I thought – and so I backed off,’ he says matter-of-factly. ‘I went home after work to pack up your things as promised and then I started to get really . . . sad.’ As he continues, his voice gradually becomes infused with more emotion. ‘I thought, what if this is it? What if she’s never coming back here? It felt like we were breaking up before we’d even begun.’
I feel a little pang as he sighs, ‘I wanted to reach out to you, to tell you how I was feeling, but you already had Jules pulling on you emotionally, I didn’t want you feeling torn.’ He looks into my eyes for the first time. ‘But when I came over and it was just you and me, I couldn’t resist pulling you into the water and having you in my arms – just in case I didn’t get another chance.’ He smiles wistfully. ‘It felt so good. All I wanted then was for you to feel cherished and cared for and connected to me somehow.’
My eyes prickle with tears. ‘I did,’ I tell him in a small voice. ‘I felt so close to you then.’ All the more agonising to feel this distance right now.
Even though I know something wicked this way comes, I bid him continue.
‘Well, then Jules came back from the spa and my only thought was to get out of there, to get out of the way. And take those good feelings home with me.’
I nod, remembering feeling the same thing, convinced that moment would be enough to carry us through.
‘So I went back to the house,’ he continues. ‘I looked at the cake I’d bought you and the card and the champagne—’
‘I don’t remember seeing any champagne . . .’
He grimaces. ‘Well, that’s where it starts going wrong. I decided to open it anyway. Actually it was Loulou’s idea – a toast for the birthday girl,’ he attempts a little joke. ‘So I had a glass. But that just made me miss you more. So I had another. And that got me thinking, What if this really is it? What if we never get to recapture what we had here? I mean, I liked you on the ship from afar but having spent this time with you and having you smile at me, really at me, not just through the TV screen . . .’ He shakes his head. ‘So I have another glass. And then it’s the end of the bottle and I crash out.’ His head seems to grow heavy. ‘The next thing I know there’s a knock at the door. I answer it, all groggy, and there’s Jules.’
I can’t help but bristle. That conniving, covetous
harlot!
‘She says she has jet lag and no one to talk to – you were asleep and she was hoping I might still be up. I tell her I was in bed myself. She asks if she can join me . . .’
‘Just like that!’
‘Just like that.’
‘And you said yes?’ I despair.
‘No, of course not. I tell her no. I tell her that I like her friend. More than like . . .’
My heart tweaks.
‘But she told me I was wasting my time. She mentioned a couple of the things she told Richard about you ogling the men at the hotel and the thing with the guy’s business card on the bedside table.’
‘And that’s all it took?’
‘Actually no,’ he clips, suddenly cold. ‘It was the texts that did it.’
Now it’s me experiencing a chill. Suddenly I get why he’s been so mad at me, so desperately hurt – Jules showed him the texts I’d sent her! And you can bet it was the early ones.
I slump forward, head in my hands remembering phrases like He couldn’t be of less consequence! and I’m just here for the taramasalata.
‘Aleko, you have to understand that was right at the beginning of the week – I was still in defence mode.’
‘You called me a bully.’
‘I was wrong. You’re not a bully, you’re encouraging. You’ve made me try so many new things . . .’
‘And sleazy?’
‘Well, you know I had issues with that at first but Nia Vardalos has made me realise you can’t help it,’ I try a little cheekiness. ‘It’s just your natural Greek sexuality.’
‘Did you say Nia Vardalos?’ He looks at me with utter bewilderment. Which is an improvement on the looks he’s been giving me the rest of the evening.
‘It’s a long story . . .’ I mutter.
Alekos sighs. ‘You can imagine how I felt to see those words from you – this woman I absolutely adored, this woman I wanted to believe was starting to have feelings for me, mocking me behind my back.’
I hang my head in shame.
‘And then here’s this other woman who seems desperate to be with me, offering comfort . . .’
I close my eyes, picturing how she would first soothe him and then make her move . . . How the hell am I going to convince him that my feelings genuinely changed, that I really did fall for him? ‘Wait!’ Suddenly I scrabble for my phone. ‘Look, I can show you the texts I sent her after that!’ I say, remembering doing this very thing in the designer shoe shop in Athens.
‘Are you guys done yet?’ Cherry calls over to us, as Richard reverses back to get level once more.
‘Hold on!’ I plead.
‘What are we waiting for?’ Cherry howls.
‘One minute!’ I turn back to Alekos. ‘Look at this one: Contrary to my initial impression, he really is an officer and a gentleman! and this: I’m having secret thoughts of rearing one of Roubas’ puppies with this man!’
He gives his first full smile of the evening – could I be getting through to him?
‘I like that idea!’ he concedes.
‘That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Now we’re talking again I can tell you how I really feel!’
‘GUYS!’ Richard and Cherry shout together.
‘Let’s just get this out the way,’ Alekos decides. ‘Then we’ll talk.’
Oh god, I can’t bear it! Still, maybe it’s for the best – maybe the monoski spray will sluice away all his anguish and mistrust and he’ll come back on board all revived and receptive!
‘Here I go.’
‘Good luck!’ I bleat as he plops into the water.
‘Ready?’ Richard calls across.
I watch Alekos bob up, smooth back his hair, and then brace himself for the sudden surge. ‘Ena, dio, tria . . .’
‘GO!’ yells Cherry.
And we’re off.
I can definitely feel a difference driving the boat while yanking an appendage. I look back to check that all is well and can just about make out Alekos swishing back and forth, board juddering beneath his feet as it rides the waves, sending wild spumes of white spray flaring in his wake. His body tilts perilously close to the water as he takes each turn, one-handed no less! Aside from his amazingly controlled technique, it is an outrageously sexy manoeuvre.
I check ahead of me and then, when I’m confident I’m on course, take a peek over at Richard, who’s throwing similarly daring yet elegant angles. So far the guys have been going from left to right in reasonable synchronicity, but I can’t help but worry that they might clash if they fell out of time. Perhaps I should just edge over a little bit?
All of a sudden I sense something is wrong. I hear voices calling out to me. Alekos is down.
‘Shit!’ I cut the power.
Right, what did he say? Turn to the right and then creep slowly back. Do not run over his head. Oh god, I just know it was my fault, I should never have tried to veer, I’ve obviously thrown him off his stride and now Richard won’t get to do his trick, or whatever he had planned, so he’ll be mad at me too.
‘Aleko!’ I call into the night, instantly irritated – this is hopeless, I can’t see a darn thing. Why oh why did I go along with this? ‘Aleko?’ I call again. Still nothing. Please don’t say I’ve already concussed him. I can’t even judge how far on I went after he dropped. ‘ALEKO!’ I try bellowing louder. Again nothing.
I see that Cherry has stopped her boat and I quickly reach for my mobile.
‘Cherry! I’ve lost him!’ I panic as she answers.
‘We’ll come and help you look.’
‘Careful!’ I squawk caution. ‘Make sure you don’t run him over.’
I am trying desperately hard not to freak out but I start to fear that Neptune got a taste for Alekos when he jumped off the cliff on the octopus day and has now decided to keep him for himself.
‘Please give him back to me!’ I find myself praying. ‘Please.’
I climb out on to the front of the boat so I can study the lit water. What’s that I see? I lean over as far as I can but it’s just out of reach. I’m going to have to move the boat forward a tad. When I turn back I see a dripping figure looming over me.
‘Oh my god, Aleko!’ I stumble back.
‘Looking for something?’ he deadpans.
‘You!’ I exclaim. I go to hug him, so relieved he’s alive, but he steps away from me.
Surely he’s not still mad?
‘What is it?’
‘My hand,’ he says, wincing as he tries to flex it.
‘Oh no, please don’t say you’ve messed it up again! Was it my fault, when I turned the boat?’
He shakes his head but flumps down on the seat, obviously a little shaken. ‘Is that your phone?’
‘It’s Cherry,’ I tell him, quickly answering. ‘Yes, yes, he’s back on board.’
‘I’m fine,’ he says, waving away any potential concern. ‘Tell them we’ll see them back at the villa.’
‘Okay. See you there.’ I snap the phone closed. ‘Richard says thank you for cutting things short – he was starting to get a bit peckish.’
Alekos snuffles a smile and then looks up at me, eyes brimming with remorse. ‘Selena, I’m sorry I slept with Jules – I wish it had never happened. Really. Even at the time it felt wrong—’
‘Don’t worry about that, it’s in the past now,’ I shush my patient as I crouch by his side. ‘I’m just concerned about your hand, how bad is it?’
‘Well,’ he expels a long sigh. ‘That depends.’
‘On what?’ I frown, confused.
‘How bad would it have to be to get you to stay?’
My face illuminates with hope. ‘You think you might need my help again?’
He nods. ‘A bit of unbuttoning here, a bit of melon slicing there . . .’
As a grin spreads across my face, there is so much I want to say but, instead, I ever so gently lift his damaged hand to my lips. First I kiss his fingertips, then his knuckles, then his wrist.
I feel the re
st of his body slump in submission as he informs me that the pain appears to be spreading up his arm. By the time I get to his elbow his supposedly injured hand is at the back of my neck, entwined in my hair and pulling my face up towards his.
We kiss. Mouth to mouth. Heart to heart.
Dizzy from all the anticipation, I take a moment to set myself just far apart enough to watch with delight as all the desire and admiration and sparkle returns to his eyes. Once again I find myself beaming.
‘You love me a little bit, don’t you?’ I tease.
He tuts at me. ‘I love you a lot.’
And then he pulls me closer and shows me, and the stars above, just how much.
30
‘What we achieve inwardly, will change outer reality.’ – Plutarch
One year on . . .
Here he comes again. Striding purposefully towards me in precision-pressed naval whites complete with rigid black epaulettes, soft white loafers and a patent peaked cap with nifty gold insignia. Even his Mediterranean tan and onyx-glow eyes look like they’ve been officially issued in a bid to create the ultimate cruiseship pin-up, all perfectly offset against an opulent ocean backdrop.
This time I don’t run. I let him come all the way up to me and scoop me up into his arms and kiss me.
‘Perfect!’ My sister cheers. ‘Now with you wearing his cap!’
‘Honestly! Don’t you think you’ve taken enough?’ I groan, even though I can think of worse ways of spending my time.
‘Alright,’ she says, taking one last snap before returning her camera to her bejewelled formal night clutch. ‘I just wanted to make sure I had enough mementos – this has been the best holiday ever!’
It has indeed been a great week – cruising around the beauty spots of New Zealand, catching up with Mum and Dad, doing my Love Makes the World Go Round presentation and then padding back to Alekos’ cabin at night.
Naturally I’ll feel a wrench leaving my family tomorrow, but I also can’t wait to get back home to Elounda. We have one of the Carob Tree Valley Villas of our own now. Well, we had to stay somewhere when Alekos’ brother returned from the mainland!
The other significant change is that we had to hand back the car and switch to Alekos’ motorbike. Initially I was terrified. ‘I’m not a horse!’ he would cry as my thighs gripped tight each time we squeezed through a narrow passage or overtook another vehicle. I used to ride with my eyes closed and my head buried in his back. But now he’ll pick me up in town and I’ll step on the back with a bag of groceries and sit upright and look all around me and love the sensation of the wind ruffling my hair. Of course sometimes I want to touch him, so I’ll lean my forearm across his shoulders or stroke the back of his neck or rest my hands on his thighs but, whatever pose I adopt, it always seems to make me smile. I never knew that it was possible to commit to one person and one place and yet feel so free.
Out of the Blue Page 32
