Polly's Write ol' Summer

by Penny Kane

  Polly sat on her terrace and drank lemonade. It was an unusual morning. Nicco wasn’t there. He’d had to go and run his restaurant, so she’d spent a peaceful night alone and slept very well for the first time in days, and she had today all to herself. As she sipped the cold drink, she thought about what she’d most like to do that day. Why can’t I make up my mind? Do I really need a man to help me plan my day? Polly frowned. She was a little cross with herself to feel a bit lost without Nicco by her side. She huffed, got up, and fetched her bag from inside the room. She’d picked up a few tourist leaflets and was sure one of them would help her decide what to do.

  As she delved in her bag, her hand touched her phone. She took it out, turned it on, and checked her messages.

  There was one from Max. Hi Polly, it’s Max. I hope you’re having a good trip. I have some news for you. Call me when you can – bye.

  Polly quickly called him back, promising herself to make it short. It rang and no one picked up. Polly was about to hang up when the call connected and she heard Max’s voice on the other end of the line. “Hello?”

  “Max? It’s Polly.”

  “Hi, Polly! I’m sorry no one picked up. My secretary is off sick.”

  “No worries, although I was about to hang up.”

  Max apologised again.

  “I got your message. You said you had some news for me.”

  “I do indeed. Some very interesting news, and promising, too.”

  Polly’s interest was piqued. “Go on.”

  “Do you remember before you went away that you mentioned asking Steve if he wanted to take on the house and pay you the equity on it?”

  “Of course. I guess you talked to him.”

  “I did. Unfortunately, he said no. Well, he said more than that, but I won’t share the sordid details with you.”

  Polly deflated. “You said ‘interesting’ and ‘promising’.”

  “Yes, I did. Helen and I went to see the house.” He paused and Polly held her breath. “Helen didn’t stop talking about it all weekend – you know how much she loves the place. So we went back for a second viewing.”

  “Really?” Polly’s hopes were building.

  “Yes, really. I wanted to talk to you before I called the agent.”

  Polly stopped breathing.

  “Helen and I love it so much that we want your house.”

  Polly couldn’t speak.

  “We’ll pay the full asking price. I don’t want to lose this. Helen and I have been househunting for years and we’ve never fallen in love with a place as much as we love yours.”

  Polly sat, staring into space, taking it all in but unable to utter a single word.

  “Polly, are you there?”

  She shook herself. “Yes, yes, I am here! You want to buy my house?” She asked to clarify; her brain had turned to mush.

  “Yes. Helen and I want your house.”

  “W…well, I…” Polly laughed. She could hardly believe her ears.

  “Have you had any other offers?” Max asked and she could hear the nervousness in his voice.

  “No. Not that I know of.”

  “So I can call the agent?”

  “Yes! Yes, please do!” she cried. “Wow, thank you, Max. You’ve made my day.”

  It was Max’s turn to laugh at her reaction.

  “I hope you and Helen will be very happy there. It’s a great house.”

  “Yes, it is, Polly. Thanks.”

  “No, thank you. Let me know how it goes.”

  Max said he would and wished her a great remainder of her trip, then hung up. Polly couldn’t believe it. She sat smiling to herself like a village idiot. I sold the house! YES!

  She turned around, shut up the French doors, grabbed her bag, and headed out. It didn’t matter what she did today; she had sold the house and she couldn’t possibly be happier.

  * * * *

  Polly got in the car and drove. She didn’t even care in which direction. Her life was getting better by the day. She got onto the M1 and kept driving until she arrived in Jacob’s Well. It took her a while of driving around and looking, but eventually she found what she believed was the campsite her dad brought her and her mum to every year for their holiday.

  Polly was overwhelmed by the memories and looked for a place to sit quietly and think. She found a beautiful wooded area with log seating for picnicking among the gum trees and wattles. “Oh, Dad, I miss you.” She sighed as she sat down, took in the peaceful surroundings, and listened to the birdsong. “How I’ve needed you lately.” Once she started talking, she couldn’t stop. She unloaded her heart and chatted away without awkwardness as if her dad was truly there, just unseen.

  She spent the next couple of hours walking around the campsite with memories flooding her mind, and then stopped for something to eat at the tavern. Whilst she ate her chicken wrap, she overheard a family talking about taking a trip out to Kangaroo Island on their boat. Polly remembered the year her dad hired a boat and they all went out to the island just off the coast. That trip almost ended in disaster. Her mum couldn’t swim and her dad was showing off his piloting skills. He turned the boat too quickly and her mother was thrown overboard. If it wasn’t for the fact that Polly was looking back at her mum, despite being up the front with her dad, no one would have seen her go overboard. When they finally dragged her out of the water, she was unconscious and had to be rushed to hospital.

  Polly’s dad never forgave himself for the accident. Years later, when he lay dying, it was obviously still heavy on his heart and he asked Margaret, Polly’s mum, to forgive him. Margaret laughed at him and told him it was all water under the bridge. Polly cried that day to see how cut up her dad was at almost killing his wife through his own foolishness.

  Polly finished up her lite beer and smiled to herself. She’d even replicated that accident in her novel. However, Georgios, Sally’s Greek lover, had fallen overboard and drowned. Polly paled and a shiver ran down her spine. Georgios was Nicco, or the other way round – she hadn’t quite figured that out yet. And Nicco went out boating that day.

  Polly ran back to her car, locked herself in, and dialled Nicco’s number. There was no answer. She tried three or four times and her eyes filled with tears. I should have seen this coming! Why didn’t I remember this before? It’ll be all my fault if anything happens to him.

  She dialled the number again and, instead of dialling out, she received an incoming call. She stared at the phone in confusion and then realised Jackie was calling.

  She answered. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Polly, it’s Jackie. How’s your holiday going?” Jackie sounded her usual chirpy self. Polly could hardly speak, she was so choked. “Poll, honey, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  It took a few seconds before Polly could organise her thoughts enough to tell Jackie what was going on and what she feared, but she did tell her. All of it, especially about Nicco.

  “Honey, come on. We’re not going through all this again. You know it’s impossible for your book to be real. You’re just burnt out, that’s all. But on the other hand, well done, you, for taking a lover! I am impressed, lady.”

  Polly didn’t want congratulating, she was panicking that Nicco was dead. “What if he’s dead, Jackie? I should have been able to prevent it. I wrote the book, after all. Why the hell didn’t I remember that was how their affair ended? What’s wrong with me?”

  “Ok, Polly, please calm down. You have no way of knowing if Nicco is ok or not, right?”

  “But…”

  “Am I right?”

  Polly had to admit she was.

  “Then please calm down.”

  As Jackie said that, Polly’s phone beeped. She had received a message. “Hold on, will you?” she asked Jackie, and flicked through the menu to see whom the message was from. It was Nicco. He was all right and asking when she’d be back at the hotel. Polly breathed a huge sigh of relief. She would call him back after she finished speaking to Jackie and calmed down a b
it more. She clicked back to the call and conveyed the contents of the message to Jackie.

  “You see? It’s all ok.”

  Polly fell silent as the phone beeped again. She flicked back quickly and read the message. It was Nicco again. He wanted to spend the evening with Polly because he and his brothers were going out in the boat again tomorrow. Polly flicked back to Jackie’s call and sat silently, shaking.

  “Polly, are you there?” Jackie asked.

  “Yes,” she answered in a small voice.

  “It’s all ok, isn’t it?”

  “For now.”

  Jackie sighed. “What does that mean? Was that message from Nicco again?”

  “Yes, it was.” She sighed. “And I mean that it won’t be ok. I wrote the book, remember?”

  “I do remember, honey, but nothing is going to happen to Nicco, and you’ll come home in a few days, anyway.”

  “A lot can happen between then and now, Jackie.”

  Jackie sighed again.

  “You said that my novel was too happily ever after and I needed to earn the question mark at the end of the title by adding more drama to it – well, I did! In Chapter Nine, Georgios, Sally’s lover, died in a boating accident!”

  “Calm down – you’re overreacting.”

  “Calm down! You know it’s going to happen as well as I do!”

  “You don’t know that for sure.”

  “No, that message was from Nicco asking to spend the evening with me…”

  “Good.” Jackie interjected.

  “No, it’s not. Guess what Nicco is going to do tomorrow?”

  Jackie fell silent.

  “Boating!” Polly yelled, almost hysterically. “He’s going out boating – just like in my book! I have to stop him. Oh God, I have to stop him!”

  “Polly, please. You can’t be certain that the events in your book will actually play out. As I said before, I admit it’s uncanny, but…and please remember this – if it’s going to happen, then it will, no matter what you do.”

  Polly went white. She’d always believed in destiny or fate. She’d always believed she had a path to follow. But hadn’t the clairvoyant told her that only she could decide the future? “Jackie, I at least have to try and prevent him from going.”

  “All right. Try then, but don’t tell him about your book. He’ll think you’re loopy.”

  They ended their call with Jackie extracting a promise from Polly that she wouldn’t freak out and tell Nicco about the book. He certainly wouldn’t believe her – who would?

  Polly got out of the car, and went back inside the tavern and ordered a whisky.

  “Bad news, eh?” the bartender asked her.

  She downed the whisky in one gulp. “You have no idea.”

  * * * *

  It took Polly a while to calm herself down and call Nicco back. She daren’t drink another whisky, no matter how much she wanted to. The last thing she needed right now was to be stopped by the Aussie police for drunk driving.

  She walked around the tavern car park and breathed the sea air deeply until she was no longer so hysterical. Then she picked up her mobile phone and dialled Nicco’s number.

  “Hello?”

  Polly was so relieved to hear his voice. “Hey,” she sighed.

  “How are you doing? Did you have a good day?”

  You don’t want to know the answer to that. “Yeah, not bad. I’m up at Jacob’s Well.”

  “Reliving your past, eh?”

  He remembered. How sweet! Polly’s throat tightened with emotion. “Yes.”

  “Aw, I can hear it’s choked you up.”

  Polly tried her hardest not to let her emotions overtake her. “Yeah, just a little. It’s gorgeous out here.” She decided to change the subject. “Did you have a good day?”

  “Ah, yeah! My brothers are choice blokes. We had an awesome time.”

  “Good. I’m pleased to hear it.”

  “So, listen, are you up for getting together tonight?”

  “Of course, I am,” she replied. Of course! I have to try and save your life, don’t I?

  “Excellent! What time?”

  “Shall I give you a call when I get back to Palm Beach?”

  “Yeah, all right. Speak to you then.”

  Polly said her good-byes and hung up. She climbed into the car and turned the key in the ignition. “Between here and the hotel, you have to figure out a way of preventing the accident.” She shook her head. He’s just going to think I’m a possessive, clingy, jealous female! “Who cares what he thinks? If I don’t prevent it, the consequences don’t bear thinking about.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Polly got back to the hotel in good time, despite having to tell herself more than once to slow down. She fairly raced up to her room, quickly showered, and took a few minutes to get her mind in order as she re-styled her hair and applied a little blush and lip-gloss.

  When she was ready, she called Nicco. She was pleased that she’d waited until she was ready as, when he answered, he informed her that he’d just that instant pulled into the hotel car park. Boy, you’re eager!

  Polly said she’d meet him in the foyer, but by the time she collected her handbag and checked that she had everything, Nicco was tapping at the door. Polly opened the door and he immediately walked right in. “Hey, beautiful, did you miss me?”

  Before Polly could respond, he was all over her. There would be no going out to eat that evening. Inside, Polly groaned. How on earth was she to convince him not to go boating tomorrow with him stuck on her face?

  Sex with Nicco does seem to improve with practice, she thought and almost burst out laughing as they lay in each other’s arms. Nicco was nodding off to sleep. She couldn’t let him do that. She had to persuade him not to go boating. Her plan was to coerce him into giving up the trip in the boat for spending the day with her. Normally that kind of clingy behaviour revolted her, but needs must.

  She had one other alternative to try if he was unresponsive to her persuasion. Again, it was something that made her cringe, but Nicco’s life was at stake here. She would keep him up all night making love, if necessary, to exhaust him so that he’d sleep in and miss the trip out with his brothers. She wasn’t entirely sure she was up to the task of making love all night. Even when she was at Uni and had her first serious boyfriend, Todd, the most they could manage was twice before one or both of them fell asleep. But she had to do what she had to do.

  Polly watched Nicco’s face as he slowly fell asleep. He looked so peaceful. A lump came to her throat. She had to prevent his death. With her hand, she started to play with the hairs on his chest. She shifted position and kissed his neck. Nicco groaned, and within minutes her objective was reached and they were making love once again.

  * * * *

  Polly lay drained, listening to Nicco softly snoring next to her. She didn’t think she could keep this up. Perhaps if she ordered some food, she might find the energy to do it all again? Polly rolled her eyes. At this rate, I’m going to get blisters on my whatsit!

  It was a while before Polly managed to find the energy to rise off the bed and dial room service. The sound of her voice speaking into the phone roused Nicco. “Food?”

  She nodded.

  “Get me lots of meat to eat. I’m starving and I need to keep up my strength,” he whispered with a wink.

  Polly nodded her head. Typical male! She completed the order and returned to bed.

  “Did you get me lots of meat?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

  “Yes, I did. I got some extra ribs for you, Nicco-the-meat-eating-Neanderthal!”

  He feigned shock and attacked her by tickling her feet. Polly kicked about wildly, trying to escape being tickled, but her foot came up and her heel hit his chin with a sickening crack. Polly was horrified and thought she really hurt him. She sat up to see Nicco cradling his chin with his eyes shut in pain.

  “Oh God, I am so, so sorry!” she cried.

  Nicco shook his head and
walked to the bathroom as soon as he could open his eyes again. Polly followed, him repeating her apologies. He splashed his face with cold water and, after reassuring himself that nothing was broken and it wouldn’t bruise, he laughed. “It serves me right for tickling you.”

  Polly shrugged. “Nonetheless, I am sorry I kicked you.”

  He shook his head and enfolded her in his arms. “No worries. I’m no whinger; it’s over – forgotten, ok?”

  Polly nodded, but still felt guilty. They returned to the bedroom and Polly made them both a coffee. Why is nothing ever easy or straightforward? I could have killed him myself right then. She finished making the drinks and handed Nicco a mug.

  He smiled at her. “Come here, bruiser.”

  Polly pulled a face and surrendered to his embrace. Thank goodness he’s all right. No matter how guilty she felt about kicking him, she couldn’t prevent the thought from occurring to her that if she knocked him out, maybe he’d have to spend the night in hospital for observation. Then there would be no question of going boating tomorrow at all.

  As she drank her coffee, she mentally gave herself a telling off. What kind of thinking is that? Do you actually mean to harm the man in order to save his life? You’re off your rocker, Polly Lloyd! Get it together, will you?

  Nicco frowned at her. “What are you thinking?”

  Polly, thankfully, was let off from having to explain where her thoughts were going by a knock on the door and the call of “Room Service!”

  * * * *

  Polly didn’t have time to attempt to persuade him against going boating in the morning. They ate, and within minutes of finishing a bottle of wine, they were entwined in each other’s arms once again. This scheme of exhausting him so he’d sleep in late resulted in the pair of them being bushed and falling asleep in each other’s arms.

  Nicco muttered to her as he nodded off, “I’m tuckered out. Polly, you’re one heck of a woman.”