Chapter Eight
A bit of a Shock, October 1982
Tony drew his leg back into the shade as he felt his ankle start to tell him it had been in the sun too long. He groped in the beach bag for his watch; it had an all-metal strap and in the heat of the beach was not comfortable to wear. It said one o’clock. He looked over at Tas who seemed asleep in the other recliner under the giant beach umbrella. He put his hand over hers so that she would awake gently. She opened her eyes.
“It’s one o’clock Tas, do you want to start lunch or do you want to leave it for a bit?”
Tas orientated herself and gazed around.
“ Is the wine cold?”
Tony smiled.
“It has been in the sea for three hours so I reckon it is as cold as it is going to get, but I doubt you could call it chilled.”
“OK then.”
Tony slipped on his beach shoes. The temperature of the sand at anywhere around midday could be savage. You could watch people get up from their shaded beds and sprint down to the water. A slow walk would have been more dignified, but incredibly painful. Coming back when your feet were wet you could actually walk across the sand. He went down to the sea and waded out to where half a dozen corks bobbed on the surface of the sea. He reach under the water and clutched the length of twine that was tied to the neck of the bottle of white wine they had bought at the little shop on the way to the beach and brought it to the surface. It was about what would have passed for room temperature in England. He carried back to their umbrella.
Tas had been busy and by the time he got there had two plates ready with the tomatoes, feta cheese, olives, bread and sliced meat they had bought along with the vino. They adjusted their recliners to the upright position, made sure they were both in the shade and settled down to eat.
“Why do the wine and food taste so much better here than if you buy the same stuff in England?” said Tas.
Tony knew what she meant, but did not know the answer.
“Ambience? Was all that he could come up with?"
Tas sighed. They ate in silence both of them soaking up as much of the atmosphere as they could. This was their last day in Rhodes, their last day on the beach of this holiday. It was a Friday. This meant that they would get home at about five o’clock tomorrow and Sunday would be spent in mowing lawns that had been unattended for two weeks, getting holiday clothes into the washing machine and generally sorting out all the things that would be needed for work on Monday. Both knew by experience that by twelve o’clock on that day the holiday would just be a distant memory although neither mentioned this in an effort not to spoil this last day. Tas wiped the juice from a large peach from her face with her hand and sighed with contentment. Then she looked directly at Tony.
“You really like this new job of yours, don’t you?”
He was surprised at this as they had an unstated agreement that work stayed in England and did not come on holiday with them. Not in any serious manner anyway. He looked as Tas’ face and knew this was serious. He nodded.
“Yes”.
Her face remained serious and he waited for her to start on about how he could get a far better job than this and earn a lot more money.
“I like my job too you know?”
This was said without looking at him. He considered that for a moment before he replied.
“I know you do and I have never believed any different.”
She looked at him directly now.
“I have been asked to take a secondment to London. I will be there for three months. It is a practical work assessment in which I have to work and train at the same time. If I am successful I may be promoted.”
“Good, if that is what you want?”
She looked troubled.
“If I get promoted I will have to leave Somerset and could be sent anywhere.”
He felt the blow to his inner core and all the breath left him. They had moved to Somerset to leave all the stress behind and it had worked. They had a good life they both enjoyed and here she was telling him that she was prepared to chuck in that quiet life for a promotion. He blinked and wondered, no realised, that this was the cause of her sudden change of attitude towards him. He also realised that as the biggest earner in the partnership she felt she had the right to do what she wanted. He didn’t answer for a bit while he thought about it. Tas obviously felt the need to prove her self and who was he to argue with that. She deserved the chance to see how far she could go. Whether or not she would actually want to go if the opportunity presented itself he had no idea. The fact he had no idea shocked him. The fact that he had not realised she felt like this shocked him even more. He took a few more seconds before he felt ready to answer. Then remembering how she had encouraged him to spread his wings he lifted his head and smiled at her.
“OK Tas. Give it a go. See if you can do it and give it your best shot.”
She smiled in delighted surprise, leaned across, and kissed him. He smiled back hoping that his inner misery did not show. Leaving Somerset was not and never would be on his radar until he was ready to retire.
For the rest of the day and all evening Tas was full of life and laughter while Tony had to force himself not to slide into a mood. This was made even harder when Tas told him that she had to give her boss her answer the first morning back and that if it were yes she would be off to the London office the following week. The whole thing was made worse by Tas’ obvious happiness about it all and he wondered if it would have happened if they had been able to have kids. But if Tas had got pregnant as soon as they were married they may not even have made it to Somerset. The cost of a couple of kids would have restricted their options enormously. Also, it had been his desire to move, Oz had gone along with it, and chucking up her job had moved with him without complaint to a place she knew absolutely nothing about. By the greatest of good luck her company had at the last moment found her a job at the regional depot in Bridgwater. So he owed her. Still, it chewed away at him non-stop despite his openly smiling manner.
The Opportunities of Youth Page 9
