He stared at her, stony-faced. A man shouted over to him from the garden.
‘Luis. Luis! Over here. We’re late.’
Turning to leave, he muttered, ‘Work. Got to go. Hopefully I’m not too concussed to play. First you stand on my dog, then you throw something at me. I’ve had more subtle pick-up attempts.’
‘What?’ said Alice as he walked away. ‘What? But I didn’t ...’ She turned around to see Kathy almost doubled up with laughter at the bottom of the steps. ‘What’s so funny? The arrogant—’
‘I know you’ve been off the circuit for a while, Alice, but you don’t throw things at men to get their attention. Especially men who have their own guard dog. It’s obviously happened to him before.’
‘Oh, for goodness sake. I’m really embarrassed. And look, he’s laughing at me now.’ She tried to glare at him, but he was smirking at her instead of listening to what his friend was saying. ‘Who is he anyway? Thinks a lot of himself, doesn’t he?’
‘Luis something or other. Australian. Or Portuguese Australian. He plays guitar in the band. Oh no … oh no ...’
‘What?’
‘It’s Stephano.’ Kathy nodded her head towards another man who was walking towards Luis.
‘Stephano?’ I didn’t know he was still around. I thought he’d gone to Brazil after you’d divorced.’
‘He did. Then he came back.’
‘Oh, well. I’ll go and say hello later. That is allowed isn’t it? I mean I was your bridesmaid. All those years ago.’
‘Of course. Of course. But, um … oh, never mind.’
‘Something I should know?’
‘Girls!’ shouted Mary from the balcony. ‘Party time! Come on. I’ve Feng Shuied the venue you know. They’ve been moving furniture back and forth all afternoon.’
As they walked through the door of the annex they were enveloped by a sea of pink and white balloons: pink and white balloons on every table, pink and white balloons hanging next to almost every inch of the glass walls, and pink and white balloons in hammocks attached to the ceiling ready to be released and drown the partygoers in pink and white.
‘It’s like a Barbie ball pit,’ muttered Alice.
‘Mary is fond of pink and white,’ whispered Kathy.
Once again Alice suddenly felt she wasn’t really there. None of this was real. She was in her bed in her house in London having yet another weird and feverish dream in which she was sitting in a candyfloss room at a party for Mary and Frank. She was going to live in their apartment so she could look after their cat. Of course it wasn’t real. But then Mary came over to give her a hug, and she could feel it. Then the man whose head she had dropped her phone on started to play the guitar, Kathy got them more champagne and a stray pink balloon floated onto her hair, so she knew it was real. It was strange. But it was real. Alice managed to suppress a sob which had come out of nowhere: all this strange, vibrant happiness threw into sharp relief the empty, frightened days, weeks, months and even years she had been living. Taking a couple of deep breaths she looked up and forced a smile at the waiter who placed the champagne on the table. ‘Don’t look back, Alice,’ she said to herself. ‘Just don’t look back.’
Kathy nudged her and whispered. ‘Your new friend is very good, isn’t he?’
Alice looked over at him. ‘Yes, he is. Arrogant, but good.’
Luis sat alone on the stage, playing a haunting Spanish folk song, apparently unaware that anyone was watching him, completely lost in the music. Kathy nudged her again. ‘He’s also rather gorgeous isn’t he?’
‘Yes he is. But in a rude and arrogant way,’ said Alice, glancing at him again, because Kathy was right. He was gorgeous.
‘Holiday romance?’ asked Kathy with a wink.
‘Um,’ Alice swallowed her drink and began to cough. ‘I think that’s a bit of a leap of imagination. And I don’t want a holiday romance. And very, very attractive though he is I really don’t think that I fancy him.’ Alice turned around to look outside and not at the stage, not wanting to acknowledge that the thought had fleetingly crossed her mind. ‘And I don’t want a holiday romance with anyone,’ she said eventually. ‘I cannot stress that enough.’
‘Why not? It’d do you good.’
‘I don’t want to get involved. I’ve got too much on my plate.’
‘A holiday romance isn’t getting involved,’ said Kathy, kicking Alice’s ankles. ‘You used to do it all the time before you met Adam.’
‘We went on two holidays before I met him.’
‘That’s two holiday romances.’
Alice turned back round to the table and sipped her drink. ‘Yes, well, that was a long time ago. And I was young. And carefree. And not like I am now.’
‘I’m sure I could fix you up with someone.’
‘Kathy!’ said Alice, trying to be stern.
Kathy giggled and put her arm around her. ‘Have some fun!’ she said.
As the meal ended with pink and white meringues, the band leapt dramatically onto the stage, joining Luis and his guitar. ‘Ola Cascais!’ shouted the lead singer. ‘It’s great to be here for Mary and Frank’s farewell. Are you having a good time?’
‘Yes!’ chorused the room.
‘Are you ready to rock? Are you ready to dance?’
Kathy giggled. ‘Now this one thinks he’s Jon Bon Jovi. He always does this. But he never gets booked to play actual rock music any more.’
‘Aw, bless,’ said Alice, who was by now feeling quite pink and white herself.
‘We are Blazing Heat!’ he shouted over the top of the introduction to ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’.
‘See what you mean,’ laughed Alice. When she finally looked up she noticed Luis staring at her from the stage. Her stomach did an unexpected flutter, and she looked away to fiddle with her shoe. Then she glanced over again but he was looking at his guitar. The set covered most musical genres, including a few Broadway hits, a couple of Beyonce’s songs and one song by The Clash as people crowded onto the dancefloor, happily dancing both in and out of time. The band wrapped up with ‘I’ll Get Along Without You Now’.
‘I chose that,’ shouted Mary. ‘In fact, I chose it all.’
As the DJ took over, Alice drifted outside into the garden to cool down. The warm air was light with the scent of jasmine and wild sage. Taking off her shoes, she stood on the damp grass, stretching her arms above her head, and breathed in slowly, eyes closed.
‘Are you meditating?’
Alice turned, startled. Luis was standing in a doorway, smiling. She hadn’t realised how tall he was. Her stomach fluttered again and she tried to stop it by putting a hand on it. ‘Oh, hello. I am so sorry about earlier. Someone knocked into me,’ she said too quickly.
‘And I was a bit surprised,’ said Luis. ‘I’m not normally that rude. I was feeling protective towards Elvis, too. And I was distracted. A lot on my plate.’
Alice smiled. ‘Me too.’
‘Shall we start again?’ he asked.
He shook her hand, and Alice felt a tiny and very pleasant electric shock as he did so.
‘Hello madam, my name is Luis.’
She smiled. ‘Hello sir, I’m Alice.’
‘Very nice to meet you. Would you care to dance?’
‘That would be very nice, thanks.’ His eyes held hers for a second. They were brown and warm and smiling.
‘You’ll need your shoes,’ he said, eventually. ‘Although if you like dancing without them …?’
‘Oh yes,’ she said, slipping them back on. ‘I like the feel of the grass on my bare feet,’ she said, wishing she hadn’t said it as soon as it was out of her mouth.
‘You do?’
‘And I don’t like walking in heels. I totter in heels,’ she said, wishing she hadn’t said that either. Alice felt a comfortable and nervous at the same time, something she hadn’t experienced since before she’d met Adam.
‘So your phone is okay?’
‘Yes. Your head?’
> ‘Yes.’
They began to walk back towards the party.
‘Everything is so clean and fresh here, isn’t it?’ The words spilled out of her. ‘I love London, but it doesn’t smell as nice as here.’
‘Well this is Paradise,’ said Luis, leading her back into the party. ‘And Paradise always smells nice.’
As they stepped onto the dance-floor ‘Lady in Red,’ segued seamlessly into a Disney song and they were suddenly surrounded by excited little girls swaying and waving their arms around. ‘Shall we anyway?’ asked Luis, pulling her close to him. And they both danced slowly to ‘Let it Go’ whilst trying not to laugh out loud.
‘Luis! Luis!’ Blazing Heat’s lead singer was shouting at him from the door. ‘Time to go. Next gig. Come.’
‘Sorry,’ sighed Luis into her ear. ‘I thought I was finishing after this but he sprung another one on me.’ He stood back and kissed her hand, gazing into her eyes again. Alice gazed back, then glanced away, nervously. ‘How long are you here for?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know …’
‘You don’t know?’ He laughed. ‘Interesting.’
‘Luis! We will be late.’
‘Sorry, I have to go. Antonio – my cousin – second, or third or fourth – anyway, he is family – likes to keep busy.’
Alice watched him walk towards his bandmates at the door as one of the waiters handed him Elvis on his lead. She had to stop herself from following him and asking him to come back. To dance again with her, and to talk, to be. It’s been a long time since I’ve been at a party, she thought. Calm down. It was just a dance. As she walked back to her seat, happy and a little flustered, Stephano, Kathy’s ex-husband approached her.
‘Alice! What a surprise. It’s great to see you after all this time.’
‘You too,’ she said, kissing him on the cheek. ‘I didn’t realise you still lived here.’
‘I went to Brazil. Then I came back. I think it was nearly four years ago now.’
‘Still doing the landscaping and gardening?’
‘Yes. Business is doing well. I employ twenty people at the moment.’
‘Good to hear.’
‘So you finally decided to come and visit Kathy.’
‘Finally.’
‘How have you enjoyed the party?’
A laugh burst out of Alice, unexpectedly. ‘It’s been wonderful. A real tonic. Just lovely.’ Her phone buzzed in her bag. ‘Excuse me. I just better check this,’ she said. It was from her sister, Tara.
Phone me. It’s about Adam.
The familiar sick anxiety returned. She stood up. ‘Sorry, Stephano, I’ve got to ring someone,’ she said, walking towards the exit.
The following morning Alice left the hotel for her temporary new home, waving goodbye to the staff at reception with a smile. But the conversation with Tara the previous night had punctured her happy mood with an unwelcome dose of Adam and the grey sky seemed to echo it.
‘Why are you so sad, Alice? Today is a good day,’ said Ignacio, ushering her into his car. ‘Is it because it’s raining? It has to rain sometimes, even here.’ He gestured dramatically towards the sky. ‘It is to make it green and bright and beautiful. So no need to be sad.’
‘I’m not sad. Do I look sad?’
‘You look sad. Like the day you arrived. Pale. Unhappy. Lost.’
‘Oh, well. I’m none of those things, Ignacio. Look, I’m smiling.’
Ignacio glanced in the rear-view mirror and shook his head. ‘That is not a smile.’
Alice looked into her handbag and began to rummage around it, so he couldn’t see her face. ‘How long will it take to get there?’
‘Three minutes.’
‘Three minutes. Is that all? I could have walked. I only have one suitcase.’
‘Kathy thought you would get lost.’
She sighed. The car slowly turned into the long tree-lined driveway towards the apartments. Bushes of red and orange bougainvillea tangled around the bottom of the pink and brown block that was to be Alice’s home for the next few weeks. As they drew closer, she tried to be excited. And grateful. And relieved. But the knot in her stomach was caused by anxiety, the tension in her neck by stress, the watery eyes hidden behind sunglasses by crying about the loss of something she didn’t want anyway.
‘I needed to let you know,’ Tara had said quietly when she had called her after the party. ‘He is coming back over. Next week. His sister-in-law told me. So I could tell you. She doesn’t know about the house.’
‘Oh well. I knew he was coming back. Better tell Mum and Joseph to brace themselves.’
‘But there is something else. He’s bringing his new girlfriend with him.’
‘Oh.’
‘Oh indeed. Are you okay? I thought you needed to know.’
‘I do. Thanks for telling me. But it’s okay. I’m not pining for him or anything.’
Alice swept out of the car, angry. She was angry because she wasn’t feeling the way she thought she should be. And why should she not be happy on the first day of her new, if very temporary, life? Because of Adam. Because of bloody Adam. She did not want to think of Adam. But he was there, like a selfish shadow, throwing himself into her thoughts. ‘Like the snake in Paradise,’ she muttered. ‘No, that’s the Garden of Eden.’ And then she got angry because she was struggling with metaphors about Adam when she should have been bounding out of Ignacio’s car and looking up proudly at her penthouse home with – according to Mary – ‘stunning panoramic views of both the sea and the mountains’.
Alice replayed the conversation in her head again and sighed. ‘Have you ever been to Argentina, Ignacio?’
‘No. Why?’
‘Someone I know is coming back from Argentina to find me. But not because he wants to see me. Because he wants to take something away from me.’
‘So, I see now. That is why you are looking so sad.’
She glanced at the text her sister had sent her that morning. I checked his new girlfriend’s name. It’s Veronique. Are you okay? I thought you were going to spontaneously combust when I spoke to you. Tara xx
Leaning wanly against a tree whilst Ignacio struggled with her suitcase, she glanced at the swimming pool glistening like glass between the trees and wandered towards it. I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair, said the voice in her head, as she studied the still, pale blue water. Humming the tune, she threw her sunglasses dramatically on the grass and ostentatiously kicked off her flip flops before jumping in and shouting, ‘Bugger off Adam and leave me alone!’
Ignacio stood, staring down at her as she emerged, invigorated, from the depths of the pool, and said nothing as she squelched behind him towards the entrance. ‘I feel better now,’ she said.
‘Madam,’ he said without looking back. ‘Don’t pause too long in the foyer. Your shirt has become see through and that is not a good way to introduce yourself to the porter.’
Chapter Six
Alice was determined to fill her first day in the apartment with useful activities that would overwhelm any thoughts of Adam by their sheer volume. So she unpacked, went shopping, went for a swim – in her swimming costume this time – and walked into town and back. By six o’clock she had run out of things to do. Deciding to make a list of places she wanted to see, she sat down, pen and pad in hand and tried to think. But he pushed himself back into her head, with thoughts of his new girlfriend, who was called Veronique and was ‘a little bit South American,’ according to Tara. Alice hadn’t questioned what a ‘little bit South American’ was but tried to ignore an image of long, swishy black hair. No face, but long black hair, swishing beguilingly. She stood up and drifted onto the balcony, putting her hands through her fringe to muss it up and pouting in an attempt to channel a young Debbie Harry to offset visions of the imaginary Veronique.
I don’t want him, she thought. I don’t care. But … but … how has he found someone whilst I’ve been too busy to do anything because I’ve been working hard t
o pay the mortgage? Her mobile rang and she walked back into the apartment, glad of the respite from herself.
‘Hi. It’s me,’ said Kathy.
‘Hi. I’ve had a lovely day. The apartment is gorgeous,’
‘Good. At least Adam hasn’t ruined your day as well as yesterday evening.’
‘Nope. I woke up this morning and decided that I wouldn’t allow it,’ she lied.
‘Excellent.’
Alice picked up a note of distraction in her friend’s voice. ‘It wasn’t that easy, though. But I’ve done really well.’
‘I’m on my way over with something for you,’ said Kathy.
‘Oh what? Wine? Cake?’ A muffled noise of what sounded like another voice drowned her out. ‘Sorry – is someone with you? I heard a voice?’ said Alice.
‘No. No,’ replied Kathy. ‘I didn’t hear anything. I’m on my own.’
‘My mistake! Are you going to tell me what the something is?’ Another muffled noise interrupted her. ‘What is that?’ asked Alice, perplexed.
‘I can’t hear anything. Must be a glitch on the line.’ A door banged in the background. ‘I’ll be with you in half an hour, with something from your past,’ continued Kathy. ‘I’m being mysterious,’ she said mysteriously. ‘I’m being mysterious because I’m trying to build up the excitement.’
‘Oh, well it’s working,’ laughed Alice. ‘See you later.’ And as she laughed, she remembered the expression on Luis’s face as they danced the previous night. For just a moment Adam had gone. She smiled and sat down, picking up a pink embossed notebook left by her landlords, full of instructions and helpful notes from Mary. There was also a basket of bath creams, pot pourri and some homemade herbal teas with ‘drink me’ written on the bags. She picked up the book and opened it at ‘Welcome!’
Dear Alice love, welcome to our home. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time in Cascais once you settle in.
I’ve put together some useful hints and tips for your stay. Read them as and when.
For food shopping, you’ll already have seen the big supermarkets, but for day to day, there’s a little shop five minutes away. Just turn left as you come out of the apartment block.
The House That Alice Built Page 5