The deck felt wonderfully cool under Sofia’s feet as she walked back to the pier head to get her beach bag from under Jimmy’s canvas umbrella. As a rule, her bag contained only a few things: a baseball cap, suntan lotion, a towel, her sunglasses, and a small purse of loose change. Picking it up, she rummaged through the usual contents to find a small paper bag. There were some leftover crumbs in it from the cheese pastry she’d bought from Karavi at lunchtime.
Sometimes she’d get a koulouri instead, which was just a sesame bread ring, and other times she’d go for a more filling kebab with pita, but no matter what her lunch was, she’d always leave a small piece to feed the sparrows that visited the shore at this hour. Today had been no different. The timid, winged creatures had started to descend all across the beach, seeking tiny scraps of food.
Sofia ambled to the pier base and sat down, dipping her feet in the cool, shallow water. She took a pinch of puff pastry leftovers into her fingers and tossed it on the sand near her. A couple of sparrows were jumping frantically about the place there. As soon as the food hit the sand, they were on it, pecking busily whilst tweeting cheerfully about the generous offering.
Soon, there was a dozen or so of them on the spot, fighting for the last traces of sustenance. Sofia let out an easy laugh. She threw them some more pastry and smiled to herself when she thought of the name the locals gave these birds.
A sparrow was strangely nicknamed ‘the groom’ in this part of the world. According to the villagers, if a sparrow approaches a young girl out of the blue, this is a sign that soon enough, she’ll be engaged to be married. Sofia couldn’t believe how fanciful people used to be in the old days. She sometimes wondered how many timid, village girls in the past had blushed at the sight of a sparrow landing near them. As romantic and enchanting as it all sounded, Sofia preferred living in the modern world; in a time where women went out there and claimed what they wanted from life, rather than wait for signs from the sky.
She threw down the last scrap of food for the birds and watched them skip here and there, as they sought to eat even the tiniest bits, until there was nothing left but sand. They looked so fragile, yet incredibly nimble on their spindly legs, with their breasts puffed up, and their tiny eyes bright. She didn’t detect any apprehension in the way they looked at her while bowing down to take the food. It felt more like they were bowing to say a humble ‘thank you’, and she felt really privileged to be there, so close to them.
Her train of thought took her to a hysterical destination as well; if she were to take every one of the little birds before her as a sign of a man after her heart, she would soon be having trouble keeping men off her door. It was then that she felt apprehensive and instinctively, she looked up.
Her heart gave a thump, as she remembered Crazy Boy from before. To her surprise, he was staring at her in an intense and rather quizzical way that made her feel electrified. He was seated on his straw mat a few feet away, once again listening to music from his Walkman. Sofia guessed he had probably been watching her for a good while. Sitting on his mat next to him, his friend was engrossed in a book. She turned her gaze to Crazy Boy again and continued to stare back at him, comfortably at first, but then she felt trapped, stunned at the realisation that somehow, she couldn’t or didn’t want to look away.
Feeling annoyed more with herself than with him, she was about to stand up and break his gaze, when, out of the blue, he smiled at her. It wasn’t one of those cheesy, flirty smiles that made her run miles, though. It seemed genuine, and she thought it made him look even more dashing than before.
Despite herself, she gave a nod with an uncertain little smile, and deciding that this was far more than she would normally offer in such a situation, she finally stood up. She picked up her bag and waved goodbye to Jimmy, who was chatting with a passing local nearby. Without as much as another glimpse at the boy, she walked away past Regent’s Hotel and took the path to the village.
Chapter 17
1937
That summer afternoon was extremely pleasant, and Laura sought the opportunity to go outside and take a short break from work. She took a seat on the landing stages sundeck and raised her eyes to the sky. Feeling grateful, she gave silent thanks for her place in the world, and the sea breeze caressed her face in return. She often sought this spot, for the pleasure of clearing out her thoughts for a while. At the deck, she enjoyed sitting in silence, just listening to the blissful cry of the seagulls, the vague chatter from passers-by, and the splashing sounds of the wash hitting the piles underneath.
She had just eaten a sandwich from the café and had made sure to offer a small portion to the seabirds. Feeding them gave her an odd sense of pleasure. She’d marvel as the gulls swooped down on the morsels of food, snatching them mid-air before they even hit the water. Occasionally, she’d throw breadcrumbs on the deck before her, delighted to see sparrows and starlings gather at her feet, to receive her offering.
All at once, two hands came out of nowhere, shielding her eyes. It was Christian. She was delighted to see him out of the blue, and her loving eyes told him as much. Spending time together was precious to them both, especially as it came in bite-sized chunks on the days they both worked long hours. The Pavilion seemed surprisingly large a space to these two lovers, who worked in different areas and hardly saw each other while on duty.
Christian sat down next to her on the bench and planted a firm kiss on her lips.
“Are you on a break too?” she asked, lacing her hands around his neck.
“Only a short one. Just popped down to the tackle and bait shop.”
“Christian, I wish you wouldn’t do that any more!” She huffed, removing her hands from his neck to let them fall limply on her lap.
He gave a lopsided grin. “Why not?”
“You’ll get in trouble, that’s why! Why can't you fish off the Pier head like everyone else does? Fishing indoors from the stage wings is simply ridiculous!”
Christian shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with it. Paul’s doing it, all the stagehands are doing it.”
“But what if Mr Thornton finds out? You could lose your job!”
“Are you joking? He only patted me on the back yesterday when he saw me carry out a hefty sea bass!”
“What? I don’t believe you!”
“I swear it’s true! The man doesn’t care, as long as we do our job during the show. Why would he mind that we spend our idle intervals with a bit of fishing?”
“Pah! Fishing? With a line through the cracks in the floorboards?” She shook her head, then gave a sigh. It’s no use talking sense to him. Boys will be boys! She turned to look at Christian, a faint smile on her lips. “Whoever thought of this first, I wonder? I bet it was a man!”
“I’m sure of that… and whoever he was, he was a genius!” Christian chuckled and threw an arm around his girl, squeezing her against him.
“You silly boy,” she said, caressing his cheek, and he bent his head to kiss her.
“I’m so proud of you, darling, having your first swim today,” he said after their lips parted. “We’ll have to do this again soon.”
Laura looked up at him, her huge eyes and pouted lips making her look like a child. “Oh, I don’t know. How am I ever going to learn with that stupid lifesaver?”
“Don’t be in such a rush… it takes time! First, you need to learn how to move your arms and legs and how to breathe properly. Then, you can try without the lifesaver.”
Laura frowned. “I don’t know how I’m going to brave it the first time.”
“It won't happen all at once. You’ll have to hold on to it until you need it no more.”
She huffed. “I’ll have to see that to believe it.”
“You trust me, don’t you?” he asked, looking into her eyes, his face serious.
“Of course, my love. I would go to the end of the world with you.” She stared deep into his eyes, where the blue matched the peaceful sea around them, and felt her heart melt.
“Would you swim across the Channel with me?” he asked, tracing with the tip of his index finger, the outline of her luscious lips.
Laura giggled. “Well, I can't yet, obviously!”
“Would you swim in the nude with me off the Pier?” he asked with a cunning wink.
“What? You naughty boy! That’s not allowed and you know it!”
He arched a single eyebrow in response. “I beg to differ.”
Her face turned serious. “Christian, it’s illegal. We could get arrested. My mum would die!”
“You haven’t read the regulation very carefully, have you?”
“What on earth do you mean?”
“The sign says, ‘Bathing in costume after nine am’, doesn’t it now?”
“Yes.”
“Which means that early in the morning we can do what we like.”
Laura gasped. “Impossible! You can't be serious!”
“I’ve done it! And lots of other people are doing it, Laura.”
Her eyes turned huge. “Really?”
“Yes! And trust me, nothing feels more liberating than a dip in the briny without any clothes on.”
“Really?” she repeated, lost for words.
“You said that before. I can't believe what a prude you are!”
“I’m not!”
“Will you do it then?” he asked, but the only answer he received from her was a look of hesitation.
“Oh come on Laura! You only get to live once!”
“Maybe we don’t just live once! Maybe we come back again and again. I’ll do it with you in another lifetime,” she teased, in a futile attempt to change the subject.
“Oh no! It all happens here and now, young lady!” Christian laughed and started tickling her.
Laura doubled over, trying to avoid his hands but to no avail. She was now squirming, shrieking, and laughing, as he kept tickling.
“Go on, say it! You will come!” he demanded, then stopped to allow her to catch her breath.
“Oh dear! Are these tears?” she managed to say, before wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Her gut ached from laughing.
“Stop trying to change the subject.” He pulled her close, then squeezed her in his arms, cuddling her, as if she were the most precious thing in the world.
“All right you insufferable bully!” she joked, slapping his arm. “Meet you at the swimming deck tomorrow at eight a.m. sharp.”
“Excellent, I knew you had it in you. All you needed was a little push.” He smirked and gave her another kiss. Then, they stood up and, holding hands, ambled under the brilliant summer sun, back to the Pavilion.
***
The next morning, eight on the dot, Christian arrived at the bathing station. There was no one else on the deck, but he could see scattered clothes lying all over the place. From the hushed voices in the water underneath, he knew at once there were others with the same notion on this warm, summer morning.
Laura came out of the changing rooms, wrapped in a towel. Christian gave her one of his dashing smiles that made her weak at the knees, and she rushed to give him a kiss. When their lips parted, her green eyes were crinkling with mirth, and his face was animated with surprise.
“You didn’t think I would come in the end, did you?” she asked him with a triumphant grin on her lips.
“You naughty girl, you undressed before I even got here! Let’s have a look then,” he teased, trying to pull the towel from her.
“Don’t you dare!” she retorted, slapping his hand. “Now, it’s your turn, let’s see!”
To her surprise, he took off all his clothes, without the slightest hint of inhibition.
“Done!” He threw his hands in the air and gave a cheeky grin.
Laura stifled a giggle and felt thankful for her ability to conceal her inner thoughts and feelings. Deep down, she felt as guilty as sin for appearing like this in public. Still, she was determined to enjoy her summer, her youth, the feeling of freedom Christian gave her along with his love. Trying to look nonchalant, she gestured for him to follow her down the ladder and into the water.
“Um, aren't you forgetting something, my darling?”
“What?” she responded, none the wiser, standing by the top of the ladder.
“You’ll have to leave the towel here, you silly girl! And you may want to take the lifesaver with you. Unless you intend to drown down there?” he teased, making an effort not to dissolve into hysterics.
“Um… yes, I guess so.” Cringing, she took the lifesaver and handed him the towel in return, along with her last hope to retain her dignity in public.
Still, by the time they got in the water, all trepidation had evaporated. The feeling was unique, making her wonder how come more people weren’t doing this. Most of the other swimmers were young couples like them, but there were also a few teenagers and surprisingly enough, a few elderly people too. They all seemed totally at ease with each other’s nakedness. The only apprehension they seemed to share was related to their fear of getting caught and charged with indecent exposure in public. Thus they all spoke in hushed voices, floating around the piles underneath the Pier head, aiming to hide from any onlookers looking down from the deck.
Chapter 18
The summer unfurled to its conclusion with the weather staying surprisingly consistent with warm and sunny days. The young lovers swam together many times again off the Pier, sometimes quietly in the nude and other times with whole crowds of people, free to play and laugh, even to hire a boat and go for a little ride along the shore. By September, Laura was an intrepid swimmer, diving off the Pier confidently. She even learned from Christian how to perform a wooden soldier dive, impressing her girlfriends and even her mother, who wound up dipping in the water too, quite a few times. Dr Barnett saw no harm in it. On the contrary, he had suggested it would do wonders for her. Once more, he was proven right.
That afternoon in mid-autumn, Laura and Christian had an hour off duty before the matinee, and they spent it together around the Pier. They had already been at the amusement arcade under the elevated Pier entrance. He showed her how to play ‘Flash O Ball’ and afterwards, she stood and watched him get one highest score after another on ‘Auto Golf’. Such things easily impressed her, and Christian never missed an opportunity to show off. He’d often try to win for her any piece of worthless jewellery that took her fancy on the slot machines. Most of the time he succeeded. Once, he had spent nearly a day’s wage in coppers to get her a string of fake pearls she had seemed really keen on.
And now, after an obligatory stop to buy her some candyfloss, they were sitting at the landing stages back at the Pier head. People were coming and going, and it was soon going to be busier than normal, seeing that ‘The Brighton Queen’, one of P & A Campbell’s paddle steamers was to arrive soon to pick up more passengers for a pleasure cruise. As always was the case, the boat arrived on time, all tidy and polished, a beauty to behold.
Couples of all ages, big groups of friends and families huddled together on the deck eager to board. Among them, a little girl, dressed in a beautiful frilly dress, looked as cheerful as a spring morning, standing between her mother and father, bursting at the seams with anticipation. On her lapel, she wore a brooch with the ship’s name on it. Laura had noticed it earlier on when the girl had stood right by them for a while.
Full of curiosity, she turned to Christian to ask him about it. He was eager to explain then, that over the years, the paddle steamer company had released various versions of these brooches for sale to the customers, featuring all their pleasure steamers: ‘The Brighton Belle’, ‘The Glen Gower’, ‘The Waverley’, and others. Laura was impressed, but Christian shook his head.
“It’s all nonsense, isn't it? It’s just the company trying to make more money out of its clients,” he blurted out when she questioned his response.
“But why are you so cynical? They make a nice souvenir, surely! And I bet you, these brooches might even become collectibles one day.”
“I’d like to have one,” she insisted, as was always the case when she felt challenged. If someone opposed her, it drove her crazy, and she felt compelled to push on.
“Guess you’ll have to have a cruise then,” he replied non-committally.
“Are you going to take me one day?”
“Me? On the Shilling Sickers? No, thanks!”
“The Shilling, what?” she asked, taken aback.
“A paddle cruise is called a Shilling Sicker. Didn’t you know?” His face brightened somewhat. It cheered him up that she didn’t seem to have the faintest idea. He loved teaching her things she didn’t know about. Maybe because she kept yearning for things he couldn’t give her. Therefore, to be able to tell her something she didn’t know, meant he had still something to give, and perhaps could still keep her for a bit longer.
“And why do you call them that?” she asked, her head cocked in that childish way he found so adorable.
He gave a cunning grin. “Well, I guess it means you pay your shilling, and if you’re not a good sailor then you’ll be very sick!”
“That’s not nice at all! I’m sure it’s not as bad as that!”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t know.”
“You mean to tell me you’ve never been on one of these?”
“That’s right.”
“Fancy not wanting to have a little boat ride! I thought your father was a sailor like mine.”
His face turned serious. “Yes, he was. But it was the sea that took him, Laura! Causing my mother to die of sorrow eventually, too. Why should I go on a sea voyage after all that?”
“My love, the sea took my father as well, but I don’t see things the way you do.” Gently, she took his hand in hers. As if realising he had been abrupt, he bent down to kiss the top of her head and tried to smile for her.
“Sorry, darling. I don’t know why I act like that sometimes,” he replied, although he knew quite well exactly what bothered him with her when it did.
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