by Mandy Baggot
* * *
At his tender touch she wanted to cry. She was over-emotional because of her fight with Lacey, because of the missed call from Ross.
Yan let out a heavy sigh, his eyes locked with hers, their faces close together across the table.
‘It would be more easy for me to not feel this way with you.’
‘I know.’
‘I have to keep this job, Ellen. It is all I have.’
‘I know that.’
‘If I do not have this job for the summer I do not know what ...’
She moved her lips to his and kissed him hard. She wanted to let him know how much she had started to care.
‘Ellen.’
Him breathing out her name only made her kiss more insistent. She wanted to feel his mouth enveloping hers, wanted his hands on her skin, to feel the throb of his heart against hers. It was special. He was special. And England couldn’t have been any further away.
A gentle throat clearing had them breaking quickly apart. The waitress was standing at their table, a smile on her face.
‘You would like more cake?’ she offered, collecting up their plates.
‘Oh, no thank you. It was delicious but if I eat any more he’s going to make me do Zumba,’ Ellen responded.
Yan shook his head. ‘I do not do this.’
‘No?’
‘No. After we finish drink we walk to top of Mount Pantokrator.’
Ellen nodded. ‘I know you’re joking.’
He let out a laugh, shaking his head.
Her eyes shot left and upwards, scaling the almighty mountain. She turned back to Yan. ‘Isn’t there a cable car?’
31
Ellen was glowing. Yan hadn’t made her walk to the summit of Mount Pantokrator but when they’d returned to the Blue Vue Hotel they hadn’t gone back inside the complex. Instead they’d walked along a track down to the beach and then further, along a few miles of dusty, rocky dirt road towards the town of Acharavi.
They were tracking the edge of the turquoise water, woods to their left, shingle beach on their right. The sea was rolling white crested waves onto the rocks of the small inlet, licking the stones clean before turning to bubbling surf. A little way out, a blue and white fishing boat was buffeted by the ocean’s force as a dot of a sailor attempted to pull in his catch. Apart from the lone fisherman, there was no one else in sight.
‘Goats, see,’ Yan said, stopping suddenly and pointing into the trees.
Ellen shielded her eyes from the sun and followed the line of his arm. ‘Are they wild?’
‘You are scared of goat?’ he asked.
‘No, of course not, we just don’t have wild animals like that in England.’
‘Goat is not like tiger or lion.’
‘Very funny.’
Yan grinned and slipped his hand back into hers.
‘I can’t remember the last time I went on a walk.’ She let out a sigh. ‘You definitely couldn’t do this in a pair of Louboutins.’
‘I do not understand.’
‘They’re designer shoes. Expensive.’
‘You have these?’
‘Not anymore.’
This time when she said the words there was no yearning pang for them.
‘The man you were with. He buy you shoes?’
Ellen shook her head. ‘No.’
‘He has not money for these shoes?’
‘Money was one of the reasons it went downhill.’
‘Downhill?’
‘To crap. Ended. Finished. Kaput,’ she offered.
‘You know more of German,’ he exclaimed.
She laughed. ‘What about you?’
* * *
‘What about me?’ He’d said the words too quickly because he was worried about what else to say.
‘You asked me if I have someone back home. Do you?’ Ellen asked.
Her tone was so gentle, so concerned.
‘No.’ He needed to stop there but he could feel the words automatically coming to his lips. ‘But there was someone.’ He stopped walking.
A moment ticked by before Ellen spoke again. ‘What happened?’ Her voice was quieter now, subdued maybe because of his answer.
He shook his head. ‘It is difficult.’
What could he say to her? He did not want to lie but he did not want to tell her the truth either. He had to keep it from her. Not just to protect himself but to protect her. He didn’t want to let her down. They only had a few days and he wanted her to remember him as someone she had felt strongly about, not someone who was challenged.
He watched her swallow.
‘You don’t have to tell me. If it’s still raw, then ...’ she began.
‘It is but ...’ He was getting emotional. He hated the fact that even now, after all this time, the thought of what had happened affected him so much. He straightened his shoulders, lifted his head a little.
‘Yan, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even asked.’ She touched his arm.
‘No. It is OK.’ He felt for her hand. He wanted to hold it while he told her at least some of it. Because she was important to him and she had shared her story with him.
‘I was to be married.’
He looked up then, waiting to see what the statement did to her reaction. Her face tightened, her mouth closed up and her eyes widened just a little.
‘We were together for two years and very happy ...’ He stopped. ‘I think we are happy. So I ask for her to marry and she say yes.’
‘What happened?’
* * *
Ellen couldn’t help herself. She had to know. Yan’s girlfriend had accepted his proposal, had wanted to marry him, unlike her situation with Ross. What could have changed?
‘Was there someone else?’ The words blurted out of her mouth as they rolled over her mind. ‘Sorry, I don’t know why I said that.’
‘No ... I do not think.’ He picked up a stone from the track and moved it between his fingers. ‘It was her father.’
‘Her father?’ she queried.
He nodded. ‘He is very rich man. He give me job but at the end ... I could not do this.’
‘So, you couldn’t do the job and that meant you couldn’t marry his daughter?’ It sounded like something out of a film.
‘Rayna have a choice. She can decide to be with me or stay with father.’ His tone was sober. She didn’t need to be told his girlfriend’s decision.
‘I’m sorry, Yan.’ She was sorry. Although she was glad he was here with her, she had come to know he was not the type of person to give his love lightly. Everything she’d seen him do in the time she’d known him had been measured and thought about. The way he was so conscientious about his job, how he was with the children, how he had stepped up to save Zachary.
‘We can make plans but if others think of different then ...’
‘I’ve made plans all my life and look where that’s got me.’ Ellen smiled.
* * *
It was a smile from her heart. When she had first arrived in the resort he wasn’t sure if he would ever see her smile.
‘So plan is to not make plan?’ he asked her.
‘Yes, I think so. I think it’s all about taking every day as it comes.’
Now she looked excited. Had he done that? Had he given her that sparkle in her eyes and that glow on her cheeks? Just by getting to know her. By spending time with her. He hadn’t planned for any of this to happen, a connection the very last thing on his mind, but it had happened and it had grown – was still growing between them.
Perhaps it was time to trust a little more.
32
Yan grabbed hold of Ellen, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder with minimal effort. She screamed as her head hung upside down, bumping up and down, taking a closer view of the dirt track than was safe.
‘Yan! Stop! I’m going to fall!’
‘You will not fall.’ He started to sprint off into the greenery. Bushes and olive trees, tall grass and flora flipped past
her line of sight as he ran into the wooded area.
‘There are snakes here. I’ve read about them in the guide book. Put me down!’ Her voice jolted as she thumped up and down on his back.
‘Snakes are not to worry for. Like goat they will not hurt you unless you scare for them.’
‘I’d rather not risk finding out!’
‘This is not planned. You say not to make plan. I take you into wood.’
Yan lowered her down off his back and spread his arms wide at the surroundings. She blew out a breath, brushed her hair back behind her ears and looked at the building just in front of them half hidden by vines and leaves.
‘What is this place?’ She walked forward towards the building, pushing weeds and undergrowth out of her way.
‘Church. It was church. Now it is nothing,’ Yan replied, following her.
Ellen put her hands on the peach coloured plaster that was crumbling and coming away from the structure. Even in its current state of disrepair it was beautiful.
‘How did you find it?’ She went towards the wooden door.
‘Sometime we take kids’ club on nature walk.’
She expected it to be locked but she pushed at the door anyway. It opened. ‘It’s not locked,’ she said to him.
He stepped ahead of her. ‘I will go first. There could be goat.’
She thumped his shoulder as he led the way into the body of the building.
Yan pushed open the inner door and as she followed him she raised her head to the roof. A gasp escaped her lips. The ceiling was still in one piece, a starlit night sky in dark blue, carvings and paintings marked out in white and gold.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she breathed.
‘I like to be here,’ Yan responded.
Ellen took her gaze away from the ceiling and focussed on the rest of the room. The seats were split and broken, the floor covered in dirt, dust and plaster from the flaking walls.
‘When I dream, I think of making kids’ club here someday.’
She moved towards him. ‘What do you mean? Like in your village in Bulgaria?’
‘People have always to work late here, for shop and restaurant. After the school they could come here until parents finish,’ he said.
* * *
He knew in his heart he would never be able to get a job at a school. When he first saw this place the idea had formed. After the summer season he could lease the old church, earn money from looking after the local children, teaching them sport and games. If it was wet they had the building, once he had done repairs, and if it was nice weather they had the woodland and the beach.
‘I think it’s a brilliant idea.’
Her eyes were shining.
He nodded. It was a good idea, he knew that, but he wasn’t sure it was an idea he could implement very easily. Setting it up would require skills he just didn’t have.
‘Are you going to do it?’ Ellen asked. She looked eager and excited.
‘I do not know.’ He tested one of the seats with his hand before sitting down on it. ‘I have the rest of season at Blue Vue Hotel first then ...’
‘Afterwards, then. You could spend the winter making repairs and in the spring ...’
‘It is not so easy. I would need to get job to pay for church and repairs. To fix will take time and ...’
‘I know but think what you could achieve.’ He watched her looking around the building. It was as if she could already see the room transformed into a place for children to play.
‘It is big job. To make new.’
‘I can see that.’ She turned around and looked to him. ‘But just imagine what it could be like. And how much good it could do. Have you asked local families? Is there demand?’
Ellen was so animated, looking at him with both affection and excitement. His small dream, the dream he’d held for so long, was invigorating her. She thought it was important. She thought it could be done. She believed in him.
‘There are people at the hotel who need for this,’ he responded.
‘Of course there are. The waiters and the bar staff, the cleaners, everyone.’ She sat down next to him. ‘You should make a list of people to ask. The people who run Bo’s Bar and the other bar just down from that. What about the supermarket next to the hotel entrance?’
‘There are many things to arrange. To work here I must have permit,’ he reminded. ‘I have one until end of season but then ...’
‘Oh. I didn’t think about that.’ Her happy expression dropped for a second.
‘And there are papers you need to work with children. In my village people know my family, they trust me. Here it is all different.’
‘Oh. I didn’t think of that either.’
‘But maybe this can be done,’ he suggested.
Ellen smiled again. ‘I think it would be brilliant. If you could do it. If you have the time and the right paperwork and the money.’
* * *
At the mention of money her insides clung together as they plummeted. Everything came down to it, no matter what you did. And a few months earlier she would have been in a position to help him. But would they have ever met? Even if she had still come with Lacey on this holiday she wouldn’t have been the same person. Would she have been open to Yan? Or would she had spent the time glued to her iPhone typing emails to work?
‘I have some money but I do not know if enough.’
‘You could ask, about the church. Who owns it?’
‘There is a man. He lives not far from here. Thanasis.’
She nodded. ‘Then you should ask him.’
He turned his head to look at her. ‘You think I can do this?’
‘I think you can do anything you want to do.’
He let out a long breath. ‘I am ...’
‘A little scared?’ she offered.
She understood how that felt. Visualising what you wanted, even coming up with the plan, that was the easy part. Taking those first steps to making it a reality was the hard bit.
‘I do not want to feel this.’
‘I could help you, if you like. I could go with you to see the man?’
‘You would do this?’
‘Yes, of course.’
Yan put his hand over hers and interlocked their fingers. Then she raised her head and met his gaze. There were tears in his eyes.
33
Ellen had looked for Lacey but she wasn’t out by the pool. She was probably somewhere with Sergei or sulking down on the beach. The one thing Ellen could guarantee Lacey wouldn’t be doing was sparing a second worrying about her. And that was just fine. She could shrug it off too. Lacey had made her decision. The wedding was off and it was one less thing on her plate. She’d never really liked the colour of the bridesmaid dresses anyway.
Ellen sat down at a table by the bar and looked out to sea. On this clear day you could make out the shapes and colours of the buildings on Albania. Only the wave of heat over the land distorted her vision slightly. A yacht, it’s large, white sail fanning out above the deck sailed into the bay, ready to drop anchor.
Corfu was such a beautiful island and this place, this spotless complex and the village of St. Spyridon was a tranquil oasis untouched by the rest of the world – if you could manage to forget real life for a week. She was glad she’d come here. She wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
* * *
They were just singing a goodbye song in German when he got to the kids’ club. Yan opened the door and clapped as they ended the tune.
‘Yan!’ Zachary exclaimed excitedly.
‘Hello everybody! That was great singing.’
‘You come to join us, Mr Yan? Does everybody want Mr Yan to sing with us?’ Dasha asked the children.
All of the children responded favourably but he shook his head. ‘I cannot. I have to help Sergei move tennis nets.’ He looked to Tanja. ‘Can I speak with you?’
The team leader moved a little girl down from her lap and stood up. ‘I will be one moment,’ she spoke to
the children. ‘Why don’t you see if Dasha can remember moves to “Gangnam Style”?’
Yan backed up into the lobby of the kids’ club, the report in his hands.
‘Is everything good?’ Tanja asked, her brow creasing as she joined him.
‘Here is report.’ He held the paperwork out to her.
Tanja took it and looked at the writing. ‘Is in English?’
He ignored the question in her sentence. ‘Yes.’
‘It would be easier for you to write in Bulgarian?’
‘I think ... because boy is English and paperwork will be needed in English ...’ he began. He hoped this would work. He was sure it would not matter in which language the report had been written as long as Tanja did not guess that he had not written it.
‘You think hard about this. That is good. Very good.’ She nodded at him. ‘Thank you.’
He looked back into the kids’ club room and saw Dasha leaping about mimicking lassoing a rope over his head. The children were copying him, laughing and having fun. This was where he wanted to be all the time. With the children, helping them be happy, giving them joy.
‘You should go. Sergei will need your help.’
Yan checked his watch. ‘Yes. Thank you, Tanja.’ With a nod he headed back to the door.
* * *
Ellen saw Yan come into the bar area and straightaway her body reacted. She was practically humming with excitement whenever he was in the vicinity. She was no Little Miss Celibate but she’d never been so affected by a man before. And, after more sensual kisses in the olive grove that afternoon she was practically ready to combust with longing.
She took a sip of her Metaxa and Coke, knowing he was approaching.
‘I give Tanja the report,’ he whispered, standing next to her bar stool.
‘Was everything OK?’
She spoke like a Russian spy, the nearness of other hotel employees preventing anything else.
‘Everything is OK,’ he responded.