The Holiday Swap

by Zara Stoneley

  Anna frowned. ‘You’re using emotional blackmail now.’

  ‘All’s fair. But it’s true, consider it a favour to Flo if you really won’t admit you want me to do it. Oh, come on, am I wrong?’

  Anna sighed. ‘No, you aren’t wrong. You’re right.’

  ‘I’m right!’ Daisy squealed and, jumping up, did a jig on the bed, which creaked alarmingly, so she sat down quick. ‘I don’t think I want to end up like Mum, giving up her dreams and looking after old ladies and cows, but I won’t know if I don’t try, will I?’

  ‘You won’t.’ With a grin that was only a tiny bit strained, Anna wrapped her arms round Daisy and squeezed her so hard she squeaked. ‘I knew you’d do it and prove Jimmy wrong.’

  ‘Prove Jimmy wrong?’ Daisy wriggled.

  Anna released her stranglehold and looked sheepish. ‘He said a weekend was more than enough for you, and could I bugger off out of your life and lead somebody else astray.’ She lifted her chin. ‘That’s partly what made me suggest it last night, but I honestly thought it was a mad idea. I never thought you’d actually want to do it. Don’t look at me like that! Oh, okay, I’m jealous. I admit it, it will be weird, you doing this on your own.’

  ‘I know, and I don’t want to sound selfish, but this is about me, Anna. For the first time in as long as I can remember I’m doing something I really, really want to do.’

  ***

  A shower, one glass of orange juice, two croissants and three cups of coffee (they were only tiny) later, Daisy felt slightly less as though an alien had infested her head, and more than a little bit giddy. What had seemed a slightly dubious idea last night in the bar, sounded absolutely brilliant in the sober light of day. Which seemed the wrong way round. It was like a crazy wonderful dream had come true, but she wasn’t quite sure how. And even when she said it out loud, in real words, to a person, it still sounded like a good idea.

  She glanced at Flo, who was grinning like she agreed, and it was just Anna who didn’t look quite so enthusiastic. Which could have been because she wasn’t one of the people doing it.

  ‘What do you think, Flo? I mean, I know we were all drunk last night…’

  ‘Honestly? We have to do this swap thing. It’ll be amazing. Stop looking at us like that, Anna! What have we got to lose? We can both be home for Christmas Day, but have a fab time before. I won’t have to risk bumping into Oli-the-arsehole,’ she looked at Daisy, ‘and you won’t have Jimmy waving a ring in your face.’

  Daisy laughed, relieved that it wasn’t just her that thought this could work.

  ‘It would be great, and it would be so nice to go back to the UK.’

  ‘And rain.’ Interjected Anna, then shrugged when Daisy glared at her. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘It might even snow. A proper wintery Christmas would be cool.’ Flo tore a bit off her croissant.

  ‘Very cool.’ Daisy couldn’t help but smile at the wistful look on Flo’s face. ‘As in cold cool, and I have got an, er, dog that would need to be walked. Did I mention that?’ She looked at Flo apologetically. ‘I mean, it’s not like being here.’

  ‘No problem. You know I love dogs, in fact a dog is on my bucket list. I told you, didn’t I, Anna? Oli hated them, so it will be great to have a dog to look after.’

  ‘And a horse.’

  ‘Oh God, yes, I’d forgotten about the picture you showed me last night. Wow, that’s amazing, you have no idea how much I want a horse again. When I was a kid I spent all my time having lessons and grooming ponies for people. Don’t you remember?’

  ‘Oh yes! I remember, you went to Billy. That’s brill, I’d forgotten that, so you’d have no trouble at all with Barney. He’s a big softy really.’

  ‘So that’s decided then?’ Anna looked from Flo to Daisy, and back again. ‘You both want to do it, don’t you?’

  Daisy and Flo looked at each other. ‘Well, if you really don’t mind looking after my place, Flo? I can make sure Jimmy drops off plenty of wood for the fire for you.’

  ‘It sounds fab, a proper escape. So where do you live now? Near your parents’ farm? Do you live in a proper country cottage?’

  ‘Well it’s quite a way from their place and it’s on the edge of the village, over the other side.’

  ‘Gosh, you’re so lucky.’

  ‘Well?’ Anna looked at Daisy.

  ‘Definitely.’ She’d never been so sure of anything, which was a bit weird. ‘It would be lovely to stay for longer. I mean we’ve hardly seen anything, really, and it’s such a beautiful city.’

  ‘That’s settled then I guess. So I reckon we should drink a toast to that.’

  ‘Toast?’ Daisy stared at Anna and groaned. ‘I need more coffee first. Strong coffee. And a better map, and sunscreen, and better walking shoes, and knickers… and how on earth am I going to explain this to Jimmy?’

  Flo laughed. ‘Well I’m not sure how you explain it to Jimmy, but I can help out with the knickers.’

  ‘Good, because packing for a long weekend doesn’t quite cut it if I’m staying for nearly three weeks.’

  Daisy did villages, not cities. Wide-open spaces, with the odd elbow-nudging encounter in the corner shop if there were more than three people in there (it really wasn’t very big). She wasn’t even that keen on shopping, being jostled about while she was looking for the perfect top that didn’t seem to exist, and as for the whole trying-on-stuff thing in those open-plan changing rooms. Yuk. Thank God for online shopping. But Flo knew exactly where to go, and took a detour half way through when she could see that Daisy was wavering.

  ‘We’re going to Café de l’Opera for a pick-me-up.’

  ‘We are?’

  ‘We are. It’s olde-worlde, very kind of Parisian chic but actually Catalan Art Nouveau, and I bet it’s in your guidebook. Come on, if it was good enough for Picasso and Gaudi it’s good enough for you. You will love it.’

  Daisy did. The small, unobtrusive doorway led to what she could only describe as a step back in time. ‘Oh my God, it’s wonderful.’ The ceilings were high – painted a subtle green with large old-fashioned fans, and chandeliers along the length – with edges that were carved and decorated. Below, the bottom half of the walls were wood-panelled, the top sections painted in subtle colours, with paintings and decorated mirrors interspersed. It felt decadent, grand and faded all at the same time. ‘It’s like being at the opera.’

  Flo laughed. ‘It is, but wait until you see the cakes.’ She herded Daisy and Anna over to one of the small, round wooden café tables and sat down.

  And one crema catalana and two glasses of cava later Daisy declared she was more than ready to hit the shops again. To see what they could see.

  They saw lot of undies, a very nice pair of boots, a very hip shirt, a figure-flattering long-sleeved t-shirt and a soft leather handbag to die for. And her bank balance was literally dying, even if she wasn’t. There would be a hell of a lot of dogs to be bathed and clipped in the New Year to make up for this.

  Chapter 8 – Daisy. Saying goodbye

  ‘Oh well, here we go, good old Aerobus.’ Anna shifted her rucksack on her shoulders.

  ‘This is so weird, you going and me staying. Oh, I’m going to miss you.’ Daisy threw her arms round her best friend.

  ‘Don’t have too much fun and forget all about me.’

  ‘I’d never forget you, Anna. It’s only for a couple of weeks. Hasn’t the weekend whizzed by though? I can’t believe it would all be over now if you hadn’t had your brilliant idea.’ The days had passed in a blur of sight-seeing, shopping, drinking and eating. ‘We’ve had a brill time though, haven’t we? Thank you so much for making me come and,’ she paused, trying not to sound too excited because Anna looked despondent, ‘making me stay.’

  ‘I’ve never made you do anything, Dais, you’ve done it all yourself. Stop looking at me like that!’

  ‘I’m not—’

  ‘You are. You feel guilty because I’m being grumpy. Just promise me you’ll have fun, and
skype me loads. Oh gosh, I’m going to have to go, I don’t want to miss this bus.’

  ‘Anna, Anna, wait, I’ve just thought, I never told her about Hugo.’

  Anna laughed. ‘Doesn’t she know him?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’ Daisy frowned and tried to remember back to their schooldays – it gave her a headache so she stopped. ‘I mean he was at the private school, he didn’t mix with us village school riff-raff.’

  ‘He might have mixed with Flo though – she always was a bit exotic.’ Anna grinned. ‘Oh don’t worry, she won’t care about him.’

  ‘And I never told her how naughty Barney can be. What if she changes her mind when she realises just what she’s letting herself in for – and I have to catch the next plane home?’

  ‘Chill, she’s a coping kind of girl and if it happens it happens, just come home.’ Anna shrugged. ‘Are you sure you want to do this though?’

  Daisy looked at her best friend, and realised she was trembling. No Jimmy, no Mabel, no Barney. Maybe she couldn’t ride in the Rockies right now, swim naked in the sea or sit on a camel (okay, that one was a bit daft, but she had always wanted to do it). But she could walk barefoot on the beach, discover Gaudi, and explore the gothic quarter, and find out if the Sagrada Familia was as amazing as everybody said.

  ‘Yep, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want to do it. Seriously.’ Even her voice was wobbly, but it was good wobbly.

  ‘I can’t believe it either.’ Anna hugged her. ‘Good for you, Daisy. Love you loads,’ she blew a kiss, but was already dashing towards the bus, ‘I’ll message you when I get back, good luck, give Flo my love when she gets back from doing her interview. Byeee!’

  Daisy wrapped her arms round herself. She’d been offered the chance to escape from everyday life and discover something new, and she was going to damned well take it. Now all she had to do was break the news to Jimmy.

  ***

  ‘This is a wind-up?’

  Daisy had known Jimmy would not take this well. Maybe it would have been better to skype without the video. She hadn’t thought he’d stab his steak pie as though he had a massacre in mind though. She pitied the peas, which were currently rolling around unsuspecting.

  ‘No, we, I, just thought—’

  ‘Ha. Bloody Anna. She’s put you up to this.’

  She’d slipped up on the ‘we’ front – how come Jimmy never heard the ‘can you move your socks/turn the kettle on/hang your coat up’ but a simple ‘we’ was detected with the efficiency of a Labrador spotting a sausage.

  ‘We, as in me and Flo.’ Ha back at him, she’d thought that up quick. ‘She’s the girl I’m swapping with, you know, Flo from school, the one I’ve been staying with.’

  Jimmy snorted out a harrumph that could have meant yes, no, or I don’t care.

  ‘Anna has gone home.’

  ‘Well why haven’t you come back with her? I thought you’d done your wandering.’

  ‘That’s what I’m trying to explain, it’s only been a couple of days so I decided to stay on.’

  ‘Three.’ He stabbed a chip with what she considered unnecessary force and used it to mop up the blood, sorry, gravy. ‘You’ve been away three days.’

  Plenty of time to discover herself, obviously. ‘I just felt I should take the opportunity—’

  ‘You sound like Anna.’

  Shit, how did he know she’d said those exact words? ‘It’s not for long, I’ll be back for Christmas. Tiggy has offered to groom any dogs that are booked in.’

  ‘And what about Barney and Mabel?’

  ‘Well that’s the beauty of this,’ she really was beginning to sound like Anna, but it was true, ‘Flo does that. Lives at my place and…’

  ‘And what about me?’

  ‘I can’t ask her to look after you!’ He honestly didn’t think it was that kind of swap, did he?

  ‘I didn’t mean that. I meant don’t you think it’s a bit selfish, heading off without even asking me?’

  ‘I don’t have to ask, do I?’

  He frowned.

  She shouldn’t have said that, at least she’d stopped herself just in time and not added we’re not married yet. ‘You did say you didn’t want to come. And it was your idea. I mean, you did tell me to do stuff, get out there and live.’

  ‘So now you’re saying you’re doing this because I said so.’

  ‘No, I’m doing it because I want to, Jimmy. I’ve loved the last couple of days, but there are so many other places I want to visit while I’m here and this is a brilliant opportunity.’

  ‘Brilliant for you maybe, what about me?’

  ‘But that’s the thing, I do want to do things like this and I know you don’t, but we’re just different.’ Maybe too different she thought, her throat tightening up as the frown turned to a scowl.

  ‘A couple of days is more than enough, you’re being daft, you need to come home and we can get on with our lives.’

  ‘I’m not going to, I’m sorry Jimmy. Don’t you want me to have some fun, do some of the things I want to?’

  ‘I want you here, where you belong.’

  ‘Jimmy, I don’t understand you. I’m not talking about moving out here for ever, I’m just staying for a couple more weeks. People do it all the time.’

  ‘Other people might, people like us don’t.’

  ‘There’s some gorgeous parks here,’ she had to try and make him understand, ‘and I want to go on the beach, and there are the art galleries and—’

  ‘Daisy, I don’t care. I’m not interested, we’ve got more than enough grass here and we can go to Formby if you want to see the bloody sea. There’s more than enough to keep us happy here.’

  He didn’t get it at all. It was worse than she’d ever realised. Jimmy’s world was self-contained and he was content. How could they ever be happy together when she wanted more, when she wanted to taste new food, see new things, meet new people?

  ‘I don’t want to go to Formby, I want to be in Spain, see something new.’

  ‘Well you should be at home with me.’

  Screaming would make her feel better. It wouldn’t solve anything, but it would let some of the frustration building up inside her out.

  ‘I don’t know what your mum and dad would say about this.’

  ‘They’d be pleased for me, Jimmy.’

  ‘My dad will think you’re crackers.’

  A little pfft of a scream did escape then, she couldn’t help it.

  ‘Well you better be back by Christmas or you can forget us.’ He ended the call abruptly and left Daisy speechless.

  She stared at the blank screen. Why had that sounded like a threat?

  A sudden surge of unexpected anger shot through her. How could he not understand? If he loved her surely he would want her to be happy, to do things, not try and organise her life and tell her what she should and shouldn’t do.

  She tossed her mobile phone down on to the sofa. She wasn’t going to feel guilty like she had in the past when he hadn’t liked things, because this was important to her – and not even Jimmy was going to stop her.

  How had she ever, even for a minute, have thought she could marry him?

  Chapter 9 – Flo. Barcelona airport departure lounge

  Florence (said the email, no ‘dear’ or ‘Flo’, she noted), why aren’t you answering my calls and texts? I have sent several WhatsApp messages, and I know you have read all of them, they have blue ticks.

  Yes, he had. One had said ‘have I left my blue shirt at yours?’ The short answer to that would have been, ‘yes, it fits the nice old man who sits with his dog in Passeig del Born perfectly. The dog likes your favourite black t-shirt too’. But she had decided not to say that.

  The second had said,

  Sarah hasn’t had your final copy for the next edition, is there a problem?

  There was a problem. She couldn’t believe he thought they could carry on as normal, without even a discussion. How on earth could they run a business
together, when he was sleeping with their only employee?

  The email continued (it was pretty short, but not so sweet)

  You owe me an explanation. O (no love, or kisses, and he couldn’t even be arsed to type out O L I)

  And then there had been,

  Flo. Sarah has helped with editing, but I need you to do the interview next week. Can’t expect her to do everything.

  To which the short answer (in her head) had to be. ‘I didn’t expect her to shag you, but she has been.’

  Flo. The photo for the new tapas bar isn’t good. You look grumpy, it makes you look old. (Old, old? How could she have ever thought he was nice? How could she have slept with him? Wanted to marry him?). Reshoot and send ASAP, deadline Monday.

  Grumpy? He should see what she looked like when she wasn’t trying to smile. That had been her happy face. But the problem was, it was their magazine, which meant that working on it reminded her of him. Oli. And her. Sarah. It really wasn’t helping at all. She sighed and opened the next, non-Oli message.

  Hi Flo,

  Just writing to say thank you for doing this holiday swap, I can’t believe it’s happening! I’ve had a fab weekend with you. Thank you so much for showing us round and it’s amazing that you offered to do this. Jimmy wasn’t too impressed, but I know it’s what I need to do.

  At least somebody thought she was amazing, even if it wasn’t oily Oli.

  I love your apartment and it’s just what I need – a proper break. I just know you’ll love my place – and hope you will adore Mabel, she’s a bit on the big side but a real softy. Any problems you know you can message me. Anna lives a bit of a distance away but Jimmy will always help if you need him.

  He promised to stack up plenty of logs for you, and sort out the animals this morning. The door will be open and the keys hung up inside. Feel free to message me if you need anything at all.