by Emma Nichols
Gianna smiled, closed the gap between them and placed a brief kiss on Soph’s cheek. ‘You smell good too,’ she said.
The touch was fleeting, but it seared Soph’s skin and sent a bolt of lightning straight down her spine. Floored, she struggled for words, tried to swallow and couldn’t.
‘Come on,’ Gianna said, jolting Soph out of the trance. She stepped past her, out the door, and headed up the steps.
Soph couldn’t see the smile of contentment on Gianna’s face, or her flushed cheeks as she bit down on her lip, or the long breath she blew out as she reached the path leading down to the taverna’s beach. She could see the nape of the tanned neck that she wanted to kiss though, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and she wondered if Gianna’s heart was racing as much as hers. Soph’s smile broadened with every step. She ran a couple of paces to catch up with Gianna. ‘Volleyball huh!’ She reached out and brushed her fingers against Gianna’s then broke into a run. ‘Race you,’ she yelled, but Gianna was already on the chase.
Soph stopped. Twenty paces into the soft sand had her legs screaming and her lungs bursting. She bent over double, puffing hard, trying not to laugh and failing. ‘Hang on,’ she shouted.
Gianna had overtaken her before they reached the beach. Looking over her shoulder at the command to stop, she ground to a halt. ‘I win?’ she asked.
‘Sure,’ Soph puffed.
Gianna punched into the air. ‘Yes!’
‘I forgot my guitar,’ Soph added.
‘Want me to go back for it?’
‘Nah,’ I’ll go,’ Soph said, raising her hand. ‘I’ll see you over there.’
‘Okay.’
Soph turned, trudged back to the track and started the climb. By the time she reached the top she was sweating, still puffing, and her lungs felt as if they were about to explode. For the first time in her life, she felt happy.
‘You two get on well,’ the male voice said.
Soph jumped. Lost in her reverie, she hadn’t seen Nikos approaching. Her smile reflected her cheery disposition. Nikos wasn’t smiling though, and his disapproving gaze steamrollered her thoughts instantly. ‘Hi Nikos,’ she said, reservedly. ‘Are you coming to the party?’ she asked, tilting her head towards the beach.
‘No,’ he replied. ‘I have work to do.’ He was courteous enough, but something in the way he looked at her sent the message that he wasn’t happy with her for some reason.
She nodded. Nikos was probably pissed with her because of her mother. She shrugged. ‘Oh!’ she said, with a tight smile. She wasn’t going to let Gianna’s Papa take her fun away. She’d had enough of that with her father.
He forced a smile, but his eyes remained dark, sullen. He nodded politely and darted down between two rows of olive trees.
Soph stood for a moment adjusting to the effect of Nikos’ apparent dislike of her, a sudden weight dropping from her chest into her gut. A hollow space that appeared, then suddenly filled with wave after wave of vibrations, gentle at first then increasing in intensity. She could hardly breathe, and within seconds her hands were shaking. Slowly she made her way back to her room, fighting to stop the tears spilling from her eyes. Why did everyone try to ruin her happiness?
*
‘Hey Gianna, come and play.’ Giorgos shouted as she approached the locals mingling around the bar and the volleyball court.
‘Sure.’ She jogged the last few paces, and he threw her the ball.
Gianna stepped up to the service line, eyed the opposing team of two, tossed the ball in the air and hit it high over the net. The ball remained in the air, passing to and fro, the two teams vying for an opportunity to finish the point. Giorgos blocked, drawing their opponents into the net. They scrambled the ball back, and Gianna sent the ball to the back of the court, taking advantage of the space that had opened up. One man dived to the ground, but couldn’t get to the ball before it hit the sand.
Ariana watched the game playing out. Gianna was athletic, with a keen eye for the ball, and a good pair of hands. Suddenly reminded of the earlier-promised match, knowing her volleyball skills were more than a little rusty, she observed her more closely, with admiration. Gianna reminded her of Nikki; slightly too scrawny maybe, but fit, adventurous, and a little flirtatious even. Ariana shifted her gaze to the bar area, Nikki’s intense eyes smiling back at her, she flushed. Nikki was holding up a glass, asking the question. Ariana nodded. Pulling her attention from Nikki and back to the game, she caught sight of Soph meandering across the sand, guitar pinned to her back. She started to smile then stopped as the concern on Soph’s face registered in her mind.
‘How are you doing?’ Nikki asked, interrupting her worried thoughts and handing out a fresh glass of wine.
‘Oh, good,’ Ariana responded, though still distracted by her daughter.
‘You ready for a game?’ Nikki asked.
A loud crack from the fire-pit caused Ariana to jump, bringing her attention back to Nikki and the aroma of smoking wood that was beginning to drift intermittently on the light breeze. ‘Whenever you are,’ she responded, raising a smile.
‘Give me five,’ Nikki said. ‘You can get warmed up if you like,’ she added, with a chuckle.
Ariana broadened her smile, her eyes on Soph, whose demeanour seemed to have shifted. Soph was smiling at Gianna. Ariana released a long breath. Good! She sipped at her drink and approached the court and the cheering spectators.
Gianna smiled cheekily and dragged a protesting but chuckling Soph reluctantly onto the court. ‘Stand there,’ she said. You cover the front, I cover the back, got it?’
Soph grinned. ‘Got it,’ she said, giving her attention to the other side of the net.
Ariana smiled. ‘Go girls,’ she cheered, retracting with embarrassment as her conditioning kicked in, admonishing her frivolous behaviour, even though her voice didn't reach above the other screams and shouts.
‘Go girls,’ Nikki yelled, almost into Ariana’s right ear.
Ariana chuckled, rubbed at her ear and yelled again, ‘Go girls! Woop, Woop!’
Nikki wrapped an arm around Ariana’s shoulder and squeezed. ‘They look like they’re having fun,’ she said, releasing the hold and sipping at her wine.
Ariana turned to face her, staring intently. ‘Thank you,’ she said, with sincerity.
Nikki shrugged. ‘Any time.’ Her smile lingered, her hazel eyes sparkled, and there was no lack of depth to the gaze that had shattered Ariana’s defences in the short time she had been back on the island. ‘Come on, we’re on next, against those two,’ she said, with a wink. Her eyes narrowed, assessing; her game face firmly affixed.
Ariana burst out laughing. ‘Ha, ha, ha! You know how long it’s been?’ she asked.
‘Too long,’ Nikki responded.
Ariana’s jaw dropped a fraction as she processed the undertone behind the words. Nikki stepped onto the court and toyed with the ball in her hands. Ariana followed her and faced her daughter on the other side of the net. Both women glared, then smiled.
‘Game on,’ Gianna shouted.
The locals cheered.
*
Ariana flopped onto the sand, gasping for breath. ‘That was fun,’ she said.
Nikki handed her a glass of water. ‘Wine?’ she asked. ‘I assume you’ll stay for the party now,’ she said.
Ariana gazed at Soph and Gianna on the court again. They hadn’t lost a game yet. She smiled. ‘Okay.’
‘Good,’ Nikki said, heading for the bar.
Ariana finished the glass of water, leaned back on the sand and closed her eyes. She drifted, with the crackling of the wood fire and the smell of roasting meat, lamb, and spices, for company, and with the gentle ebb and flow of the waves having a deeply hypnotic effect.
‘Good to see her relaxing a bit, eh!’ Manos said handing a jug of iced water across the bar. He could feel the sombreness in Nikki’s eyes before she looked up.
‘Yes,’ she said softly, briefly glancing towards the
prone body with the ash-blonde hair; and she meant it. Pulling down on the pump, releasing the chilled beer, she filled the tall glass and handed it across the bar. She took the money in return and rang it into the till distracted by her thoughts.
‘Aye,’ Manos said, sucking through his teeth. He reached around Nikki’s shoulder, pulled her sharply into a fatherly-embrace and placed a kiss on the top of her head, keenly observing Ariana resting on the sand. She looked the most at peace she had done since her arrival, which had been more akin to an invasion. The transformation in Ariana’s energy gave some hope. Teresa had never settled in the whole of her time on the island, but Ariana was different. She was more like Sophia than Teresa ever was.
He had watched Nikki and Ariana as they played volleyball, the tenderness in the way they looked at each other, the sincere smile that passed between them that spoke more than words ever could, the subtle lingering touch as they handed the ball from one to the other. He had seen it before too when they were teenagers. When Teresa wasn’t around, Ariana would appear occasionally, and they would head to the rocks and fish or take a boat out or laze around on the beach and snorkel. The same look, the same smile, the same touch. They were in love then, and, it seemed, they were still in love. He chuckled, his cheeks flushing with his assessment of the two women. He loved them both. He always had done. ‘Reckon she’ll find a good reason to stay,’ he said, his prophetic statement of fact not needing a response.
Nikki looked at him. She wasn’t so sure, but she hoped above all hope that he was right. She watched Ariana closely, confused by the effect the woman had on her already. The anger that had driven her up the hill on the first day had defused as quickly as it had arisen. There was warmth in her chest, fuelled by the compassion she felt and something more. But, the feeling was constricted, contained, imprisoned. The fact that Ariana would be selling, and leaving, stopped her immersing herself in the joy that threatened her heart, for fear it would break again. She couldn’t afford another broken heart, and yet, the touch of Ariana’s skin, the soapy scent that was so familiar, the dark-penetrating gaze, and the ash-blonde hair that would sometimes fall around her eyes, it was already too late. Nikki’s heart ached, and there was nothing she could do to alleviate the sensation. In fact, with every hour passing, in the company of Ariana, the ache deepened.
‘Can feel it in me waters,’ Manos continued, justifying, heading onto the beach. ‘And old Sophia was never wrong,’ he added with a tilt of his head, the large carving knife waving ceremoniously in his hand.
It was correct, Sophia was never in doubt that Ariana would return. Whether she had gone so far as to assert that Ariana would make the island her home though was unclear, and most likely pure conjecture, but in Manos’ mind, it was a fact, and therefore the truth. Nikki smiled, but it was a strained movement, lacking integrity. Manos meant well, but sometimes, with the best will in the world, one had to accept reality, and that was, the sale of the white house on the hill.
The sound of a guitar grabbed Nikki’s attention from her troubled thoughts, and she smiled warmly. Soph was sat on a small rock, adjacent to the driftwood bench, rocking as she strummed, her eyes smiling at the object of her attention. Gianna, gazing back at her with a beaming grin, looked awestruck. Nikki glanced from Soph to Gianna and back again, and sighed.
The music drifted into Ariana’s awareness, and she stirred, covered her eyes from the sun with her hand and blinked them open. She pulled herself up and watched her daughter, a warm feeling spreading across her chest. She knew Soph had a gift and it had pained her that her mother and husband had blocked Soph from going to Music College. At least that would change soon. She was determined to make sure that Soph got the education and support she needed to develop her talent. It was the least she could do.
‘Here.’ Nikki said, handing her a glass of wine.
‘Thanks.’ Ariana said, staring. Nikki’s tanned legs; her arse; her waist; her chest, and eventually into her eyes as Nikki lowered herself to sit.
‘Food is ready when you are,’ Nikki said, laughing, pointing at Manos. He was dancing, singing, and wielding his carving knife at the large lamb joint, cutting chunks as directed by each guest in turn.
‘He always was a charmer,’ Ariana laughed. ‘He has a good voice too,’ she said, heartened by the jovial and relaxed atmosphere that encapsulated the west-cove. The contrast with the east-cove, where they had moored, and the ledge where she had dozed just two days ago, couldn’t be greater. Nikki moved, and her arm brushed against Ariana’s, shifting her from her thoughts. The tiny hairs on her arm rose instantly, and a shiver tracked up into the back of her neck. She shuddered.
‘You okay?’ Nikki asked.
The strumming stopped. The cacophony suddenly quieted. All ears tuned to the sweet, haunting voice, and an acoustic rendition of, Time After Time.
Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you.
Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new.
Nikki stared in Soph’s direction, captivated by the pure quality in her voice, but Ariana was visible through her peripheral vision, and she couldn’t stop the light feeling that invaded her chest or the tingling heat vibrating in her core. The warmth of the sun, the heady effect of the wine, the sheer fun of playing volleyball with Ariana by her side, it was almost perfect. She swallowed against the lump that formed in her throat and fought the rising emotion wetting her eyes. Soph’s voice drifted across the silence. As she glanced around, even Manos rubbed at his cheeks, accusing the smoke from the fire pit, naturally. She chuckled to herself.
If you're lost, you can look and you will find me, time after time.
Ariana became aware that Nikki was staring at her. The intensity in Nikki’s eyes had darkened her natural hazel colouring, giving it a deep, rich quality that drilled right through Ariana, causing her breath to hitch and her mouth to dry. The sensation that fired through her body, culminating low in her crotch, caused her to groan, and heat to flush her already burned cheeks. Nikki continued to hold Ariana with her eyes, unwavering, assessing, asking, longing. Ariana tried to extract herself from the silent inquisition, but she couldn’t. The way Nikki was looking at her. She had never been looked at like this since leaving the island. Since Nikki last looked at her this way. Only Nikki made her feel like this. She tried to swallow, but couldn’t.
Hands clapped as the song drew to an end, the sound pulling Nikki from the trance. Her smile seemed more reserved than the message her eyes had sent. The light relief enabled Ariana to breathe. Gianna was wiping at her eyes and laughing; Soph was teasing her, pulling her into her arms and hugging her. They looked happy.
As Ariana scanned the audience, others were shedding a tear too. Bursting with pride, sniffling with emotion, she grinned.
‘She has an amazing voice,’ Nikki said, her tone a fraction lower than her normal resonance.
Ariana nodded. Overwhelmed, conflicted, she still couldn’t speak.
8.
Ariana stood on the shaded kitchen-balcony, sipping her coffee. The sun hadn’t long risen in the east-cove and wasn’t visible on this side of the house yet, but the temperature was already hot, and especially on the burnt skin on her nose and cheeks. The sea looked bluer, and especially the point where it kissed the sky on the horizon, darker. The contrast between the sand and rocks, on the far side of the west-cove, seemed sharper than usual. The warm salty air, infused with sage and samphire from the garden below, was becoming a familiar scent this side of the property, overlooking the taverna. She breathed in the fragrant aroma, her eyes wandering to the bench-tables on the beach and watching intently.
The sight of Nikki appearing from the bar caused Ariana’s heart to flutter. She watched as Nikki started clearing the tables and tidying the beachfront from the evening’s party, feeling a sudden urge to rush down to the taverna and help her, to be with her, to chat to her, and explore the warm fuzzy sense of comfort that seemed to accompany Nikki’s presence. The rush of excitement
felt so different from the hurried, panicked state that she had lived by for so long. It was lighter, freer and altogether more exhilarating.
Yesterday, for the first time in a very long time, she had laughed, she had had fun, and she had felt happy. She hadn’t wanted the night to end, but when it had, she had returned to the house and slept deeply. She pressed her hand against her thumping heart, a lazy grin firmly implanted on her face. Mmm!
‘You alright?’ Soph asked, her voice groggy, squinting quizzically at her mother.
Ariana jolted out of her reverie. She turned and took a couple of paces towards Soph. Reaching up she tenderly swept the scruffy hair from Soph’s face and cupped her already tanned cheek. ‘I’m fine,’ she said.
Soph eyed her mother suspiciously. She’d never seen her like this before, but it was kind of cool. She looked, almost, relaxed.
‘Ready to do some painting?’ Ariana asked.
Soph’s eyes rolled. Maybe not that relaxed then! ‘What’s the rush?’ she asked, defensively.
‘No rush,’ Ariana replied softly, and she meant it.
‘I got stuff on with Gianna,’ Soph said, though with no idea what that stuff might be.
‘Okay,’ Ariana said. She looked as if she were locked in some other time and space, her dreamy world, besotted.
A broad grin appeared on Soph’s face. ‘Cool,’ she said, suddenly feeling a rush of relief at not being forced into decorating tasks that she had no desire to undertake, with or without her mother’s help.
‘Coffee’s in the pot,’ Ariana said, pressing a kiss to Soph’s head as she passed, dropping her cup in the sink, and heading out of the house.
Soph watched her mother depart, filled a cup with coffee and headed for the balcony. Staring out over the water, she sipped. She could get used to this place, she mused with a contented smile.