Desperately Seeking Summer

by Mandy Baggot

  ‘She’s in good time,’ Abby commented.

  ‘Well,’ Jackie began, scanning the table as if looking for something amid the overkill of plates and bowls. ‘We might have had a sticky few months, but we’ve always kept good time.’ She sniffed. ‘I can’t find the milk. Why can’t I find the milk?’

  ‘Maybe the fridge, Mum?’ Abby suggested.

  ‘I wanted it in a jug!’

  ‘Mum,’ Abby said. ‘Why don’t you sit down and eat something with me?’

  ‘I can’t eat,’ Jackie said, stepping towards the fridge, pulling open the door and taking out the milk carton. ‘I’m full of butterflies and … nervous energy.’

  ‘That’s a good thing,’ Abby said, smiling.

  ‘Tell that to my stomach,’ Jackie breathed. ‘It feels like someone’s treading grapes inside there.’ A false laugh left her lips. ‘And it didn’t help that I bumped into Diana at the bakery. I thought I’d nip out before the sun was properly up and there she was, looking like a million euro … with Valentin.’

  Abby opened her mouth to say that her mum shouldn’t be getting jealous over anything to do with the rich Russian but Jackie continued.

  ‘They’d just got back from a moonlit sail over to Erikousa Island.’ Jackie sighed. ‘Do you know, I’ve never been there and it’s only eight miles from here. They’d had Swiss chocolates and champagne …’

  ‘We had champagne,’ Abby reminded.

  ‘We didn’t have champagne,’ Jackie said. ‘In all the time I’ve known George he’s only ever served sparkling wine.’

  ‘Well,’ Abby said. ‘It was very nice sparkling wine.’

  ‘Anyway, you need to eat,’ Jackie said. She plucked a knife off the table digging into the hunk of feta and cutting off a piece the size of a large gravestone. Abby eyed it with fear, knowing if she ate all that in one go it might give her the type of indigestion that led to a premature plot in the cemetery.

  ‘Mum,’ Abby said, watching Jackie cut up the fresh bread in no smaller slices than the cheese. ‘It’s great about the viewing today and everything but—’

  Jackie stopped slicing and dropped the knife. ‘There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there! I knew it! I said to Melody, you haven’t been here for so long, there was always something keeping you in England and now you’re here, without either of us having to beg.’ Her mum’s eyes turned all Chief of Police. ‘What is it, Abby? You can tell me anything.’

  This was the bit where she was supposed to confess everything. Here, in her mum and Melody’s lovely rustic kitchen, in the beautiful, safe sanctuary they had made in Corfu. English time all but stopped here. Romsey could almost be another planet in a whole different solar system.

  ‘I was just going to say that … it’s the first viewing on a property that’s not been on the market more than twenty-four hours.’ She took a breath, heart thumping an out-of-time beat. ‘The first couple to view it – they might not actually buy it.’

  Jackie let out a sigh and then a smile spread across her face … her foundation covered face. Abby swallowed. There was definite eye-liner and mascara there too.

  ‘Abby, I’ve been selling houses for a while now. I’m not naïve.’

  ‘I know, I just …’

  The gigantic plate of cheese and bread was plumped down in front of her.

  ‘Tell me what you haven’t told me or there’ll be no pastry until you’ve eaten all of this.’ Jackie picked up the tea pot again and began filling Abby’s mug to the very brim.

  Her mum’s voice was soft but Abby knew she wasn’t going to be able to put this off any longer. She had to tell her something.

  ‘I …’ Abby started. Once she got it out it would feel better. ‘I lost my job.’

  The tea pot slipped out of Jackie’s hands and fell to the floorboards with a crack. Abby leapt up as hot tea splattered her legs.

  ‘Oh! Oh, Abby!’ Jackie exclaimed. ‘Are you OK? Did it burn you? Oh, I’m such a klutz, I just wasn’t expecting you to say that. I’m not sure what I was expecting you to say, but not that.’ Jackie handed Abby a tea towel, then bent down, picking up the broken teapot.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Abby said, dabbing the brown liquid from her shins.

  ‘What happened? I thought things were going so well at The Travellers’ Rest.’

  ‘They are,’ Abby said, returning the tea towel to the table. ‘I mean, they were … I didn’t do anything wrong. I wasn’t sacked. I was just … not needed any more.’ As she said it, all the memories came flooding back. Her lovely cactus plant on the reception desk that bloomed pink in the winter, Chef’s scones, the Beat the Winter Blues January Christmas parties … then came the vision of Darrell and Amber and that kiss over the cakes. If it was coming out, it may as well all be out …

  ‘Mum …’

  ‘I always thought you were too good for that place anyway. You’re so creative with your ideas. You were always going to be limited by what you could do in a chain.’

  ‘Mum …’

  ‘What does Darrell say?’ Jackie asked.

  ‘I … he …’

  ‘Isn’t there something at his place you could get your teeth into? Even financial advisers must need an ideas team,’ Jackie carried on. ‘And I know how things are over in the UK with food prices and Toys ‘R’ Us closing down. We do hear all that in Greece, you know. And you don’t want to lose your savings, if you’re going to be saving for a wedding one day.’

  Abby swallowed. It was enough for one session. She had feta cheese to eat and a multi-million-euro villa to house doctor.

  ‘There’s nothing to worry about, Mum, really,’ she said, breaking a pinch of the white, creamy boulder of cheese off with her fingers.

  ‘Is that why you came over here now?’ Jackie asked, hand on Abby’s shoulder. ‘A bit of a break before you look through Situations Vacant?’

  ‘Something like that,’ Abby said with a nod.

  ‘You’ll be snapped up in no time,’ Jackie stated confidently.

  ‘I know,’ she said. She hoped so. Because one person’s wage was all it was going to be when she got back.

  ‘Just … let’s not let it slip to Diana while you’re here,’ Jackie said. ‘She would make out you’re on the employment scrapheap.’ Jackie gasped. ‘Can I say Darrell’s applied for The Apprentice? Diana said her nephew was on it last year, but I don’t believe her.’

  The feta cheese stuck in Abby’s throat as she forced a nod.

  Thirty

  Villa Pappas

  ‘Theo!’

  The voice echoed loudly, like someone was entombed deep in a cave and screaming for help. He rolled over in the bed, muffling his ears with a pillow.

  ‘Theo! Wake up! They will be outside soon.’

  His aunt? Again? Was it not enough that he was working until the early hours of the morning serving drinks to her and her friends? Did she have to come round in the mornings to make sure he hadn’t drunk his father’s entire drinks cabinet of aged spirits after his shift had finally ended? Shit, a memory was coming back … Leon and him swigging back Metaxa Grande Fine. Then something else hit his brain … the house viewing. Someone was coming to nose around his home … Abby.

  He bolted out of bed, naked, searching for his underwear.

  ‘Man! I was going out for loukanika but how can I now?’ Leon shielded his eyes.

  ‘The estate agency people,’ Theo said, pulling on his underwear then reaching for a T-shirt.

  ‘I know,’ Leon stated. ‘You tell me last night and you do not need to worry. I have set everything up.’

  ‘What? Set everything up?’ He looked at a grinning Leon. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Come on, Theo, you planned it all last night,’ Leon began. ‘Used plates and glasses all over the kitchen, clothes and washing in every room, on every surface, grass cuttings and bushes from the garden all through the home. Aleko won’t be selling this house today.’

  He felt sick as all the words he’d said un
der the influence of alcohol and melancholy made a trickling return. What had he been thinking? And why did Leon think Aleko from Ionian Dreams was coming here?

  ‘What have you done?’ Theo asked, swallowing back a mixture of bile and brandy.

  ‘I’ve done it all,’ Leon stated proudly. ‘Everything is … sweet chaos.’

  He closed his eyes, head beginning to thump and wished away all the units he’d consumed the night before.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Leon asked.

  ‘Leon,’ Theo breathed. ‘It isn’t Aleko selling the house. It’s the shop that was pink. Abby … her mother’s business.’

  He watched Leon pale.

  ‘You jest,’ his friend stated.

  Theo shook his head. In the light of day, he no more wanted this viewing to be easy than he had last night but to actually create mayhem, a mess for Abby, who had done nothing but try to help last night …

  They both heard the key in the lock and the stand-by beeping of the security alarm.

  ‘Oh my God!’ Jackie exclaimed as her shoes hit branches and leaves. Abby stared around at the open-plan living space, trying to find any resemblance to the beautiful, tidy, light-filled haven she had valued only a day ago. Whole boughs of trees blocked their path and the state-of-the-art kitchen area was piled high with soiled crockery like it had hosted a party for fifty guests.

  ‘Abby,’ Jackie said, lifting her dress a little and attempting to climb over the heap of wood. ‘Was this how it was when you saw it yesterday?’

  ‘No!’ Abby stated immediately. ‘No, not at all. Nothing like this.’ The alarm was still beeping. Had they been told the code?

  ‘Because I know some people think “rustic” is en vogue right now and there’s all this living, breathing, forest wallpaper …’

  ‘It wasn’t like this,’ Abby repeated. She pushed her hair back behind her ears, navigating her way around fronds of green and knocking olive fruit onto the tiles. ‘It was minimalist and bright and … clean.’ She needed to get to that keypad and shut the noise up.

  ‘Are these someone’s pants?’ Jackie held black fabric up in the air between the very ends of … were they false French-polished nails her mum was sporting?

  The alarm suddenly stopped beeping.

  ‘Kalimera.’

  Abby turned her head in the direction of the Greek greeting, knowing it was Theo, not knowing he was bare-chested. Why did he never have clothes on in this house? She wet her lips, mad at him, despite the delectable ab display.

  ‘You do know that a gardener is supposed to get rid of cuttings not spread them around their employer’s house!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘I can explain—’ Theo started.

  ‘We are here to dress the house ready for the first viewing. My sister tells me that means doing something arty with cushions, getting the scent just right and opening up all the windows.’ She took a breath, watching Theo pull his T-shirt over his head. ‘It smells like something died in here … of alcohol poisoning.’

  ‘It wasn’t meant to be like this … I just …’

  ‘I should call Mrs Pappas,’ Abby carried on. ‘Report you.’

  She watched Theo’s expression. There seemed to be a little remorse, a genuine look of regret. But that barely explained away the hideous near-Hazmat zone they were standing in.

  ‘We don’t have time for that,’ Jackie stated, manhandling a large limb of tree. ‘Melody is going to be here at nine with the potential purchasers and this place has got to look every euro of its asking price.’

  ‘Leon,’ Theo began. ‘He is already making good the other rooms.’

  ‘Leon is here?’ Jackie said with a tut. ‘Say no more.’ She dragged branches towards the door.

  Abby’s eyes pricked with tears. ‘You mean all the other rooms are as messed up as this one?!’ She couldn’t have this happening. Her mum had finally ditched her shapeless outfits and was back into professional garb with proper shoes and everything. This was Desperately Seeking’s big break. And she wasn’t about to let anyone spoil it.

  ‘You,’ she started, pointing at Theo. ‘You will move all these cuttings out of here and make it tidy. Do not put them in the garden. Put them in black bags or hide them until the clients have gone. We will …’ Abby looked to Jackie who was coming back through the door.

  ‘We will start washing up,’ Jackie stated, clapping her hands together. ‘Theo, be a lovely and open some windows.’

  ‘Endaksi,’ he replied, beating a retreat.

  Abby hurried over to her mum who was opening cupboards in the kitchen area as if trying to find something. ‘Mum, it really wasn’t like this. I promise.’

  ‘Boys will be boys,’ Jackie answered, shutting one cupboard door and opening another. ‘And you have been in Leon’s taxi, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yes, it’s terrible, but, I just want you to know that …’ She had to spit it out. ‘I might have been relieved of my duties at The Travellers’ Rest, but my eye isn’t off the ball.’

  ‘I know that,’ Jackie said softly, gently touching Abby’s shoulder. ‘Come on, I’m sure we said this villa has a dishwasher. Help me find it.’

  Thirty-one

  The couple who had come to view the villa didn’t look rich enough to afford the price tag, in Theo’s opinion. They were English – the man (Paul) dressed in neon yellow shorts and a vest; the woman (Lynn), the skin of her boyish frame pink from the sun, was sucking on her second cigarette of the visit so far. But what did he know about English wealth? Just because his father was never seen out of business attire didn’t mean everyone with money was the same way. Take his current appearance, for example, who would think he was the son of a millionaire?

  Leon had commented about Dinis’ collection of vintage alcohol earlier, but before his friend could continue, spill that Theo was not in fact employed by the Pappases but a Pappas himself, the taxi mobile phone had rung and Leon had departed. However, his friend had still had time to make a show of cutting a sheaf of lavender from the garden and presenting it to Abby to display on the dining table. Theo had to admit it was a step up in fragrance terms from underwear and leftover gyros.

  ‘Infinite views from here I’m sure you’ll agree,’ Melody said as she led Paul around the terrace.

  ‘What’s the Wi-Fi like?’ Lynn asked, drawing on her cigarette like it was a stick of life itself.

  ‘It’s very good,’ Jackie jumped in. ‘And you’ll find, what with being on a small island and being so close to that huge antenna at the top of the mountain, the 4G is excellent too, should there be a loss of connection for Wi-Fi, not that there should be.’

  Melody breathed in deeply, closing her eyes and letting her hands rest on the pillared wall. ‘Listen,’ she whispered. Then she opened her eyes and looked to the clients. ‘Paul, Lynn, come and both stand here. Close your eyes and just … listen.’

  Theo snipped at the clematis bush he was pretending to prune and this injection into the quiet drew a look from Abby. She was standing a little behind the group, writing in a notepad every so often and saying very little. She was angry with him and he didn’t blame her at all. Last night he had been nothing short of obnoxious and today he had made work for her. His father wanted to sell the property. It was going to happen no matter which estate agency he used. Fighting it was futile, unless he wanted to directly take on and talk to the man himself as Spyridoula had suggested.

  ‘Hear that?’ Melody asked, her voice gentle.

  ‘All I can hear is bugs,’ Lynn stated roughly, exhaling a plume of smoke into the warm air.

  ‘Cicadas,’ Jackie said.

  ‘Lovely,’ Lynn replied, stubbing her cigarette out on the wall. ‘I do like a good Mexican and I haven’t eaten breakfast.’

  ‘Er … the cicadas are the insects you can hear,’ Jackie stated. ‘Here, you’re in the midst of everything. The woods just behind and the sea right in front of you. It’s a prime location and a property that isn’t going to stay on the market for long.’
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br />   ‘I like it,’ Paul said. ‘The bedrooms aren’t as big as the other one we saw but—’

  ‘The other one we saw was next to that traditional coffee shop. It was all old men playing chess and speaking Greek.’ Lynn sniffed. ‘I don’t know how anyone is supposed to relax with all that going on!’

  ‘Can we see inside again?’ Paul asked.

  ‘Of course,’ Jackie said quickly. ‘Let me take you back through everything while Melody makes us some drinks.’

  Theo watched Jackie mouth something at her blonde daughter before going back into the property. Abby made to move behind her mother and it was then he seized his opportunity.

  ‘Abby.’

  ‘I need to get back into the house,’ she said hurriedly, about to brush past him.

  He took hold of her arm, pulling her to a stop. ‘Please, just for a moment.’

  ‘I don’t really see what there is to say.’ She looked at him directly, those almond-coloured eyes vying for dominance with his. ‘Your stupidity might have cost my mother a very important sale today.’

  ‘I know, I wasn’t really thinking.’

  ‘And clearly you think it’s OK to treat someone else’s house like your own. I can only imagine what Spyridoula would think if she knew how you were living here.’

  He need not imagine on that score, but he nodded his head anyway. ‘I have taken liberties,’ he admitted. ‘With … my position here.’

  ‘It’s very hard to sell houses,’ Abby hissed in a whisper. ‘It may be beautiful, but it needs to look perfect when people come to visit.’

  ‘I can do perfect,’ Theo told her. ‘Let me show you.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I … Tonight. Let me dress the house. Let me cook for you, vradino, dinner.’ What was he saying? Where had this come from? He seemed unable to stop the words from falling out of his lips.

  She didn’t answer and his fingers were still very much attached to the soft, milky skin of her arm. He could feel the heat channelling through him, raw yet deep and undeniable.