Wanderlust

by Natalie K. Martin

  She snatched a tomato from him and Alex shook his head. Clearly, she had no sense of humour at all.

  ‘Fine, have it your way,’ he said. ‘You’ll be on your own soon anyway so you might as well start getting used to it.’

  Alex walked away. She'd reacted just as he'd thought she would but instead of feeling triumphant, he wished she'd have laughed back. He didn't want to spend his last few days living with someone who couldn't even take a joke. She might have a pretty face, but Croatia couldn’t come quickly enough.

  An hour later, Alex had just finished lunch when Selina came rushing into the kitchen with the basket full of tomatoes. His instinct was to ignore her, until he saw the red streaks on her hand.

  ‘What happened?’ he asked as she headed straight for the sink.

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘It doesn’t look like nothing.’ He joined her, watching as the jet of cold water streamed onto her skin. ‘What happened?’

  ‘I scratched it on the wire fence.’

  ‘What wire fence?’ He frowned.

  ‘The one where the broccolis are. Thanks to your immature stunt, some of the tomatoes had rolled over there.’

  ‘Sheisse.’ Alex grabbed the tea towel from the side. He handed it to her and she leaned against the counter with a defeated look on her face. ‘You should have just left them there instead of cutting yourself like that. One stray tomato wouldn’t be the end of the world.’

  He was angry, and not even angry with her. He was angry with himself. How had something so simple as sneaking up on someone resulted in a bleeding wound? Maybe he’d taken things a little too far. She might annoy him but the last thing he wanted was for her to hurt herself.

  ‘Really,’ he said in a softer tone. ‘You should have just left it.’

  ‘It’s fine.’ She shrugged and wrapped her hand in the towel.

  ‘There are some plasters in the bathroom, unless it needs stitches.’

  ‘It’s fine. Really.’

  She kept her eyes pointed straight ahead and he studied her profile. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

  ‘I didn’t mean to scare you like that badly.’ He looked at the almost overflowing basket on the table. ‘And you didn’t have to kill yourself picking every single tomato either.’

  He’d said it with a smile in an effort to apologise. It seemed to work because her shoulders relaxed an inch.

  ‘It’s my first day.’ She shrugged but Alex saw the hint of a smile she was fighting to keep from her face. ‘I had a point to make.’

  He’d been right about her competitive streak then. He hadn’t thought she’d be able to handle it, but he’d never have goaded her like that if he’d have known she’d injure herself over it.

  ‘Point well and truly made,’ he replied, and she looked down at her towel-bandaged hand.

  ‘What does sheisse mean, anyway? Shit?’

  ‘Yeah, something like that.’ He laughed a little and picked up the basket. ‘I’ll take the tomatoes to the storage hut. I’ve got to go over to the mainland afterwards for an errand. You can come, if you want.’

  Selina eyed him warily. ‘Why?’

  Alex shrugged nonchalantly. He didn’t know why he’d asked her. It wasn’t like he needed her help and they’d hardly been getting along well.

  ‘Maybe you deserve a break.’ He gestured towards her hand. It was unlikely it would need stitches, but he felt bad.

  She hesitated and he could see what she was thinking. After her reaction to him sneaking up on her, she might have been thinking that going to Canderas with him would be the worst idea in the world.

  ‘It’s a nice ride, too,’ he added, suddenly painfully aware of the eagerness that had crept into his voice. What was that about? And why was he holding his breath as he waited for her answer?

  Eventually she looked away from him and nodded. ‘Okay. Why not?’

  As they crossed the bridge half an hour later, Alex took a deep breath of air. He loved Colinas Verde, but he always looked forward to trips back to the mainland. Being in their little community was like being in a bubble away from the rest of the world and it was nice to have a change of scenery.

  He drove the moped slowly. After scaring Selina the way he had, she probably thought he was irresponsible enough without him having to add speeding to it. A car would have been much more comfortable, but without a windscreen in front of him, he could see everything that little bit clearer.

  He looked at the trees on the side of the road, the glimpses of an endless deep blue sea, and the birds flying overhead as if he were looking at them with fresh eyes. He’d guessed Selina would have been disappointed by the lack of entertainment up here but as he looked at her in the side mirror, she had a smile on her face for what seemed like the first time since she’d arrived.

  He still couldn’t figure out why he’d felt so relieved that she’d agreed to come with him. Maybe it was because she’d clearly already made up her mind about him and he wanted to prove her wrong. It had unexpectedly stung when he’d realised she’d thought something like The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying was above him. He’d masked it with a grin but he’d looked at himself in the bathroom mirror afterwards with critical eyes. What if he’d simply been kidding himself into thinking he’d changed? It was easy to live clean in Colinas Verde, away from the hedonism south of the island, but if Selina could walk in and guess that the Alex she’d met wasn’t the real Alex, then what did that mean? Maybe it meant that, despite his best efforts, he’d brought the old him to Ibiza, instead of leaving him behind in Berlin, never to be seen again.

  As they neared the outskirts of Canderas, he saw two small children walking by the side of the road ahead. They turned and waved, their wide smiles outshining their grubby clothes and dirty hair, and he smiled back as he slowed down.

  ‘Alex!’ The oldest one, who couldn’t have been more than seven or eight, gave him a high five.

  When he’d first seen them and stopped, they’d been wary of him but now they knew him by name and there was no way he could ever drive past them.

  ‘Hey, little man. Canderas?’ he asked, and they nodded back. ‘Climb on.’

  He turned to Selina who was looking back with confusion on her face as the eldest child sat behind her and the youngest stood in front of him, where his feet would normally be.

  ‘Is this safe?’ Selina asked.

  He shrugged. ‘Its better than them walking and it’s only for a few minutes.’

  So much for seeming responsible. True, it was technically illegal to carry four people on a moped, but he’d yet to see any police around the outskirts of town and he drove even slower than before, just to be careful.

  As they neared Canderas, a row of shops came into view and he stopped the bike by the pavement. The children clambered off and he high-fived them before they skipped off down the road, holding hands. Alex got off the moped and ruffled his hair with his hands.

  ‘Who were they?’ Selina asked as she swung a long leg over the bike to get off.

  ‘Syrian refugees. They live on a campsite close to the bridge. Their parents can’t work, not legally, anyway. I see them every time I come onto the mainland, walking on the road.’

  They walked side by side down the yellow-paved street and he watched them until they disappeared around a corner.

  ‘Where are they going?’ Selina asked.

  ‘Into town.’

  ‘To beg?’

  Alex swung open the door to the builder’s merchant and held it open for her to go inside. ‘Maybe.’

  ‘But they’re so young,’ she said as she passed by him and, for the first time, it seemed as though her hard shell had cracked a bit.

  ‘Yep, they are.’

  After an exchange in pigeon-Spanish, Alex and Selina left the shop with the paint and headed back to the moped. He climbed on and looked at her, waiting for her to get on behind him but she didn’t.

  ‘What?’ he asked, warily.

 
; ‘Why did you give the kids a lift?’

  ‘Because they’re just kids. It would’ve taken them twenty minutes to walk and it’s only two minutes on the moped.’

  Selina nodded but didn’t say anything back as she sat behind him. She didn’t seem impressed, but what else was he supposed to do? It wasn’t the kid’s fault that they’d ended up here and he’d never be able to forgive himself if he’d have just ridden past them.

  ‘It was a nice thing to do,’ she said, and Alex’s eyebrows shot up. Did she just pay him a compliment?

  He hadn’t done it to seem nice, but he smiled a little as he put the key in the ignition. It had been a long time since anyone had used that word in connection with him. It felt good to hear it. Maybe things really were changing after all.

  Chapter Four

  Selina thumbed the space on her middle finger where her ring would usually be. After coming back from Canderas, she’d expected to find it by the sink but it was nowhere to be seen. She crossed the field to return to the tomato plants, hoping it was there and looked up at the sky. It had turned a moody shade of grey and the wind had picked up. It reminded her of those few seconds before a downpour back at home, but this was Ibiza. It had never rained on her past holidays here, not once, and she hoped it wouldn’t start now. As she got closer, she saw Penny’s slight frame, crouching by the zucchini plants. She could recognise her anywhere with those green feathers in her hair.

  ‘Hi, Penny.’

  ‘Ah, there you are,’ Penny replied as she stood up. ‘I was looking for you.’

  ‘Sorry. Alex asked if I wanted to go into town with him and -’

  Penny waved a hand and smiled. ‘No need to apologise. I just wanted to see if you fancied a cup of tea, that’s all. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk.’

  Selina nodded. ‘That would be lovely.’

  ‘Oh, good. And is this yours?’ Penny held out her hand.

  ‘Yes, it is. I thought I’d lost it.’ Selina smiled with relief and took the ring, feeling its familiar weight in her hand. It wasn’t even expensive but there was something she loved about the red oval stone, set in aged silver and her finger felt naked without it. As she slipped it on, a low rumble of thunder echoed through the sky.

  Penny shivered. ‘It’ll start tipping down any second. Come on, I’ll stick the kettle on.’

  By the time they reached Penny’s bungalow, the sky was completely clouded over and the rain had started to fall. Instead of running for the last few metres like Penny had, Selina walked across the clearing, feeling the cool, heavy droplets of rain hitting her skin. After the blazing sun, it was welcome relief and there was something almost dreamlike about rainfall with thick, muggy air.

  When she reached Penny’s bungalow, she stood watching the rain fall from the sky. Despite living in London where it often felt like it rained all the time, she’d never stopped to watch it before. Back home, it was always just an inconvenience and she’d pop open her umbrella straight away.

  ‘It’s a good thing you went to Canderas when you did, otherwise you’d have had to ride back in this,’ Penny said, joining her on the porch.

  Selina looked at the rain bouncing up from the ground. ‘It doesn’t bear thinking about. I don’t even like being in a car in the rain, let alone on a moped.’

  Penny placed a glass teapot full of water and fresh mint leaves on the table and they both sat down.

  ‘It’s an inconvenience but it’s needed. There’s already been two forest fires this summer.’ Penny leaned back in her chair and stretched her legs out, crossing them at the ankle. ‘How was your first day?’

  ‘Different to what I’m used to, but it was good.’

  ‘Hm.’ Penny looked at Selina’s bandaged hand. ‘Nothing too difficult, I hope?’

  ‘This?’ Selina shook her head. ‘It’s just a scratch.’

  ‘Good. I know Alex works like a horse but I don’t want him to push you too hard, especially not on your first day. This is pretty different to the office life, I’m sure. The corporate world was never for me.’

  Colinas Verde was a world away from what she was used to, but Selina couldn’t deny that it beat being stuck in an office all day. Yes, she’d had to pick spider covered tomatoes all morning, and yes, she’d sliced her hand open but she’d also woken up to the sound of birdsong floating through the air, and when she’d sat up in bed and looked out of the window, she was greeted by the unbroken view of the meadow. Back home, her alarm would have violently interrupted her sleep and the view outside of her window was of the Aldi supermarket across the road. Colinas Verde wasn’t a classy beach resort with a long cocktail list and beautiful people parading around in bikinis like she was used to, but it was only for a short while. Once she left here, she’d continue her Flashpacking adventure.

  ‘I’ve always preferred being surrounded by nature,’ Penny said. ‘This place is like a little slice of heaven.’

  ‘I always thought of heaven as being somewhere like the Caribbean. White sand, turquoise water…’ Selina sighed wistfully.

  ‘There’s a quote by a French writer, Jules Renard. It says, on earth, there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.’ Penny smiled. ‘I think its true. If you take the time to look for it, you can find your paradise anywhere.’

  Selina looked at the trees surrounding the clearing. The vibrancy of their leaves had turned a dark, earthy green with the rain and the air was filled with the ever-present lingering scent of pine. It wasn’t her idea of paradise but she had to admit, it was beautiful to look at, even with the rain falling in a thick sheet.

  ‘How long have you been here?’ she asked as Penny poured the tea into two glass cups.

  ‘Oh, almost ten years now, though I spend a few months of every year in India. It’s one of my favourite places in the world. Have you ever been?’

  Selina shook her head and took a cup from Penny. ‘I’ve only been to south Ibiza and Marbella, with friends. We never went on holidays abroad when I was little. Mum and Dad are planning to emigrate to Barbados when they retire and I suppose they think its better to wait instead of globetrotting in the meantime.’

  ‘And how did they feel about you picking up and leaving?’

  ‘It was fine,’ Selina replied. ‘It’s not what they’d do, but they know I’m not like them.’

  It wasn’t a lie. It was fine that she’d announced she’d be leaving for a few months, but it wasn’t fine that she’d had to leave thanks to pictures of her circulating on the Internet. She’d never be able to forget the look on her parents’ faces when they’d found out about that.

  Penny might be old enough to be her mother, but there was something about her carefree attitude and girlish smile that made her appear younger. So far, she seemed easy-going, understanding and even though they were still pretty much strangers, someone Selina could confide in, but she wasn’t ready to share the reason she’d left her family and friends for Ibiza.

  ‘Sometimes the apple does indeed drop far from the tree,’ Penny said. ‘My parents were very conservative and perfectly happy to holiday in the same Cornish town every summer. They weren’t exactly over the moon when I left to travel around Europe instead of going to university.’

  ‘You did?’

  Penny nodded. ‘I didn’t get very far, though. I made it to France, fell pregnant, moved back home and settled down. Well, as much as I could settle anyway. Once you catch the travel bug, it’s hard to shake it off again and my daughter, Effie, hated that we moved around so much. I’d hoped she would inherit my inner nomad. I was very wrong.’

  ‘You have a daughter?’ Selina looked behind them at the bungalow. She hadn’t met anyone called Effie yet. ‘Is she here?’

  ‘Oh, goodness no, she’d hate this place. She’s a complete city girl. She’s in London, and I’m here. Free to travel to my heart’s content. We don’t see each other all too often. For every slice of heaven, there’s a side serving of hell.’ Penny frowned for a moment before shaking her head
as if to shake the thought away.

  Selina took another sip of her tea. She was a city girl too, but she was adapting, wasn’t she? She twisted the ring on her finger with her thumb.

  ‘That’s a lovely ring,’ Penny said, noticing her playing with it. ‘You really shouldn’t wear it when you’re working.’

  ‘It’s not expensive.’ Selina shrugged. ‘I picked it up at a flea market.’

  Penny reached out and took her hand to inspect it more closely. ‘It looks like red amethyst. It’s a great stone for courage and helping with self-esteem. That’s invaluable.’

  Selina looked at the red stone. Was it coincidence that she’d bought it just a few days before she’d found out about those photos? God knew she needed all the courage and self-esteem she could get afterwards. They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the rain bouncing off the roof until Penny spoke again.

  ‘How do you like your bungalow? It’s almost hard to believe we only had tents when we first arrived here.’

  ‘Oh, it’s lovely.’ Selina smiled. ‘And thank you, for the flowers and the soaps. They’re amazing. I used the orange one this morning.’

  ‘Lindy makes them. That’s her over there, in the yellow house.’

  Selina looked over to see a woman, probably around Penny’s age, lying in a hammock on the porch.

  ‘I’m sure she’d be happy to show you how to make them. They’re surprisingly easy and so much better for you than buying them in the shops. They put so many nasty chemicals in things these days.’

  Penny wrinkled her nose and Selina nodded, but the truth was, she barely paid any attention to chemicals and pesticides. One thing she did know was that Lindy’s soap smelled utterly divine and Selina’s skin hadn’t felt anywhere as dry as it usually did.

  ‘One of the things I love the most about this place,’ Penny continued, ‘is that everything’s traceable. We know where our food, water and energy come from. We can’t account for everything since we still need to buy some things on the mainland every so often, but in the main, everything here is totally organic and wholesome.’