What a shame, what a waste.
Nina enjoyed her job (until very recently) and it did consume most of her waking days, but she abruptly realised the reason her job meant everything to her was only because she had little else in her life. How sad.
Her grandmother, at eighty-four had more fun than Nina did, and even with her husband of nearly sixty years no longer with her, Flossie still found joy in life.
Joy – that was exactly what Nina was missing and she wished she knew what to do about it.
Was a man the answer? A lover, a soul-mate, The One?
On the rare occasions she went out with her friends, the diminishing number of unmarried ones spoke reverently of The One, and the married ones basked in the smug satisfaction that they’d found their happily-ever-afters.
What did Nina have? An almost non-existent social life, a totally non-existent love-life, and a job she suddenly found herself not as enamoured with as she’d previously believed.
Time for a stiff one. Or several.
‘Want a drink?’ she offered.
‘Vodka?’ Flossie replied and Nina could tell by the look on her face that her grandmother didn’t expect her to come back with anything stronger than an expresso.
Nina returned with doubles, and it sure as hell wasn’t coffee in those glasses.
Flossie took a sip and the shocked expression on her gran’s face was a picture.
‘It’s not lunchtime yet,’ the old woman said. ‘You don’t like me drinking alcohol before lunch.’
Am I really that disapproving, Nina wondered. She held up her identical drink. ‘I’m joining you.’
‘Why? What’s wrong?’
‘Does there have to be anything wrong?’
‘Frankly, yes. You’re not exactly the life and soul of the party, are you?’
‘No,’ Nina sighed, ‘I’m not, am I? I think I’ve become stuck in a bit of a rut,’ she confessed.
‘And you think a large vodka and orange before lunch will snap you out of it?’ Flossie raised her glass. ‘Game on. Bottoms up,’ she said and downed hers in one.
Nina took a couple of tentative sips. Wonderful, Nina was the one who wanted to get drunk (or have a few to take the edge off) and now it looked like her gran was going to be the one getting plastered instead. Nina had no choice but to stay sober, in order to keep an eye on the old lady. They couldn’t both be drunk at the same time; what if something happened?
‘For the love of all that’s holy, will you just enjoy yourself for once!’ Flossie exclaimed when she saw the amount remaining in Nina’s glass. ‘You’re boring, do you know that? You’re my granddaughter and I love you dearly, but a wet weekend in Hull is more fun than you are. Live a little, before it’s too late.’
‘Are you saying, that because I don’t get rat-arsed every five minutes, I’m boring?’ Nina demanded slugging her drink back. ‘I don’t need alcohol to enjoy myself,’ she called primly over her shoulder as she headed back to the pool bar.
‘No, but sometimes it bloody well helps,’ Flossie yelled after her.
In less than half an hour Nina was sozzled; pickled, plastered, three-sheets-to-the-wind, off-her-face, pissed – she hadn’t had so much fun in ages, though she couldn’t feel her lips, or her feet. In fact, most of her lacked feeling, though she thought she could feel her hair. She knew hair had feelings, and she wondered if trees did.
‘Do you think trees feel happy?’ she asked, delighted her mouth worked. ‘Or sad. Or lonely?’
‘Do you think they do?’ Flossie replied. Her grandmother sounded as sober as a sober thing. How did she do that? ‘Why would a tree be lonely?’ Flossie added.
‘Because the other trees don’t love it. Poor tree.’
‘You’re drunk,’ exclaimed a delighted Flossie.
‘Not.’
‘Are.’
‘Not.’ Nina poked herself in the nose. She didn’t feel a thing. Fancy that, her nose was numb. ‘Okay, maybe a bit squiffy,’ she admitted, prodding her nose again. She turned to Flossie. ‘I’m lonely,’ she said. ‘Like a tree.’
‘I know, dear.’
‘How can you tell?’ Maybe it was some kind of mark on her forehead which was invisible to her, but everyone else could see it – like those UV stamps they used to put on the back of your hand in a nightclub to show you’d paid. Not that she’d been to a night club recently. Maybe they could go to one now?
‘I can see it in your eyes,’ Flossie said.
‘Eh? See what?’
‘Your loneliness.’
‘I’m not lonely. Who said I was lonely?’
‘You did.’
‘Didn’t.’ Nina stuck her tongue out and wobbled off in search of more alcohol.
She came back with a jam jar full of lime green liquid, bristling with umbrellas and plastic stirry things, and paper shapes which were flat until you opened them, then folded around themselves to make 3D shapes.
Nina, with an intense look of concentration, took them out one at a time, closing them and unfurling them again. ‘Magic,’ she proclaimed sombrely.
Wasn’t there something she wanted to do? Ah, I know, she remembered, getting unsteadily to her feet and listing slightly to the left.
‘I wanna dance,’ she declared, waving her hands in the air while keeping her feet firmly planted on the grass in case she fell over, because the ground was very, very unven… unenven… bumpy.
Bet they had moles. Moles made grass bumpy and lumpy. The golf course her dad was a member of had moles. So did MI5. ’Cept they were bigger. 007 used to catch them.
Nina got down on her knees and felt the ground. Maybe the hotel should give James Bond a ring. He’d catch the little beasties.
‘Have you lost something?’
The voice sounded familiar but when she looked up the sun was directly in her eyes, blinding her. She hoped it wasn’t budgie-smuggler man. He had a habit of standing in the sun, forcing her to squint. Maybe he thought he looked better back-lit. Nina giggled. He’d look better unlit, in the dark. Not that she wanted to be anywhere in the dark with him and his budgie. She giggled again.
‘I think she’s looking for her dignity,’ Flossie said.
Oh, Nina hadn’t realised she’d lost anything. ‘Is it under here?’ she asked trying to peer beneath her sunbed.
‘How much has she had?’ the familiar voice asked.
‘Too much,’ came Flossie’s wry reply.
‘Does she often get drunk before lunch?’
‘No, and she doesn’t get drunk after lunch either, or at any other time. I don’t know what’s got into her.’
‘Are you gonna help me look or wha?’ Nina slurred, her backside in the air and her head jammed under the lounger. What did a “dignity” look like anyway? She couldn’t remember ever seeing one.
‘What exactly is it you’ve lost?’ the man repeated.
It didn’t sound like the bloke with the white budgie smugglers, or that other one from the courtyard. It might be one of the bar staff or the entertainment team. But it actually sounded like…
‘Oohhh oohhh!’ she squealed. ‘It’s you, isn’t it?’
‘It is. I most certainly am me.’
Nina scrabbled backwards until she was free of the sunbed and scrambled to her feet, with only a small stagger and a wobble. ‘My lovely, lovely Leo the lion,’ she sang. ‘I love Leos, they’re all liony.’
‘How much has she had?’
‘Either too much or not quite enough,’ came Flossie’s cryptic reply.
‘Dance with me,’ Nina crooned, grabbing hold of Leo’s hands and trying to twirl him around.
‘We thought we’d seen the last of you,’ Flossie said. ‘Well, she did. I expected you might show up sooner or later. You’ve got that look about you.’
‘What look is that?’ Leo was attempting to keep Nina upright. She wasn’t too keen on the idea. She wanted him down here with her, on this nice sunbed where they could cuddle and kiss, and stuff.
�
�Come down here and cuddle with me. It’s in the shade and everything.’ Nina dropped her voice to a loud whisper which was no quieter than her normal speaking voice. ‘We could kiss.’
‘As inviting as that sounds, I think I’ll pass,’ Leo said. ‘Shall I take her back to the room and put her to bed?’ he asked Flossie. ‘And what do you mean “that look” about me.’
‘The in-love look,’ Flossie replied.
‘I’d like to go to bed with you, but shhh,’ Nina put a finger to her lips. ‘Don’t tell my grannie.’
‘Grannie already knows, dear,’ Flossie said to her. ‘And Grannie wholeheartedly approves.’ She tapped Leo on the arm. ‘If you wouldn’t mind helping her to bed before she passes out. But before you go, tell me what took you so long?’
Yeah, Nina wanted to know the answer too. She stared up at her grandmother and Leo, blinking. Her eyes wanted to close without her permission. Why would they do that? They needed to behave, else she’d give them lines to write.
‘I needed to work out what this was – is,’ Leo said.
‘Have you come to a conclusion?’ Flossie had her arms crossed as if she were about to give him a telling off. Oooh, Nina thought, Leo’s been naughty.
‘I have,’ he said, stroking Nina’s hair as if she was a fluffy dog.
Both her grandmother and Leo ignored her when she barked like one.
‘What is it?’ Flossie demanded.
‘I want to see her again, when we get back to the UK. Do you think she’ll want to see me?’
‘Look at her.’
They looked.
‘I’ve never seen Nina drunk before, not even a little tipsy, and I blame you,’ Flossie declared.
‘She got drunk because of me?’
‘I did,’ Nina piped up. ‘It’s Leo the Lion’s fault.’ Her eyes filled with stinging tears. ‘You didn’t call me. You don’t care.’
‘I didn’t call you because I didn’t have your phone number, and you’re wrong, I do care.’
Nina thought he said, ‘More than I want to’, but she wasn’t sure. It could have been wishful thinking. Not that she herself cared – she didn’t – but it would be nice if he did. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt wanted.
‘Do you want me?’ she said in a little girl voice. She was aiming for take-me-or-leave-me-I-don’t-care-either-way but the words came out the wrong way.
‘Yes.’
‘Good,’ she said, before falling face down on the sunbed. ‘G’night.’
Chapter 27
‘Do you feel okay?’ Leo asked as they got on yet another coach.
Nina nodded, albeit slowly. Her head was still a little fragile, despite having slept through lunch and most of yesterday afternoon. She wasn’t sure whether she’d been disappointed to find Leo had returned to his hotel, or relieved he hadn’t stayed around to witness the state she was in when she finally woke up. She’d been delighted though, when Flossie had told her what she’d arranged with Leo.
‘He’s smitten,’ her grandmother had said. ‘And I think you are too. Make the most of the time you’ve got left because he’s going home on Friday and just enjoy yourself.’
Flossie’s blessing hadn’t stopped Nina from feeling guilty at leaving the other woman on her own all day, but the offer was hard to resist. A whole day (more or less) sailing down a boat on a river, with a lovely, sexy, glorious man. How romantic.
The romance was made more poignant because this was nearly their last day together. Leo went home on Friday, Nina on Saturday. After that, they might never see each other again and Nina wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but she put the depressing thought of going home to the back of her mind and settled down to enjoy the day.
Leo’s dark brown hair had lightened slightly in the sun, giving him auburn highlights and, combined with his tanned skin, he looked yummy enough to eat. And that led to thoughts of the night they’d spent together and the impossibility of a repeat performance, not with Dave occupying the one room, and Flossie the other.
You should be ashamed, she told herself, but she wasn’t. ‘How’s Dave?’ she asked instead.
‘Distraught. Inconsolable. A right misery. Take your pick.’
‘I assume the German girlfriend has gone home?
‘Yep, and Dave’s heart has been broken all over again. He’s going to be impossible when we get back. He’s already talking about going to Germany to visit Frieda.’
‘Aww, that’s so sweet.’
‘It would be if she’d answer any of his phone calls. Either she’s ignoring him and hoping he’ll take the hint, or she’s given him a duff phone number.’
‘That reminds me,’ Nina said. ‘I still haven’t given you mine.’
‘Flossie did, yesterday. I didn’t bring my mobile with me today, but when I get back to my hotel, I’ll text you so you’ve got my number too.’
Just that simple thing of knowing he cared enough to get her phone number gave her a warm feeling. Maybe they would keep in touch after all.
Today was going to be a good day, she thought, hugging herself in barely contained happiness, but she almost changed her mind when the coach made the first stop at a gold centre, whose sole purpose was to persuade tourists to part with as much of their money as they could.
Nina had the bright idea of staying on the coach, (she had no intention of being talked into buying a piece of jewellery she’d never wear and couldn’t afford, and she’d heard stories of their hard-sell tactics) but yet again the bus was locked. When it came to a choice between roasting like a couple of chicken wings on a grill, or hiding from the sun inside a (very) cool shop with the possibility of a glass of tea, the shop won.
Soon after making that decision, Nina regretted not taking the roasting option, after being followed mercilessly around the huge room. Every time she and Leo tried to stand still, a formally-clad sales assistant pounced. Oh no, here comes another one!
‘Excuse me, lady?’
Nina tried to avoid eye contact with the sales girl, but it wasn’t easy when said sales girl planted her diminutive frame right in front of Nina, and stared into her face with all the cunning of a mongoose trying to pin a snake down. Nina didn’t stand a chance of escaping.
‘The engagement rings are this way,’ the mongoose said.
‘Er… ah… we aren’t… I mean, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.’ Nina tried to put her off.
‘Sorry?’
‘We aren’t engaged,’ she said.
‘Yes, I see.’ The mongoose woman looked pointedly at Nina’s bare left hand. ‘Which is why I show you engagement rings. Follow, please.’
Beside her, Leo shook with surprised laughter. Nina trod on his foot.
It shut him up – for a second anyway.
‘Show me what you’ve got in the region of four carats,’ he said, shooting Nina an evil smile as he followed the delighted sales woman to a nearby counter. Nina was pleased to see he limped slightly. Served him right.
She hung back, not wanting to show any interest but Leo didn’t let her off the hook that easily.
‘What do you think of this one, darling?’ He pointed to a ring with a rock Kim Kardashian would be proud of. ‘How much is it?’ he asked the sales girl.
Nina smiled sweetly and before the mongoose had a chance to answer, said, ‘If you need to ask, dahling, then you can’t afford it.’
‘I just want you make sure you have what you deserve, my love,’ he retorted, his smile as saccharine as hers. ‘Do you prefer a round one, a square one, one on its own or one surrounded by lots of other little ones?’
‘You’re wowing me with your technical knowledge,’ she said. Actually, thanks to her friends, both the marrieds and the nots, she knew what she liked and didn’t like when it came to engagement rings; after all, she’d seen enough of the sodding things. Having been forced to coo over and admire so many, she knew she liked square cut solitaires the best. If she was ever going to get engaged, that’s what she’d plump for
. Not that she was planning on getting engaged any time soon, if ever, and the reason was simple really – no man.
‘I prefer ones like that,’ she said, pointing to the perfect ring.
Leo said, ‘Would madam prefer yellow gold, white gold or platinum?’
‘Platinum. White gold looks a bit dull don’t you think?’
‘As a man, the only consideration is, will the lady in question say yes, and then pray she doesn’t lose it,’ Leo retorted.
‘In order for the lady to say yes, she first needs to be asked,’ Nina replied archly.
‘That’s the problem,’ Leo said to the bewildered sales assistant. ‘I haven’t asked her, so for the moment, I think we’ll leave it, thanks.’ He offered Nina his arm. ‘Shall we retire to the coach?’
She took it. ‘Yes, let’s.’ And they swept out of the room as if they owned the place.
‘That was a bit mean of us,’ Leo said when they were safely outside and they’d finally stopped laughing.
‘It was, but if those sales assistants hadn’t been so pushy…’
The excursion stayed on roughly the same level when, at the well-publicised and rather-too-hyped-up thermal mud baths in Dalyan (apparently the mud had rejuvenating properties but all Nina could think about was the thousands of other people who’d wallowed in it, and the disgusting feel of the slimy mud between her toes) Nina saw a photo of herself, her bikini-clad body covered from head to toe in slightly stinky mud, with only her eyes showing. She looked delightful. To be fair, Leo didn’t look much better, but he carried the muddy body mask off with far more aplomb.
Sprawled out in the sun to let the mud dry, Nina said, ‘That wasn’t particularly pleasant, was it?’
‘Oh, I don’t know, you look quite cute slathered in mud.’
She scraped a globule of the stuff from her stomach and flung it at him. It landed on his nose, and she collapsed into giggles. ‘I can’t stand this any longer,’ she said. ‘I’m going to have a shower.’
The “showers” were lengths of pipes with holes in them, suspended about seven feet in the air, the water running continuously. Nina squealed as the icy spray hit her hot skin.
Summer on the Turquoise Coast Page 18