‘What about?’
‘He didn’t say.’
Stella rolled her eyes. ‘I bet you fifty quid he had an argument with his wife. She’s probably lying by the pool right now, calling him every swear word she knows under her breath while she rubs suntan lotion into her thighs.’
‘Maybe.’ I gave her a look. She could be weird sometimes. ‘Anyway, he said it was pretty breezy on the beach at 2am so, when he spotted the blanket by the cave, he wrapped it round his shoulders. The next thing he knew he was being woken up by two screaming women.’
‘Fair enough.’ She shrugged. ‘And you’re sure Laura’s okay,’ she glanced towards the beach, ‘down there with him?’
‘Yeah, when I left they were swapping Mike stories and laughing and –’ I frowned as Stella picked up her mobile and checked the screen – ‘what is it? Simon?’
‘Yeah. Another text. He loves me and he doesn’t want to lose me.’ She pushed the phone away and leaned back in her chair. ‘Well, you’re too late buddy because you already have.’
‘Maybe he just needs more time.’
‘How much more does he need? We’ve been together two years and he’s still making excuses about why we can’t move in together. Two years, Milly! Laura and Mike moved in together after six months. Even you and he-who-must-not-be-named moved in together after a year.’
I opened my mouth to comment but Stella wasn’t done.
‘And it’s not just that. I get the fact he’s a doctor and he’s so wrapped up in his work that he forgets what day it is but my birthday? Milly, he didn’t even get me a card.’
‘That’s shit.’
‘Totally fucking shit! And I’m supposed to believe he loves me and can’t live without me?’ She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and swiped the tears from her eyes. ‘Bollocks to his text messages. They’re just words, Milly. They don’t mean anything.’
Laura reappeared an hour later. Her eyes were shining and her forehead, nose and chest were pink from the early morning sun.
‘Do you girls mind if I join James for dinner tonight?’ she asked, her cheeks turning the same shade as Stella’s second Bloody Mary.
Stella raised an eyebrow. ‘Won’t his wife mind?’
‘I wouldn’t have thought so. In fact, she’d probably be quite pleased.’
I winked at Stella. ‘Into threesomes are they?’
‘Oh my god, you two are such perverts!’ Laura laughed. ‘She’s not here. And she’s not his wife. They’re getting divorced. That’s why he was down on the beach last night; the decree nisi arrived the day he flew out and he was trying to get his head around it. He’s here with his brother.’
‘Single?’ Stella asked hopefully.
‘Gay.’
‘Laura,’ I said as Stella’s grin melted away, ‘I don’t suppose Eros turned up at the beach did he?’
She shook her head. ‘No, why? Are you worried about him?’
‘Well, yeah. Where did he go? If he left the blanket behind and wandered off naked anything could have happened!’
We exchanged looks, then Stella sighed heavily. ‘Let’s go into Lindos, see if we can find him.’
We spent forever looking for Eros, traipsing up and down the narrow streets, the Acropolis looming above us like a dark shadow. Finally, after three fruitless, and hot and sweaty, hours we gave up. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach, swimming in the crystal clear sea, reading saucy bits from our bonkbuster beach reads to each other and nodding off in the sun. Every now and then I’d glance back towards the cave, expecting to see Eros sitting there, grinning his wide smile at me. For someone I’d know less than thirty-six hours it was weird how much of an effect he’d had on me. And I’d sworn never, ever to let my guard down with a man ever again.
There was a strange mood in Taka Taka, the small, homely taverna we’d chosen for our evening meal; I sensed it the second we stepped onto the terrace. The view was breath-taking, the sea sparkling under the moonlight, tiny square villas on the hill lit up with amber light, and the multi-coloured baubles strung up along the side of the restaurant casting a rainbow over the floor. But the waiters moved too quickly with their heads down and the smile on the face of the maître d’ who greeted us was tight. It wasn’t until we were lead to our table that I realised what was wrong. The restaurant was empty apart from one other table of diners at the far end of the terrace. Six men in their early twenties stared at us as we clip-clopped across to our table in our high heels. I could feel their eyes on my legs, my chest, my lips as I took my seat and sat down.
‘You okay?’ Stella looked worried.
I forced a smile as I slipped my pink pashmina over the back of my chair. She’d been looking forward to coming to this restaurant since she’d read about the view in the guide book that afternoon. Laura had gone out to dinner with James so it was just the two of us. If I left she’d have to leave too. ‘Fine. I’ve just, um...’
She glanced over her shoulder. ‘If those guys are bothering you we can go somewhere else.’
‘It’s fine, honestly,’ I picked up the wine menu and squinted at the lettering. ‘Do you fancy red or white? I think I’ll probably order some fish so white might be...’
I continued to witter on, even when phrases like ‘nice tits’, ‘fit’, ‘take her home’ and ‘give her a hard one’ drifted over from the other table.
‘Milly,’ Stella placed her hands on mine. ‘You’re shaking like a leaf. Come on,’ she stood up, ‘let’s go somewhere else.’
I didn’t need telling twice.
‘Going somewhere?’ A wiry dark-haired man with a diamond earring in his left ear and a gold chain poking out from his white polo shirt put a hand across the entrance to the stairs, barring our exit.
‘We’re leaving,’ Stella said.
I didn’t say a word, I was too transfixed by the gold chain. It was the same one my ex had worn. It was the last thing I saw before he’d punched me in the face. At work. Apparently I’d been flirting with the customers all night. He begged for my forgiveness afterwards, said he’d never do it again, but I wasn’t about to take that chance.
‘Get out of our way.’ Stella gripped the man’s thin wrist and pulled but his arm stayed where it was. He was stronger than he looked.
‘C’mon darling,’ a bald-headed man appeared behind us and slung his arm around her shoulders, ‘it’s our last night in Rhodes. Stay for a drink. It might help loosen you up. Although, from the look of your friend, she might need a couple of bottles before she’s loose enough to–’
He reeled backwards as my hand slapped his cheek.
‘You little bitch,’ gold-chain man stepped towards me, his eyes narrowed. ‘We were just trying to be friendly but if you’re going to get feisty–’
‘Enough!’ A tanned arm hooked him round the neck and yanked him backward towards the steps. It was Eros! Only he wasn’t naked any more. He was dressed in black trousers and a white shirt, open at the neck. ‘You’re out of here. Your friends too.’
‘Fuck me!’ Stella pressed her hands to her mouth. ‘It’s Birdman! Where’d he come from?’
‘Screw you, you piece of Greek shit,’ gold-chain man pulled at the arm around his neck but he was no match for the tall, broad waiter who was holding him in a strangle hold.
‘You okay, Ashley?’ The other four men stood up and staggered across the terrace towards us, their hands clenched into fists. I clung to Stella who looked desperately at Eros.
‘You ever played skittles, Stella?’ he said and then winked. ‘Watch!’
It happened in a blur. Gold-chain man flew up in the air and landed on bald man who stumbled backwards, his arms outstretched, and took out two of the others who tumbled backwards and landed on their arses.
‘Damn!’ Eros shook his head. ‘I missed two, must be losing my touch.’
He stepped to one side, protecting Stella and I with his outstretched arm, as six huge Greek men came barrelling up the steps and swiftly ‘esco
rted’ our tormentors down the metal stairway and back onto the street.
‘They won’t come anywhere near you again,’ Eros said softly. ‘I promise you.’
‘We should go,’ Stella said, ‘is there a back alley or something we can use so we won’t risk running into them again?’
Eros smiled. ‘Better than that, I’ll walk you both home.’
We’d only been back in the villa ten minutes when the panic attack hit me. One minute I was pouring myself a glass of wine in the kitchen, wondering how we could ever have believed that Eros could be anything other than the waiter he so obviously was, and the next I was clutching my chest and gasping for breath. Stella turned white when she walked out of the toilet and saw me doubled over the table, clutching my heart.
‘Eros!’ I could hear her screaming his name outside the villa but he was long gone, shooed away into the darkness by Stella after he’d dropped us off.
‘Fuck!’ she ran back into the kitchen. ‘What’s the Greek number for an ambulance?’
I shook my head and gripped the table. I was seeing dark spots in front of my eyes.
‘Fuck!’ she tipped her bag upside down. The contents clattered onto the table and she snatched up her phone. ‘Simon,’ she barked into it, ‘Simon, it’s me. Listen, I think Milly’s dying...’
She was silent for a couple of minutes then, ‘Deep breaths,’ she ordered me, her phone clamped to her ear, ‘SLOW, deep breaths. In, one, two, three, four, out, one two, three, four, that’s it Milly, well done.’
I continued to breathe and Stella continued to relay Simon’s instructions to me until my heart stopped racing, my breathing steadied and my vision cleared.
‘You’ve got colour back in your cheeks,’ Stella said, touching her fingertips to my face.
‘Good,’ I smiled. ‘I’m feeling a bit better now.’ I sat back in the chair she’d pulled out for me and reached for the glass of water on the table. ‘I freaked out. I thought that guy was going to punch me. He reminded me of—’
‘Don’t say his name!’ she pressed her finger to my lips. ‘Don’t you dare! Sorry Simon, one second.’ She put a hand over the phone. ‘Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Milly?’
‘I’m still feeling a bit shaky but I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I’ll just go outside and get some fresh air.’
‘You’re sure?’ She frowned with concern. ‘Because if anything happens to you—’
‘I’m fine, really.’ I hadn’t seen her so keen to talk to Simon in a long, long time.
It was cool on the patio without a jacket but I didn’t want to go back inside to get one until Stella and Simon had finished talking.
‘Blanket?’
I jumped at the sound of a male voice further down the hill and twisted round in my chair.
‘Eros!’
‘Milly.’ He smiled but made no move to come up towards the house.
‘It’s fine.’ I beckoned him towards me.
‘I thought I should return this,’ he held my pink pashmina towards me.
I must have left it hanging on the back of my chair in the restaurant.
‘Thank you’. I wrapped it around my shoulders. ‘So you’re a waiter then?’
He shrugged and crouched beside me. ‘I’d rather talk about you. How are you doing, Milly?’
‘Fine. I’m good. Honestly, I’m fine now.’
‘No, you’re not. You think you’re free because you won’t speak his name but you’re his prisoner until you do.’
‘What!’ I glanced back towards the house. ‘Who told you—’
‘No one told me, Milly.’
‘Then how—’
‘Say his name, Milly.’ He grabbed my hand, pressed his lips lightly on the back, then let it go.
I rubbed my fingers over the patch of skin where his mouth had been. I should be terrified – some strange Greek man was sitting beside me in the dark, kissing my hand and ordering me to say my ex-boyfriend’s name – but I’d never felt more safe.
‘Gary,’ I said, as a strange floaty feeling swept through my body, followed by the most amazing sense of calm. ‘His name was Gary Jones. We were together for two years although I should have left him after two weeks. That was the first time he said something so horrible he made me cry. I made so many excuses for his behaviour – bad childhood, divorced parents, alcoholic dad. I kept telling myself he wasn’t that bad, because he’d never hit me. And then he did.’
‘Hmmm.’ Eros nodded. ‘Geryon, definitely a monster. Don’t worry Milly, he’ll never hurt you again.’
‘Who’s a monster?’
We both turned at the sound of Laura’s voice. She and James weren’t holding hands but their shoulders were so close they kept brushing against each other as they walked up the hill towards us. They were smiling broadly, radiating happiness.
‘How are you doing?’ Laura glanced at Eros then leaned down to hug me. ‘Have you had a good night?’
‘It’s been interesting.’
‘And how’s Stella?’
‘She’s back with Simon!’ Stella said, strolling out of the house with a glass of wine in her hand.
‘No way! What happened?’ As Laura ran over to hug her I couldn’t help notice Eros rubbing his hands together and nodding, a huge smile stretching from one ear to the other. He’d done the same thing when we’d watched Laura and James walk up the hill.
‘Let’s just say that I suddenly realised there are a lot of arseholes in this world,’ Stella said, ‘and Simon’s not one of them. And besides, he asked me to move in with him. At last!’
‘No way!’ I jumped out of my chair and threw my arms around her.
‘AND he said he’d get my birthday tattooed on his arm so he’d never forget again.’
‘You’re NOT going to make him go through with that!’
She grinned mischievously. ‘We’ll see...’
‘Um.’ James cleared his throat. ‘Laura, I should get going now. I’ll give you a ring tomorrow?’
‘Yeah, that would be great.’ The smile that lit up Laura’s face made my heart melt. She let go of mine and Stella’s hands. ‘I’ll walk you back down the hill.’
‘Milly,’ Eros said. He was standing at the edge of the patio, next to the big lavender bush that fragranced the air with the most amazing smell. ‘Could I have a quick word before I go too?’
‘Sure.’
I left Stella standing by the front door and crossed the patio towards Eros.
‘Milly,’ he said, lightly touching my shoulder as he leaned towards me, ‘there’s a secret I must tell you.’
I had to concentrate hard to make out what he was whispering, partly because he was speaking so softly and partly because Stella was making an insane ‘I’m not a gooseberry’ whistling sound.
‘Stella,’ I hissed as I turned to look at her. ‘You’re such a stirrer. Eros was just telling me that... what... why are you looking at him like that?’
I looked to my right, then did a double take as all the hairs on my forearms went up. I stared at Stella open-mouthed. ‘Where’d he go?’
‘I don’t know.’ Her mouth was hanging open too. ‘He just... Milly, he just vanished.’
We were all curiously light-hearted as we sat around a table in Rhodes airport and sipped our coffees. It was four days since Eros had disappeared and, despite more searching, we hadn’t seen so much of a glimpse of him since.
‘I still think the owner of Taka Taka was lying,’ Stella said, clattering her coffee cup back into its saucer.
‘But why tell us Eros wasn’t a waiter there?’ Laura said. ‘Why pretend he didn’t know him?’
‘I don’t know. Embarrassment maybe? Maybe Eros has a history of jumping around naked in bushes?’
‘We don’t even know that Eros was a waiter. You said that he was wearing black trousers and a white shirt. That doesn’t mean he was a waiter. He might just have been having a night out and heard all the commotion.’
Stella raised her eyebrow
s. ‘Bit of a coincidence don’t you think? Him having disappeared and then turning up the exact moment we needed help?’
‘Okay.’ Laura shrugged her shoulders. ‘So we’ve got three theories: a) Eros is a Greek nutter who hangs out in bushes naked and goes for nights out in a white shirt and black trousers, b) Eros is a Greek nutter who hangs out in bushes naked and goes to works at Taka Taka for a boss who lies about employing him, or c) Eros is the Greek God of love who fell out of the sky and into a lavender bush to help us get over our assorted hang-ups and find love again?’
‘Okay, Watson and Holmes,’ I pushed my coffee away and gave them both my best stern stare, ‘you can drop the investigation now. What I want to know is – which one of you told him about Pete?’
‘What?’ They exchanged puzzled looks.
‘Which one of you told Eros that Pete’s in love with me?’
‘Pete as in Star and Dove Pete?’ Laura squealed then clamped a hand to her mouth. ‘I knew it! I knew he had a thing for you, Milly. I could tell by the way he vaulted the bar to grab he-who-must-not-be—’
‘Gary,’ I said. ‘It’s okay, you can say his name.’
‘Wow,’ Laura exchanged looks with Stella then placed her hand on mine. ‘Oh Milly, you’ve got no idea how good it is to hear you say that. We’ve been so worried about you.’
‘Worried about me? We’ve been worried about you!’ I glanced at Stella. ‘And you!’
‘I propose a toast!’ she said, lifting her coffee cup. ‘Instead of single, separated and solitary, how about hopeful, co-habiting and hooked-up?’
‘Hopeful?’ I shook my head. ‘Pete’s gorgeous, but I think I need to be single for a while.’
‘You’re not holding out for Eros?’ Stella winked. ‘I saw the sparkle in your eye when we found him in the bushes.’
‘That was sand.’
We burst out laughing. Laura and Stella were still giggling when a very familiar pair of tanned, firm buttocks went streaking past the window. Laura caught my eye and smiled.
‘To Eros,’ she said, lifting her cup in the air.
Sunlounger - the Ultimate Beach Read (Sunlounger Stories Book 1) Page 57