One of the Girls(37)
Her head felt too busy, too loud. Being back on Aegos was far harder than she’d expected. Rationally, she knew there were plenty of happy moments during that long summer seven years ago, but all her body remembered was that one night. It was like spilling red wine on a beautiful new sofa: it didn’t matter that the rest of the sofa remained in perfect condition – the only thing you noticed was the stain.
Yannis cut the engine. For a blissful moment, all Fen could hear was the settling of waves and a faint sea breeze clinking a wire against the mast. Light-footed, Yannis crossed the deck, hauling a salt-crusted anchor from the bow. The tails of his shirt lifted as he launched it overboard. A deep splash, then the heavy rope uncoiling behind it at speed.
Beside her, Bella clapped.
She did that a lot – clapped her hands together when anything excited her. Fen used to find it cute, but lately that gesture had begun to irritate her, too. She tried to refocus on the glittering sea because she didn’t want to be someone who saw flaws where others saw gifts, but she couldn’t fully tune in to the beauty of the day.
The sense of dissatisfaction in their relationship had crept up on her so slowly that she’d barely had a chance to put a name to it. Then, after that awful encounter at the airport with Sue, Fen had wanted to turn around right then, leave. Bella had begged her not to go, promised they’d sort everything out – and then the other hens had arrived, and Fen felt like she had no choice but to see the weekend through.
Bella was nothing like Fen’s previous girlfriends, and that had been part of her appeal. She loved her sassiness, the way she blasted into a room in a cloud of perfume and infectious energy. She loved Bella’s knack for creating fun from thin air – a boring drive to a homeware store could suddenly turn into an adventure with Bella, who’d demand that they pull over so she could dance to the busker playing a fiddle, or watch a film despite it being ten o’clock on a beautifully sunny Saturday.
She had a gloriously dirty laugh. You could hear Bella laughing three rooms away. And she was sexy as hell, no doubt about that. Fen didn’t even want to know where or with whom she’d learned some of the things she knew.
But sex and laughter – as delicious and addictive as they were – weren’t enough.
The only thing that was enough was love.
And Fen realised she didn’t love Bella.
28
Eleanor
Eleanor let her shoulders sway to the yawing of the yacht as it turned on its anchor. She briefly closed her eyes behind her sunglasses and breathed. The air tasted clean and salt-bright, the faint fragrance of herbs drifting from the land.
Sitting at the stern, she was grateful for the shade of the canopy. Her pale, mole-studded skin wasn’t designed for the Mediterranean heat.
Opening her eyes, she saw the Greek flag dancing from the yacht railing in the light breeze. Yannis was gesturing beyond it towards a rocky pinnacle. ‘Only for very good swimmers, yes? Long way. But,’ he said, a finger poised in the air, ‘if you reach the island, if you very good at climbing rock, then you get big surprise.’ He smiled widely, his face turning boyish.
‘A surprise?’ asked Robyn, who was fixing her hair into a ponytail.
Yannis’s eyes twinkled. ‘Many hidden sea caves here … and sea washes in them and makes water hole. Natural swimming pool, yes? Very beautiful.’
‘You can swim in it?’ Fen asked, stepping out of her denim shorts. She looked every inch the athlete in a simple tankini, her body toned and vital. Eleanor wondered what it would feel like to dive from the side of this boat, to know you could just swim and swim, and your body had the power to carry you wherever you commanded it.
‘Dive from rocks – deep water. Twenty, thirty metres, yes? Very good for swimming.’ He angled a thick, tanned wrist towards his face, sunlight glinting off his watch. ‘You have an hour or two to swim, yes? Then after, back to boat for lunch, okay? No rush, no rush.’
‘Sounds perfect,’ Bella gushed, hands clasped.
‘Would you do my shoulders?’ Robyn asked Lexi, holding a tube of sunscreen.
Lexi squeezed lotion into her palms, while Robyn removed her T-shirt, keeping her back to the others. She folded her arms over her stomach.
I know that feeling, Eleanor thought.
From beneath the seat locker, Yannis lifted a plastic tub containing bright flippers and snorkel masks. He doused them with fresh water, then began handing them out, drops of water darkening the sun-warmed deck.
‘No, thank you,’ Eleanor said when he held out a mask for her. ‘I’m staying on board.’
‘You must snorkel! Beautiful clear water! So many fish here. Not like the other islands where dynamite ruin the coral. Here the fish are many – and big,’ he said, making a space between his tanned hands to demonstrate their size. ‘Come, you’ll enjoy!’
She liked the lilting, musical rhythm of Yannis’s voice, but enthusiasm alone couldn’t win her over. ‘Not for me.’
‘Please come in with us!’ Ana said, looping a mask around her neck. ‘We don’t have to go far from the boat. I’ll stick with you.’
‘I can’t swim,’ Eleanor said. She delivered the fact plainly and without embarrassment.
Hearing, the other hens looked at her as if she’d announced she’d just pissed in her shorts. Actually, that was a thought. If she needed a wee, well, then what? She eyed the plastic tub the flippers came in. That would have to do. ‘I’ve got my book for company. I’m planning on having a lovely time staying dry on deck.’ She smiled to put them at ease.