The Flow Page 12

  “I think you made the right choice,” she said, issuing him with a tiny, encouraging smile. At once, he responded with a broad one that lit up his face, pimples and all. They looked so angry in contrast to his pasty skin that they were still hard to ignore. Still, by now she’d decided she could relax in his presence a lot better.

  “I’m sure I have. It’s just that it’s so frustrating to be surrounded by so much beauty and not have anyone to express your appreciation to.” Jeff stretched out his arms looking around at the enchanting, bright green and aquamarine landscape.

  Sofia nodded fervently in agreement. “Yes, I can imagine that.”

  The other thing I didn’t tell you is my mates threatened to strangle me unless I took the holiday. They said they’d had enough of my ‘mopping about’, as they put it.”

  Sofia gave a titter. “I see. Stiff upper lip and all that.”

  “Yes, it’s the British way. But how come you know this expression? Aren’t you Greek? I heard you speak it. Although I swear, your English is better than mine.”

  “Thank you, I’ve had private lessons for years, that’s why.”

  “And you have British friends too. Do you live in England?”

  Sofia explained to Jeff that she was an Athenian who spent her summer holidays in Corfu, and he seemed very interested to hear all about her grandparents, her best friend Loula, and her boyfriend, Steve.

  Chapter 18

  From the following morning, the days passed so much easier for Sofia somehow. She was amazed at the difference it made to have a new friend around in the company of Steve and Loula. In a way, it helped her to feel less sorry for herself. Also, as it’s always exciting to get to know a new person, time passed so happily that she couldn’t believe her luck that Jeff had shown up.

  Jeff loved to ramble on, much to Sofia’s delight. With him, there were no such things as awkward pauses. He had an amazing way to enchant her with his stories for he had quite a few to tell. As it turned out, he wasn’t a typical British boy. He was half-American, born in New York City.

  Back in England, his father, a successful businessman, owned a castle. Sofia was impressed to hear about the castle in particular and asked to hear more about it, but it seemed Jeff felt uncomfortable talking about life with his parents. From the little he disclosed, it seemed his family were quite well-put, but he’d chosen to live on his own in London in a small flat in Kensington. He worked for a glossy, fashion magazine doing desktop publishing, something he’d studied in New York. He had only moved to England a couple of years ago. In Sofia’s eyes he had done a lot already for someone so young. Although he was older than them all, he was only twenty-six.

  When Sofia mentioned she was coming to England in September to study Art & Design at Brighton Polytechnic, he was overwhelmed. What’s more, he offered to be of assistance both with her studies and also with job-hunting in London after her graduation.

  Sofia was lost for words but non-committal. She simply uttered a quick ‘thank you, that’s kind of you’ and moved on to another subject. But that wasn’t the only bullet she had to dodge. By the time the conversation ended, Jeff had practically invited himself to Brighton to meet up with her as soon as she settled there.

  ***

  On Steve’s last night, the four of them arranged to have a drink at a local bar together on the main road. After that, Steve and Loula were planning to have a quiet dinner alone at a nearby restaurant. The four friends chose a familiar cocktail bar that had the name “Parallels”, a name that had always struck Sofia as odd, seeing that the logo on the sign displayed a circle instead. Then again, the owner was rather loopy, and the sign always made her chuckle.

  She knew the guy well. His name was Nick. He was one of the village children she used to play with as a little girl. He’d always stand out from the other boys, for being very quiet. Nowadays, Nick sported military-patterned t-shirts and shorts and a pink bandanna tied around his head. He looked like a cross between Stallone from Rambo and Travolta from Staying Alive. When he wasn’t behind the bar serving drinks in ‘Parallels’, he rode around in his jeep, finding quiet coves to fish, and he was a world traveller too. On the back of the bar, he displayed pictures from his voyages to Mexico, South Africa, The Far East and even Alaska.

  “Hello!” Nick said breezily when the four approached the bar. Jeff was the only one he didn’t know, and Sofia made quick introductions. Five minutes later, they were sitting at a small table on the veranda, the cool breeze descending from the mountains, ruffling their hair gently as they talked.

  Steve and Loula sat side by side, their hands clasped together. To watch them, it was evident they were made for each other. Sofia only had to look at Loula’s eyes to know she’d been crying on and off all day again. Still, she’d be back with Steve in no time. Being tactful, she shifted in her seat to look around and give the two lovebirds some privacy in the semi-darkness. She turned her full attention on her new friend, Jeff, who unlike the other two, was in tremendously high spirits. He still had a couple of days left on the island, and now that he no longer spent the days alone, he was as happy as Larry.

  “So, Jeff, how’s your drink?”

  “Nectar, my Greek beauty!” he replied with a bright smile.

  Sofia giggled and embraced his flattering response. Jeff was like that, and she was used to it by now. She enjoyed his jokes and his spontaneous compliments and saw him as a pal who had come at the right time; she was still very grateful for that. She spared a moment to wonder then, what it would have been like for her sitting there alone with Steve and Loula, looking so lost in each other’s eyes. She shuddered at the thought. Thank goodness for Jeff.

  “What’s the matter, my lovely? What’s with the long face?” asked Jeff, curling his lips downwards in mock sympathy.

  Sofia shook her head. “Nothing. I was just thinking that the summer will be over soon,” she lied.

  “Well, my dear, if good times never ended then they’d never be special and where would we be without special days, huh? We’d be bored stiff now, wouldn’t we?” he reasoned, cocking his eye at her playfully.

  “Well said,” she replied with a firm nod. “I think I’ll drink to that!” She raised her glass, and he raised his own to meet it. They sipped their drinks and pretended not to notice how Steve and Loula’s mood seemed to deteriorate as the time passed. At some point, Sofia’s eyes met theirs and she saw so much sorrow there she felt like banging their heads together in frustration. This was too much. She wanted to scream to them. What’s the matter with you? You’re moving in together in a couple of months. Look around you, why don’t you? Some of us have no chance in love so count your blessings. Be happy you’re not me.

  Inevitably, those thoughts carried her away to Brighton again. Brighton and Danny, of course. Beside her, Jeff noticed again. “What’s the matter, Sofia? You look awfully glum tonight.” This time there was no humour in his demeanour or his voice.

  “Glum?” She tilted her head, squinting at the sound of the unknown word.

  “You know, sad. Unhappy. You look like this,” he replied, pulling a face of mock-misery that had her bursting into hysterics. The noise caused Steve and Loula to snap out of their trance and peer at her like two startled birds whose nap had been disturbed.

  Sofia nudged Jeff on the arm and sighed. “Thank you. I needed that.”

  “But you haven’t said. What is it? Can I help?” His expression was solemn again.

  Sofia issued a long sigh this time and raised her brows as she looked down at her half-empty glass. “I wish.”

  “Try me.”

  Finally, she looked up to meet his eyes, then shook her head. “Really, it’s nothing.”

  “It doesn’t look like nothing. Why don’t you tell me about it?”

  “Really, I’d rather not.”

  “All right, I won’t insist.” He sipped his drink, and she had some more from hers, the following moments of silence somehow awkward now. Jeff turned his attention to
the road to watch the world go by. Couples walked past hand in hand, families with children sauntered quietly, and large groups of loud youngsters dressed in football shirts kicked up a lot of noise.

  Sofia stole a few long glances at Jeff, while his head was turned. She couldn’t help noticing how much his appearance had changed in just a couple of days. In his body, and mainly his legs, he was still quite pasty, but his face, neck and arms looked wonderfully sun-kissed. His flushed cheeks, thanks to the sun’s attentions, brought out the blue in his eyes causing them to sparkle delightfully. It wasn’t a Danny kind of sparkle, granted, but she loved it all the same. And was it her or had the ghastly pimples faded out? Not all of them, surely. But those two ugly craters on the bridge of his nose sure didn’t look half as appalling any more. They were barely visible in the warm flush of his face that gave him a healthy look, and one of utter, newfound charm she somehow felt herself attracted to. What on earth? What am I doing staring at him like that?

  And then, she even caught herself imagining what it would be like to kiss him, to have him replace the lingering feeling of Danny’s lips on hers with his own.

  When Steve and Loula announced it was time to get to the restaurant for their pre-booked dinner, the others were also happy to leave. After all, the time when Sofia had promised to return home was drawing near.

  The four of them walked along the main road, Sofia and Jeff leading the way, and Steve with Loula trailing quietly behind, holding hands. The restaurant was on the way to the hill, past Uncle Yiannis’s taverna. When they sauntered past, Sofia turned her head towards it, looking out for her uncle. Feeling naughty, her spirits heightened by her relaxing, delicious cocktail, she wished he would be outside to see her with her friends. As luck or the law of karma would have it for all her pains in the past, he emerged at that exact moment to greet some customers in person.

  When he saw them, Uncle Yiannis’s jaw dropped. Sofia waved her hand and mouthed a ‘kalispera’ from across the distance, then stifled a giggle as she watched his mouth take the shape of a perfect ‘o’. With a numb nod from his head, he waved back at her.

  Sofia pretended to talk to Jeff but kept her eyes on her uncle as they continued to stroll past the taverna. Now, much to her delight, he was staring back at them goggle-eyed, standing in the middle of the courtyard, his hands hanging loosely by his sides, his expression blank. Once they were out of his line of sight, she began to laugh out loud.

  Jeff was taken aback and asked her what it was but behind them, Loula had noticed the whole thing and reached up to meet Sofia’s hand for a high-five. The two boys watched perplexed but seeing that the girls didn’t offer an explanation, they didn’t ask again.

  Outside the restaurant, Loula and Steve said goodbye. Jeff and Sofia stood on the roadside till their friends got directed to their table, then turned to go.

  “Shall I escort you to your house?”

  “No, that’s okay, thank you.”

  “Sofia, I want to. I’m not just being nice. Please let me.”

  There was something strange in his eyes then, those sparkling eyes against his sun-kissed complexion, and she found she couldn’t say no. She nodded and they took the uphill path together, without talking much. The night had brought with it the familiar chill that was so typical of Corfu and lasted all year round.

  “Blimey, it’s surprisingly cool here at night. I still can’t get over that,” he said with a smile.

  “Indeed. Mind you, it’s not the typical climate of Greece. But this is the price the Corfiots have to pay, this awful humidity, for living in a lush paradise. I bet now in Athens, people must be roasting in their own juices.”

  It was a hilarious thing to say, or at least that’s how they perceived it, and they wound up laughing till their sides split.

  “You’re a strange girl, Sofia,” Jeff said when they stopped near the top of the hill, just before the square, outside Mrs Lopi’s gate with the momentous overhanging trellis of bougainvillea. “I must say, you’re perhaps the strangest girl I’ve ever met.”

  “Strange? Why would you call me that?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, looking down at his shoes. “Perhaps because you’re a bit of a mystery to me. You seem to have such a great sense of humour, and yet, there are times when you seem incredibly sad.” He paused and met her eyes then. In there, he found the exact sadness he’d just spoken of. “What is it, Sofia? Why don’t you tell me about it? As a friend, maybe I can help.”

  “Trust me, you can’t,” she said wistfully. “Now, let’s move on; I need to get back, if you don’t mind.”

  “Wait,” he said then, taking hold of her arm gently, causing her to turn around again to face him.

  “Can I ask you something, Sofia?”

  “Sure, shoot!” she said, forcing a smile but it was only tiny.

  “Do you think that you and I . . . I mean, when you come to England . . .”

  “What? Meet up? Of course, we will. We’ll keep in touch and we’ll arrange it,” she replied, wishing inside he didn’t mean anything else. Please don’t mean anything else. I can’t handle any more complications in my life right now.

  “Actually . . .” he said, then hesitated. He sought her eyes and she stared back into his. Under the harsh light of the overhead street lamp, they looked huge, wanting even. Still, she found herself numb in response. What if he asked for something more? And what if I wanted him to?

  “Actually, what?” She was still unsure what she wanted to hear.

  “Actually, can I just do this first?” he said, and before she even got the chance to ask him what he meant, he had already put a gentle hand on her neck and come in for a kiss.

  It was tender, very tender, and surprisingly amazing. When their lips parted, she opened her eyes slowly. For a split second it felt like heaven, but then, insanely, she thought of Danny. Now, someone else’s lips had kissed her last. The memory of his kisses would never feel the same again as a result. It was too late to change that. Oddly enough, she still felt numb. She didn’t even know if she was relieved or devastated about it.

  Jeff, in the meantime, had put his arms around her and now stared at her, as if mesmerised by her. The intensity in his eyes snapped her back into reality.

  “Jeff, you’re a really sweet guy, but—”

  “Please, please don’t say anything now!” he said, placing two fingers on her lips to silence her. “Please, I beg of you, give me at least one night to lie on my hotel bed and think of you, wondering about the possibilities. Can you give me that?”

  Sofia smiled forlornly. “All right, Jeff. This suits me too, actually. I’m quite light-headed, if you must know, and I can’t think straight right now. But we can talk some other time about it. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” he replied in a quiet little voice, taking a step backwards to release her from his arms.

  She waved at him and rushed uphill, without looking behind her.

  Chapter 19

  1938

  Two weeks later, the news of Laura’s pregnancy had got around. On purpose, Harold had mentioned it to the girls at the Society and from then on, it had been just a matter of time until Christian and everyone else at the Pavilion had heard too.

  Once again, Harold had proved useful to Charles. There was an intricate web of friends and acquaintances around the Society and the Pier who eavesdropped and loved to chat and gossip. It all seemed like Charles had won the war against his adversary. Christian, on the other hand, was devastated. The news had only made him sure of his decision to move to Devon. His friend Eric had even expressed the wish to join him on the adventure and to start a life afresh somewhere new.

  At the beginning of December, when Eric told his cousin Maggie that he was leaving Brighton with Christian, she was pleased for him. He’d been on the lookout for quite some time for an opportunity to seek a new life somewhere else. Furthermore, she was glad he was leaving with Christian, of all people. As she planned to stay in touch with Eric through
letters, this meant she’d be hearing news of Christian through him. She still cared for him a lot, and it consoled her to know she’d have this connection with him if need be. Deep down, she always hoped Laura might change her mind someday and reach out to him again.

  However, no one was happier than Charles these days. He’d been delighted to hear he and Laura were going to have a baby together. He did love her in his own way, as arrogant and ruthless as he was. He couldn’t imagine life without her ever since he’d first met her. Now that she was pregnant with his child, he no longer had to fear she’d run back to her former boyfriend again. He didn’t even have to bother his trusted valet with the task of spying on Christian any longer. Besides, he had heard that he was planning to leave Brighton soon. Charles couldn’t be more satisfied with the way it had all turned out.

  That Thursday morning, he got out of bed bright and breezy again. It was early December and with the Christmas season around the corner, he was getting more and more excited each day. Laura’s premiere at the Pavilion was due on New Year’s Eve, and the show was already sold out. Dr Barnett had advised she could continue to perform till the end of February if she wanted to, but then it would be best to let her understudy take over.

  Some of the dancing routines could prove too challenging for an expecting mother. Laura had agreed to this fact, willing to do as the doctor said and to take lots of rest from February onwards for the baby’s sake. But for now, she was more than capable to take part in the rehearsals and to work as hard as everyone else. The following week, they planned to start rehearsals at the Pavilion.

  As he shaved in front of his bathroom mirror, Charles thought how lucky he’d been. From what he’d heard, Christian had left his job and was leaving town in a couple of days. Finally! That annoying little man is out of my hair for good! Charles gave a wide grin at his reflection in the mirror. As he splashed cologne on his cheeks, he began to whistle a happy tune. Next, he brushed his thin moustache with a fine comb, then twisted the edges between two fragrant fingers.