The Ebb Page 8

  “At least you managed to mention my name without turning blue in the face, that’s something!” he teased.

  Laura simply huffed at that, failing to find anything witty to say, causing Meg and Paul to snigger. To her surprise, Christian took a moment or two to gaze earnestly at her, and then looking rather resigned, he offered his hand to her.

  “Look Laura, what do you say we try again? After all, we seem to have mutual friends, and it makes sense to all be friends together. Shall we start anew? I do apologise for any offence.” His hand was still hovering in the air, inviting her to come half way and make amends.

  Laura inspected the solemn look on his face and finally offered her hand to him, albeit cautiously. “Nice to meet you.” She still half-expected him to burst out laughing at any moment, making a rude remark that would leave her feeling stupid again.

  “Nice to meet you too, Laura,” he said, and he seemed sincere enough. When he said her name, his voice took a tender tone. That took Laura by surprise. The sound of her name on his lips had tickled her ears, making her heart skip a beat or two.

  He was dashing as always. The rusty brown scarf, the deep blue eyes and the long tufts of raven black hair that danced in the wind, caused her to stare foolishly. She lowered her gaze with effort after a few moments and looked away, pretending to watch the crowd that passed by noisily, while the same image still occupied her mind. She tried to no avail to be free of it, but it seemed etched on there already.

  “Well, I’d better go home,” she said after a few moments. When she looked up, he was studying her closely, and that made her feel self-conscious again. Why do his eyes make me feel like they’re boring into my soul?

  “May I escort you?” he asked eagerly.

  She shook her head and flashed him a polite smile. “Thank you, there’s no need.”

  “It’s quite late for a girl to walk alone—”

  “I’m quite all right, there’s no need to bother.”

  “No bother! I could make it up to you for my silly antics before.”

  “Oh? You do realise then you’ve been a bit of an idiot?” she replied, causing Meg and Paul to snigger again.

  Christian chuckled. “Yes I do admit it, I’m sorry.”

  Laura eyed him with a mixture of distrust and satisfaction. She was also lost for words.

  “Oh, do let me escort you, Laura. Get to know me a bit! You might realise I’m not so bad after all.”

  Laura smiled and met his gaze. There was a spark in his eyes then, when he realised she had just relented, and he gave her a smile of genuine relief. At that very moment, she knew she was irreversibly taken with him, but as always, she didn’t let it show.

  “Oh, all right!” it sufficed her to say and she waved a hand to the others for goodbye. She met Paul and Meg’s laughing eyes as she turned away, and pursed her lips to try to remain stone-faced, as not to show Christian how elated she felt.

  He hopped to her side and they made their way through the maze of stalls in a hurry. Once they left the Pier behind, the noise from the crowds finally subsided. As they strolled along the promenade, it became increasingly quiet enough to talk, so they slowed down their pace even more. Now they sauntered side by side, and their body language became relaxed.

  Christian considered asking her to visit a pub or a tearoom together but thought better of it and decided not to. He had never found it difficult to ask girls out before, but there was something about this particular girl that gave him warning signs. She had a mind of her own, and an air of superiority about her that baffled him. Paul had informed him she wasn’t class but rather of poor descent, just like them. Yet, he still wondered if perhaps she was way out of his league, but he felt unwilling to dismiss the thought of her all the same. What’s more, he had started to doubt now that he even could, even if he wanted to. It had only been a day since he’d first met her and already, he couldn’t get her out of his head.

  “So Laura, I hear you come from London.”

  “Yes, my mother and I arrived here only yesterday. Meg was kind enough to offer us a place to stay.”

  “Yeah, she’s a real brick. And that was amazing, getting a job so quickly; well done!”

  “Yes, I do owe that to Mr Fern. He put in a good word for me with Mr Thornton, bless his heart.”

  “Mr Fern at the tearoom?”

  “Yes, that’s the one. You know him then?”

  Christian rolled his eyes. “Of course! Everyone knows everyone on the Pier.”

  Laura giggled. “Yeah, so I hear.”

  He waved a dismissive hand and mirrored her mirthful expression. “You’ll see, soon enough you’ll know everyone too.”

  “Where are you from, Christian?”

  “Oh, I’m a local. Born and bred right here in good old Brighton!”

  “You seem proud,” she said, turning to look at him against the backdrop of a misty moonlight scene. The sigh of the sea that ebbed, scraping the shingle softly under the promenade, served as the perfect accompaniment to the sight of his long fringe trying to kiss his eyelids.

  “Proud, I am indeed! And I know the place like the back of my hand. If you need a guide to show you around, I’m your man, Laura.” He flashed her a confident smile with his pearly whites, leaving her feeling like a stunned animal before the headlights.

  Dazzled, she looked away in order to hide her admiration. Nervously, she caught a strand of hair that tickled her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. She feared that if she looked at him again, he would see right through her. She walked up to the green railing and gazed at the bright moon, high up in the sky. Dark, silver-rimmed clouds surrounded it. A flock of seabirds flew past overhead, their cries merging with the murmur of the retreating sea blissfully.

  “You didn’t comment,” he said as he approached her. Hesitation coloured his young, crystal voice. Slowly, he leaned against the rail beside her.

  “What about?” she asked earnestly when she met his timid gaze.

  “About me being your guide.”

  “Sure! Why not?” She shrugged her shoulders, then toyed with one of her bouncy curls, twirling it in her fingers, rendering Christian mesmerised.

  “Really?” he finally managed to say, and she thought he looked quite boyish then, like a small child who had just been promised his first bicycle.

  “Yeah,” she confirmed laconically, trying to stifle her gaiety, but her green eyes were twinkling.

  “Great! I could show you the Royal Pavilion, the Aquarium and all other things fun! There’s a lot to cover mind you, and there’s a lot of beautiful country, too. I could take you on the buses. I hope you have a pair of comfortable shoes,” he said excitedly, causing her to giggle.

  They resumed their leisurely walk along the promenade, and when they reached the Palace Pier and the Aquarium, they took a turn towards the Lanes. Through a small maze of narrow passages that she had learned to follow surprisingly quickly, they found a main road that they took all the way to a small park. Within seconds from there, Laura led him to the little street where she lived.

  Christian stood by the gate with her as she thanked him for his trouble. He made a joke about needing a guide to get back to the Pier and they laughed. Laura stood on her toes and craned her neck to leave a kiss on his cheek. To her surprise, he fell quiet then, like that little boy again.

  “You weren’t quiet when I gave you a kiss last time,” she said, unable to resist expressing her surprise.

  “There’s a big difference between then and now,” he said in a low voice, after a small pause. She glanced at him quizzically, and he put both hands in his pockets. He lowered his gaze to the ground and kicked at the dirt with his shoe.

  “What difference is there?” she asked, perplexed.

  “Back then, the joke was on you…” He looked up and stared into her eyes. “But tonight, it is I who feels like the clown.”

  “Why is that?”

  His lips twitched, and he looked away. “May I escort you home tomorr
ow again?” He was gazing at the sparse traffic at the far end of the road now, unwilling to meet her eyes just yet.

  “You may, as long as you don’t call yourself a clown again.”

  He took a few steps back and then turned to face her again. “Agreed! I won't be a clown; I’ll just be your clown, Laura; your clown and your guide. If you’ll have me,” he said, spreading out his arms, his face wearing a crooked grin that made him irresistible.

  She smiled sweetly at him. “I will be happy to.”

  He stood there for a few more moments in the silence, under the strong moonlight, just looking at her. His eyes twinkled fervently as if he was processing something, as if he was striving to capture the image of her in his mind for eternity. Then, without another word, he just gave her a small wave and headed home.

  Chapter 13

  1987

  Sofia lingered outside Uncle Yiannis’s restaurant. Her cousins Dora and Nana stood behind her, and they both knew how their cousin felt. Sofia had confided in them all about Uncle Yiannis’s antics, year after year. Although he was an uncle to them too, he never bothered them like he did Sofia. Many a time he had intervened with her parents, making her life hell. She had reached the conclusion that her uncle hated her for some reason. His actions always got her in trouble with her father. Her uncle never lost an opportunity to call him, like a Good Samaritan, in order to report this and that.

  Among all her uncle’s legendary antics, two of them stood out as the ones that had caused her the most trouble. The first one was in the year that Gran had fallen and broken her leg. Back then, Sofia was fifteen and not allowed to wander around the village without adult supervision. However, no one among her uncles or aunties living on the hill was available at the time to escort her to the beach every day, and as Granddad had already been affected by severe arthritis in his legs, Sofia depended solely on Gran to accompany her.

  The solution they had found involved for the first time, acting against her father’s will. Sofia’s grandparents could see their son’s fears were unfounded. She wasn’t likely to come to any harm by walking on her own to the beach and back. Therefore, they allowed her to go swimming unaccompanied every day, keeping this a secret from their son. But one day, Uncle Yiannis saw her cross the road as he drove past, on his way back from town. The same day he called her father to let him know he didn’t see it fit for a schoolgirl to wander around on her own. Her father became livid and made Sofia return to Athens earlier that summer, cutting her holiday short, and causing upset to her and her grandparents.

  The second occurrence was only two years earlier. Sofia was nineteen, and although she was allowed to wander around on her own by then, she was still supposed to be a model youngster and that meant not providing any cause for gossip, especially where boys were concerned. Surely she could be seen alone with her male cousins but not with young boys she wasn’t related to.

  That fateful afternoon, Sofia was in Loula’s house with Akis. The three of them were having ice cream on the front porch, and they were going to have a long walk afterwards like they often did in the evenings. Music played on the radio and at some point, Akis tuned it to another frequency. He said there was a new show on the local station that was a good laugh. It was a blind date kind of show. Youngsters would call in, speak a bit about themselves and then others would respond, have a chat and ask them out on a date if they were interested.

  As they listened, a young man presented himself, and he came across as being quite nice. He seemed polite, sophisticated, and said he loved reading books and going to the cinema. Loula started to squeal with excitement, urging Sofia to call in and talk to him. She said they had things in common. Of course, Sofia recoiled at the very thought, but Akis sided with Loula, insisting it would be fun. They said she didn’t have to mention her name, let alone go on a date with the boy. All they asked her to do is call in and be on the air, just for a laugh. In the end, in order to get them off her back, Sofia gave in.

  The conversation she had with the young lad was nice and short, and she never asked to meet him of course, saying she was only after a chat, seeing that she was leaving the island soon. The matter would have ended there and then, had Uncle Yiannis not heard that conversation. The radio was on in his restaurant at the time, and he recognized Sofia’s voice easily. She didn’t have the melodic Corfiot accent of the local girls, plus she had named the person who kept giggling in the background, saying it was her best friend Loula.

  Without wasting time, he called his brother in Athens to inform him that his daughter “was looking to find a man on the local radio”. Her father then dialled his parents’ number, and the upset spread like wildfire in the tiny household. Gran left the house in a hurry, rushing to Loula’s place where she found the three youngsters, none the wiser, about to depart for their evening walk.

  But alas, instead of that, Sofia was rushed back to Gran’s house where she got treated with an angry earful from her father over the phone, followed by a strong scolding from her grandparents for her lack of prudence. On top of all that, her father insisted that her grandparents should ground Sofia for a week. She could have her morning swim, but she wasn’t allowed to go out in the evenings with her friends or cousins, not even to visit Loula’s house, seeing that in his eyes she was now the devil himself.

  So, thanks to Uncle Yiannis, the Good Samaritan, Sofia’s good name had been protected once again, as well as her overall holiday experience marred for another year.

  Many times, Sofia had tried to imagine the cause of her uncle’s actions. How could he be so mean? Why did he hate her so? And yet, his manner towards her confused her. He was always so polite, and he seemed so caring. It was a mystery to her, but she hated him so much for the heartache he had caused her that by now she had given up trying to understand him.

  “So what now? Are we going to keep standing here or what? I really fancy a walk!” protested Nana. Dora scowled at her little sister and turned to Sofia, adjusting her facial features to an expression of sweetness and sympathy.

  “Come on, Sofia mou! Let’s get it over and done with. What do you say?” Dora gave an encouraging nod.

  “Yes, I guess so. We might as well,” answered Sofia hesitantly, but her feet still didn’t move.

  “Would you prefer that we have our walk first and leave it for when we come back?” Dora sympathised with her cousin fully. Although her parents were more liberal than Sofia’s, she could easily imagine what it must be like for her, having to abide to so many anachronistic restrictions. Most of all, she could imagine Sofia’s bottled up anger and frustration for having to visit her uncle and play nice, despite her true feelings for him.

  “No, it’s okay. I’d rather get it out of the way. I’m doing it for my grandparents, you know. I don’t want them to get into any more trouble with my dad because of him!” She accentuated the last word strongly enough, in order to convey to her cousins the magnitude of her distaste. In response, Dora visibly cringed.

  “Fine, let’s go in!” said Nana eagerly. Uncle Yiannis was bound to treat them to ice cream.

  “We won’t stay long, right?” asked Sofia, following her cousins inside with small, hesitant steps. Dora shook her head to assure her, and Nana beckoned her in with a cheeky smile that revealed the endearing gap between her two front teeth. One of the patrons pointed at the little girl as she skipped up the front steps, and another one commented on her cuteness. Only two Greek couples were seated at the outside tables at the time, having iced coffee. It was still far too early for dinner.

  “Don’t worry, two minutes and that’s it,” Dora whispered to Sofia as they stood at the threshold together. “I‘ve got a hankie in my pocket. You can wipe your mouth with it after you kiss him,” she added to cheer her up. It worked. Dora was great at cracking jokes during awkward moments, and she could be a godsend like that. No one could stay in a bad or a sad mood around Dora. Despite being in the dreaded shop, Sofia was smiling now, which was a miracle in itself.


  There were no patrons inside; only two waiters fussing about with crockery behind a stainless steel counter at the far end. The girls spotted their uncle easily. As usual he was in the adjoining kitchen at this hour, assisting his able cook. One of the waiters recognized the girls and greeted them. Uncle Yiannis heard and came out, a broad smile across his face. He kissed his nieces and offered them to sit at one of the tables.

  As prearranged, Dora and Sofia declined politely, saying they had an errand to run and a long walk to do. Much to Nana’s delight, Uncle Yiannis then paced to the ice-cream freezer to return seconds later with three large ice cones. The girls lingered there only a few seconds longer, enough to answer to their uncle’s typical enquiries about the health of their parents, how long they were there for etc. The girls ensured to ask him how the business was going, what the tourist season looked like so far, and then they made sounds to go.

  It had been easier than Sofia had expected. Once back out on the street, they each held an ice cone as a trophy, Sofia for doing her family duty and Dora for helping out her cousin to endure it. As for Nana, the trophy in her hand was simply one of indulgence, and she rushed to the nearest bin to remove the wrapper.

  Dora did the same and a bit later, when they set off on their walk, she realised Sofia hadn’t unwrapped her cone yet. Instead, she still held it in her hand like a dead weight.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I don’t want it, Dora,” replied Sofia, shaking her head ruefully. At the same time, she put up a hand to catch the attention of a female tourist who was coming from the other way with a little girl in tow. “Excuse me, I’ve just been given this,” she said in perfect English, as she held up the ice cream, “but I don’t feel like having it. Is it all right if I give it to your little girl? It would be a shame to waste it.”