Page 24 of Gideon
For a beat I stare at him and then, to my amazement, laughter bubbles out and I give a disgusting snort. “Yes, damn those pesky talkies.”
Eli grins at me happily before turning round and mounting the stairs in his characteristic long-legged strides. I’ve noticed that he never seems to rush anywhere, but somehow he seems to get to places quicker than anyone else. I follow a bit more slowly, and when I round the deck, I look around curiously.
The sky is a clear, pale blue and there’s every sign that it’s going to be a scorching-hot day. However, the breeze blowing across the deck has ensured that it’s still cool at the moment. Set along the deck are padded mats in bright colours, and a group of people dressed in colourful yoga gear chat happily amongst themselves.
As Eli comes onto the deck, a slender dark-haired woman detaches herself from the group and comes over with a huge smile. “Eli, you came,” she exclaims with as much enthusiasm as if Eli were her long-lost brother. “I’msopleased.”
My eyes narrow.When did he meet this woman?
He grins lazily at her, oblivious to the fact that she’s currently eye-fucking him so hard I’ll need a cigarette when she finally looks away. “I said I would,” he says happily, the Welsh lilt very evident in his early-morning voice.
I shoot him a look of total incomprehension.As far as I know, he’s been ensconced in the suite with me for the last few days, insisting that I sleep and relax. Yet every time we’ve left the cabin since then, people have hailed him left, right, and centre. How is this possible?
I come back to the conversation as Eli pats my arm. “This is Gideon.”
I bite my lip because his tone of voice and gestures are currently suggesting that rather than being a famous actor, I am, in fact, a raggedy old sheepdog. She gives me a cursory glance and smiles before returning to eye-fucking my nurse.
I can actually feel my mouth drop open.I’m not being conceited but… Oh, okay, I am being conceited but goddammit, there aren’t many people that overlook me. I’m too famous. I pause.Or infamous. I shrug.Either fucking way, I’m bloody memorable.Apart from on this fucking ship where my nurse appears to be the headline act.
I wonder whether I should be annoyed, but I’m far too amused to bother with that, so I stand, trying not to smile as she engages Eli in a very animated conversation while he shoots me occasional glances to check whether I’m okay or if I’ve died from boredom. Finally, when the group starts shifting about like sheep getting bored, she breaks away from the conversation and heads back to the front of the deck.
I turn to face Eli, leaning my elbows on the rail. “She seems very…” I pause, searching for words. “Very awake.”
He starts to laugh. “It’s usually better for the back and forth of conversation that both parties are conscious.”
I shake my head. “I’m not sure about that. Sometimes I think it would be better for people if they were asleep when I spoke to them. Less chance of them taking offence.”
He nods solemnly. “You might be right. Either that or dead.” He dodges laughing as I elbow him and mouth “twat” at him.
After he’s stopped laughing, I look at him. “She seems keen, though.”
He shakes his head. “She’s barking up the wrong tree with me.”
There’s a short pause as he looks at me and I feel my heart start to pound heavily. I swallow. “Why?”
“Because I’m gay,” he says calmly. “Hope that isn’t a problem.”
I marvel at the coolness with which he says that. I wish I could be like him. “Why would it be a problem?” I finally say through a dry throat. Shit! He’s gay, which makes him potentially available if it weren’t for the small matter of my being his patient and me being, well, me.
“Well, your manager seems to have some rather homophobic views.”
“Please don’t paint me in the same colours as Frankie. He’s only slightly left of Mussolini.”
He looks at me and gestures with his hand and I stare at him for an overlong second, wondering for a mad moment whether he’s guessed about me and is waiting for me to reciprocate with confession hour. Then he says, “After you,” and I realise that the group is all on their mats and waiting for us to sit.
“Sorry,” I say to everyone and scoot to the back where two mats are waiting as if they’ve got our names on them. I settle down and look over at Eli as he sits down on his own.
“What do we do?” I hiss.
He grins at me. “Can you sit cross-legged?”
“If I had a gun to my head.”
He snorts. “Well, try pretending.” He winks. “Try and act. If you can.”
I shake my head, trying to ignore the piss-taking twat and not show him my grin, but I know he’s spotted it. I stare ahead at the woman who introduces herself as Kim.
“Welcome everyone,” she says in a tranquil voice which quite frankly strikes me as rather sinister. “We’ll start with everyone getting comfortable. If you can sit cross-legged, great. If you can’t, then come to a comfortable position that makes you happy.”
