Page 28 of Gideon
“Oh, I got a steward to hold the pole up. It’s the spirit of the thing that’s important, not the execution.”
“Tell Eli that about my medication,” I say sourly. “He’s got more alarms going off in the suite than the headquarters at MI5.” I smile at her. “How did you break your ankle anyway, if that’s not too personal a question?”
She grins impishly. “I’d like to say something dashing, but unfortunately I tripped on the kerb in Tesco’s.”
“Eli, when’s your time off?” Oliver’s voice is loud and clear, and Constance and I look up.
“Time off?” Eli echoes.
Oliver laughs. “Yes, of course. Time off. When do you have it?”
I narrow my eyes. He hasn’t had any, and I can’t believe I’ve missed it.
“Whenever he likes,” I say evenly. Eli sends me a surprised look, and I look awkwardly back. “You can take time whenever you fancy.”
“I don’t need to…” Eli starts to say but he’s interrupted by Oliver.
“Excellent. Why don’t we go out tomorrow? The ship will be in Cannes. I know a lovely beach there.” He nudges Eli. “Naked,” he says in a loud whisper.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Eli starts to say, looking slightly alarmed, but Oliver shakes his head.
“Of course you can,” he says in a syrupy voice that has a steely tone to it. “Mr Ramsay will be fine and really we need time away from our patients or we lose our joie de vivre.”
“I don’t think you ever packed yours, darling,” Constance says, but I Iook at Eli and something twists in my stomach.
Is that going to happen to Eli?I know myself, and I’m bloody hard work. I’ve had many people tell me over the years. I’m grumpy and irritable, and I don’t suffer fools gladly. I’m also thirty-nine and a closeted actor. I look terrible at the moment, which was the only plus point to my character that I had.
He’s good-looking, funny, kind, and brave, as I now know from his CV. Am I sapping the life from him? I thought he was enjoying himself with me sparring and snarking, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he’s being kind to his patient and humouring me while he counts down the time until he gets paid and can leave.
I go hot and cold with the thought and can feel myself retreating like a tortoise into my shell. “Of course you must go,” I say quickly, hearing the strain in my voice. So does Eli, from the look of it, because his eyes widen, and he looks suddenly flustered.
“I’m not sure about that, Mr Ramsay,” he says with a quick look at Oliver who is staring at me like a cat with a mouse. “You might need me.”
My phone beeps and I look down at it to bide myself some time. I read the message which is like a lifeline.
“No need to worry,” I say heartily. “A friend is visiting tomorrow, so I won’t be alone.”
Eli’s jaw firms slightly, and I watch a tic start up. Then he draws in a breath. “Well, if you’re sure?”
“Of course,” I say coolly. “I never say things I don’t mean.”
Chapter
Six
First steps are always the hardest. Unless you’re drinking gin and then all of them are pretty difficult
Gideon
Well, it turns out that I do say things I don’t mean. I don’t want Eli to go out, and I definitely don’t want him to go out with Oliver and have a good time. I’m not sure where that feeling is coming from. Maybe it’s because he’smynurse, not Oliver’s. I grimace at myself. Even in my head I sound like a five-year-old. Milo would shake his head in disgust, and Niall would laugh until he wet himself.
I fidget in my chair on the deck. I’m supposed to be listening intently to my friend Jacinta’s tales of a modelling job she’s just done. What I’m actually doing is surreptitiously watching Eli move around the suite, gathering the stuff he needs for his date. He’s dressed in bright orange shorts and a grey striped t-shirt that shouldn’t go together but on him make him look like a model.
I watch as he stamps his feet into his old grey Vans and stuffs a pair of navy-spotted swim shorts into his backpack.
“I thought you wouldn’t need them,” I call out and instantly curse myself. I was being surreptitious. Jacinta’s voice trails off.
He comes to the door. “Oliver can bugger off if he thinks I’m getting my tackle out on some random beach.” He looks at the sky. “Particularly in this sun.”
