Page 36 of The Dolce Vita Divas
I made my way to the garden terrace and a few guests were already there, murmuring and chuckling and drinking chilled white wine and eating elegant little lunches. It looked like just the sort of place I wanted to be. Out in the clear air but shaded under a cream canvas canopy from the sun.
To one side outside the open kitchen doors, a little girl was playing with a skipping rope with painted wooden handles. The hotel cat was taking a siesta in the dusty shade of a lemon tree.
A waiter came to take my order; I explained I was waiting for Susie and – unwilling to leave me with nothing – he brought me a carafe of iced water to be going on with.
I sat fiddling with my phone for a few minutes, wondering how long Susie was going to be, and then I wished I had something to read. Even at my age I felt slightly uncomfortable, firstly because I was alone, and secondly I was doing absolutely nothing.
Perhaps I could understand why my mother had always taken her knitting bag along with her. My abiding memory of her was her hands being busy. Mending, sewing, darning socks. I mean, who even darns socks these days? Even at my age, our generation of women seemed to have an underlying inability to do nothing, to be seen – by someone – as idle. Even if I was watching television, I would usually be doing something else at the same time. Ironing or scrolling through my phone or making a shopping list.
I glanced around. There were a couple of middle-aged men sitting on their own just looking at the view. They didn’t seem at all bothered. Maybe they were captains of industry who felt they deserved a break and were taking one?
Perhaps it really was just women who felt they needed to be occupied all the time? And what did we do now? Checked our emails or messages. Watched television while dusting it or sorting out the messy drawer in the sideboard. And who put all those things in there in the first place because they couldn’t be bothered to actually put away all those cables and useful gadgets?
I once pondered if all the Christmas presents children bought for their fathers over the years ended up dumped in drawers like that around the world. The sets of Allen keys, the handy magnifying glass on a keyring, the perpetual brass calendar that always broke. Novelty coasters and executive desk toys.
Just as I was wondering if I could have a glass of wine, a woman came and stood next to me, and I looked up, doing a double take at the sight of her. It was Susie, but I hardly recognised her.
In all the years I had known her, Susie had always had a mane of untameable hair which had been a constant source of anguish to her.
Now she stood in front of me, looking pleased but also slightly embarrassed. Her hair had been cut into a short bob just below chin level and her tousled curls were framing her face in a way I had never seen.
‘Good grief!’ I said, almost dropping my water glass in shock. ‘What did she do to you?’
Susie ran her fingers through her hair nervously.
‘She insisted. As soon as you left the room, that woman, Gina, had a long discussion with Ceci, and then she pushed me into a chair, wrapped a robe around me and before I knew what was happening, she had got her shears out and they were flashing around my ears like Edward Scissorhands. I didn’t dare move. What do you think?’
‘You look marvellous,’ I said, ‘absolutely amazing. I don’t know why you didn’t do that years ago.’
‘I was too chicken,’ Susie said. ‘It seemed easier just to tie it back out of the way. But now, I think I love it. My head feels so much lighter.’
‘You look about ten years younger too,’ I said, ‘absolutely glorious. I think you deserve a drink to get over the shock. I think we both do.’
Seeing me looking round, the waiter hurried over and in moments had brought us two large glasses of chilled Pinot Grigio.
Susie and I chinked our glasses in a toast of celebration and then she gave an embarrassed giggle.
‘Actually, I just saw Raimondo in the bar. He said I lookstupenda,and he has invited me out for a drive and a late lunch on the other side of the island. Near Marina Piccolo. Do you mind if I go?’
‘What, now?’
Susie nodded and took a big gulp of her wine. ‘Dutch courage,’ she said. ‘It’s a long time since I’ve been out with someone new.’
I felt a bit disappointed at the thought of being left on my own again. She had said we were going to spend lots of time together on this trip, but she looked so excited and happy that I didn’t have the heart to say so.
‘So this never talking to a man again isn’t really working out for you, is it?’ I said with a grin.
Susie shrugged and pulled a funny face.
‘Oh, you know.’
I insisted that I didn’t mind one bit and also made some rather pointed remarks about her not being out too late and behaving herself. And then she took another quick sip of her wine, grabbed her handbag and hurried off again.
I didn’t think I had seen her looking that animated for a very long time. And I really was pleased for her.
But should I have given the dashing Raimondo a stern warning before they left? Perhaps I should have got him alone behind the bins, holding him up against the wall by his lapels and threatened him with a damn good thrashing if he upset her?
I watched her retreating back for a few moments. And then I carried on looking at the place when I had last seen her, rather thoughtfully. How exciting. And how marvellous that she at last had someone to take her mind of Simon who had successfully gaslighted her for so long.
