Page 43 of Old Girls Go Greek
What should I do next? Should I tell the others, confront him with the news that I knew who he was?
No, of course not. I wasn’t going to do any of those things. Apart from anything else, it would undoubtedly mean that Dennis would want a long consultation with him about his ankle, his cholesterol medication and who knew what other medical problems. People always did that to doctors, didn’t they? Try and get some free advice. I pulled a face in sympathy.
The best thing to do was nothing. I would carry on as though I didn’t know. And treat him exactly the same. But would I be able to do so when I had just now seen photographs of him smiling as he met the Queen, a couple of prime ministers and two of the Spice Girls?
I would do my best. And I definitely wouldn’t mention my problems with my knee or ask him what he thought about statins.
* * *
That evening, Jillian was determined we would all go out together. Why she kept on trying to round us up, I had no idea. We had all been quite happy spending time with the people we liked and really didn’t need to be treated like an unruly school party.
Just after six thirty we assembled around a table in Trofí ton Theón,which Beryl said translated as Food of the Gods.
Jillian stood at one end of the table, while the waiters hovered with menus behind her. She wanted to explain about our trip to the vineyard the following day, and had even printed out some sheets of paper explaining where it was and what to expect.
‘Everyone enjoys this tour,’ she said, a bright smile fixed on her face. ‘Everyone.’
‘Even the tee-totallers?’ Effie murmured, taking one of the sheets and passing the rest on.
She was rewarded with a hard look.
‘And I know you will enjoy it too. It’s just a short ride in the minibus and we will be leaving the hotel at two o’clock, so don’t be late or Gregor will go without you. He’s a great fan of the place.’
‘I hope he won’t be joining in?’ Dennis said. ‘His driving is bad enough without adding a wine tasting into the mix.’
Jillian gave an exasperated sigh.
‘No, of course not, but apparently his daughter was married there a few years ago. It’s a gorgeous place with lovely views, of course. A great location to take pictures, perhaps to use later for a painting, if some of you ever get round to doing any,’ she added quietly.
‘She means us,’ Effie muttered. ‘Well, I’m definitely not going to do any painting now, just to annoy her.’
I smothered a snort of laughter.
‘There is no actual meal, just a few tasty nibbles which have been specially selected from local suppliers to complement the various wines,’ Jillian said. ‘I have quite a good palate.’
‘Me too,’ Beryl said, ‘although mine is covered in acrylics. Perhaps I should clean it off, although I don’t think Van Gogh ever did. I saw his at a museum once, it was a right old mess.’
‘I meanpalate, notpalette,’ Jillian said, annoyed.
‘Of course, I’m just being silly,’ Beryl said.
‘And then you can buy bottles of your favourite wines at a discount if you want to. Some of them are really good value. An absolute bargain.’
‘Are they more than four euros?’ Effie asked, her expression innocent.
‘Well, yes, of course they are,’ Jillian said. ‘But some of the bin-ends are very reasonably priced.’
‘Not that great then,’ Beryl murmured.
Jillian rapped on the table with the back of a fork to hush everyone.
‘Now that I have you all herefor once,and it’s obvious that my work with the handouts has been a waste of time, I am just going to remind you that tomorrow morning is free time, and late afternoon we will be going to the vineyards for the wine-tasting experience. The day after that I have arranged a still-life session, which will be foreveryone, and will be up on the roof terrace at ten thirty. I do hopeallof you will be there.’
Jillian sent a sharp look down to our end of the table.
Will was sitting almost opposite me, and we exchanged quick glances. I gave him a rather nervous grin, and he smiled back. Could I think of him just as Will any more, or would I forever imagine him standing by the lovely Selena outside a London theatre at the Royal Variety Show, getting a Blue Peter badge from presenter Yvette Fielding or having an interview with the programme’s canine sock-puppet mascot Marvellous Monty about going to the vet.
Hmm.
