Page 47 of Old Girls Go Greek
‘She sold her house and bought one in Rhodes. You could do that reasonably easily back then, and they are still together.’
‘Well, obviously that’s not happening,’ I said with a little laugh, ‘but I do like him. And I’m curious about him, he gives so little away.’
‘I expect he wants to put his past behind him, all things considered.’
‘What things?’ I said, rather sharply.
‘Well, his days as Doctor Bill on that awful morning television programme. Didn’t you recognise him? I knew I remembered him from somewhere,’ Anita said. ‘I like what I’ve done here. I might even have a go at doing a watercolour wash when I get back to the hotel.’
‘I thought I was the only one who realised who he was,’ I said.
‘You didn’t say anything.’
‘Well, nor did you! And I didn’t watch that programme much, because Malcolm didn’t approve of it. So what do you know about him?’
‘Who, Malcolm?’
‘No, Doctor Bill of course, don’t be daft.’
Anita shrugged. ‘Only that he was everywhere once upon a time, and then there was that business with his wife?—’
I sat up, alert to find out more.
‘What business?’
‘Golly, where have you been hiding? Don’t you remember? She ran off with that bloke, the one in that thing. That pop group. You know who I mean; nasty little mouth, and didn’t seem to own a hairbrush, thought he was God’s gift. He was always in the papers coming out of nightclubs with some twiglet young enough to be his daughter. Benjamin something. Barker? Ben Johnson? No, he was an athlete, wasn’t he. Benjamin Franklin? No it can’t have been him. Um… um…’
‘And then what happened?’ I said rather breathlessly.
‘I think he just gave it all up and left. I hadn’t heard anything about Doctor Bill for years and then he pops up here. There was no mistaking that jawline and those eyes. Beryl and Effie had never heard of him, so they weren’t that interested when I told them. Look, if you’re that concerned, why don’t you ask him?’
‘I’m not. And I couldn’t,’ I said.
‘Why not? It’s not as though you’re asking for his autograph across your bosom like they used to. I suppose those were the days before social media, and the newspapers actually published the news back then, and didn’t fill their column inches with celebrity gossip and pictures of girls in bikinis with – what do they insist on calling them? – pertderrières.Can you catch the waiter’s eye next time he goes past? I’d like some more coffee.’
I thought about this for a while. Wondering what it would have been like for Will back then. Did he enjoy the fame or did he find it a burden? Did he still have a lot of famous people for friends? Did that make us rather boring as a result? He evidently didn’t want his past life to be brought up again and discussed. He had been so considerate when I made a fool of myself falling over that evening; perhaps I should show the same sort of discretion.
‘Can we not talk about this to the others?’ I said. ‘If he has spent such a long time avoiding being noticed, perhaps we should respect that?’
‘If you like,’ Anita said with a shrug, ‘although it’s been such a long time.’
* * *
I thought about it a great deal that morning. In fact, it was so much on my mind that I was quite surprised when we were joined just before one o’clock by Beryl and Effie, who had been wandering around the town buying souvenirs and exploring the many little churches in the town and were now looking for a snack.
‘Do you know there are over a thousand churches on this island alone,’ Effie said as she settled down to read the menu. ‘That’s about one for every twenty people who live here. The curator of one of them told us people used to build them to celebrate their favourite saint. And on the saint’s day, the family had to hold apanigyriand invite all their relatives and the neighbours. It must have cost them a fortune.’
‘I was told that people built them because a church doesn’t have to pay the electricity company to connect them. And then after a while they quietly add on a house,’ Beryl said.
‘Yes, that makes sense.’ I nodded. ‘You wouldn’t get away with that in Lower Begley.’
‘Nor would you get grilled Halloumi with fresh pomegranate seeds,’ Anita said, looking at the menu. ‘I’m definitely having that. And some water. Absolutely definitely no wine.’
‘I wonder how my daughter is getting on at home,’ I said after our order had been taken. ‘She says her library might be closed at the end of the year. It’s such a shame; they are doing all they can to get people in and it’s always busy when I go there. I don’t understand it.’
Beryl nodded. ‘You know what Albert Einstein said. “The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.”And he didn’t do too badly, did he? Before the internet, people used to think the cause of stupidity was lack of access to information; well, now we know it wasn’t that.’
‘You need someone with influence, the mayor or the local MP or something. To take a stand,’ Anita said.
