Page 52 of Old Girls Go Greek
And suddenly I missed the warmth of it, the feel of it. I hadn’t expected that at all.
‘Remember I said we should come back here for a proper meal one evening?’ he said. ‘What do you think?’
I swear my heart gave a little thrill of excitement. After an afternoon walking around a shopping mall, Malcolm had once claimed he had atrial fibrillation. I hoped it wasn’t that.
‘That would be really nice,’ I said at last.
Nice.What a weak word to use.
‘Good. Shall I go and book us a table?’
Wow, I was being consulted too. That made a change.
‘Yes, that’s a great idea.’
He went off towards the restaurant and I looked around for the signs to the ladies’ room. It was downstairs underneath the building, spacious and absolutely spotless with delightful pictures of the island on the walls, light shades made out of wine glasses and some wonderful handwash that smelled of the sea breeze.
I looked at myself in the mirror over the sink as I washed my hands and somehow this time, I looked younger, more alive. Perhaps this place had better lighting than I was used to.
What a perfect evening this had been. And most unexpectedly, I had a date. What should I wear?
‘There you are,’ said a voice behind me, and Beryl, Effie and Anita barged in through the door, all trying to get in at once.
‘What have you been doing?’
‘What happened?’
‘What did he say?’
‘Tell us everything.’
I laughed. ‘Honestly, you lot, beak out of it!’
Beryl went to sit in a charming little armchair in one corner, her handbag on her lap.
‘We watched you going off and he followed you. And you were talking for ages. I wish I’d had one of my old listening devices in my handbag, I could have tuned it in. You must have said something.’
‘He suggested coming back here for dinner,’ I said, ‘one evening.’
‘Oooh,’ Anita cooed, ‘what a brilliant idea, that would be lovely. I took a look at their menu on my phone; it looks really impressive. I’ll choose the scallops to start with, then the smoked duck with plum sauce. And then the chocolate and pistachio souffle.’
‘Down, girl! We aren’t going too,’ Effie harrumphed. ‘This sounds like a proper date. Again.’
The three of them looked at me rather mistily for a moment, and I looked away and washed my hands again for something to do.
‘Stop looking at me like that,’ I said at last. ‘Honestly, it’s just dinner.’
‘Dinner with Doctor Bill,’ Anita sighed, her head on one side.
I sent her a meaningful look.
Effie looked confused. ‘Is he a doctor? I didn’t know that. No wonder he was so good with Susan’s blister. She said he had a proper first aid kit too. Not just one of those daft ones from the chemist with a triangular bandage and too many cheap plasters that don’t stick properly. Fancy that. Perhaps you could ask him about your knee, Beryl.’
‘He’s on holiday and he’s retired,’ I said firmly.
‘Well, a knee is a knee, isn’t it?’ Beryl said. ‘Anyway, much more importantly, we have a three-line whip from Jillian for tomorrow and the still life class. I think perhaps as we have been so unruly, we should comply. It might cheer her up. She does seem a bit exasperated with us. What do you think?’
‘On the roof terrace at ten thirty,’ Effie said with a little salute. ‘Synchronise your watches, ladies. It will be a bowl of fruit I expect, or some of the bougainvillea.’
