Page 68 of Old Girls Go Greek
‘You can’t do that, this church is mine,’ Beryl said crossly. ‘Go and find your own. And by the way, Meg, we still want to hear all about last night so don’t think you are going to get away with not telling us.’
I chuckled and wandered off to where Will was standing by a little stone wall overlooking the town. There were dozens of flat white roofs and terracotta tiles below us, like a jigsaw which could never be finished. But then I am hopeless at jigsaws, even easy ones for children. If there are more than a hundred pieces I’m stumped.
He turned as I approached.
‘How are you today?’ he said, smiling down at me from under the brim of his Panama hat.
I saw Anita nudge Effie with her elbow, and I could feel the others surreptitiously watching us. I resisted the childish temptation to turn and shout at them,Actually,we had a good old snog last night, just if you were wondering. And it was really great too.
‘Excellent. Fine,’ I replied, trying unsuccessfully to ignore my memories of how the previous evening had ended. I wondered what he was thinking, but thankfully I was not so unsophisticated as to ask.
‘Have you decided what you are going to focus on? I quite like the look of this view, but I don’t think I have nearly enough ability to paint it.’
‘I don’t know yet,’ I said, damping down the little flutters of excitement. ‘Jillian’s going to be so annoyed with me if I don’t produce something today. I like the look of that stone trough with the scarlet geraniums. I love those. I have some like that at home, but perhaps not so bright. And those irises are lovely too. Such a perfect purple. And the shading of the walls in the little alleyway we walked through was wonderful, but I don’t think I would be able to paint fast enough to capture them, because the sun is moving round all the time. But…’ I gave a helpless shrug.
‘Coffee?’ he said.
‘Oooh, yes please!’
Sometimes I thought I was beyond help.
* * *
We walked back a little way, down towards the shady alleyway I had mentioned, and took a seat under the shade of a big rectangular parasol.
Greek coffee. I’d never had any before this trip but now I felt I was getting a bit addicted to it. It was hot, strong and sweet with a delicious slightly smoky taste, and my jar of instant back home paled into insignificance in comparison. He ordered slices of cake too, rich with walnuts and orange syrup and topped with a dollop of cream.Portokalopita; maybe it contained the essence of this marvellous place, distilled down into warmth and sunshine and the feeling of possibility. Or perhaps it was because of those days of brightness, the brilliance of the sky above us reflected down those dazzling white walls. The murmur of people strolling past us, exclaiming with pleasure at the streets in front, the little square with its shady corners and picturesque views. The dusty dog curled up on a doorstep, asleep in the sunshine. What a life.
I didn’t think I would ever think of the world in the same way again, knowing that there were so many wonderful places I could explore. New people to meet, new friends to make; it filled my mind with all sorts of possibilities. Perhaps I hadn’t done much actual art this week, but I had painted a new future for myself in my mind, and surely that was just as valuable.
‘I’m going to find Lower Begley a bit dull after this,’ I said at last.
He stirred his coffee with the little spoon in the saucer. ‘I know what you mean. I feel I’ve somehow woken up after a long, dark sleep.’
‘That’s exactly how I feel!’ I said. ‘Isn’t it marvellous?’
‘Yes,’ he said, and he reached out and briefly took my hand under the table, ‘it is.’
‘You do realise the others are all watching us, don’t you?’
He shrugged. ‘Do you know, I don’t care.’
‘Good. Nor do I.’
We finished our coffee and debated for a while what to do next. In the square we could see the rest of our group apparently hard at work.
‘We ought to do something,’ I said, ‘so we have something to remember this holiday by.’
‘I already have something, I think,’ he said, ‘but yes. Otherwise, we have no chance of any certificate at all.’
‘Beryl will win,’ I said. ‘She’s better than the rest of us put together. I think I will paint that stone trough. Please don’t come and sit by me or you will put me off.’
He laughed. ‘Then I will go and sit next to Dennis and draw that ice cream stall. The one with all the waffle cones on the stand.’
‘Oooh, ice-cream,’ I said wistfully, and he laughed again.
‘Go and do some work and I will buy you one.’
‘It’s a deal,’ I said, and we smiled at each other as though we both somehow recognised something important in the other person. Something far more than a friend. It was a really gorgeous moment.
