The Holiday (17 page)

Drawing her knees up to her chest and clasping her arms around them, she closed her eyes and concentrated her thoughts so that by the time she returned to the villa she would be able to commit him to paper.

 

Watching the men on the boat finish hauling in their bundles of yellow nets, metal weights banging on the side of the boat, shaking heads indicating their disappointment at catching only a couple of slippery grey squid, Mark was reminded of similar scenes he had witnessed back in Robin Hood’s Bay when, at the end of the day, the fishermen brought home empty lobster pots.

As the boat puttered away, he turned his head towards the shore. He recognised Izzy instantly, and while her eyes were shut he took the opportunity to see what it was about her that had Theo so intrigued. Based on what he knew about Theo’s taste in women, his conclusion was vague. It had to be her naturalness, he surmised, after he had taken in the slender figure dressed in khaki shorts and vest top; the long evenly tanned legs drawn up so that she was resting her chin on them, and the loose, dark-brown shoulder-length hair that was being tossed in the wind. She was what he called a low-maintenance girl and he found himself thinking that there was a comfortable haphazardness about her that he strongly approved of. And, with growing certainty, he decided that this was what appealed to Theo. He was captured by her lack of sophistication. She would make a change from the glamorous, hard-faced beauties he usually went in for.

He continued to watch her, struck by the odd pose she had adopted, and for such a length of time. With her eyes squeezed shut, it was as if she was concentrating hard on something. Maybe she was meditating.

He had been encouraged to have a go at meditation when he was in rehab, which he hadn’t found easy, given that he had spent a lifetime running away from what went on in his disorderly brain — sitting in silence and trying to be at peace with a person who had scared the hell out of him ever since he could remember was not something to which he’d taken. Bones had suggested that perhaps he should forget whose head he was trying to get inside, and after whistling Carole King’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend’, while unwrapping a Murraymint, the sly old devil had said, ‘Think of somebody you admire. A friend, perhaps. A friend who has had a great influence on you.’

In other words, think of the man who cared enough to bring you here.

Irritating as the suggestion was, it had worked. By focusing on Theo and the reasons why they were friends, he had found himself dwelling less on the negative facets of his own life and more on the positive. It was a lesson in counting one’s blessings.

Back in Durham, lying alongside Theo in the hospital after his parents had made their unexpected, futile visit, he had turned on Theo with a savagery that even now he was ashamed to recall. ‘I suppose that was your bloody doing, was it? Had a word with somebody, did you? Flashed some cash to pull some strings?’

‘But why would you not wish for your parents to know that you needed their help?’ Theo had asked.

‘Listen, pal, I don’t need my parents’ help. Got that? In fact, it’s the last bloody thing I need. And I certainly don’t need your interference. So butt out of my life or I’ll finish off what those fools couldn’t manage last night.’

Luckily for him, Theo had paid no attention to anything he said and when they were discharged from hospital Theo enlisted Mr and Mrs Vlamakis’ help to take care of him. While Mark had no qualms in telling his own parents to shove off, he was not so rude as to treat Theo’s parents in the same offhand manner. He realised quickly that he had no choice but to give in to their offers of help. They took one look at the room he was living in and whisked him away to stay in some five-star luxury accommodation: a recently restored town-house, which they had bought for Theo at the start of term. Only when Mr Vlamakis was convinced that his son and heir was going to survive his ordeal did he return to London, leaving his wife to fuss over her charges. And fuss she did.

‘You might just as well give in gracefully,’ Theo told him one evening, when his mother was in the kitchen preparing yet another meal of gigantic proportions to build up their strength. ‘My mother will not rest until she has you fully recovered.’

It was during those weeks that Mark had grown grudgingly to like Theo. If nothing else, he had to admire him for his tenacity. It didn’t matter how rude Mark was, Theo simply flung aside his insults with a single-minded determination that was unshakeable.

‘Why are you doing this for me?’ Mark asked him one night, when Theo’s mother was on the phone to her husband giving him the latest update on Theo’s progress - to their great relief, the cuts and bruises to his handsome face were relatively superficial and there would be no long-term scarring: the skull fracture was healing and prompt surgery had also ensured that his nose would eventually be as good as new.

‘Because in spite of everything you do and say I find myself liking you.’

‘Well, you shouldn’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’ll bring you bad luck.’

Theo had laughed. ‘So far history has proved you wrong. Have you forgotten already that you saved my life? It was the greatest of luck for me that you were passing that night.’

From that day on, Theo swore that if ever Mark needed his help, it would be there for the asking. It was one of his typically over-the-top gestures but, all the same, it was a promise he more than lived up to. And although in theory he and Theo had cancelled the debt between them, Mark still felt that Theo was in credit. Anyone would have done what Mark had done, that cold wintry night in Durham, but not everybody would have had sufficient faith or patience to stand by Mark during the worst of his addiction days, then support him on the long, painful road to recovery.

Once again he turned his gaze back to the girl on the stones, and the thought occurred to him that if Theo was serious about this Izzy — and Mark had every reason to believe that he was, judging from his mood at breakfast — then maybe he could help. A few choice words from him and perhaps she would view Theo more favourably. He smiled to himself, thinking of the irony that he, of all people, should consider himself qualified to further Theo’s love-life.

He was still mulling over this thought when he realised that the girl was on her feet and walking along the beach towards the path that would take her up the hillside. Well, if he had hoped to put a good word in on his friend’s behalf, he had just lost his opportunity.

The following week slipped by in a languid haze of quiet inertia and as the month of July progressed, bringing the height of the holiday season ever nearer, there was an increase in visitors to the island. In Kassiópi, the shops and bars, the tavernas and apartments were steadily filling, adding an extra width to the smiles on the faces of their owners. Inland, the temperature continued to soar, but the wind that blew in across the water brought a refreshing coolness to Áyios Nikólaos. And this morning, as Izzy lay in bed watching the muslin drapes billowing gently at the open french windows, she thought she had seldom felt so happy or relaxed.

Even the ridiculous scene that had taken place last week with Max and Laura caused her only an occasional pang of guilt. When she had returned to the villa after calming down on the beach, she had found Laura on her own and apologised straight away. ‘I’m sorry,’ she had said. ‘I behaved worse than a stroppy teenager. Forgive me, please?’

‘I’m sorry too,’ Laura had said. ‘I shouldn’t have been acting so deviously. Max has all but put me over his knee and smacked my bottom.’

‘And don’t think I wouldn’t try it,’ he had called from his den, where he was reading a roll of faxes that had come in that morning. Then he had poked his head out through the open window and said, ‘I’m sorry too, Izzy, for shooting my big mouth off without first engaging my heat-fried brain.’

‘Oh, stop being so nice the pair of you,’ she had said, ‘you’re making me feel a hundred times worse, I’m shrivelling up with embarrassment.’

‘Don’t do that, there’s little enough of you as it is. Now stop pestering me, I’ve got work to do, an honest crust to earn. Talking of which, we’re out of bread. Any chance of you two making yourselves useful by going shopping?’

‘Yes, O Master,’ Laura had laughed, ‘and when we get back shall we throw ourselves at your feet and worship you?’

‘Now you’re talking. By the way, ask Nicos if he’s got any of that decent olive oil he keeps under the counter. Tell him he’s not to palm us off with that overpriced stuff he sells to the tourists.’

‘Anything else, O Bossy One?’

‘Yes, you can take some travellers’ cheques and change them. We’re running low on cash.’

‘He’s missing work, bless him,’ Laura had muttered to Izzy, with a smile, when Max had disappeared from view, ‘feeling the need to assert himself.’

On the way up the hill to the supermarket, Izzy had tried to explain to Laura why she had been so cross. ‘It wasn’t you I was angry with, it was me,’ she had said, as they plodded breathlessly in the dry heat. ‘I realised that I was stupidly following the same old route I’ve been down before. Needy old Izzy, so desperate for a bit of affection she was gullible enough to be flattered by a good-looking man and not care about the consequences. Honestly I could kick myself for my naivety.’

‘You don’t think you’re being too hard on yourself?’ Laura said. ‘After all, he was only inviting you to have dinner with him.’

‘Oh, come on, men like Theo expect something in return, it’s an unspoken agreement. They think they’re on a promise.’

‘Not necessarily. And anyway, it’s down to you whether or not you go along with such an unspoken agreement.’

‘But don’t you see? That’s the whole problem. I’d be taken in by him, wouldn’t I? A few nice words, a kiss or two, and heaven only knows what I’d be getting myself into.’

‘Well, let’s forget about Theo and all his kind. We’ve got to decide what we’re going to do with our time before the hordes arrive. I recommend a week of doing nothing because, believe me, when Francesca and Sally arrive along with Max’s parents, it’ll be a non-stop whirl of activity.’

The weather was so hot over the following days that they had given in to lethargy and lazed around the villa and the beach. Their only exercise, other than swimming, was their evening walk into Kassiópi where they had supper in the harbour. Sometimes they were too lazy to do even that and one of them would draw the short straw and drive. They didn’t see anything of Theo. According to a message relayed by Sophia and Angelos, he had flown back to Athens on business leaving his house-guest to work in peace. ‘You don’t suppose we ought to see if he’d appreciate an evening’s worth of company?’ Max had asked hopefully. He was still anxious to meet the elusive Mark St James. ‘It seems rude not to check on him, just to see if he’s okay.’

But Laura had been firm. ‘Sophia and Angelos are there every other day,’ she said. ‘If there was a problem they’d be on to it.’

‘You don’t think he would — ’

Laura had sat on his lap, silenced him with a kiss, and told him to wait until Theo returned. ‘If you’re good I might invite them both for dinner when your parents and the girls are here. I’ll even flirt outrageously with Theo to ensure he brings his friend with him. How does that sound?’

Max had kissed her back. ‘Not too outrageously, I hope.’

Yawning now, and stretching her arms above her head, Izzy decided it was time to get up. Everyone was arriving today and she had promised to help Laura with some of the last-minute arrangements.

She found her friend in the kitchen, pouring olive oil over a large piece of meat. ‘Lamb with rosemary and garlic,’ she said, when she saw Izzy. ‘I know it’s a disgusting sight at this time of the day, but I thought I’d get it prepared now before it gets so hot that I won’t feel like doing it. Just pass me that salt mill, will you?’

They worked together steadily for the next couple of hours. While Laura concentrated on the evening meal, Izzy got on with making a selection of scones and cakes.

‘I know it’s madness,’ said Laura, as Izzy weighed out flour and sugar, ‘but wherever they are in the world, Max’s parents have to stop what they’re doing and have afternoon tea. It’s quite an obsession with them. Though I’m probably the nuttier one for pandering to them. After today I shan’t go on spoiling them — they’ll be on local cakes and pastries.’

Izzy had met Corky and Olivia Sinclair several times before and knew that they were a wonderful couple who enjoyed life to the full. Max joked that whenever they came to stay an air-raid warning had to be sounded so that anyone with a weak disposition could head for the hills.

‘As you know, for a pair of septuagenarians they’re extremely boisterous,’ Laura said now, as she stood at the sink washing her hands. ‘They’ll be far more trouble than Francesca and Sally, and that’s saying something.’

In the preceding days, there had been much talk of Nympho Sally, as Max called Francesca’s friend, and Izzy had been told why he was so terrified of her. At a Christmas party last year, she hadn’t realised that he was Francesca’s father and had come on to him like a pouting, hip-wiggling Marilyn Monroe, dangling a piece of mistletoe in front of his nose and making a pass at him. Even when she had found out who he was, she hadn’t seemed bothered. ‘She wasn’t the slightest bit embarrassed,’ Max said.

‘Unlike my poor innocent husband,’ laughed Laura.

‘And the worst of it was she wasn’t drunk.’

‘Weren’t you a tiny bit flattered?’

‘No, Izzy, I wasn’t. Terrified, more like. So I’d appreciate it if you both promise not to leave me alone with her.’

‘Oh, go on with you,’ Laura teased, ‘you’re flattering yourself. She’s got all those handsome waiters in Kassiópi to amuse her. You won’t get a look in.’

‘Thank God for that.’

‘And let’s not forget Theo,’ Izzy had added. ‘Sounds like she’s bound to make a play for him. Perfect sugar-daddy material.’