Escape to the French Riviera

Chapter Fifteen

As Elias opens the wardrobe doors for me to hang my clothes and shows me where everything goes in the master bedroom of the Lady Jane , I can’t quite believe my luck. I’ve gone from being kicked out on the streets to staying on a yacht in just a few hours! Let’s hope it doesn’t end up as much of a disaster as the apartment did.

Elias leaves me to unpack, and I pop some of my bits in one of the drawers. As I am putting my things away, I open the last drawer and immediately find a photo in a frame. I can see it is Elias with a woman. I listen around for footsteps and realise that Elias is safely on another deck, so I pull out the wooden frame to take a closer look. The photo seems fairly recent, as he looks much as he does now. Elias is standing with his arm around a pretty, petite woman, who looks as though she is his age. Suddenly, I hear footsteps coming fast down the stairs and hurriedly shove the photo back in the drawer.

‘Did you want a coffee?’ asks Elias, poking his head around the door.

‘Umm, yes, that’d be fab. Thanks.’

As I go upstairs for my coffee, I can’t stop my thoughts running away with me. Is the woman in the photo his late wife? Or someone else? Perhaps he has a partner and has quickly hidden her photo in a drawer. So many scenarios go through my head, but then I wonder what I am worried about. It’s not exactly like we are dating. He hasn’t even hinted at anything like that. He is merely a friendly British face around Monaco who has been incredibly kind to me. As Elias sits closer to me and we sip our coffees on the big comfy sofa on deck, I try to remember this.

‘By the way, don’t mind me if you want your space to do any writing, or anything. I don’t want to stifle your creativity.’

‘No, you won’t. You’ve helped inspire me more than anyone has in a long while.’ I stop short from saying he is fast becoming my muse.

‘My wife used to paint, so I know what it’s like being around someone creative.’

‘Oh? That’s great.’

I think of Michael who would come in shouting and asking what was for tea when I was in the middle of trying to write a short story all those years ago. How nice that she had such a supportive partner.

‘Some of her artwork is here. See that one?’

I look straight ahead at the painting of a yacht sailing on a brilliant blue sea.

‘It’s magnificent. She was obviously very talented.’

‘She was. Yes.’

‘That’s incredibly kind of your boss to hang her work. Although it is a wonderful piece of art.’

‘Yes, I was proud of her. She had a lot of potential.’

Elias looks a little lost and so I quickly turn to thanking him again for letting me stay.

‘I’m so grateful you let me stay on this beautiful yacht.’

‘You’re so welcome. I’m relishing the company, and it’s so lovely to…’

Before he can say anything further, Elias’s phone starts ringing on the table. He taps my knee as he gets up to answer the call.

‘Sorry, just got to take this.’

I watch him wait to answer the call until he has left the room. Then I hear him say hello to someone. I try to listen in. I don’t know why I do that. I suppose I can’t help myself. Maybe it’s the inquisitive writer in me, but I wonder if it’s someone from Monaco on the phone, or someone in Manchester? What if it’s his boss and someone has told them that there is a stranger on board? I start to panic after what happened at the apartment.

‘Yes, I’ve got all the stuff. It’ll be with you any day now. I’ve just got to take care of some business out here first.’

Some business? Does he mean me, or some big deal I know nothing about? I am intrigued and listen in closer, but he isn’t giving much away. It serves as another reminder that I really don’t know him.

That evening, as Elias knocks on my bedroom door to take me for that dinner he promised, my eyes feel as though they will pop out of my head. I am reminded again what a handsome man he is. In a pair of cream chinos and one of his trademark polo shirts, he holds his arm out for me to join him.

However, instead of going out somewhere as we had originally planned, he has arranged for some food to be delivered on deck. I follow him upstairs, imagining a chicken curry from the nearest takeaway waiting for us. But I am stunned to find that he has transformed the dining table into something more fitting for the high-net-worth passengers of Below Deck. The table is set for two with silver placemats, glasses for water and wine, cutlery that is so highly polished the moonlight is almost reflecting off them and bright blue plates. The exact shade that Elias seems to love.

A silver ice bucket has a bottle of French wine, and Elias offers me a taste. I take a sip of the smooth, fine wine.

‘It’s delicious.’

Once I have sampled it, Elias pours me a generous glass as a candle flickers in the middle of the table. He quickly explains that they only have battery-operated candles on board to ensure there is no risk of a flame flying off errantly in the wind.

‘Safety first, always.’

‘The size of this glass of wine, I think you want me to fall overboard,’ I tease.

‘Ooh, I’d never want that, unless I could catch you in my arms.’ Elias looks away, realising he shouldn’t have said that. ‘Umm, anyway, as I say, I take safety very seriously. And, on that note, I hope you don’t have any allergies. I just realised that I went ahead and ordered a takeaway without checking with you. I’m not used to catering for people on board. That’s not part of my job description.’

‘No, it’s fine. I’ll eat anything. Except Mexican. I must be the only person on earth who isn’t into enchiladas and fajitas. Soraya and Carol never understand it.’

‘You’re safe. It’s not Mexican.’

‘Then I’ll eat anything.’

‘Fabulous. Give me two seconds to get everything from the galley then.’

‘Will you let me help?’

‘No, have you ever seen the mess I leave in the galley? I’m a better skipper than I am deck crew.’

‘Well, I’d say you’ve done a pretty good job with this,’ I say, admiring the table set up.

As Elias rushes off to get the food, I enjoy my wine. I smile to myself as I think how luxurious the wine glass is, compared to the hand-painted one I use at home that Jasmine made for me at school. Both are equally as special, though.

With the stars shining down on the sea around us, I look around in disbelief. What am I doing sat on a yacht in Monaco with a mysterious but very handsome skipper? I can hardly believe my luck. I am beginning to think that leaving my purse back in the apartment that first morning was the best thing I have ever done, when I hear Elias’s voice behind me.

‘Penny for them.’

‘Huh? Oh… I was just thinking how beautiful all of this is.’

‘Yeah, it’s not a bad place to work,’ says Elias, holding out a big silver tray full of shellfish.

‘Maybe I should apply to become your deck crew.’

‘Now wouldn’t that be fun! You and I together all day.’

He places the food down on the table, and I look at the buffet he has spread out in front of us. I have never seen anything so lavish for a takeaway. There are no poppadoms or prawn crackers, only mussels, oysters and scallops, slices of lemon and piping hot crusty bread. My mouth waters looking at it all.

‘I do hope you like seafood?’ says Elias.

‘Like it? I love it. It’s my favourite.’

‘That’s great. There’s this really nice place I order from. That’s one of the perks when you’re close to the sea, you get all the fresh catches.’

I don’t even know where to begin with the feast in front of me, but decide on the scallops, which have been poached in a white wine and garlic sauce.

‘Oh, this is divine,’ I say, whilst trying to avoid dripping any of the sauce down Soraya’s beautiful kaftan that I have changed into for tonight. Who’d have thought? Me wearing this, eating the finest seafood onboard a yacht. I feel as though I died and came back as Soraya!

‘I’m glad you’re enjoying it.’

As I wrangle with an oyster, I can’t help looking across to Elias. Such a fine man, yet I still get the feeling he is hiding something – that there is something I don’t know. Call it a hunch, or perhaps it is the words of my family back home that keep echoing in my head, but something isn’t quite adding up. Even the way his late wife’s artwork is on board his boss’s yacht seems a bit incongruous. But I try to quell the feeling. Perhaps it is my mind wanting to sabotage the moment because I don’t feel worthy of such luxury.

‘I have dessert if you’d like some,’ says Elias.

‘That sounds lovely, but I don’t think I could manage another thing.’

‘No, me neither. Maybe we can save it for tomorrow. I know I said we’d stay in the marina but what would you think of taking the boat out for a few days? Maybe take a tour around the coast? We could sail down to Saint-Tropez, Cannes… What do you reckon?’

Whilst I had insisted to myself that I wanted to stay docked up safely where people were around me, the wine and my new-found sense of adventure is making me want to agree.

‘Wow, seriously?’

‘Yeah, the yacht could do with a bit of a spin out. Keep the engines going. You know what they say: if you don’t use it, you lose it. A bit like my dodgy knee.’

‘Your knee doesn’t look dodgy to me,’ I say, as I think of him in his shorts.

‘Hah, well, being up and down ladders all the time will do that. One of the reasons I needed a change of career. Although, this isn’t much better for that. Anyway, enough about the knee injury, how about we go and sit on the top deck, relax with our drinks and plan out the next few days? Will you join me and my dodgy knee for a nightcap?’

‘I’d love to.’

We sit on the deck, with a view that overlooks the whole of the marina. The temperature has started to drop for the evening, but it’s still warm enough to sit out without feeling a chill. A shooting star darts across the sky in front of us.

‘Wow, did you see that?’

‘Yeah, you get lots of them out here. The sky’s so clear. Look up there.’ Elias points up towards a T-shaped group of stars.

‘What is it? I’m useless with stars, unless it’s horoscopes.’

‘That’s the constellation of Cygnus. It’s Latin for swan.’

‘It doesn’t look like a swan.’

‘No, I suppose it doesn’t. That one over there, that’s Delphinus, and that’s Latin for… Can you guess?’

‘Dolphin?’

‘Exactly. You’re practically fluent in Latin now.’

We laugh together, and once again, Elias has impressed me with his knowledge.

‘See, that’s what I love about being here. Dolphins, shooting stars, my goodness. You don’t get that in a city.’

‘You didn’t mention the fine company,’ says Elias.

‘Well, that goes without saying, doesn’t it?’

I grin at him, and he smiles back, and then there is quiet. Under the moonlight and shooting stars, I lean over and kiss him. His lips are soft and send shockwaves all through my body. I am taken aback by my action, yet I feel so happy and free that it feels like the most natural thing in the world to have done.

Elias puts his arm around me, and we lean into each other. I can feel his heart beating fast and strong right beside mine. Two hearts beating side by side. I place my hand on his chest and feel its rhythm. Elias kisses me again and we cannot get close enough to each other’s bodies. Until now, I couldn’t be certain that he felt the chemistry I could when we teased each other, but there is no denying how we both feel now. There is no doubt left in my mind as we hold each other, kissing and cuddling on the deck all night until the sun starts to rise, after we have fallen asleep in each other’s arms.