Chapter 58
Chapter Fifty-Eight
WILL
Day Twenty-One
Ollie spends the night, lying on my hotel floor, refusing to share the large double bed I have. Sam didn’t mind him staying, but as we leave the hotel the next morning, and greet Sam in the waiting car outside, he asks how it went.
‘He sat in silence most of the night,’ I whisper. ‘Couldn’t get much out of him.’
Alec is MIA. We leave Athens, heading out of the city and into the countryside, where Alec’s parents live. ‘If they’re going to refuse to talk to you, we’ll make them talk,’ I say to Ollie.
I refuse to let this all fall apart. Part of me frets I’m responsible for whatever is going on, at least in some part. Another part argues that I can’t be responsible for Ollie anymore. That that ship has sailed.
‘Turn right here,’ Ollie mumbles.
We drive up a dirt track, powdered dust billowing around the car as the tyres disturb the rocky terrain. We pass rows of growing vines, and I turn to Ollie. ‘I thought they closed the business?’
‘They have, but they still have it. They lease it to another company now,’ Ollie explains dully.
A house comes in to view ahead, all medieval-looking.
Beige walls that look close to crumbling, more greenery growing up the sides.
The house looks crooked and old, terracotta tiles on the roof, and a whole garden of potted tropical plants that stir up an envy inside of me.
The driveway is one of those ones where you drive around a water fountain, its own mini roundabout traffic system.
A glistening red G-Wagon is parked across from three steps leading to an empty veranda, and a set of double doors.
‘I always knew you’d marry well,’ I say glibly, but realise it’s not the time. This is very Saltburn.
Heading to the door, I feel as though Dobermanns will be set on us at any moment. Maybe gunfire from an angry groundskeeper. I find the button for the bell and ring, hearing a distant shrill somewhere inside.
‘Go away,’ a voice calls.
‘Alec? Is that you?’ Ollie yells, stepping back, scanning the house.
‘Ollie?’
From a Juliet balcony above, Alec appears, wrapped in a rather fetching kimono.
‘Alec, please! We need to talk.’
Sam crosses his arms, looking up.
‘I don’t want to talk,’ Alec calls out, and I stomp over to Ollie, joining him. Alec looks down, shaking his head. ‘Hi, Will. Surprising seeing you here.’
His tone suggests otherwise.
‘Look, I thought everything was okay between us but clearly something is going on here,’ I say. ‘I want no responsibility.’
‘Yet here you are, getting involved.’
‘Yeah, because despite everything this man here is a friend,’ I say, tapping Ollie on the shoulder. Maybe inappropriate, but that’s beside the point. ‘And he is devastated, Alec. He spent the night with me in silence because…’
Alec laughs, ‘You stayed with him last night? Oh, it just gets better.’
Shit.
Ollie glowers at me, and I avoid his stare.
‘Alec, please. Let me in, and these guys can stay out here and we can talk,’ I say.
Alec peers at me. ‘Key is under the planter.’
Alec’s house makes me walk slow, trying to take it all in.
Grecian tiles are spotlessly clean, and the crooked stone walls have alcoves decorated with framed photographs of Alec and his family.
There’s a whole wine rack from floor to ceiling, behind glass, one bottle proudly on display, with what I assume is the family crest of the Anistons’ on the label.
In the hallway, I feel like I’ve entered a gothic home complete with zigzagging stairs. Alec waits for me on the landing.
‘Can I come up?’ I ask.
‘Yes.’
The gloom of the hallway makes me shiver, but Alec escorts me into his room, which is kitted out with red silks and white satin. A breeze wafts through from the window, and I stand by it. Ollie leans against the wall outside, talking with Sam.
‘He said you left him.’ I take a seat at an old table, while Alec perches on the end of the bed.
‘He’s so dramatic.’
Funny, that’s something he hated about me.
‘I haven’t left him,’ Alec answers. ‘I wanted space. I’m surprised it’s taken him this long to find me, in all honesty.’
‘Well, I did think the most logical place for you to go was back to your parents, but that took some convincing. Ollie can be set in his ways.’
Alec sizes me up, an unspoken acknowledgement between us that we both know Ollie in the same way.
‘Is this because of me?’ I ask.
‘Partly,’ Alec says.
‘Well, I don’t need to know the other things in your relationship. That’s for you and Ollie to work out, but Alec, you have to understand, there is nothing between me and Ollie.’
Alec tuts.
I shift where I’m sat. ‘Look, I know it doesn’t look that good.
Me flying all the way out here to try and win Ollie back.
I don’t know what I was thinking, but know this: when I saw you two together, I knew that I had to let him go.
I haven’t been able to in the past, because what I had with Ollie was golden.
At least, I thought it was.’ Alec peers at me, and I swallow.
‘I don’t want to pry, but know that if you’re worried about some of Ollie’s quirks, I’ve been there, too.
He’s stubborn and headstrong; he can also be selfish.
But he’s caring, and he’s motivating, and he is encouraging.
‘He didn’t love me,’ I say, looking away.
‘I mean, maybe he once did, but that was an old Ollie. But he loves you. I can see it. The way he talks about you, the way he touches you. The way he is with you is everything he wasn’t to me.
’ I look out to the growing vines, around this historic home big enough to be a palace.
I think of Ollie’s upbringing, his snobby parents.
‘You two are meant for each other. You’d be stupid to throw that away because of someone like me making reckless decisions. ’
Alec plays with a loose strand of fabric on his blanket.
‘You know, he said to me the other night that he regrets doing all of this. Said that we were happier before … before I knew about you, and before we tried to have this big, elaborate wedding. The planning has been stressful.’ Alec shakes his head.
‘But to me, it’s worth it. He started saying all this stuff about us not making it, and I couldn’t help think… ’
‘Please, Alec, he’s not doubting his love for you or anything like that,’ I say.
‘Ollie and I have history, and I’m sorry he kept that from you, and I’m sorry that it had to be this way, here, of all places.
But please, Alec, please know that he adores you and he might say one thing, but I know he means another. Marriage is everything to him.’
Alec’s smile is sad, his eyes fluttering. I join Alec on the bed, glad that he doesn’t shout at me or push me away.
‘Please speak with Ollie. I think the two of you have some things to discuss.’ I pause. ‘I hope you believe me when I say that Ollie and I are through. We have been since the day he left me.’
I don’t add that I was a fool to think otherwise. Some things are better left unsaid.