Chapter Two
Nelly’s Diary
Corfu, 30 June 1983
An astonishing day! Oh my God, Istill can’t believe it. Iam giddy and whirling and slightly hysterical with what Ihave done– but Iwouldn’t change a thing!!
Let me start from the beginning: Lorraine and Ischlepped out to the airport horribly early this morning to catch our flights home. . . and then, as we queued up with our tickets and suitcases, Ifound myself thinking about all of the dreary things that awaited us there– work, bills, Mrs flipping Thatcher– and this terrible sense of doom took hold. ‘Iwish we weren’t going back,’ Isaid, and then, in the very next moment, an outrageous thought came to me.
‘Lorraine,’ Isaid, grabbing her arm. ‘We could just. . . stay. Why don’t we stay?’
She burst out laughing. ‘Oh yeah, sure,’ she replied, assuming Iwas joking. ‘Ican’t see Mr Standwick taking that very well, can you? And what about my Jim?’
Like anyone cares what Mr Standwick thinks! And who gives a monkey’s about Jim One-Joke Heathersage? (Lorraine, obviously, even though she could do SO MUCH BETTER.)
‘Imean it,’ Isaid, this mad sort of determination setting in. ‘I’m going to stay here in Greece, for as long as Ican. Mr Standwick can jolly well find someone else. He hates me anyway. And—’
‘You’re not serious, Nelly, are you? What about your room in the flat? Mrs Bartlett will be spitting feathers if you duck out like that. And what about Michael? Ithought you and he were—’ She broke off before she could finish her sentence. ‘No, you’re teasing me, Ican tell. Very funny! Ialmost believed you for a minute there.’
The thing was, Iwasn’t teasing her. Not in the slightest. We were almost at the front of the queue by this point and the couple ahead of us were getting their tags fastened on their suitcases. Now or never, Ithought. Now or never! ‘I’m not teasing,’ Isaid, stepping out of the line and rummaging in my bag for my keys. ‘I’m serious. Give these to my brother,’ Iwent on, dumping them in her hand, ‘and I’ll get him to pack up my stuff; he’ll sweet-talk Mrs B, no problem. As for Michael, Iknow he’s Jim’s friend but honestly, we have nothing in common. Idon’t fancy him, Loz.’ She still had that disbelieving look on her face, so Idecided to spell it out for her, plain and simple. ‘You go back if you want to, but I’m staying.’
‘But. . .’ Lorraine’s eyes boggled so wildly Icould actually imagine them plopping out of her head. ‘But. . . our flights are booked, Nell, and. . .’
‘Looks like my seat’s going empty then,’ Isaid, my decision hardening like concrete. ‘I’ll be fine– I’ll pick up a job here for the rest of the summer, then do some travelling. Think of all those beautiful beaches and ancient ruins I’ll discover! Ican learn to dive and get the best tan of my life!’
‘Next, please,’ called the woman behind the desk. She was wearing one of those silly little red hats, and had ferociously dark eyebrows, plus cheekbones you could peel a carrot on.
‘Bye, Lorraine,’ Isaid. ‘Give my regards to Mr Standwick. Tell him he was the worst boss I’ve ever had, and—’
‘Nelly, no, come on. Joke’s over. You’re being ridiculous! You’ve had too much sun. You can’t just—’
‘And you can tell Michael he was a terrible kisser, and the thought of his clammy hands ever touching me again makes me want to scream,’ Iadded cheerfully.
‘Ladies!’ snapped the woman behind the desk, eyes like daggers. ‘You’re next. May Isee your tickets, please?’
Imade a sort of shooing gesture to Lorraine. ‘You heard her. She wants to see your ticket.’
‘But—’
‘Bye, Lorraine,’ Isaid again, giving her a hug. Then Iwalked away. And kept on walking, even though she was calling after me (Nelly! Nelly. NELLYYYYYY!) Iwalked all the way out of the terminal and got on the first bus heading back to Kontokali. The whole time Ifelt jittery, as if Iwas expecting the police to turn up– or my mum, or Mr Standwick, or my landlady– and force me to turn round again and get on the plane. But nobody stopped me. And so here Iam! Still in Corfu!!!!
Ispent the afternoon asking around hotels and guest-houses to see if they needed staff, and have wangled myself a cleaning job at the Aphrodite Hotel. Ihave a tiny bedroom up in the attic that doubles as storage space for the bedlinen– but that’s fine. I’m so happy! I’m free! Today is the start of the rest of my life– and Ivow here and now that I’m absolutely going to make it an exciting one!