Chapter 28
BEN
‘You’re having sex? But you never have sex!
’ Phoebe shrieks on the other end of the phone.
I don’t know where she is but it sounds like a bar.
She’s shouting over the background noise and I’m glad I chose not to do this over speaker.
I sit down on the sofa in the living room and try to muffle the sound of her shrieking.
‘Flo mentioned something about the pretty one but I thought you’d never go through with it. You’re far too sensible.’
‘Well, maybe I’m different now,’ I retort.
‘Holiday Ben. I’m glad. There were moments I thought you were actually shagging bowls of mashed potato,’ she says.
‘So what else did Flo say?’ I ask, realising that nothing is safe among those three. ‘Do you girls really have nothing better to talk about? The weather? My restaurant? Your own lives?’
‘You know Flo, at the end of a Friday shift, she has a drink and she can’t keep a secret,’ Phoebe says. ‘I want details. Was it the girl who asked about the yoga? Did you think, I can’t do yoga so I’ll show her I’m bendy in other ways?’ she continues, cackling down the phone.
‘You really are feral. But yes, it’s her. Her name is Chloe,’ I answer. ‘And you need to calm down because I think it’s more than what you’re referring to…’
‘Hot holiday sex?’ Phoebe says. ‘Brother, I’m just glad that you’re getting some. Before Ibiza, when was the last time?’ she asks, like it’s normal for a sister to ask her brother this question.
‘Last… October,’ I say, slightly shocked that it was that long ago.
‘That is incredibly sad.’
‘You’re such a cow,’ I reply.
‘Are you rusty? Have you been at it like rabbits?’
‘Phoebe, stop asking me these questions. I’m trying to be a gentleman. She’s here to relax and have a break, not to have me pawing over her every second.’
‘Urgh. I forgot you were nice. We trained you too well,’ she says.
‘If training means bearing witness to all the losers you’ve shagged over the years, then yes,’ I reply.
‘You’re a big fat gimpy gimp,’ she says down the phone. I can almost hear her stick her tongue out at me. ‘Holiday sex is the best sex though. You lucky sod!’
‘What do you mean?’ I ask.
‘I know you really like this girl but half the time it’s freeing: it’s someone you’ll never see again so you can really go for it. Work out all your stress and worries.’
I stop for a moment. We’ve had more intense sex than I’ve ever had before, but is that just because we’re on holiday? Would this translate to anywhere else? I hadn’t thought that I might never see her again and I’m not sure how I feel about that.
‘You’re very different to Flo. She told me to go in with the romance and woo her with my food,’ I say.
‘You forget that Flo is married and verging on boring. The beginning of a sexual relationship should be exciting, almost electric. You need to stride into her room and throw shit down,’ Phoebe says with some force.
‘You make me sound like a wrestler,’ I say, flaring my nostrils.
‘Have you been getting your abs out?’ she asks.
‘Yes. I grease them up with olive oil, put on a toga and feed her grapes.’
‘Ugh, that’s an image I don’t need. But honestly, besides your tepid love life, how is it all going?
Really? I know you and this Chloe girl are having a good time but what about the other girls?
Is there a real business opportunity here?
Because after I finish uni, I need work and I think Uncle Lorenzo would have wanted me to come to Ibiza. ’
I don’t know what to tell her. I’ve had old Miguel giving them massages; we got into a fight at a beach rave; we went on a hike with a snake; Chloe has lost her job and been attacked by ants. It’s going swimmingly.
‘I’m trying, Phoebe. I hope I’m giving them what we advertised,’ I tell her.
‘Is it sunny? Is the pool topped up? Isn’t that half of it?’
‘I did paint their nails today. Turns out I still have skills,’ I say.
‘Fun girly times. Well done. Have you done things with mushrooms yet? You’re good with mushrooms.’
‘Are you still talking about sexual things?’
‘Fuck, no. You’re so crude, Ben,’ she says, laughing. ‘Well, three more days… I’LL TAKE A SHOT… Love you, you tosser!’
I don’t know if Phoebe was saying that to me or someone else but she hangs up the phone abruptly.
She is my party sister. And I hate to admit it but she’s right to a point: I’m engaging in risky, electric sex with Chloe that is both lustful and addictive.
I ache for her, I ache after her, but I’ve not had this feeling in an age.
I’m curious about it but also scared by what it all means.
Is it the secrecy which makes this so exciting?
Is it the villa? Is it the possibility that this could be something more?
Love. Is this love? God, I’m an idiot to think that much.
I hear the shutters closing in one of the bedrooms. It’s late and we’ve had a quiet day.
Phoebe seems to think it’s a hive of activity here but really these women just want to bask and rest. They want to play UNO after dinner and not have to wash up.
They love to nap and be fed, read books, lie in the heat without interruption, properly disengage from the world and let their mental loads evaporate into the Ibizan sun.
We do have three days left though and I wonder if I need to plan a couple more activities to fill the time.
I scroll through my tablet. There’s a man called Antonio in the Old Town who can come over and do yoga with them.
He even has a long wizard beard. There’s a whole video here about cleansing their auras with a touch of sage.
Or I could take them swimming in the sea caves?
Could that go wrong? Because that’s what this retreat needs – a jellyfish attack.
‘That looks like fun,’ a voice says behind me and I smile when I turn and see Chloe standing there in a vest top and little shorts.
‘Look who’s the snooper now?’ I joke. She laughs, taking a seat on the sofa next to me, curling up with her legs crossed. ‘It’s late, how come you’re still up?’ I ask.
‘Oh, couldn’t sleep. Came down to get a drink. Are you OK?’
‘Of course I am, you’re here.’ I don’t know if that sounded too desperate, too cheesy, but it’s true.
I like seeing her face, having her close.
There’s no point in trying to play it cool as we’re going to be living together for the rest of the week.
She smiles, avoiding eye contact, almost looking at me in disbelief. ‘You don’t believe me?’
Chloe smiles and sighs. ‘I’ve just never met someone like you. It’s very black and white, no holding back. London, and the men I usually meet, are usually coloured with a bit more—’
‘Bullshit?’
She laughs. ‘That’s spot-on. I like your honesty and intuition when it comes to all of us. It’s rare and a little bit… magical.’
The compliment is wildly lifting. ‘That’ll be the island, the villa. It has that effect. I think it comes from my uncle. He always had this place open, he was a very generous host – thoughtful. He knew how to help people holiday,’ I tell her.
‘So, you’re saying you’ve been possessed by the spirit of your dead uncle?’ she says.
‘You make it sound like a bad horror film but yes, kind of,’ I say, smiling. I point to the photo on the wall behind us. ‘That’s him.’
She turns to look at the picture, studying it with care. ‘Is that you in the front with the highlights,’ she asks.
‘Yep. I was twenty-one so allowed that mistake. Uncle Lorenzo is the guy on the end.’
She looks at him and smiles. ‘I get the feeling he never married, no kids?’
‘That we know of…’ I say. ‘He was quite the party animal. It’s how he came to know Miguel and his partner. He had a big…’ Chloe’s eyes widen. I shake my head. ‘Heart.’
‘Must run in the family then,’ she says sweetly.
She grins and continues looking around the room, taking in the suit of armour that I don’t know anything about, the paintings and the very phallic sculpture in the corner.
Her eyes rise to the ceiling. ‘It looks like there was something connected to the ceiling on those hooks. Did he have some art hanging there or was it a feature of the house, like for a pulley system?’ she asks curiously.
I know exactly what she’s looking at.
I smile, looking down at my tablet. ‘It was for a sex swing,’ I say, laughing. I may as well be honest.
She cups her mouth, her face incredulous. ‘A what?’
‘It was a cute little swing but Miguel confirmed that it was used for all sorts of other activities.’
‘How does that work then?’ she asks.
‘I wouldn’t know… I guess the motion of it, the positioning, the angles?’ I suggest, looking up. I turn back to her but she’s blushing. I grin. ‘The word “angles” makes you blush?’
‘Normally, in my line of work, I think about that word very differently. Now…’
‘What does it make you think of, Chloe?’ I ask, knowing all too well that it’s a leading question. I’ve also noticed she reacts differently to me when I say her name out loud. Her whole body tenses up and she clicks her fingers again like she’s trying to snap out of the spell it casts. I smile.
‘It makes me think of this afternoon,’ she says, not giving too much away.
‘Which part?’ I ask.
‘There was this point where I was…’ She pauses and puts her hand out to indicate something flat.
‘You were face down on the mattress,’ I suggest.
She squirms on the sofa and tucks strands of hair behind her ear. ‘Yes.’
‘And you twisted my hips lightly and… yeah, from the back… angles.’
‘I think you’ll find it worked well when you rotated slightly to meet me,’ I tell her. ‘That was…’ I say, my mouth dry.
‘Pleasing,’ she says, smiling.
Chloe looks at me and then stands, reaching down for the tablet and placing it to one side.
I sit up and embrace her, kissing the slice of her stomach that’s visible, peeling down her shorts to kiss the flesh above her hipbone, my hands in the small of her back.
I gaze up and see her close her eyes, her breath slowing.
She bends down to her knees and pulls my shorts down.
I put a hand to her hair and feel my legs straighten as she takes me in her mouth, the feel of her lips around me, the pressure of her sucking and moving up and down my shaft.
I reach down and grab a cushion next to me, wrapping a leg around her.
She moves her head, slowly taking all of me in her mouth and I feel that sensation down my back, deep in my belly. From every conceivable angle.