Chapter 18 #2
I could be chic and sophisticated too, even though I was wearing clothes from a chain store and an unremarkable watch which I had bought from a shop in the high street.
I’d long ago accepted that there was no point having an expensive one as I usually lost them and had once left one in my dressing gown pocket when I washed it.
And then there was the time when I…
‘So what would you like?’ Jack said, handing me a menu.
‘A large double shot latte and a coffee and walnut ice cream,’ I said after a moment.
‘Very decisive,’ he said, ‘I’ll have an americano and a striacello.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Vanilla with chocolate shards. I have a terrible sweet tooth which is one of the things you will find out.’
Well, that was interesting. I was going to find out more stuff? What sort of things?
The woman with the flashy watch finished her coffee and lit another cigarette while her companion messed about with his mobile phone.
How long had that couple been together, I wondered. Did they still love each other? Did they know everything there was to know, so much so that they no longer needed to talk?
In the later years of my marriage to Fred we had hardly talked much either, and yet there were still many things I hadn’t known about him, even after thirty years together. So, was not talking, not laughing together, a sign of failure or success? I considered it a failure.
The waiter, a hunky-looking young man in a smart black shirt and trousers, brought our order a few minutes later, my coffee in a tall glass, Jack’s americano in a china cup decorated with the hotel logo. He stirred sugar into it with an apologetic grin.
‘I told you I had a sweet tooth.’
The ice cream was served in glass bowls and decorated with sprigs of mint. It was sublime. Possibly the best I’d ever had.
‘Fabulous,’ I said after a couple of spoonfuls, ‘I hope yours is too.’
‘Try it,’ he said, holding his dish out towards me.
Was this a bit too friendly when we had only known each other for such a short time?
I took a little taste. It was lovely. I reciprocated the offer but he shook his head.
‘I’m not too keen on walnuts.’
‘More for me then,’ I said and he laughed.
‘Tell me about your friends,’ he said after a while. ‘Have you known them long?’
I nodded, scraping up another spoonful of ice cream. ‘We were at school together. Then we lost touch for years, and then we found each other again. The marvels of Facebook. Of course we are all retired now. Anna was a doctor, Harriet an English professor.’
‘It must have been strange to meet up again after so long.’
‘It was, they were the same but different.’
‘And were you?’
‘No, I think I was just different,’ I said. ‘I’ll be honest, my marriage was not a happy one. It’s taking me some time to find myself again.’
‘I’m glad you are,’ he said, ‘you should be happy. I feel you deserve it.’
‘You don’t know me,’ I said, faintly puzzled.
‘You’re kind, I can tell that by the way you look after the older ladies you were with last night. Kindness is something much talked about and hardly ever encountered these days.’
‘Someone writes something horrible on social media, and then adds #BeKind?’
‘Exactly.’
We exchanged a look at that point and both of us laughed.
‘So there you are,’ a voice said, ‘we’ve been wondering where you had got to.’
It was Anna looking very elegant in cream linen trousers and a white T-shirt and carrying some impressive-looking carrier bags with coloured rope handles.
I noticed Fancy Watch woman give her a sweeping, rather resentful glance too.
And her shopping. Evidently she didn’t approve of competition.
Harriet was a little way behind her in a flowery sundress but apparently didn’t warrant a look.
‘Ice cream! What a great idea,’ Harriet said. ‘Do you mind if we join you?’
‘Unless we are interrupting something?’ Anna added.
‘Not a bit,’ Jack said, pulling a couple of chairs over.
‘We have been exploring the road behind this one,’ Anna said. ‘We found some wonderful shops and I have been splurging a bit. Heaven knows how I will get everything in my suitcase.’
‘Perhaps you will have to buy a bigger one?’ Jack said, raising his hand to attract the waiter’s attention.
‘Great idea,’ Anna beamed.
‘I thought you were going to find something for Rupert,’ I said.
‘Oh, I will, when I see something. He’s impossible.’
I was a tiny bit disappointed if I was honest. I’d been enjoying a lovely, quiet chat with Jack, and now that Anna and Harriet were here everything got rather noisy.
Anna wanted to tell us all about her shopping expedition and how she needed to go back later to a boutique because there was a divine blue dress she wanted to try on.
They ordered espressos and Harriet weakened and had a strawberry and pistachio ice cream, which she said was delicious.
It was still nice to be sitting in the sun in such a beautiful place, but somehow the atmosphere had changed.
I had gained confidence being a part of a group, part of a gang of three, but perhaps it was time I developed the same level of self-assurance within myself.
‘It’s nearly eleven o’clock,’ Harriet said as she finished her ice cream with a pleased smile, ‘we are going to be late for the guided tour. I got the last three spaces.’
‘It’s only five minutes back to the ship,’ Anna said, ‘we’ve got ages. I might still have time to go back to that shop.’
‘I’ll see you all later,’ Jack said, ‘and this is my treat. Enjoy your day.’
I watched as he went to give some cash to the waiter, thinking again how attractive he was. What a pleasant character.
‘Well, he’s nice,’ Harriet said.
‘Do I detect a teeny tiny crush going on?’ Anna chuckled, tapping me on the knee.
‘Absolutely not,’ I said, feeling my face heat up. ‘We met up by accident, that’s all it was.’
‘Of course it was,’ Anna purred.
‘You’re making something out of nothing,’ I said with unnecessary vigour, because to be truthful, I probably was developing a bit of a crush. And that was not like me at all.
I’d had a bit of a thing for Tom Conti back in the day, but during thirty years of marriage I hadn’t looked at another man. I’d certainly never found any appealing.
But then Jack was so attractive and friendly. It was a long time since any man had spoken to me at length about anything other than the state of my car, how vital it was to have new double glazing or possibly solar panels. And by the way, was my husband at home so he could talk to him?
For a man to ask me about myself and actually be interested was quite a novelty. And I liked it.