Olivia
To:
jpgreen@
Subject:
Might have found the new best dosa in India …
I know it’s a bold statement but really, truly, it was the most delicious thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I wish you
could have sampled it yourself, and I did think about saving you a piece, but I wasn’t sure it would travel well via mail.
How is Udaipur treating you, if you’re still there?
! Where else have you explored? I’m off to Goa in a few days – can you believe it?
My final stop! Tracey keeps hounding me to try yoga while I’m there, but let’s see.
Maybe next time you speak to me I’ll be a fully enlightened being.
Yours, about to enter full spiritual awakening, Olivia x
‘Argh, stop looking,’ she cursed under her breath, shoving her phone back into her bag and forcing herself to concentrate on the horizon.
She had been sitting by the water for a good twenty minutes yet had barely looked at it.
This was supposed to be a moment of calm, a little slice of peace in the chaos, and she was wasting time thinking about someone who was clearly not thinking about her at all.
She closed her eyes and tried to let the crackling electricity in her brain settle.
Olivia had never been one for the ocean.
In fact, she was the only person in her family that wasn’t excited when their annual trip to the beach came around.
The sand irritated her skin, the salt stung her eyes, and she would always – no matter how meticulously she applied her sun cream – get burnt.
The whole thing felt like more effort than it was worth.
Which is why, when she arrived in Goa and saw the stretch of crystal-blue water only moments from her homestay, it was a surprise that the sight nearly moved her to tears.
The sound alone was a balm for her soul.
The inhale and exhale of the waves as they lapped at the shore.
The cool, salted breath that danced across her skin and soothed the burning glare of the sun.
The force, the depth, the sheer expanse of it, was incredibly humbling, and yet at the same time wonderfully empowering. And so, she
promised herself that at least once a day she would sit on the sand and simply allow herself to be.
‘Hi there!’
Olivia practically jumped from her skin at the sound of the voice to her left.
Snapping her eyes open, she turned to see a rather tall, incredibly beautiful woman standing next to her on the beach.
Any thought of exchanging terse words disappeared from Olivia’s brain the second she laid eyes on the stranger.
Long, jet-black hair flowed down her back, making the orange of her eyes glow even brighter.
Her skin, the colour of honey, was almost completely covered in tattoos.
The intricate patterns were like a living, breathing sketchbook.
She was breathtakingly striking, and Olivia suddenly felt very plain and very boring-looking.
‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Were you meditating?’ The girl looked horrified, her deep voice lifting a little in fear.
‘Meditating? No, I was just …’ What was she doing? Trying to pull herself back from sending a panicked email to a guy she barely knew? ‘Having a second to myself.’
‘I didn’t realize you had your eyes closed or I would have come back another time.’
‘Is everything OK?’ Olivia was quite unsure why this gorgeous human being was trying to talk to her.
‘Don’t worry, everything’s fine. I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself.
I’m staying in the hut opposite yours and I’ve been meaning to catch you ever since you arrived, but each time I’ve been home you’ve been out.
I thought I’d seize the moment while I saw you sitting here.
’ She presented one of her finely decorated hands. ‘I’m Cece.’
‘Nice to meet you, I’m Olivia.’ She took Cece’s hand with her own very plain and very pale one, and gave it a firm shake.
‘It’s a nice little group we’ve got at the moment.’ She
nodded back towards the rustic wooden huts that lay beyond the sand. ‘Although, past 8 p.m.’ – she came and sat down next to Olivia – ‘maybe steer clear of Patricia and Tania in number seven. They often get a bit rowdy after their fourth fishbowl.’
‘Gotcha.’ Olivia nodded, recalling the two deep-fried, bleached-blonde women she’d seen lying outside the hut across the way, slurring their words and cackling long into the night. Their bodies were so dehydrated that with a touch, Olivia imagined they would crumble to dust.
‘While I have you, I wanted to ask you about your washing line.’
‘I have a washing line?’
‘Yeah, that’s the thing, it’s currently living at my place. I borrowed it when no one was staying here and I haven’t had a chance to speak to you about it. Do you mind if I use it for one more day then return it?’
‘Sure, just give it back whenever you’re done with it.’
‘Amazing, thank you!’ Cece squeezed Olivia’s arm affectionately. ‘I teach yoga and there is no way you can get away with wearing the same stuff twice out here. The sweat is real
.’
‘You’re a yoga teacher? That’s cool.’
Flashbacks of her conversation with Tracey whirred through her brain.
Powerful stuff, that is. Healing stuff.
‘I am indeed. Six days a week, right here on the beach. Do you practise?’
‘God no! I can barely balance on two legs, let alone do all that other fancy stuff.’
‘I see.’ Cece’s face darkened. ‘Let me guess, you’ve done the type of yoga where they make you plank for eight minutes then stand on your head?’
Olivia brought to mind the two classes she’d forced herself to go to, where the only pose she could master was the one at the end where everyone lay down on the floor and closed their eyes. Even then her brain was racing and her body itching to move.
‘Something like that.’
‘Urgh
, that is not
the type of yoga I teach. Stupid, westernized, commercial crap.’ She folded her arms across her chest.
‘I’m sorry.’ Olivia could feel the prickles of tension emanating from Cece. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you.’
‘Oh, God no, of course you didn’t!’ She laughed, a warm smile returning to her face. ‘It’s the industry that offends me. I love my job so much, but at times I get frustrated by it all.’
‘I can imagine.’
Except she couldn’t. Cece should try a day with Phil the pig, and then she’d know frustration.
‘It’s the exact reason every time I think about going back home to London, I change my mind.’
‘You’re from London too?’
‘Uh-huh, although that feels like another lifetime now. I haven’t been back in forever.’
Olivia’s thoughts immediately turned to Jacob.
‘Hey!’ Cece clapped her hands together. ‘Why don’t you come along to one of my classes some time? See what true yoga is all about. I’m confident you’ll be a convert by the end.’
‘Oh gosh.’ Olivia felt her stomach contract. ‘I would love to, really I would, but I have so many things left to do while I’m here, I’m not sure I have the time. And besides, I’d be totally rubbish anyway, you wouldn’t want me there.’
Cece narrowed her eyes. ‘Time I’ll just about accept as an excuse, but the other crap I don’t buy. There is nobody on this earth who is bad at yoga. You can’t be. It’s impossible.’
‘Well, expect to see someone defy all possibility then!’ Olivia joked, her attempt at deflection making Cece grow even more stoic.
‘Come to class tomorrow and prove me wrong. You can be my guest!’
‘Tomorrow?’ Olivia’s face began to burn. ‘I can’t. I have to be up early for this tour I’ve booked on to. It starts at like 8 a.m.’
‘Great, my class is at seven – you’ll be done by seven forty-five.’
God, that is just great, isn’t it.
‘The thing is, I’m quite tired so I’m not sure I’ll be up in time.’
‘Hey’ – Cece held her hands up in surrender – ‘the offer’s there.
I’d love you to come, but if you don’t want to, then of course that’s totally fine too.
It’s 7 a.m., just a little bit further along by that patch of trees.
You can’t miss it, just follow the signs.
’ She reached for Olivia’s arm and gently touched it.
‘Anyway, I’ve intruded enough. It was lovely to meet you, and hopefully’ – Cece grinned, calling over her shoulder as she strode away down the beach – ‘I will see you bright and early for some real
yoga!’
Olivia nodded and smiled, knowing that even if a single part of her did want to try it, there was no way she could risk embarrassing herself in front of a group of people like Cece.
Did everyone who did yoga out here look like a goddess?
Because if so, then quite frankly, she could kiss her spiritual awakening goodbye.
*
‘Come on
, why don’t you just go?’ Kate asked for the third time in a row. ‘What’s the worst that could happen? You can’t be the only beginner; it’s a tourist spot. Every man,
woman and their grandma will be wanting to try out some traditional yoga! In fact, it’s probably the best place to do it.’
Olivia rolled over on to her side, regretting ever mentioning her conversation with Cece to her best friend. It was their weekly FaceTime, and what she thought would simply be a passing comment about her day had turned into a ten-minute debate.
‘Because …’ She was running low on excuses now. ‘It’s too hot to exercise.’
Her friend pulled the phone screen closer and scowled.
‘Yet miraculously you manage to go and visit about a hundred boring churches every day.’
‘That’s different,’ Olivia grunted.
‘How?’
‘Because most churches are dark and sheltered and cool inside. Plus, it’s a cultural experience. This would just be physical hell.’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘Kate … do I need to remind you of the last yoga class we took together?’ Olivia knew full well that any mention of said experience was banned by Kate due to the unfortunate incident when she ripped her leggings whilst not wearing any underwear, during a rather overambitious splits attempt.
‘No, you don’t need to remind me, as the shame will be imprinted on my memory until the second I take my last breath. But didn’t your friend say it wasn’t that type of class?’
‘She’s not my friend.’
‘Well, if you actually made an effort and went to class, maybe she could become one.’
‘Urgh, why are you so insistent on this?’
Kate’s face, which had been scrunched up so tightly she
resembled a ball of freckled paper, suddenly softened. ‘Because I don’t want you to spend all your time looking around boring monuments by yourself. It’s your final two weeks! Go have some fun.’
Perhaps it was the sombre look on her friend’s face, or the truth of her words landing heavily on her heart, but Olivia felt her resolve begin to shake.
‘I don’t think putting your legs behind your head is technically classed as fun,’ she sniffed, ‘but maybe I’ll go and have a look at the studio, see what the vibe is.’
‘What the vibe
is, hey? Look at you with all your traveller lingo.’
‘Shut up.’
‘That Jacob must be rubbing off on you.’
The mention of his name was unexpected, and Olivia bit down hard on her tongue to stop herself from reacting.
‘Are you two still talking?’ Kate took her moment of silence to poke a little deeper.
‘Erm, a bit.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘We’ve emailed back and forth but, you know, I’ve been busy so it’s a little quieter than before.’
Quieter? Try radio bloody silence.
‘I see, and are you OK with that?’
‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘I don’t know, I’m only checking.’
‘Well, I’m fine.’ She grimaced, praying her tone was enough to make Kate well and truly back off. ‘Now … how are things with you? You never tell me anything any more.’
Olivia saw the smallest flicker of something pass across Kate’s face, but before she could catch and assess it, it disappeared.
‘Because there’s nothing to tell! Everything is same old, same old this side.’
‘Work?’
‘Same boring as ever, looking for a new job as we speak.’
‘Family?’
‘Boring as ever, looking for a new one as we speak.’ She winked, the lightness returning to her expression.
‘Dating life?’ Olivia continued, noticing the same flicker of emotion flash across her friend’s face.
‘Don’t even go there.’ She sighed, her eyes everywhere but on Olivia’s face. ‘We don’t need to depress ourselves with that subject.’
‘Hmm, if you’re sure.’
‘I am.’ Kate nodded, closing down any further questioning. ‘Now, I have to finish my lunch and get back to work. But promise me you’ll go and check out the yoga tomorrow? I want a full report on the vibe
, please.’
‘If you don’t stop making fun of me, you’ll get nothing!’
‘Hey, you know it’s only because I love you.’
Olivia hesitated, touching a finger to the screen. ‘I love you too.’