Chapter Twenty-One
The next day, very bright and very early – so they’d miss the tourists – they all boarded the boat or yacht, whatever it was called, and headed over to piggy island – as Ellie was calling it in her head.
Everyone except Richie; he had some work calls that day and had settled on a sun lounger with a Bloody Mary in hand.
Ellie had been relieved, as she still hadn’t forgiven him for the money-waving.
Yes, she held grudges.
The boat had a little kitchen below and Ellie watched in surprise as Eddie and his team steadily filled it with plenty of ice, food, wine and general supplies. You’d think they were going for a fortnight and not a day trip.
Ellie had her straw beach bag with a change of clothes, a sun hat, dark glasses and sunscreen.
She wore her swimming costume beneath another one of her maxi-dresses.
The one-piece, of course – she wasn’t sure if she was ready to reveal her teeny-weeny bikini just yet.
Looking at the real-life Barbies skipping onto the boat, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be ready.
Next to them she was like the BFG – Big Friendly Girlfriend.
All those years of training herself to be body positive were threatening to get washed away by a single flood of well-waxed Californian women in designer bikinis. But wasn’t that always the way?
And it wasn’t just their bodies, although that played a huge part. They genuinely belonged here, to this life of yachts, champagne, celebrities and luxurious islands.
She, frankly, didn’t. This was a holiday, not a lifestyle. She couldn’t allow herself to believe otherwise; it would only make the return home to her real life even harder.
They all piled onto the boat, comfortably stretching out across its full length with plenty of room between the different groups.
Alex’s parents, Liam and Tony stood at the wheel – she wasn’t sure what you called it, but it was definitely the part that ran things and so she knew to steer clear of it.
Savannah and her gaggle of girls sat at the very front of the boat, while she and Alex perched midway between the two.
Oddly, she found herself relaxing significantly when she realised Alex must feel just as out of place as she did.
The day was glorious, but when wasn’t it in the Bahamas? Ellie could have happily spent the whole day sailing around to nowhere in particular, but the boat skipped through the ocean and they arrived at Pig Island in no time.
As they came close, she was surprised to see how sparse the island was.
Shaped like a straggly horseshoe, it had very little in the way of shelter, just a few bushes and some low wispy trees.
They anchored at the entrance to the beach, where the water was so clear you could see the white sand beneath, tinged by only a hint of the turquoise water.
In the distance, little four-legged bodies began to emerge from the shrubs and trees of the island.
Smudges of pink, black, brown and orange happily trotted out into the water.
Soon she could see the wild troop of pigs more clearly.
Some were huge, others clearly no older than a few months. All were adorable.
The boat became a frenzy of activity as people chucked off their clothes and handed around vegetables to feed their hungry porcine guests, who were now halfway between the beach and the boat.
Ellie dumped out the contents of her beach bag and filled it with carrots, lettuce and apples.
Everyone was making their way down the steel ladder and into the water.
Alex, bless him, was waiting patiently for her, eyeing up the loaded bag with amusement.
‘I don’t want them to go hungry.’
‘Oh, believe me, they won’t.’ He stripped off his t-shirt and shoes and headed to the ladder.
Ellie stared at the half-naked Alex. Her heart skipped, then stalled like a broken-down car, then jump-started back to life again, all in a matter of seconds. He was truly breathtaking, just like a Hollywood star – he is a Hollywood star, you doughnut!
The grunts and snorts were getting closer. Ellie went to the side of the boat. Everyone was now swimming towards the pigs. Liam had managed to swim far enough in to be able to stand and was wading through the shallows, greeting some of the faster pigs with a head of lettuce.
‘You best get down there.’ Alex grinned. ‘It’ll only be a matter of time before they realise they should have carried more food with them. And, as much as I’d like them to eat Liam, I think my mom would be pretty heartbroken.’
After a deep breath, she threw off her own dress with a muttered, ‘Fuck it.’
She clambered down the ladder gingerly, her straw beach bag slung over one shoulder. Alex followed after, and she was treated to the sight of strong thick legs and a pert bum as he descended.
The sea was a pleasantly balmy temperature and Ellie blissfully treaded water and waited for Alex. The swim didn’t take long, just a few minutes doggy-paddling and then they were wading over to the others. A few piggy stragglers came paddling over towards them.
She couldn’t get over the variety of their rough coats. A mottled black, tan and ginger pig with tusks came towards her, snorting. She reached in her bag and drew out a long carrot.
‘Do I just throw it at them?’ she asked nervously, eyeing up the tusks of the little piggy, who suddenly looked more like a very big, very feral piggy. She was going to call him Motley.
‘They’ll take it from your hands. Just hold it out, like this.’ He took the hand that held the carrot and offered it to Motley.
Motley took a huge bite, barely pausing in his paddling as he gulped it down with an appreciative snort and slobber.
‘Bahamians take the wellbeing of these pigs very seriously. You should only feed them healthy food, and only in the water.’
‘Why only in the water?’
‘Some pigs were found dead from ingesting too much sand because of eating on the beach.’
‘Oh, how sad,’ Ellie gasped, then quickly delved into her bag for more treats as they were rapidly surrounded by more happy pigs nuzzling at them with varying degrees of force.
‘Some tourists are complete trash, trying to feed them alcohol and picking them up for photos. But the tour operators have clamped down on that sort of thing.’
‘Good.’
‘Ellie, do you have any more vegetables? This one has cleaned us out,’ Savannah said cheerfully as she waded over, her narrow hips swinging below her washboard stomach.
Ellie rummaged around in her bag and handed her two lettuces and a carrot. Savannah shared them around to the rest of the group. ‘Thanks, you’re an angel.’
She didn’t feel like an angel. She felt as if she were an alien on a planet populated by only supermodels. They were gorgeous people who jumped in oceans and knew that someone else would always be lugging a bag of vegetables behind them.
Holly’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to face her. ‘Someone take a photo of me with my little buddy!’ The baby pig did not look amused with his new friend.
‘You’re not meant to pick them up,’ Alex said sternly.
But Holly ignored him. ‘Keira! Take a picture! Isn’t he adorable?’
‘Put it down,’ Savannah shouted, looking uncharacteristically annoyed at her sister’s antics as she stood obliviously holding up a small pink pig, its trotters kicking the air furiously as it squealed and jerked with distress.
Alex started to wade towards her.
‘Oh my God, chill, Savannah. You’re not Mom.’ Holly pouted indignantly at her sister, completely unaware of a much larger pig swimming up behind her. At a guess this larger pink pig was in fact Mummy Pig, and Mummy Pig was not happy about seeing her wee little piggy being manhandled.
So much so, in fact…
‘OWWWW!’ screeched Holly, and Alex swooped in to catch the falling piglet and then smoothly released it back into the water. It swam merrily to its defensive mother. Holly was now hiding behind Alex’s broad shoulders clutching her bum. ‘It bit me!’
Ellie decided to quickly feed Mummy Pig a very large apple before she turned on her as well.
In a sea of skinny women, she was beginning to feel a little nervous.
She must look a lot like a prime rib-eye right now, and didn’t pigs eat everything?
She began to feed them more liberally, occasionally scratching one behind the ear in an attempt to befriend them.
Savannah sloshed over to her sister, inspected her rump and declared, ‘You’re fine.’
‘Everything okay?’ asked Jessica, looking freaking hot in her white bikini and wide-brimmed hat, with an equally dashing Robert beside her.
Ellie vowed to always wear sunscreen and give Pilates another go.
Who was she kidding? She hated Pilates.
After another quick rummage in her bag, she admitted defeat. ‘I’m all out.’
Holly eyed Mummy Pig while rubbing her own bottom. ‘I want to go back to the boat.’
Savannah glared at her sister, but nodded in agreement. Turning back to them with an apologetic look, she said, ‘We’ll head back and prepare brunch.’
There was a bit of chatting amongst the group until it was decided that Savannah, Liam, Tony and Holly would go back to the boat while the rest of them would head to the beach for a while, until the tourist boats began to arrive.
When that happened, they all agreed, they would go back too, to avoid becoming the tourist attraction themselves.
Ellie and Alex headed to a shady area on the beach and settled down to watch the pigs.
Now that their food was gone, most of the animals had lost interest in them, although some continued to play in the surf, while others also sought out the shady areas of the beach to sleep away the morning until their next meal.
Keira and Caitlyn splashed in the shallows like they were on a fashion shoot, and Ellie strategically placed her bag across her thighs, feeling more than a little self-conscious.
‘Everything okay?’ asked Alex. He was leaning against a gnarled old tree trunk, drawing shapes in the sand with a stick.
‘Yeah, of course,’ she yelped, embarrassed that he’d noticed her dip in mood. She reminded herself that she was in one of the most beautiful places on the planet, experiencing stuff that many people couldn’t even dare to imagine.
‘Is it the pigs? Honestly, they’re fine as long as you don’t maul them like Holly did.’
She chuckled at the absurdity of it all. ‘I love the pigs. I probably have more in common with them than anyone else here.’
Alex frowned out at the sea. She had the uneasy feeling she’d insulted him in some way, which was ridiculous.
‘I mean, I’m not one of you beautiful Hollywood people, am I?’ The fake laugh stuck in her throat, and came out as an awkward cough.
‘What do you see when you look at them?’ He pointed his ridiculously chiselled chin over at Caitlyn and Keira.
‘Supermodels,’ she replied, without missing a beat.
He nodded sombrely, and then tilted his head thoughtfully.
‘True. But I also see hours of strict diet and rigid exercise regimes. I see a team of nutritionists, chefs and personal trainers. I see a lot of hard work and restriction, combined with genetics that naturally lean towards a slimmer build. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But I worked with Keira once – she hasn’t eaten bread since she was seven. ’
‘Bread is life!’ gasped Ellie, unable to restrain her horror.
‘Yes, it is,’ Alex agreed with a whimsical smile. ‘I like bread too much to have Liam’s physique.’
Ellie blinked. Liam was slimmer, but he didn’t have Alex’s broad shoulders or powerful thighs. She tried not to sigh with pleasure as she admired his physique. She’d never found anyone more gorgeous than Alex, with his Clark Kent glasses and beefcake arms.
‘I prefer your body. Six-packs are overrated,’ she said, before she could manage to stop herself. A blush crept up her neck, and she suddenly wished the pigs would eat her alive after all. Anything to escape Alex’s piercing blue eyes.
A slow, sexy smile spread across his face. ‘Glad to hear it.’
She gazed out at the pure white sand and turquoise sea.
So beautiful it was almost painful to look at.
She thought of the boats and planes she’d had to get on to even get here.
Paradise and perfection weren’t easy to come by, and even these lucky pigs who’d found themselves on this island by mistake or chance had their own hardships to face.
After a pause, she asked, ‘What do you see when you look at me?’
As soon as she asked, she regretted it. What was I thinking?
He gave her a heated look, and she bit her lip, her nerves fizzing with excitement and arousal. ‘A natural, unique beauty who’s confident in who she is.’
‘Hmmm, that sounds like, she doesn’t make any effort,’ grumbled Ellie.
‘But that’s sadly not the case. It takes a lot of work to make me look this natural and confident.
’ She leaned back against the tree, so their shoulders rested against each other.
She wasn’t even joking, although she’d said it with her usual flippancy.
After David, her confidence had nosedived until she’d finally accepted her curves and become healthier.
But all of that hard work, inside and out, hadn’t mattered; she still wasn’t good enough for some people, and never would be.
‘And yet you make it look easy. I’ve never managed that,’ he said, softly with a tinge of sadness, and she wondered if he always compared himself to his older brother.
She hoped not.