Chapter 8
EIGHT
‘Are we ready?’ shouts Kai.
The club music pumps out over the pool as Kai rouses the assembled group of people (mainly women) in the water. Sun worshippers and people reading books are lounging on the sun beds that surround the large kidney-shaped pool.
He is wearing a vest that clings tightly to his six pack, and his shorts reveal legs that are muscular and tanned. His fair hair is immaculately styled. I can see why he draws such a crowd, and, clearly an exhibitionist, he’s loving the attention.
‘Let’s get beach body ready.’ He claps his hands above his head as everyone follows. He makes eye contact and winks at a lady who is maybe in her sixties, and it clearly makes her day. I chuckle as I watch him strut around, then wink at one of the men too.
His routine is easy to follow, and a whole lot of fun. Despite his easy manner though, the routine is quite demanding and some of the women emerge from the pool with red faces, ready for a cooling drink.
‘I enjoyed that,’ I tell him as he shows me to the storeroom, where the music system is kept.
‘Good.’ He smiles. ‘You take the lead tomorrow if you like.’
‘Sure.’
He glances at his watch. ‘We have a twenty-minute break until we swap over lifeguard duties; fancy a frappe?’
‘I’d like that.’
Over coffee at the poolside restaurant, I tell Kai all about my job back home.
‘Ouch, that must have been a shock being made redundant after all that time,’ he says.
‘You could say that. It’s pretty much all I have ever known,’ I tell him as I sip my cooling drink.
‘Then well done you.’ He taps his coffee glass against mine.
‘Thanks.’
He is the second person to congratulate me, as I think of the guy at the airport. Maybe I ought to have a little more faith in myself.
‘How about you?’ I ask.
‘Needed a change.’ He shrugs. ‘I broke up with my partner, and my job in recruitment was boring the life out of me, so I thought, why not.’
‘Had you done this type of thing before?’
‘I was a personal trainer at a gym for a bit,’ he tells me.
‘The gym felt a bit stifling though, as I prefer the great outdoors, so last year I did a summer season at a hotel not far from here,’ he explains.
‘When it was over, I helped a friend of my dad’s who lives out here, with a bit of building work. ’
‘You are a builder?’ I ask in surprise.
‘I wouldn’t call myself a builder, although I did a bricklaying course at college.’ He shrugs. ‘I suppose, as Zeta says, I am the Jack of all the trades.’ He smiles.
‘It certainly sounds like it. And I know what you mean about working outdoors – I would love to teach swimming lessons at a lido, but of course we don’t have the weather back home.’
‘Exactly. Which is why I am here. I’m not sure what is next after this, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
’ He says. ‘Life should be an adventure. And I can always find jobs in my line of work,’ he tells me, with the confidence of someone who will always have something on the horizon. ‘I like to go with the flow.’
He is right, I suppose. Taking this job has made me realise I did not have to spend the rest of my life teaching at a slightly rundown sports centre in a town with very little going for it.
Thinking about it, maybe my disastrous exam results at school knocked my confidence in my younger years.
I stressed so much over them, I remember my hands shaking when I wrote, and the panic I felt when I could barely recall anything I had revised.
I had always been good at swimming, so the route I took was kind of inevitable.
I’m not sure I would ever have contemplated looking for a job abroad had I not been facing redundancy though.
But life moves on and it’s time I stopped hiding away and being satisfied with a safe, maybe even mundane, life.
Suddenly I can hardly wait to teach at the outdoor pools here, with the sun beating down from a bright-blue sky, and I find my anxiety is fast disappearing. Until I think of the Abba night, of course, but I push that straight to the back of my mind.
Break over, we head off to different pools, me being on duty at the kids’ pool.
‘You have the easy gig today,’ says Kai. ‘Shallow water, kids decked out in life-saving inflatables.’
‘I know, lucky me.’
Truthfully, though, I can’t wait to be in the deeper pool, watching people swim in the water, losing themselves in the easy rhythm.
I looked forward to a long swim myself at the end of my shift.
I will head down to the sea for that though.
A walk through the hotel gardens leads to a long stretch of beach with perfect shallow waters for swimming.
I can hardly wait to dive into the clear blue water and can almost feel my shoulders relax at the very thought.
Several hours later, having watched the children splash about safely, and whoop as they slide down the giant slide, another worker comes to take over as I head off for my break.
My work at the children’s pool was undemanding as Kai had suggested, but I realised I could quickly grow bored if we did not alternate duties. I guess Zeta has the right idea in rotating the staff activities.
I recall my stint as a beach lifeguard, my whole body on alert ready to spring into action and race down the beach like someone from Baywatch.
Well, maybe not, but you get the picture.
Not that I would rather be saving someone in distress, of course, but I can’t deny I enjoyed the anticipation and the ultimate satisfaction of helping someone if they did get into trouble, every nerve in my body tuned in for action. Thankfully it was a rare occurrence.
Cutting through the reception area, I spot Zeta talking to a handsome Greek man of around my age.
He is wearing cream shorts, a pale denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of designer sunglasses.
He briefly glances my way, holding my gaze for a moment, before resuming his conversation with Zeta.
As I get closer I hear Zeta call him ‘Takis’, and I roll the name around in my mind, savouring the feel of it.
Realising I’m staring, I drag my eyes away from him and head for the bar.
I wonder if he works here too? Maybe he is a new starter.
I am enjoying a soft drink, when Summer heads into the bar, her long blonde ponytail swinging as she walks. If ever a person suited their name, then it’s Summer, who is like a walking ball of sunshine.
‘Hi, Erin,’ she says cheerfully, plonking herself down opposite me with the widest of smiles.
‘Hi, Summer. How was the mini disco?’
‘Great fun,’ she enthuses. ‘Children are so unafraid to express their joy, aren’t they?’
‘True enough,’ I say, recalling a child doing a robot dance at the kids’ disco when I walked past.
‘So, do you have any plans this evening?’ asks Summer as she sips her cola through a stripy straw.
‘Not really. I finish at six.’
‘Seven o’clock for me. I was wondering if you fancied going for a walk down into town afterwards?’
‘That sounds lovely. We could find somewhere nice to eat if you like,’ I suggest.
I had planned a swim, but I think it’s important to form friendships here.
‘That’s what I was thinking.’ She smiles. ‘I mean, the food here is nice enough, but it’s good to have a change from time to time.’
We agree to meet in reception at eight, and I feel a spark of excitement about all the new possibilities ahead this summer – new restaurants, new friends, and a whole new chapter of no longer playing it so safe.