Chapter Sixteen
Nelly
August 1983
The Miaoulis had been booked back-to-back with one cruise after another throughout July and August, and Nelly and Alexander fell into a collaborative groove on board, working seamlessly alongside each other. Tickets issued, customers on, transported, fed, photos taken, then off– again and again, day after day. It was non-stop, it was fast-paced, and Nelly had never slept so deeply at night before, but it was fun, so much fun. She and Alexander got on well, mostly taking the mick out of one another, but he looked out for her too. He noticed, for instance, the time when one of the male guests kept pestering her, constantly trying to put his hands on her, and then later on, when this same male guest was showing off to his friends by clambering up to balance on the edge of the yacht, it just so happened that Alexander accidentally revved the engine, sending him toppling off and into the sea below. ‘Idon’t know what you mean,’ he’d said later on when Nelly thanked him. ‘I’m a professional sailor, Itake my work very seriously.’
Nelly had raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Coincidence, was it? Right.’
‘One of the Greek gods decided to punish him, perhaps,’ Alexander mused, a smile twitching on his lips.
‘That’s how you see yourself now, is it? A Greek god? Not modest, are you, Alexander?’ she’d teased, but the episode made her glow inside all the same. He cared about her. He was looking out for her. She’d been so caught up in how well she was managing out here, all on her own, that she’d almost forgotten how good it felt to occasionally lean on another person.
Towards the end of the month they moored up at Fiskardo, Kefalonia, and, once that day’s passengers had disembarked, Alexander announced that they were going to take the next day off together. ‘Or rather,’ he said, ‘it will be YOUR day off. For a change, Iwill be waiting on you, foot and hand, as you say.’
He looked so pleased with himself, Nelly didn’t have the heart to correct him– besides, she was pleased too. She liked the sound of a day off very much. ‘Great!’ she replied. ‘Although Ishould warn you, Ican be very demanding. You might live to regret this idea.’
He laughed. ‘Ihave three demanding sisters and a demanding mother,’ he replied. ‘Don’t worry, Nelly, Iam used to being told what to do by women.’
Nelly laughed too, although she couldn’t help but feel a pinch of disappointment at being bracketed with his sisters and mum. She didn’t want him to regard her in a brotherly way! But then again, having lived and worked with her in such close quarters all of this time, he had only ever seen her with her hair scraped back in a sweaty ponytail, wearing vest tops, shorts and flip-flops. It was nigh on impossible for anyone to look sexy or glamorous when they were cleaning the bathroom, stinking of bleach or tearfully chopping onions. Mind you, you wouldn’t think it was possible to look attractive when unblocking a toilet or changing the fuel filter either, but he seemed to manage it just fine.
‘Anyway,’ he went on, ‘time off starts now. Do you have any nice clothes in that suitcase of yours? Because I’d like to take you for dinner tonight. You’ve worked really hard– and so have I. Tonight we celebrate.’
‘I’ve got nice clothes,’ she assured him, feeling a sudden thrill at the chance to doll herself up for a change. It seemed so long since she and Lorraine had been out on the town in Corfu in dresses and heels, the idea was like looking back at somebody else’s life. ‘Dinner would be lovely.’
With that, she vanished into her cabin and set to work. She washed her hair, painted her nails, and then spent some time deliberating over what to wear. Was it too vampy to put on her clingy black dress? She might have thought yes, had he not made that remark likening her to his sisters and mum. She just wanted him to see her as a woman , rather than the sisterly type, she thought, slinking herself into it before she could change her mind. It was a pleasant surprise to realise that all of the hard physical work had toned her up; the dress, formerly a little tight on the tummy, now skimmed her body in a perfect fit.
This’ll show him, she thought, turning from side to side in front of the small bathroom mirror. Then she dug out some lipstick and mascara, put her hair up in a loose twist with a few wispy tendrils softening around her face, and retrieved her black wedge sandals, rather squashed from having lain unworn at the bottom of her case this whole time.
‘Da-dah!’ she cried cheerfully, clonking out onto the main deck, where Alexander was waiting. He was dressed in a short-sleeved white shirt and jeans, his hair still damp from the shower, and he smelled good. Correction, she thought, because he always smelled good to her: he smelled of soap and aftershave, rather than engine oil, or fresh sweat.
His double-take was almost comical. ‘Wow,’ he said. ‘Nelly, you look. . .’ He seemed dazed, as if he were seeing her for the first time. Maybe he was. ‘You look beautiful,’ he said.
It was quite disarming, having him compliment her when she was used to him joking around all the time. ‘Thank you,’ she said, blushing immediately. ‘You don’t look so bad yourself. So where are you taking me?’
They went to a fish restaurant on the waterfront, the sort with a three-page wine menu and heavy cutlery, and candles flickering in glass jars on every table. The sun was going down, the food was delicious, and they talked and talked, the rest of the world seeming to fall silently away as the shadows deepened around them. They’d developed a good working relationship and always got on well, but this felt different– more personal, more intimate. A man and a woman getting to know each other in a decidedly romantic setting. Nelly spoke about her family, and told funny stories about her old job in London, and he confessed how little he would enjoy a job like that, indoors, at a desk, constrained by an ironed shirt and uncomfortable shoes. ‘Ican’t imagine you in an office,’ she said, amused. ‘No offence, but. . . no. You’d hate it!’
He laughed. ‘Iwish all women thought like you,’ he said, pulling a face. Reading between the lines, Nelly got the impression that his last girlfriend, Sofia, had pressed him to work for her dad’s shipping company rather than wasting his life messing about on a boat (her words) and that his dogged refusal was why they had eventually broken up. Big mistake, Sofia , Nelly thought indignantly. Why couldn’t she have accepted Alexander as he was? Talk about small-minded! ‘Nobody should tell someone they love what to do,’ she said hotly before she could stop herself. ‘The whole point is that you love them for who they already are , not an idea of the person you want to turn them into! Iwouldn’t dream of insisting you—’ She broke off abruptly, her brain catching up too late on how her words sounded. ‘Well, Imean. . .’ she blustered, appalled at her own big mouth. The wine was talking for her; she had to get a grip on herself. ‘Iwasn’t saying that I. . .’
He looked as if he was trying not to laugh at her. ‘Yes?’
‘Imean, if we were in love, like you and she were, then— Oh God.’ She was making it worse by the second. She put her face in her hands. ‘Ithink I’m going to shut up now.’
He did laugh, then. ‘Maybe that’s a good idea,’ he said, ‘And Ithink I’m going to get the bill and take you home.’
‘That’s another good idea,’ she replied gratefully.
Back at the boat, the night was still balmy, so he lit a paraffin lamp and cracked open a couple of beers, then they put a load of cushions on the deck and sat against them, side by side. Nelly unpinned her hair so that it cascaded loose around her shoulders, and took off her sandals with some relief, having found them uncomfortable after so long wearing flip-flops. The stars were bright silvery beads against the black velvet sky, and there was only the faint shushing of water around the boat to be heard. She was very conscious of his body so close to hers, how breathless it was making her feel.
‘So,’ he said, ‘what was it you were saying back at the restaurant? Something about being in love with me. . . ?’
‘Alexander!’ she yelped, glad of the darkness to hide her blushes. He had no idea how right he was. ‘Iwasn’t saying—’ Then she noticed his wicked smile. ‘Oh shut up,’ she groaned, swatting at him.
He grabbed hold of her hand mid-swat. ‘Actually, Iwas glad you said that,’ he went on, but all she could think about was the warmth of his hand round hers. Oh God, she thought. Don’t make a fool of yourself now, Nell.
‘Really?’ she asked, trying to sound nonchalant even though her heart was thundering a tattoo. ‘Why, because you can give me a hard time for it?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Because Iactually think that I. . .’ And then he leaned towards her until their faces were almost touching. She held her breath, her pulse racing. ‘Ithink that I. . .’ he repeated, then kissed her, oh so gently. ‘Might be falling in love. . .’ he went on. Another kiss, this one lasting a few seconds longer. ‘With you.’
The air seized in her lungs and her heart pounded in a sudden wild gallop. ‘D-do you mean that?’ she stuttered, feeling shivery all over as she stared into his beautiful eyes, his face silvered by moonlight. Was he just saying this because he’d had a few glasses of Robola and felt horny? She wasn’t sure she could bear it if he didn’t feel the way she did. ‘Seriously?’
His gaze was steady as he looked back at her. ‘Ihave never been so happy,’ he said, ‘as Ihave been the last few weeks with you. I’ve never smiled so much or laughed so much or. . .’ He kissed her again. ‘. . . Wanted to kiss anybody as much as you. What have you done to me, Nelly?’
There was no time to answer because she kissed him back and the kiss went on and on, her body feeling as if it was melting against his. It was the sort of kiss you never want to end, so passionate, so tender, so euphoric. But then, as their hands started to slide beneath the other’s clothes, he broke away. ‘Nelly,’ he said thickly. ‘Is this. . . okay?’
‘Yes,’ she told him, and then, just in case he still had any doubts, she pulled her dress off over her head in one swift movement and threw it across the deck. ‘Is that okay?’ she asked, half-joking, half-serious, but he didn’t reply because they were kissing again, and everything had stepped up a gear, becoming urgent and intense.
Afterwards, the two of them lay entwined beneath the glittering night sky, and she felt as if she was the happiest person in the entire world as the blood rushed around her body, her heartbeat finally slowing. ‘Well,’ he said, his arms still around her. ‘That was definitely okay.’
She smiled, her face against his shoulder, one arm flung across his chest. ‘Yeah,’ she agreed. ‘Very, very okay. Good start to the day off.’
‘The day off, yes!’ he said, his laugh rumbling beneath her. ‘What will we find to do with ourselves for a whole day off, do you think?’
It felt so right, she thought joyfully, as the night breeze stroked their cooling bodies. So good . She already liked him so much, she knew what a great man he was. This, she told herself, was going to be the most epic love story of her life. The night that changed everything.
Except it turned out to be the next day that was to change everything. The next day, that would throw the most epic love story one enormous, no-way-back curveball, shattering her heart into a million pieces.