Chapter Forty-Four
Claudia
Ever since Dimitris’ son Andreas traced the IP address of the hotel’s aggressive emailer and discovered that it wasn’t Marcus harassing her, but instead someone from a place called Leighton Buzzard, Claudia has been trying to remember where exactly she’d heard the name of that particular British town before. Then, over their iced coffees, Nelly had said something about Frank’s departure having been a weight off her shoulders, and the cogs in Claudia’s brain began whirring with greater intensity. Afterwards, she hurried back to her desk and opened up her ‘Nice Emails’ folder to see if she was right. Now, reading the email in question, her breath gusts out of her. Bingo. Connection made.
The Nice Emails folder is pretty self-explanatory. Bad working days at The Ionian Escape are rare but, very occasionally, there will be someone or something– say, a mean, unwarranted one-star review, or a drunk, angry guest shouting at her full in the face for some minor complaint– that leaves her questioning why she works here. That’s where the file comes in: a reminder that a great holiday can change visitors’ lives, that it’s the best job in the world. Sure, not everybody follows up a wonderful getaway with an email of thanks, but occasionally people do. People like Katy Marksbury, for instance.
I’ve never emailed a hotel about this sort of thing before, she had written, but after staying at the beautiful Ionian Escape recently, Iwanted to get in touch to say how grateful Iam for the experience.
It was just meant to be a straightforward girls’ holiday with my best friends to Kefalonia. We’d been planning it for ages and everyone was looking forward to escaping the daily grind. We’re all from Cumbria, England, and have known each other since school, but Imoved south about five years ago and have missed them so much. Two of my friends have had pretty tough times– one was going through a horrible divorce and another has undergone treatment for breast cancer. Another friend was pregnant for the first time and wanted to get away for some proper relaxation before the baby came along. Anyway, we all had the best holiday. We loved the beautiful rooms, the pool, the amazing breakfasts. Your staff were always so friendly and helpful whenever we wanted to book day trips or taxis. And being so happy with my best friends made me face up to a difficult truth– that Ihadn’t actually felt that way for a very long time.
Life is short, isn’t it? It’s too short to be constantly unhappy. Too precious to squander it on a husband who makes you feel small and worthless. Too full of great experiences and laughter to be stuck in a boring job you don’t enjoy. Being in Kefalonia woke me up again to how wonderful life can be. Irealised that The Ionian Escape had truly lived up to its name. But now that I’d escaped. . . how could Igo back?
Good question. And so, as Iwas packing my case on the last morning, ready to head for the airport and home, Imade a few decisions. Somehow or other, I’d got into the bad habit of letting my husband make all my choices for me, rather than being my own woman. They say follow your dreams, don’t they? Idecided to follow mine for a change.
Since then, I’ve taken the plunge and left my bullying husband and my dreary office job in Leighton Buzzard, and have moved back north, where my heart is. It was terrifying at first but Idon’t regret it for a minute. Isee my family and friends all the time now and have slotted right back into the community. I’m retraining to be an osteopath and love every minute of it. Ican’t tell you what a weight it is off my shoulders to have changed things around like this! Ihonestly don’t know if I’d have done any of the above, had Inot had such a great week on Kefalonia.
Sorry if this is all TMIbut, for the first time in years, Ifeel excited about life again. Holidays really can change your life– thanks for inspiring me to change mine!
Katy Marksbury
Props to you, Katy Marksbury, Claudia thinks, rereading these upbeat words and mentally applauding the writer. Then she looks again at the messages from ‘Ares’, Leighton Buzzard’s number one troll, and puts two and two together. Yes– it adds up. One jilted husband, angry at the world, taking it out on the staff of the hotel where his ex-wife had enjoyed such a life-changing holiday. . . It’s pathetic of him, it really is, but the pieces fit. Why take personal responsibility for what happened, Ares, when you can blame a whole other set of people for these events?
The question is, should Claudia alert Katy to her suspicions? Is it crossing a boundary for her to contact a former guest with what might be alarming or unwelcome information? Possibly. Given her own experiences, though, she feels that it’s better to be forewarned about erratic, aggressive behaviour from an ex. If, after their break-up, Marcus had begun single-handedly terrorising the staff at her old marketing job, say, or waging a personal campaign against Elodie, damn right she would want to know. It’s a risk she has to take.
She’s already replied to the original email, but now she spends some time composing a second, more personal, reply, gently raising her concerns. Of course, Icould be completely wrong, she writes, in which case please do ignore this message! But on the off chance that your email and his are connected, then Ithought you should be aware of it.
Ihope your new life is still going wonderfully well, and that you’ll decide to return to The Ionian Escape for another holiday sometime in the future, she concludes the email. Until then, yours in solidarity, Claudia.
There. Done. A hand stretched out across the miles, woman to woman, that says, I’ve got your back. We’re all in this together. Added to that, as she rereads Katy’s email, it feels that the other woman is speaking directly to her. Prompting her. Life is too short, isn’t it? Too precious to squander.
Yes, thinks Claudia, closing the Nice Emails folder. Yes, Katy, it bloody well is.