Fun In The Sun, repgreece [best value ebook reader .txt] 📗

earlier, and she seemed to enjoy my closeness on the bike. Then again I guess she does like physical contact, she’s like that with all her friends. Damn, maybe I should just ask her. Yeah right, I’ll just say ‘Sal, how do you feel about getting really close to me because if it’s okay with you I’d like to take all your clothes off and get as close as I possibly can.’ Don’t think that would go down too well somehow!

“Nick!” Someone was calling him from the group. Nick turned around to see that a couple of the people had hung back and were hesitantly moving towards him. “Nick, is that you?” the woman asked with some uncertainty.

Nick squinted to make out the face of the woman and then realisation dawned on him. “Sandra?”

“Oh my god Phil it is him!” she said, rushing forward and kissing him on both cheeks.

The man she was with held out his hand to Nick and they shook, both with smiles on their faces. “Long time no see eh mate, what you doing all the way out here?” the man asked.

Nick looked amazed to see them both. “We’ve come on a road trip. Just staying the night. Oh this is Sal by the way,” he said turning to introduce her. “Sal, Sandra and Phil.” They shook hands. “I didn’t even know you two were still on the island,” Nick admitted.

“Yeah, but we moved to Hania a couple of years ago,” Phil explained.

“You traitors, moving to the west and not even telling anyone!” he jested.

Phil and Sandra laughed. “Hey, you have to come tonight. We’re having a beach party here. There’s a whole group of us, they’ve got a barbie going and there’s tonnes of beer, come along,” Sandra invited.

Nick turned to Sal to see her reaction. She smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

“Sure, we’d love to but we have to find a hotel for the night first. We’ve not long arrived,” he informed them.

“Well, if you don’t have anywhere in mind I’m sure they have rooms at the hotel we are staying in,” Phil said.

“Oh brilliant,” Sal exclaimed with relief. “We’ve left it a bit late. I was beginning to think that we’d have to sleep on the beach!”

Phil laughed. “No, you won’t have to go that far. The hotel is called ‘The Matala Helios’ and it’s really easy to find. If you follow the road along the sea front you’ll come to a row of tavernas, it’s on the street above but you can see it from the road.”

“Great, we’ll join you a bit later then,” Nick confirmed.

“We’ll be here,” Sandra assured them, waving as they moved further up the beach in search of the party.

“Come on Sal, let’s find that hotel,” Nick said, throwing an arm over her shoulder and directing them back towards the bike.

Phil had been right, the hotel was easy to find and although the man at the tiny reception looked a bit uncertain when they asked for a room, he managed eventually to magic one up. The old man led them up two flights of stairs and down a small corridor to room 23 where he left them with the key, wishing them ‘kali nichta.’

When they opened the door both of them immediately realised their mistake. The man must have assumed that they were a couple, well why wouldn’t he? They had forgotten to ask for a twin room and were faced with the dilemma of there only being one double bed.

“Ah.” They turned to each other awkwardly. “Maybe he has another room,” Nick pondered.

“I doubt it. He took long enough to find this one.” They hovered in the doorway.

“Well I guess we could try to find somewhere else,” he suggested.

Sal sighed. “It’s a bit late Nick.” She moved into the room decisively and placed her bag on the bed.

Nick followed her and glanced around the room. “Hey look, it’s no problem, I’ll sleep on there.” He pointed to a large, wooden, Greek style sofa which was almost the size of a single bed anyway.

“There’s no extra bedding though,” she pointed out.

He threw down his bag and moved over to her. “It’s okay, I’ll rough it out.” He took her hands and held them loosely in his. “Are you okay Sal? I mean after earlier…on the beach…” He finished awkwardly, unsure of how to continue. He was used to Sal coming to his rescue in situations like this, nothing ever seemed to faze her, but at that moment she looked as awkward as he felt.

“Yeah of course I’m fine,” she laughed, moving her hands out of his. “Come on, let’s get ready and go. They’ll be wondering where we are.”

She went to her bag and began searching through it. Nick watched her for a moment and then shrugged.

“You want to use the bathroom first? I know what women are like for getting ready,” he teased.

She smiled. “I’ll be quick," she said, grabbing her bag and disapperaing into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later Sal pulled a towel from off the rail and climbed out of the shower, wrapping the towel around her and securing it before turning to the mirror above the sink. Her face was positively glowing from the hours spent on the bike and there was little point in applying much makeup, apart from maybe a little lip gloss and a touch of mascara and eye shaddow. She was just reaching into her bag for her makeup when the sound of her mobile phone could be heard from the bedroom.

“Nick, can you get that?” she called out.

A few seconds later she heard the muffled sound of Nick’s voice from the other room and then a loud knock on the door.

“Sal, it’s your mum!” he shouted to her.

Sal’s eyes widened and she swung around in a panic, opening the door and colliding straight into Nick. Her line of sight hit a muscular chest and her surprise at seeing it there rendered her momentarily immobile, her earlier panic forgotten. Nick glanced down to see Sal’s eyes fixed ahead of her and for just a second or two she looked almost mesmerised until she shook her head abruptly and moved backwards with a small laugh, tucking her towel more tightly around her.

Nick’s eyes followed the movements of her hands as she secured the towel and then lifted to her face, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

“Here,” he said handing her the phone, “What’s the rush?”

She whipped out a hand and swiftly took the phone from him, covering the mouthpiece and whispering,

“What did she say?”

He whispered back, mimicking her. “She said that she’d like to talk to her daughter.”

“And what did you say?” she asked.

“I said I’d get you,” he whispered again, looking at her as if she’d gone slightly mad.

She narrowed her eyes and paused for a second before asking, “Is that all you said?”

Nick folded his arms across his chest and watched her as if he knew that she was up to something and he’d quite like to know what it was.

“Well I explained that we had gone away for the weekend and that you were just taking a shower before we went out to a beach party."

Sal just stared at Nick in horror, clutching the phone to her chest and tightening her hand over the mouthpiece.

Nick had to laugh at the look on her face. “Calm down Sal, I just said I’d pass you over to her, that was it. You gonna speak to her now or what?” he said, glancing at the phone in her hands.

Sal looked momentarily relieved but still felt anxious about having to speak to her mother. She took in a deep breath, turned and walked away from Nick, speaking in the quietest voice she could without making her mother suspicious.

“Hi, it’s me,” she began, listening to the immediate reply that she knew was going to come. “He’s just a friend.” Her mother rambled on at the other end, giving Sal little chance to explain more. Sal slipped back into the bathroom and grabbed her bag as her mother nattered on. Hopefully now Nick would use the bathroom and give her a chance to speak to her mother in private. She moved around Nick to the dressing table, opening her bag and taking out her cosmetics and a hairbrush. Taking a quick glance backwards though she was dismayed to see that Nick had thrown himself on the bed and was watching her with amusement. He was lying on his back with his hands behind his head, propped back against the pillows and looking as if he had no intention of moving anytime soon. ‘Bathroom’s free,’ she mouthed to him. ‘Just finishing watching this,’ he mouthed back, moving his eyes to the TV screen. She tutted and turned back. “No mother. Yes mother. Yes, yes, I know,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Mother, I can’t really talk right now, I’ll phone you back tomorrow…because I’m just about to go out… yes, with my friend…yes we go out all the time, that’s why we are called friends,” she emphasised sarcastically. “Gotta go now mother…no I’ll speak to daddy tomorrow. I’m going now,” she warned, cutting her mother off in mid flow. She’d probably pay for that the next time she spoke to her mother but at least she could make sure that Nick wasn’t listening in!

Placing her phone on the dressing table, she picked up her brush and began untangling her hair.

“Daddy? Did I hear you call your old man daddy?” Nick grinned.

Sal sighed and turned to look at Nick who was now propped up on his elbows watching her.

“Eavesdropper,” she accused. “Are you now going to ruthlessly make fun of the parent thing?” she asked, hoping that he wouldn't.

He laughed. “Nah, actually I think it’s quite cute. I bet you are a real Daddy’s girl aren’t you?”

She turned back to the mirror and resumed brushing her hair. “Not really, but I suppose I do get on better with my dad than my mother on the whole.”

Nick chuckled. “Told you, a daddy’s girl.”

“Whatever you say Nicholas,” she replied, placing her hairbrush down and searching in her makeup bag.

“So why don’t you get on with mum then? And why the look of panic on your face when I answered the phone?” Nick asked.

Sal paused for a second and fiddled with the mascara tube in her hand. “Well, she interferes a lot and she just can’t stand not knowing every little detail of my life, especially since I’ve moved out here. She didn’t like that at all," Sal frowned. "She wanted me to marry who she thought was the right guy, settle down there and have babies and all that, but I wanted more for myself and so I escaped while I had the chance,” she replied, turning to look at him again. “I mean don’t get me wrong, she just wants the best for me and everything. It’s just that... well, we don’t exactly see eye to eye on that.”

Nick listened with interest. She had never spoken about her parents before and he tried to imagine what her mother was like? A mother who wanted to pin Sal down, that would never work. Sal was a free spirit.

“I sometimes wonder if I was adopted or something,” she continued. “I’m not like my mother or my father at all! Well, apart from the fact that me and mum look the spitting image of each other, but personality wise, we’re worlds apart.”

“Have you got any brothers or sisters Sal?” Nick asked suddenly out of the blue.

“No,” she shook her head.

He shrugged and lay back against the pillows. “Well maybe you were adopted then.”

“Right, and they chose me because I just happened to look very much like mum. Very sneaky,” she concluded.

Nick put his hands behind his head again and grinned. “Extremely! Good job we’ve got them sussed eh Sal,” he winked.

She laughed and he smiled back at her for a moment before his eyes returned to the TV screen again.

“Hey you! Don’t