Eternity (32 page)

Anyway, I shouldn't think like that, my judgment is being marred by his siblings evil side, one look at his playful smile and any concerns about him turning into them vanishes into thin air.

We set sail, so to speak, heading out into the vast ocean. Carlos and John instantly take their place manning the wheel, they are both a bit neanderthal when it comes to gender roles, men do the work and meek women just sit around and make themselves pretty; but the last thing me and Blair want to do is sit in the shaded cabin and nervously steer a boat worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, when we could just be sunbathing, so as it works out, every-ones happy.

We slow to a stop some 40 minutes later, while Blair and I have gossiped in more detail about the events that have happened since my return, the boys have both had a turn steering and are about ready to turn their attention to fishing.

The anchor is dropped, letting the boat gently sway along in a mystical dance with the waves.

By all accounts fishing will prove to be a relatively fruitless endeavour, so Blair and I opt out in favour of further sunning time. We promise that if we ever tire of it, learning to fish will be at the top of our list!

We spend a beautiful morning on the boat, I feel like an heiress, the kind you see on T.V, adorning boats like these, sprawled out like we are now, except in tiny bikinis that leave nothing to the imagination. In fairness Blair is a lot closer to the mark than I am; with her stick thin figure and miniature sequinned bikini, that I'm guessing cost a small fortune and would disintegrate at the mere mention of getting sea water on it.

I however, am in a new, but somewhat less flashy ensemble, a green bikini with pink flowers, it's print is cute, but it's undeniably made more for comfort and support than showing off all I've got.

We must look like a right pair, beauty and her frumpy older sister! I bet they would have to do a double take when they saw which man went with which woman. John is lovely, don't get me wrong, he is kind hearted, caring and generous to a fault, but he is also a bit plain. He's quite short, having only a couple of inches on me, he's not fat, but he certainly isn't toned, let alone muscly; his hair is short and dark and he uses a bit too much gel to spike it up; as for his face, it's much like the rest of him, not bad, but nothing to write home about. I wonder if Blair is maybe more self conscious than she lets on, or did she really fall for him on account of him being such a nice guy?

Either way I see myself a lot more in him than I do in Carlos, however much I'm enjoying it, I can't help but feel I'm batting way above my average with my Adonis.

It's gone two before our stomachs start to rumble and we go in search of the boys to suggest some lunch. We find them at the back of the boat, lines still in the water,  but with no sign of having caught anything.

“We've actually caught a fair amount, but we put them back after we've taken a photo” John explains.

“What's the point then?” Blair voices the question I was thinking.

“It's for fun, but we've got plenty of food so there's no point in killing them, it's all about the chase.” Carlos answers her.

“Speaking of food, we're famished” I add.

“Can we just have five more minutes?” John begs, clearly desperate to add to his collection of photos of random fish, to show off when he gets home.

“OK, how about we go knock something up and we'll bring it here when it's ready?” I compromise.

“Sounds perfect” Carlos agrees, giving me an appreciative peck on the cheek, so much for blaming the boys for confining us to our gender roles, when I go and volunteer for it myself. Right woman into the kitchen you go then, you've bought it on yourself!

There is so much to choose from, the kitchen may be small, but it's deceptive in how much it holds, there's cupboards and drawers everywhere, each packed in the most economical manner, allowing for a whole host of ingredients.

We decide it's too hot to cook, plus we are too lazy to bother, instead opting for a cold platter or various cheeses, meats, olives, hummus and bread and throw together a Greek style salad for good measure.

By the time we've got it all out I'm shocked at how much there is, six different types of cheese, cooked chicken, ham and beef we found in plastic tubs in the fridge as well as four different cured meats, three different types of olives, who thinks to stock three different types of olive? Surely an olives an olive?

And on top of all that there are three different types of bread, apparently one for each jar of olives and four flavours of hummus. I don't know what they normally do on this boat, but I think I can say with some certainty that they are not hungry while they do it.

With full bellies we return to our separate sides of the boat; its the purr of an engine that alerts us that we are not alone in the vast ocean. Blair and I look towards the shore where the noise is coming from. We both see the speed boat racing towards us, but I am first to recognise its occupants, “Oh great, what now?”

“That's Marcus isn't it? But who's that with him?” Blair asks.

“That would be Julia”

“Well maybe their coming to apologise?” Blair optimistically suggests, but as their faces scowling faces become clearer I strongly doubt it.

They pull up alongside and we all begrudgingly go to meet them. Julia surfaces first, Carlos, ever the gentleman, moves to help her on board, “So what do we owe this pleasure?” he speaks as Marcus joins us.

“We've come to put a stop to this” Julia states in her usual bitchy manner.

“Oh for pity’s sake” I mumble under my breath, earning me her best death stare.

“How many times do we have to have this conversation?” Carlos demands.

“As many times as it takes for you to see whats going on!” Marcus is back to his evil personality, so much for the truce.

“Can't you see Carlos?” Julia turns to him, softening her tone slightly, “now you're taking her and her friends out on the boat?” she motions towards Blair and John, I can see Blair struggling to keep her mouth shut.

“It was my idea!” Carlos shouts frustrated.

“Oh Carlos, don't be so stupid, they are clearly manipulating you!” Julia shouts above the wind, now whipping up into a frenzy, mirroring her destructive mood.

“Yeah that money grabbing whore...” Marcus starts, he doesn't manage to finish his sentence due to the punch Carlos lands squarely on his jaw, sending him to the floor.

“That's enough!” Carlos fumes, leaving everyone but Julia dumbfounded; I see it in slow motion as she lunges for him, her talons bared. Instinct takes over and I reach out, grabbing her arm and turning her back towards me, her face is twisted in rage, catching sight of it makes me instantly regret getting involved, I'm sure Carlos could have fended her off much more successfully than I can.

She shoves me hard in the chest, sending me reeling backwards, knocking into Blair as I go. The force knocks us both off our feet, but Blair takes it to her right shoulder, sending her spiralling into the rails and over the side to the sea. It's about a six foot drop so there's a pause before we all hear the splash, but John had leaped to her aid before she even hit the water. She is a strong swimmer so it was somewhat unnecessary to go in after her, but I love his heroism all the same.

Likewise Carlos is at my side, pulling me to my feet while simultaneously scanning me for injury, “I'm OK” I assure him, clinging onto his arm for support all the same.

By now Marcus has stood back up and looks a little shocked at how events have transpired, while Julia only sports a look of haughty derision, as if she is comfortable in the knowledge that we all deserve this.

Carlos speaks, his voice has lowered into a menacing whisper, signalling that he is furious “Kate is not any of the things that you accuse her of being, I will not say this again, I would rather loose a million of you two than just one of her, so you can either accept her, or you are both as good as dead to me. Now get the hell off this boat before I throw you off”

They both pause for a moment, looking at each other to silently agree their next move, eventually deciding to leave for now. We watch them speed away back to shore, “I wish I could say it looks like they've got the message, but somehow I doubt it” I say to Carlos, but he doesn't respond, I can't imagine how hard this is for him. He heads away, following the side of the boat, looking out for Blair and John who seem to have disappeared. We find them on the other side, splashing about merrily, “Are you guys OK” I shout down to them.

“Yeah we're great, you should come in, the waters lovely!” Blair shouts back, her look but don't touch bikini, fairing well in actual water.

I scoff at the idea, it's too high to willingly jump off, and I bet the water is freezing this far out, but Carlos has other ideas; turning to me with a sparkle in his eye he grabs hold of me before I have a chance to question me and hoists me up over his shoulder. I immediately know what he's planning and begin to screech out my protest, but it's no use, he's scaling the side and launching us over into the sea, much to Blair's delight.

The water is freezing, but the shock of it wears off after a few seconds, leaving your skin invigorated and your mouth full of salty water.

I hit out at the water, sending a playful spray over Carlos, who has forgotten about his siblings intrusion in an instant.

It worries me that even when something makes him so mad, he can put it away out of his mind, never to be thought about again. It doesn't seem healthy to bottle everything up like that; granted, for all intents and purposes it does seem to work for him, but with no outlet for his emotions, I worry that he's going to end up giving himself an aneurism.

Either way, now is not the time to bring it up, if I do broach this at all, I will have to pick my moment carefully.

For now I'm content to take a leaf out of his book and forget the whole thing and just enjoy the crystal waters.

It's a bizarre situation being in the sea here; the water is so clear you can see to the bottom, but yet it's so deep you can't reach the bottom, at least not without professional diving wear. On top of that there are fish visible everywhere, they brush past your legs and tickle your feet as they swim around without fear. If you were in the sea in England and some unknown sea creature brushed your leg in the murky water, you'd be out like a shot, the fear of something unseen, just too great; but here it's a welcome sensation.

We swim for about an hour ducking and diving through the gentle waves and chasing the small fish that dare to dart between us. Blair is the first to feel the chill so we all head back to the boat to dry off in the evening sun. I lag behind the others, enjoying the last few moments I have and feeling at one with nature in this tropical paradise. As I stretch my legs out, my foot makes contact with something hard, it feels like a rock, but I haven't seen any around here. Swivelling around I tread water as I scan the clear waters for the culprit; I'm just about to give up when a meter to my right the small head of a turtle breaks the surface, it's beady little eyes curiously surveying me.

"Oh my god, you guys, look at this" I shout as loud as I dare, wanting everyone to see it, but afraid the noise might scare it off.

Carlos is already on deck and John is in the middle of pulling Blair up onto the smaller boat, still tied to the side of the main one. All eyes are on me as I float closer to the turtle, extending my hand so my fingers brush against its rough shell; a chorus of 'oo's' and 'aahs' follow as the group focus on my new friend. With a smooth brush of its flippers, it dips under the water and circles me, before re-surfacing again. I shoot an excited look back at the others, awestruck by its confident nature.

I catch a glimpse of Carlos waving one arm in the air to
 get my attention while he holds my camera in his other hand; I don't have to force a smile for the picture, I'm already grinning from ear to ear as it cruises in front of me, allowing me to stroke it again.

"Perfect" Carlos speaks from the deck, holding up the camera, just as the turtle gets bored and ducks down deeper, before swimming away.

"That was amazing" I gush, paddling back in, John has waited on the smaller vessel to help me up and looks suitably impressed by my experience. As he pulls me out of the water all he can utter is "Wow".

"Wow indeed" I agree, clambering up the ladder with much more ease than the first time, eager to see the photo Carlos took.

He was right, it is perfect, I was close enough for him to zoom in and capture an image of the two of us which fills the screen; I'm grinning like a maniac, my hand on the top of the turtles shell and its little face is peering straight at the camera.

"I can't believe that just happened!" I admit, joining Blair in an excited jump up and down on the spot.

"You're so lucky, they're meant to be really timid, you hardly ever get to see them, let alone up close!" she explains the magnitude of my encounter.

Carlos puts his arm around me, kissing the side of my head, "It must have known how special you are" he says, earning him a soppy look from Blair.

"You guys are so cute" she says as we all head to the bow of the boat to soak in the last of the sun.

We stay, lounging around, until we are dry and the sun has nearly completed it's descent below the horizon; the view of the sunset never gets old here. The interchanging colours streaking across the sky as the golden sun slips out of sight, is nothing short of mesmerising; watching it while wrapped up in Carlos's arms, on a boat, so that each pastel stroke dances on the water, reflecting it's beauty two fold, is just a dream come true.