Gut Feeling (13 page)

‘We’ll come over in a bit, sweetie,’ Jules waved Rachel away with a flick of her hand.

‘Okie dokie.’ Rachel walked over to the adjacent pool and swam to the bar where Gemma was laughing with the barman.

The girls had arrived in Ibiza airport three days ago. The first day had been spent sunbathing and… well, just sunbathing; the second day, more sunbathing, but they had also explored the small town of San Miguel—not that there was a lot to see in San Miguel, just three or four shops, a hairdressers and a small chemist on the corner. The roads were mainly rocky and undeveloped, with large ditches on either side and dry fields sparsely populated with wild, big leafed, red and green plants—it was so hot and arid that the infrequent rain could barely penetrate the hard, cracked soil.

A little way up the road from the resorts was a discotheque, as they called it in Europe. It was small, cheesy and full of under eighteen year olds and randy Spanish boys as they found out on the second evening. So the girls opted to stay in the hotel resort later that night for some good old family entertainment that turned into a drinking fest with other guests after the children and wives had hurried off to bed.

* * *

The next day after more sunbathing and man chasing, they all regrouped to stroll down to the seafront for some lunch. The restaurants on the resort were exquisite, but the girls wanted to try a traditional Spanish one, with young Spanish waiters. They found a small restaurant with wicker tables outside, overlooking the ocean, and chose the table farthest away from the restaurant, pushed up against a small wall built from different shaped stones.

Ash adjusted the parasol; the sun was still very bright as it hit her eyes over the top of her sunglasses, she looked down at the sunbathers spread out across the beach like a deck of cards. The beach was a small horseshoe shape, tucked away from the rest of the island with huge cliffs and caves towering over the sides of it. At the neck of the cove were four or five large yachts, and to the left, on top of a cliff, was a secluded villa, said to cost some £10,000 just to stay for one weekend.

The girls had heard one rumour that Madonna was staying there, and another that one of the yachts in the bay was owned by Ross Kemp, the soap actor. Time passed, the girls drank sangria, and ate delicious fresh fish, landed only that morning. As they sat chatting, Rachel caught the eye of a Spanish waiter called Antonio—they had all met him and his friend on the walk home from the discotheque the night before. He spoke perfect English as he had lived and studied business in London for two years, but still had a strong Spanish accent.

‘Ah, you four beautiful girls could not resist my wonderful restaurant, ha?’

He looked at Rachel, and smiled.

‘So this is your restaurant?’ Rachel looked at Antonio. ‘Nice.’

Antonio was tall, and towered over the girls, his skin a lighter shade of gold, with rolled up sleeves on his white shirt showing off the masculine forearms beneath.

‘I ‘ave been working inside. But if I ‘ad known you were ‘ere I would ‘ave seen to you all myself.’ He looked at Ash then winked. ‘Maybe I could show you some places the locals go tonight, ha? Me an’ my friend Tony can take you to a
pequeño
bar—we go to down the road.’

‘Sounds good,’ Rachel looked at the others for approval. No one objected.

Antonio smiled. ‘Okay… Good. We meet ‘ere at ten tonight, I will take you.’

As Antonio walked away the girls giggled nervously. Ash leaned forward so no one nearby could hear.

‘Do you think it’s safe to be going off with two Spanish men to a bar that no one knows? Anything could happen.’

‘Like what? Ash, they’re OK,’ Jules sat back, taking a sip of sangria.

‘Like anything. Rape! It happens.’

Jules looked at the others. ‘I’d let him rape me if I hadn’t just found a dishy English bloke back home.’

Ash quickly turned her head to look at Jules. ‘Julie!’

‘I wouldn’t mind,’ Rachel said boldly in support.

‘Rachel. You two really… That’s not normal.’ Ash could not believe what they were both saying.

Gemma took her last sip of sangria and leaned over the table to Ash. ‘Come on, Ash—are you saying that if Antonio and his other model hunk of a friend took you to a small bar, lead you into a back room to have their wicked way with you, there wouldn’t be a small part of you that wouldn’t enjoy every bit of it?’

Ash nearly choked on an olive, ‘
No
. That’s sick.’

‘That’s horny stuff, girlfriend.’ Rachel lifted her glass to Gemma and they both nodded in agreement, grinning. It occurred to Ash at that moment that Gemma was clearly overcompensating for her previously sheltered life, but at the same time, she didn’t quite know if they were winding her up or being serious. Rachel reached across the table to touched Ash’s hand reassuringly.

‘It will be fine, Ash. We know where he works. Anyway there will be no need for Antonio and his friend to take one of us off against our will, because Gemma and I will go freely,’ With that they all burst out laughing, except for Ash who looked horrified.

They decided it was time to take a walk along the beach. It was almost four o’clock in the afternoon, most of the locals were at home for a siesta so everyone on the beach was British or German, other than the locals making a living from the tourists renting out pedalo and banana boat rides. The girls strolled along the sand chatting away, not a care in the world.

They walked down to some rocks they could see in the distance, where they found a small path covered over with dried out trees and shrubs. There was a sand path that looked as if it didn’t go anywhere. Rachel pushed some leaves aside to take a look.

‘Where does it go?’ Jules asked, trying to see over Rachel’s shoulder.

Rachel edged forward, stamping down branches in the way. The three girls followed behind.

‘I hope we don’t get stuck,’ Gemma said from the back as they walked. along the overgrown path. ‘No one will ever find us here.’

The shrubs started to clear as the path became wider; tiny seashells mixed into the sand and grey rocks along the side of the path led them on.

‘Look at this one,’ Ash held up a small shell, with white and pink specials on and a brown-coloured body.

They walked further down the sand path, and then heard voices. As they listened, they heard the sound of water splashing. The girls stopped and looked at each other for a moment, silently gaining commitment from everyone to walk on. They reached a very small lagoon with cliffs surrounding it; there were people jumping off the rocks, diving into the water below like professional Olympic divers. The water was so clear you could see the different coloured fish deep below the swimmers’ feet.

The girls stopped to watch for a while, taking in the amazing surroundings. Rachel caught sight of an opening further along the path, pointing it out to Gemma. The two girls walked on, leaving Ash and Jules standing watching the divers in the lagoon.

As Rachel and Gemma got closer to the opening, they could hear laughter and smell the scent of BBQ in the air. They turned into the opening on the other side of the lagoon to discover a small beach. It was a secret alcove, hidden by tall overcast rocks; there were Spanish men and a few Spanish women sunbathing naked on towels and they could see a group of people splashing around in the sea, shouting something to a group of girls standing on the sand in Spanish.

To the rear of the beach stood a small wooden hut selling food and drinks. The girls took off their flipflops walking over to the food hut for a cooling drink. After they found a spot on the sand to sunbathe, they cleared away the small seashells from the surface of the sand as best they could. It was not long before Ash and Jules appeared with Spanish friends they had made by the lagoon. Rachel threw her arm into the air, waving them over.

‘This is amazing. Look at this place.’ Jules took in the surroundings before introducing everyone.

‘Rach, Gem. This is Gina and Gabriela—’ she pointed to the young women ‘—and Zane,’ she added, indicating the man that joined them a few seconds later.

After a quick introduction around the group and compliments about the local hangout area, Ash walked off with Gina to have a paddle in the sea, leaving the others to chat. They walked around the edge of the shore, letting the sea splash at their ankles. Gina told Ash how they all lived together in England. They shared a rented house in Manchester for half the year, working in restaurants or bars for a living; the other half of the year they returned home to their families in San Miguel to help with the summer rush of tourists.

Gina explained how they had all left school at sixteen years old; they had gone their own separate ways until they got back together at a friend’s wedding when they were twenty. None of them had done anything amazing with their lives, all of them were bored with the mundane lifestyles they had in different parts of Ibiza, so Zane, who had family in Manchester, came up with the idea of living in each country for six months of the year.

Five years on they were still doing the same thing but in different countries now. Gina spent six months in France so she could learn the language, Zane still went back to England but lived with his cousin in North London, and Gabriela had picked a different country to live in for the last two years, with the hope that one day she would travel the world and say goodbye to Ibiza for a few years, living out of a backpack. But for now they all came home to San Miguel each summer without fail.

‘Do you not want a career or to start a family?’ Ash probed, hoping not to offend.

‘I no worry about career much. As long as I’m happy wiv enough money.’ She paused. ‘But maybe family one day er’

The two of them, Ash and Gina, sat down on the beach looking out to sea, talking about old boyfriends, Spanish men, Dave, and what the future might hold for them both. The sun was softening in the sky, a light breeze blowing over their shoulders; the others came down to join them, sitting on the wet sand, dabbing their fingers in the sea as it rolled back and forth over their legs.

Zane handed everyone a bottle of cold beer, then sat down looking out over the sea, taking a long gulp. ‘So where are you lovely girls off to later?’ He waited for a reply, looking at Gemma.

‘We met a guy that works in the fish restaurant over on the seafront. Him and his friend said they’d take us to some local bar tonight.’

‘What is this guy’s name?’ said Zane, a smile teasing the corners of his mouth.

‘Antonio. His friend is called Tony, I think.’

‘Ah… Tony, I know Tony. His name also Antonio but we call him Tony… Antonio is my cousin. Dat is my uncle’s restaurant. I work dere some times. Good we can all meet up tonight
_—
‘ave a big party, ha?’

Chapter 11

T
he afternoon grew late. The girls left their new friends on the beach to take a slow walk back past the lagoon, where only one girl remained lazing on a rock, dangling her foot into the crystal-clear water.

A feeling of complete ease rushed over Ash as she trailed behind the others. All bad feelings of Lee and Samantha had vanished, her longing to be close to her family in New York forgotten, only a feeling of self content. Then suddenly she felt a rush of passion, desire, warmth, and a tingle, making the hairs on her arm stand on end. She really was falling in love.

She stopped, taking a deep breath in through her nose, then tried to banish the feeling she had just experienced before walking on. Deep down there was nothing more Ash wanted than to fall in love with the man of her dreams, but in her mind it was way too soon to be having feelings like that, she was still fragile.

No
, she said to herself.
I
don’t
even
know
if
he
feels
any
thing
for
me
yet.
For
all
I
know
I’m
just
a
bit
of
fun.
How
do
I
know
he’s
not
just
like
his
brother?

‘Come on, Ash,’ Rachel called out, dropping back to wait for her.

Ash confided in Rachel about her feelings for Dave, trying to work them out in her head.

‘It’s OK to fall in love, you know, Ash. It’s the most natural thing in the world.’

‘I know Rach, but not if the other person doesn’t feel the same, or if they are players. I’m a dab hand at picking them.’

‘This is true. But I don’t think Dave is a player, do you?’

‘No, but how can I be sure? I mean look at his brother, they live together.’

Rachel laughed, throwing an arm around Ash’s shoulder.

‘Just because they are brothers and live together, doesn’t mean they think the same or that they have the same morals.’

‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’

‘Ash, I am always right. You should know this by now.’

* * *

They arrived back at the hotel at around eight o’clock. Gemma and Jules rushed in and out of the bathroom getting ready, while Ash and Rachel sat on the balcony with a glass of champagne, smoking ultra thin abnormally long cocktail cigarettes, looking out at the views.

Ash sighed as she looked beyond the hotel pool to the beach, where only a few people still occupied their temporary patches of sand. There was a local man walking his dog down to swim in the sea which was now a deep purple colour as the sun sank below the horizon; a cool breeze was drifting in from the ocean. In the distance it looked as if one of the yachts were having a party, you could just about hear the music, and Ash could see people on the deck, probably rich models, or high-flying investment brokers entertaining expensive well-paid prostitutes. Ash looked over at Rachel sitting holding a cigarette in one hand, adjusting her bikini top with the other.