Secret Nanny Club (22 page)

CHAPTER S
IXTEEN

It only took us about ten minutes in the coach to get to
our destination. The friendly Irish rep (married to a local Spaniard and sporting a deep mahogany tan to be envious of) told us that there would be a welcome meeting the following morning at eleven in the hotel lobby and wished us a good night. But we were dismayed when we took the lift to the fourth floor and found our hotel room stinking of stale cigarette smoke. It wasn’t exactly the best welcome. I had to ask them at reception whether we could change and, after a lot of fussing and the man looking at his computer screen, we were eventually changed.

Actually, it was lucky that I had complained about
the smell because our new room had a sea view instead of the view of the car park our original room had, and best of all we didn’t have to pay any supplement for it. It was still bright outside when we arrived and I was

dying
to sit outdoors somewhere and have a glass of wine.

“Can you give John a quick bath while I get changed?”
I asked Tanya as I dumped my suitcase on top of my double bed. “They should be coming around with his cot any minute now.”

“Sure, no problem,” said Tanya, taking off her jumper
and hanging it up in the wardrobe that we would both be sharing for the week. “God, it is hot!”

“You can say that again. Thank goodness for air
conditioning. If we didn’t have it I’d go out of my mind. The last time I was in the Costa del Sol it was August and I was staying in a little studio in Mijas Costa with a friend. It was about forty-two degrees and I remember having three noisy fans on in the room non-stop so I didn’t get a wink of sleep the whole holiday!”

“It sounds like the holiday from hell,” said Tanya,
changing into a pair of denim cut-off shorts before turning on the bathwater.

“It was. And I remember having to take a shower
about six times a night to cool down. It was one of those rare holidays where you end up counting the days until it’s time to come home.”

“I don’t mind the heat too much,” Tanya said while
undressing John. “Luckily I have sallow skin, but you Irish need to be careful. I’m always amazed when I see people walking around Grafton Street in shorts and vest tops in the middle of March just because the sun peeps his head out.”

“That’s ’
cos we’re afraid if we don’t make the most of it, it’ll disappear for months. The sun doesn’t visit us too much.”

“But the good thing about Irish weather is you don’t
get mosquitos. Right?”

“
Right, and we don’t get cockroaches either. Actually speaking of cockroaches . . .” I took a furtive glance around me.

“Don’t
worry, the room is cockroach-free. I checked already!”

“Phew! I honestly couldn’t sleep at night if I thought
there was one lurking about. Ugh! I’m terrified of the creatures!”

About fifteen minutes later we were ready to go out. I
wore a light blue maxi dress that I had picked up in the summer sale in A-Wear. I knew that it was unlikely I’d ever get the chance to wear it with the dull weather at home so I was thrilled to be able to put it on without having to wear a cardigan over it. Tanya wore a funky black vest with diamante detailing down the middle. It showed off her amazing figure and as we walked along the street looking for a nice café she attracted more than her fair share of admiring glances. I envied her because she could wear flip-flops and her legs would still look fantastic, whereas mine would look like tree-stumps if I wore flats. I always had to wear high heels, if only wedges, to avoid looking like a little munchkin. Unfortunately combining wearing heels and pushing a pram was not always a good idea.

As we walked along the bustling streets of
Torremolinos we came across a cute little tapas place which seemed to be busy, which was a good sign. If a place is busy with locals it’s usually a positive sign, so we sat down at a table with the pram by our side. The wonderful thing about Spain is that families eat late at night and take their children out with them. So we didn’t get any of the often disapproving stares that you got back home if you dared take a pram into a restaurant after hours. John was wide awake now which was surprising since he hadn’t slept a wink on the flight. In fact he had been quite boisterous, climbing up on my knee and trying to pull the sunglasses off the people sitting in front of us. At one stage he even tried to slap one man’s shiny baldy head which was mortifying.

Luckily the other holidaymakers on the plane were in
good spirits and seemed to think John was an amusing little baby. Thank God for that! The young waitress at the tapas bar came quickly with the menus and bent down and gave John a big kiss on the cheek. The Spanish are very family-friendly and it really was a joy to be on my holiday at last. I tried not to think

about
Clive and Jane or the fact that I had no savings left in the bank now and would be taking a pay-cut at the magazine. I was going to enjoy every moment of my week

away
and when I got back I was determined to work very hard to make more money. I had worked three jobs as a student to make ends meet so I could do it as an adult too.

I would have liked to have ordered a bottle of wine
but, as Tanya didn’t drink and they didn’t do half bottles in the tapas bar, I ordered a vodka and orange instead. Tanya had a Pepsi. It was so nice to be able to sit outside and watch the many holidaymakers walk around leisurely with smiles on their faces. I sipped my drink and told myself that I should

move
out here. The cost of living was much cheaper than at home and everybody seemed to be smiling and in a good mood. Why did anyone ever leave? I wondered dreamily. This place was amazing. The next morning I woke up early. At least, John woke me up as he was shaking the bars on the cot. The sun was streaming through the window and I felt as groggy

as
hell. I was parched too and I had no water. Drat! I should have bought a bottle in one of the shops the night before.

I dragged myself out of bed and picked up my baby. I
went out into the sitting-room area but the sofa bed was empty. That was weird. Where was Tanya? I checked the bathroom but she wasn’t there either. She had her own key so maybe she went out for a walk and didn’t like to disturb me. I hoped she would be okay. After all, she had never been in Torremolinos before and neither had I. Last night we hadn’t seen too much so maybe she had gone to the beach this morning. The beach was about a fifteen-minute walk away. I just wished she hadn’t gone without us.

Just as I was beginning to really worry about her, Tanya
burst through the door with two bags full of groceries. “Oh, my poor arms!” she said, placing the bags on the table with a thud. “They were so heavy!”

I was so relieved to see her and so delighted that she
had gone shopping. I hadn’t been this excited since Santa visited all those years ago. In the two plastic bags were warm croissants, fresh fruit, cheese, yoghurts, two huge bottles of mineral water and some freshly squeezed orange juice. My mouth parched and dry, I immediately reached for the water.

“Oh, thanks a million for this! I thought I was going
to die of the thirst. You’re an angel!”

I got a glass from the bathroom, filled it with water
and knocked it back all in one go. Immediately I felt slightly better.

“I had a feeling you might be thirsty.”

A wave of shame washed over me. I lowered my eyes, recalling last night. The measures in my vodka at the tapas bar had been especially generous and after that we’d gone to a karaoke bar where I’d downed a Sex on the Beach before getting up on stage and making a fool of myself trying to sing a Lady Gaga song. No wonder my head hurt this morning.

“You were funny though,” said Tanya, laughing.
But I couldn’t help feeling a little ashamed. That was no way to behave abroad. I wasn’t on an 18-30 holiday. I was a mum with a baby. How could I ever have considered taking poor little John to a karaoke bar until 11.00 pm when he should have been tucked up in bed with his little teddy fast asleep? So much for my promise to turn my life around! Now that I was hungover, I just knew I’d be stuffing my face with junk all day. I reached for one of the croissants and wolfed it down. It tasted so good.

“Listen, I was thinking of taking John for a little
walk, maybe down to the beach? I saw a little shop when I was out earlier, selling buckets and spades. I know he’s very young still but he might enjoy watching me making castles in the sand. What do you think? You could close the curtains and go back to bed for a little bit?”

Her suggestion made me feel even worse. I would feel
like a right slob going back to bed to nurse my head while the sun split the stones outside. The weather was fabulous, without a cloud in the sky. Who knew? The following day it might be raining. I didn’t come all this way and deplete the last of my savings to lie in bed with a hangover. I needed to snap myself out of this.

“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll just take the water in the bottom
of the pram so as not to get too dehydrated. Wait for me a minute and I’ll change into a vest and shorts. Is it hot

out
there?”

“It’s roasting! Twenty-seven degrees already and it
isn’t even midday yet.”

“Okay, that’s brilliant. Will you give John a bottle and
change him, please? Make sure you put all the Factor 50 for Kids into the bottom of the pram too, and a couple of changes of nappies, and wipes too. We need to be prepared!”

“Sure, no problem.”

I squeezed into some navy cotton shorts and a white vest. I turned around so I could see what I looked like. Bad mistake. Huge! I was horrified at the sight of my bulging midriff and orange-peel thighs. Good Lord, I knew I’d become the new owner of unwanted stretch marks around my tummy and boobs since having John but I’d no idea that I possessed the dreaded cellulite too. Sweet Lord, I would have to invest in a full-length mirror as soon as I got home. I didn’t have one in my apartment because I had foolishly thought I didn’t have a need for one. Wrong! Well, there was no point in worrying about my bulging tum now. There was nothing I could do about it except swap my shorts for a more suitable black-and white

sarong
which I tied around my waist. At least I wouldn’t look like a pale moving mountain now.

We left
our key at the hotel reception and walked outside into the sunlight. Immediately I felt uplifted. There is no way I would have stayed in bed like a lush and missed this.

We went to the little shop on the corner with knick-knacks hanging outside it, including
lilos and brightly coloured beach towels, as well as postcards and racks of English and German newspapers and magazine. I bought a cheap pair of sunglasses and a few plastic toys for John to play with on the sand. Tanya bought a straw basket and a hot-pink cap wit
h
Costa del So
l
written on it. “So cheesy, I know,” she chuckled as she tried it on in the mirror. “But it’ll keep my forehead from burning anyway!”

The beach was down a steep hill and, although it was
crowded enough, there was plenty of room for us to put out our towels. We could have hired deck-chairs but if we were to do that the expense would have added up over the week and I was trying to keep within budget. I had been naughty last night blowing money on a fancy cocktail, but at least I had got the madness out of my system and I wouldn’t be partying any more during this holiday. I wanted to come home rested and relaxed after my week away, not needing another week to recover.

As I la
y my towel out on the sand in front of the sea, I cast my mind back to a holiday to the Canaries I took when I was nineteen, with my best friend Gillian from school. We’d stayed in the heart of lively Playa del Inglés and had literally partied every night for a fortnight, recovering every day by sleeping. What an absolute waste, I thought now, although then I was thinking it was the best time ever.

“Water?”
Tanya handed me the bottle and my book, the latest from Marian Keyes. It was a big thick doorstopper and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. John, under the shade of his pram cover, slept soundly in a little vest and his nappy. I surreptitiously took my phone from my bag and took a few sneaky photos of him. My heart nearly melted he looked so angelic and peaceful. I read a chapter or two of the book, but it was so hot that I said to Tanya I needed to go for a swim. “Can you stay here with John?”

“Sure, no problem,” she said, taking out her
earphones. She looked so amazing in her black one-piece that I felt like a fright lying next to her. Still, being on holiday with a stick insect was what I needed. I knew I wasn’t going to have any pizza on this holiday!

The swim was amazing and I felt so refreshed
afterwards. The water had been warm and inviting and I could have happily swum about all day! Tanya didn’t swim but ventured in a few times up to her waist and splashed herself to cool down. She said she didn’t want