Wish You Were Here (20 page)

‘What kind of a question is that?'

‘The kind of question I ask all the time,' smiled Donna. ‘I think about the future all the time. Probably even more than the present. I never used to be like this. I think it must be something to do with having a kid because you always have to plan ahead – meal times, clothes to wear, everything. Now I love thinking about the future because it's a place where, until you arrive there, anything can happen.'

‘I used to think about the future quite a bit when I was at college,' I replied. ‘But you do when you're that sort of age don't you? You constantly feel like your whole life is ahead of you.'

‘And now?'

‘Now I'm in the middle of it. This, right now, this is life and most of the time I've got enough problems dealing with the now to think about anything else.' I paused and laughed. ‘I sound like the king of doom.'

‘That's because you're too bogged down in the daily struggle.'

‘Okay,' I replied. ‘So with all your thinking about the future, where do you think you'll be this time next year?'

‘Somewhere out of London,' said Donna. ‘I don't know where exactly. Maybe somewhere in the country, or near the sea. A few years ago my parents moved to Aberdovey in Wales. Where they live is only five minutes from the sea and it is absolutely amazing there. Sadie and I try to see them at least every other month and any time we go it's just like being on holiday. That's where I'd like to be if we could afford it.'

‘And what about next year's holiday?' I asked mischievously. ‘Any chance of you coming back here with Sadie?'

‘You may laugh but she'd love it here,' said Donna. ‘She'd be telling all of her friends how sophisticated she is.'

‘So where then?'

‘Do you know what? I haven't actually thought that much ahead. But if you pushed me for an answer I think I'd be happy going on holiday anywhere. Anywhere at all.'

‘It's late,' said Donna, looking at her watch. ‘Let's go but not home.'

‘Another bar?'

Donna shook her head. ‘I'm done with bars.'

‘How about the beach?'

Donna's face lit up immediately. ‘Definitely. I think it's the one thing I'll miss about this place when I've gone.' She stood up, finished off the remains of her drink and then took me by the hand.

‘Let's go.'

It was just after two in the morning as Donna and I headed along the crowded strip in the direction of the beach while everyone else was heading in the opposite direction. It felt good swimming against the tide like this. As if it was the two of us against the world. Every step we took towards our destination seemed to bond us closer together just as every step the crowd took seemed to push them further away.

‘Do these guys really think girls who look like that actually fancy them?' asked Donna as we watched with some amusement as a girl in a tight white vest and red sparkly hot-pants waylaid a group of lads who looked as if they had only just this second turned eighteen.

‘They're not completely stupid,' I explained. ‘They're just willing participants in the fantasy.'

‘You sound like you're talking from experience.'

‘Lurking inside most men is a spotty prepubescent teenager who thinks he'll never get a girlfriend.'

‘Even you?'

‘Especially me.'

A gang of girls carrying glow-in-the-dark batons passed by, closely followed by a similar-sized gang of lads chanting (rather than singing) ‘Happy Birthday'.

‘So was that ever you?' I asked as one of the girls carrying the glow-in-the-dark batons suddenly turned around and lifted up her skirt to flash the boys behind her.

‘I wouldn't like to say.'

‘So you've been on holidays like this before?'

‘Full-on, all-girls-on-the-razz type resort holidays?'

I nodded.

‘A few,' replied Donna coyly. ‘The last one was about seven years ago. Some girls from nursing college and I went to Fuerteventura. We partied so much we inevitably all came back suffering with the symptoms of Fuerteventura 'flu: extreme exhaustion brought on by burning the candle at both ends for fourteen nights on the trot. It took me a good six months before I felt anything near back to normal and a year before I could look a Mai-Tai in the eye without feeling like I was going to throw up. My friends all went back the following year. I would've gone with them too but by then I'd got together with Ed, and the two of us went to Sardinia instead.'

‘Was that a good holiday?'

Donna shrugged. ‘It was okay, I suppose. We were young and in love and this was the first time that either of us had ever been away on a couple's holiday. When my friends came back from Fuerteventura and I heard about everything they'd got up to I remember feeling for a while like I'd missed out on something special. But when they all went back the year after I didn't have any regrets at all. It was definitely a case of been there, done that.'

‘I met Sarah ten years ago here in Malia on an all-boys holiday with Andy and Tom,' I confessed.

‘A holiday romance? I'd never have guessed that in a million years. I suppose because I've never done the holiday-romance thing myself.'

I was surprised. ‘Not even when you went to Fuerteventura?'

‘Not even when I went to Newquay with my parents when I was fifteen,' she replied. ‘I don't know . . . I think I always thought they were a bit of a waste of time. My friends all had them and they never worked out. They'd fall massively in lust with some guy and a few weeks later when they were back at home and he hadn't phoned or called they'd be heartbroken.' Donna paused and smiled. ‘Still, it worked for you. You must have been one of the good ones that kept the dream alive.'

Donna paused as we returned to the crossroads near McDonalds. There were quite a few cars on the road and no sign of a break in the traffic. As we waited, Donna squeezed my hand and smiled. A closeness was growing between us. And it didn't seem forced or even flirtatious. It seemed natural. As if the only logical place in the world for her hand to be was in my own.

As we passed by a late-night grocery shop a few hundred yards from the top of the beach Donna suggested that we stop and get a bottle of wine. Without waiting to hear my reaction she led me into the brightly lit store where a middle-aged woman with a sad face sat at the till, staring into space.

I followed Donna to the wine section where she asked my opinion about what kind of wine to get.

‘Let's go for a mid-priced red and a cheap one for afters,' I suggested reaching for a Merlot and a cheaper bottle of Rioja. I offered both bottles up for her approval.

‘They'll do fine,' said Donna. ‘I hate choosing which wine. If you'd left it up to me we would've been here for ages and then I would've spent all night thinking that you secretly hated my choices.'

‘Ah,' I joked, ‘so instead I'm the one who's got to spend all night worrying?'

‘No,' said Donna squeezing my hand. ‘Right now, my friend, I don't think you could do a single thing wrong if you tried.'

Along with the wine we bought some chocolate and Pringles in case we became hungry and then left the grocery store with the bottles clanging together in a blue plastic carrier bag. Within minutes we had left the road behind and were on the path down to the beach.

It was odd being at the beach so late at night. The moon was quite bright and in its light I could see the shadowy outlines of the sun-loungers and umbrellas packed away behind a fenced-off area. The rest of the beach was completely empty.

‘Do you think I should call Nina and tell her where I am?' asked Donna.

‘Definitely.'

Donna took off her sandals and walked barefoot across the sand until she was out of earshot but just about visible.

I don't know why but I suddenly felt like talking to someone too. I pulled out my phone and dialled Andy's number.

‘Charlie?' he said, answering the phone after six or seven rings. ‘What happened to you? One minute you've gone outside to talk to Lisa and the next you've vanished into thin air.'

‘It's a long story,' I replied.

‘To do with Lisa?'

‘No, to do with Sarah.'

‘Oh, right,' said Andy solemnly. ‘Bad news?'

‘You could say that.'

There was a long pause.

‘So where are you now?'

‘I'm with Donna down at the beach.'

‘Donna who?'

‘Nina's sister, Donna.'

Andy burst out laughing. ‘You're a sly one. How did that happen?'

‘I bumped into her. We got talking.' I paused basking in the glow of being momentarily enigmatic. ‘That's pretty much it.'

‘Never mind all that,' said Andy. ‘Have you and her—?'

‘No.'

‘But you are going to—?'

‘No.'

‘What do you mean no? This is it, Charlie. This is your moment. Don't screw it up by being Mr Nice Guy okay?'

I sighed. Andy was draining my batteries down to nothing. ‘Look,' I replied, ‘I only called to say sorry for running out on you like that.' I looked across the sand in Donna's direction and she waved at me. ‘I'll see you later, okay?'

‘Yeah,' replied Andy chuckling. ‘I will see you later. And you'd better be prepared to tell me everything.'

I pressed the end call button and slipped my phone into the back of my jeans just as Donna beckoned me towards her.

‘I think I've just completely freaked my sister out,' said Donna gaily, as she grasped my hand. ‘She can't believe that I've gone off with you like this. It's so funny. Normally I'm the one trying to stop her doing crazy stuff.'

‘I was on the phone to Andy and I think I freaked him out too. Which is probably a good thing.'

‘Well I've got some good news for you,' said Donna. ‘You'll be pleased to know that my sister's friend Beth apparently fancies you something rotten.'

‘I'll make a note of that for later,' I said laughing.

Hand in hand we walked across the beach until we were about twenty yards from the edge of the sea.

‘How about here?' suggested Donna. ‘We'll be able to see the water but won't be under threat from getting soaked by the waves.'

We sat down cross-legged on the sand and I proceeded to open the more expensive bottle of wine by pushing the cork back into the bottle using the keys to the apartment.

‘I think you should try it first,' I said, handing her the bottle. ‘You can let me know if it's to your liking.'

Donna took a long swig and swallowed. ‘It tastes fine to me; see what you think.' She handed the bottle back and I put it to my lips.

‘Tastes pretty good to me too,' I replied.

For a few moments we sat lulled into a hypnotic silence by the waves breaking on the shore. I would have been content to stay like that much longer but Donna must have felt self-conscious because for no reason at all she asked me when my birthday was.

‘Pardon?'

‘Your birthday,' repeated Donna. ‘When is it?'

‘You're not going to ask me my star sign are you?' I asked warily.

‘That's such a sexist thing to say. Not all women are obsessed with astrology. I'm just curious that's all.'

‘Okay,' I replied. ‘It's the first of June.'

‘I knew it. A Gemini. That explains everything.' She paused and then admitted, ‘I don't know anything about astrology. I only know you're a Gemini because an old boyfriend of mine used to be into it. He was forever trying to explain away my actions as being down to my star sign. In fact it got to the stage where I promised myself that if he ever said the phrase “Typical Libran”, to my face again I was going to dump him. A minute after I made the decision he said it and I told him it was over that very second.'

‘That's a bit harsh, isn't it?' I said leaning in closer to her face so that my lips were only inches away from her own.

‘I don't think so at all.' She was smiling.

I don't know how long we kissed. A minute. Maybe two. In my head it seemed all too short although I suspect for Donna it was just long enough for the conscious side of her brain to gain control of the subconscious side.

‘Is something wrong?' I asked as she pulled away.

Donna shook her head and leaned against my shoulder. ‘There's nothing wrong. It's just me.' She reached across and held my hand, carefully interlacing our fingers. ‘Do you mind if we just sit like this for a while and talk?'

‘No,' I replied. ‘That's fine.' And so pulling closer together, we sat in silence, watching the waves crash in front of us, wrapped in our own thoughts in our own worlds.

‘What time is it?' asked Donna sleepily.

‘Just after six,' I said reluctantly removing my gaze from the hazy rising morning sun to my watch. ‘How rock and roll are we staying up all night?'

‘Not very.' Donna stretched her arms above her head and yawned. ‘Right now I think I could easily sleep the whole day away.' She looked at me and smiled. ‘Are you hungry?'

‘Starving.'

‘Shall we go and find somewhere to eat?'

‘I know just the place,' I replied. ‘You'll love it.'

We stood up, stretched our limbs, brushed the sand off our clothes and made our way hand in hand across the beach.