Page 49 of Take a Chance on Greece

I still wasn’t shouting, but I think he found my quiet persistence even more unnerving. I looked at the man in front of me and for a short, terrifying moment, it was like a stranger was standing there. How could things go from so perfect to this painful shock?

‘It’s not a good enough excuse, but it’s because I fell for you when wefirstmet and…’

But I didn’t get a chance to hear the rest of his explanation or query his strange emphasis on the word ‘first’ because somebody was saying my name. And it was the last person whose voice I would expect to hear in Greece.

‘Lydia.’

I turned around and felt my body turn heavy with dread as my eyes confirmed what my ears had already told me.

‘Jim. What on earth are you doing here?’ Now there was a note of slight hysteria in my voice. There was only so much drama I could cope with in one evening.

‘I’ve come to bring you home,’ he said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. It sounded like I’d just popped out to the shops, and he’d decided to give me a lift back because it had begun raining.

‘What on earth do you mean? It’s the middle of the night for goodness’ sake. How did you even know where to find me?’

Jim looked rather pleased with himself. ‘I went to the hotel where you stayed with the girls, but they said you weren’t there, so I showed your picture to a few people around town and they pointed me in this direction. I’ve been here for hours, waiting for you.’ Then he frowned, his voice taking on the condescending tones I was so horribly familiar with. ‘It is very late, Liddy-Lou. Where have you been? Anything could happen when you’re out after dark.’

I started laughing in overwhelmed reaction to everything that was happening. Better that than opening my mouth and screaming until I had no voice left, which was what I really felt like doing. This evening had had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, and I had had enough. Jim waltzing in and trying to pretend that I was here on some kind of minibreak and that he still had the right to question me about my comings and goings was the final straw. I threw my hands up in the air.

‘This is too much.’

So many thoughts were spinning around my head that I couldn’t properly process what was going on and how I should be reacting.

Alexis stepped back into my line of sight, although to give him credit, he did at least keep a respectful distance away from me, giving me the space I so desperately needed.

‘Lydia, I know this is a lot to ask, and I don’t deserve a second of your time after what I have done, but please let me explain,’ said Alexis. Despite everything, the break in his voice sent a shard of pain through me, and I had to fight the urge to reach out and comfort him.

‘Is this man bothering you?’ asked Jim, standing up straighter, inserting himself between us as if he was preparing to square up to Alexis.

I grabbed his shoulder, ready to pull him out of the way if I had to. Despite everything, I was not prepared to stand by and see Alexis get hurt.

‘Jim, please will you back off? I don’t understand why you’re here or what you’re hoping to achieve, but this situation is absolutely nothing to do with you, and I would really appreciate it if you stopped interfering. I am perfectly capable of fighting my own battles.’

I looked between the two men, Alexis defeated and sad, Jim still posturing with his innate sense of self-righteousness, and I knew I had to get away. I needed time to think. I turned my back on both of them and walked into the hotel. I started climbing the stairs to my room, but thoughts of how I’d wanted to end the evening climbing these steps hand in hand with Alexis intruded. I swerved towards the staff room instead, not able to bear the contrast of reality with the ache of what might have been.

I recognised Jim’s footsteps starting to follow me, but to give Alexis credit, I heard him quietly telling my ex to wait until the morning.

I curled up on the couch, wrapping my arms around my knees as if by making myself as small as possible, I’d be able to squeeze all the hurt and pain away. Even though it was a warm night, I found myself shivering. Dealing with Alexis’s revelation would have been enough of a bombshell by itself, but having Jim on the scene made things so much more complicated. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the situation with Alexis until I’d dealt with Jim, and I’m ashamed to admit that I was scared about how I was going to go about that. Logically, I knew that he could only have a hold over me if I allowed it to happen, but I felt so vulnerable right now that I was afraid that Jim would turn on his forceful charm and manipulate me into doing something I would regret – like taking the coward’s option of walking away from the island and putting this whole interlude behind me.

I thought I’d never be able to rest again given the turmoil of thoughts doing battle in my head, but somehow, eventually, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep. I woke several hours later as shards of light from the dawn came through the open windows of the staff room. My neck was stiff, but I suspected the ache in my body was as much from the emotional strain as the physical discomfort of having spent the night on the ancient sofa. I stretched as best I could, then tiptoed to the door and checked the corridor. I wouldn’t put it past Jim to be out there waiting for me. At the moment, I didn’t feel ready to face anybody, let alone him.

Thankfully the corridor was deserted. I padded quietly to my room and shut the door behind me with a sigh of relief. I stripped off the dress I’d put on with such hope last night and dived in the shower, finally letting the tears flow freely as the lukewarm water pummelled my back. I felt like such a fool. I thought of all the times I’d confided in Alexis, all the opportunities he’d had to tell me the truth about Awesome Andreas, and yet he had remained silent. I couldn’t understand it. He’d always seemed like an open book. How could I have misjudged him so badly?

As the water grew even more punishingly cold, I steered my thoughts away from Alexis and reluctantly focused on the Jim situation. I had believed myself free from him, but now he’d intruded on my safe haven, I was left with little choice but to confront him and make it absolutely clear where we stood. If this had happened before Alexis’s revelation, I would have gone straight to his bookshop, seeking his support and advice on how to handle the situation – so much for trying not to think about him – but now I was unable to do that. As my skin turned almost translucent with cold, I came to a decision. I would ring Amira, and see what she had to say. She was always good in a crisis, and unlike Kat, she was more likely to focus on the practical side of what to do. In a situation like this, it was important to have a friend by my side, if only through the power of technology rather than in person.

I stumbled out of the shower and tried to get my circulation going again properly by rubbing my limbs vigorously with the towel, but I feared the reason I felt cold wasn’t really to do with the temperature of my surroundings. I quickly pulled on some shorts and a T-shirt, thanking my lucky stars that today was my rostered day off from hotel duties, and then dialled Amira’s number, hoping that she was already up and about.

‘Kalimera,my friend,’ she answered cheerily, thankfully sounding very much awake. ‘You’ve caught me heading home from work with a dirty takeaway burger on the passenger seat. I was just thinking about you. My colleagues on the night shift are dying for an update on your love life. Speculating about your adventures kept us going through a particularly torturous few hours in A&E last night, and I need more tales from you so I have a reason to carry on talking to the cute new registrar.’

‘I’m sure you can talk to him anyway without having to use me as an excuse,’ I said half-heartedly.

‘Where would be the fun in that?’

I attempted to laugh, but it came out more as a pathetic gurgle.

‘Hold on, I’m pulling over,’ said Amira. ‘This sounds like a conversation which requires my full attention.’

I heard the sound of the indicator, and then the engine stopped. Amira’s voice returned, and this time it was less echoey, as if she’d taken me off hands-free and was now clutching the phone to her ear.

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