Page 69 of The Riviera House Swap

‘My God, what’s wrong!’ she said.

‘Nothing!’ Sabine grinned, panting and leaning over slightly. She held up her hands and Nina could see now that she was holding a pair of plastic rollerblades with adjustable straps. ‘Jean-Luc is just a size 42, and these adjust to smaller feet too,’ she said, looking delighted with herself. ‘Now is your chance to build your confidence and have a little fun!’

‘Oh, no,’ Nina said. ‘I don’t think so. I’m just going around a few shops.’

‘But you will need a break too!’ Sabine countered. ‘And you can try these along the front, like you said.’

Nina felt her face get hot. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said.

‘Because you are worried what people think?’

‘Because there’s every chance I might break something,’ Nina said, only half joking. She’d not been close to a pair of rollerblades for at least two decades, maybe more.

‘But there is more chance that you will just have fun, an experience!’ Sabine said. ‘Perhaps I will meet you, yes? In an hour or when you find your clothes. And I can cheer you on?’

‘Maybe,’ Nina said, feeling already that Sabine interpreted ‘maybes’ as ‘yeses.’ Damn her very British need to let people down easy. It simply didn’t compute this side of the Channel.

After strolling around a few boutiques, she ended up purchasing not the elaborate outfit she’d imagined, but something altogether more chic but quite casual. The shop assistant helped, selecting cuts that Nina wouldn’t have been drawn to, explaining the fit of each top and how the colours might work.

So she was feeling quite buoyant when she received the message from Sabine.

I AM COMING TO THE TOWN. YOU FORGOT YOUR ROLLERBLADES!

She felt a familiar feeling of dread. Why had she mentioned her desire to strap wheels to her feet and roll? It had just been a passing feeling, a fleeting desire with none of the practicalities considered.

Then again, so had her wild swimming. And while she’d taken the rest of the day to warm up, she’d been so thrilled once it was done that she’d actually ticked that experience off her bucket list.

Rollerblades though, she thought as she texted back, agreeing to meet Sabine close to the fish sculpture. Although she wanted new experiences, a broken hip wasn’t actually on her wish-list.

Before she knew it, she was sitting on a bench close to the beach, the fish sculpture at her back, her shopping bag at her feet. She looked at the Promenade de la Plage, with its red tarmac walking and cycle path stretching wide and flat to the distance in each direction. Back home, the streets were uneven, paved, bumpy and far from flat. If she ever wanted to try rollerblading, this would be the place.

As she was thinking this, a small hand tapped her shoulder. ‘Madame!’ a familiar voice said. ‘Your transport awaits!’ And Sabine appeared at her side, brandishing the blades.

‘Oh. Hi,’ she said. She opened her mouth to express her uncertainty then remembered that so far, whenever she’d expressed any sort of doubt, Sabine’s powers of persuasion had overruled her. She looked at Sabine’s eyes and the mischief buried in them and realised she was just as unlikely to win this time. ‘Thanks,’ she said, taking the skates and starting to remove her shoes.

In the end, other than a slight graze on her hand, she survived unscathed. At first, she was almost walking in the blades, instinctively lifting her feet, much to Sabine’s amusement. But then she was, very slowly and gradually, pushing herself forward, allowing the wheels to glide on the smooth tarmac, wobbling and looking rather ridiculous with her arms spread wide, but with an enormous smile stretching across her face.

‘I’m doing it! I’m really doing it!’ she said to Sabine who was walking at her side, snapping pictures with her phone.

Several youngsters on blades shot past her, as did a skateboarder, a cyclist and a woman on a mobility scooter. Butshe didn’t care. She’d actually forced herself out of her comfort zone and it felt absolutely amazing.

Amazing that was until she wobbled into one of the palm trees set in neat stone rectangles along the path and, after teetering for a moment, her arms waving, landed heavily on her bottom.

Sabine raced to her side. ‘You are OK?’ she said.

Nina nodded, laughing and grimacing. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘But perhaps it’s time to hobble home.’

‘You look good,’ Sabine said, appraising her the next evening before she set off. ‘Smart, but relaxed too.’ She gave Nina a thumbs up.

Nina looked down again at her outfit. The navy jeans she’d sourced in the boutiques of Cagnes-sur-Mer, with a black and white top with a simple neckline. Black ankle boots with the tiniest of heels. The ensemble had cost her dearly – it was pricey choosing clothes, and difficult to find the right size too. In the UK, she was a 10. Here, that meant a 38. Try as she might, she couldn’t help but hate that her clothing number had gone up 28 points – even though she knew sizes were equivalent.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘And they’re not too…’

‘No,’ Sabine said, rolling her eyes and grinning. ‘They are not too tight, madame! You look great and Pierre will perhaps be inspired to take you somewhere better next time.’ She paused. ‘But of course, Le Petit Grill, it is OK,’ she added hastily. ‘You will have fun, I think.’

‘I hope so,’ Nina smiled. She and Pierre had texted on and off since their last date, but things were still very new. She still felt a bubble of nerves inside her, panicked about what they might talkabout, hoped that she hadn’t read things wrong last time. Then she remembered the kiss – the sinking feeling she’d felt as she pushed herself against him. There was something there – she wasn’t imagining it. This was real.

This time, she arrived first and was shown to a table by a waiter in jeans and a white T-shirt. His name badge readFabienand he looked to be about eighteen years old. Other than an elderly couple picking over some sort of chicken dish, she was the only customer in the place at seven o’clock. So perhaps Pierre had chosen well, she thought, taking in the wide expanse of empty tables, imagining the peace and quiet they could enjoy together.

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