Page 52 of The Summer Island Swap
Rick looked up, put Chatty down, next to him and came over.
‘Thanks again for this, Sarah. You don’t know how much it’s appreciated.’ He sounded jaded – a voice he never shared with the other volunteers. It felt special that he let me see that side of him. Rick reached out a tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I wished he hadn’t done that… yet was so glad that he had. He leant forward. So did I.
24
Rick fetched two milks mixed with Coca Cola. Forget an ‘our tune’, we had an ‘our drink’. We sat on the sofa. He opened his laptop. Our shoulders brushed and again we kissed.
‘That was… passable,’ he said as we parted, eyes crinkling. I could have stared into them all day. They made me want to throw off the shackles of responsibility that had always tied me down. My skin flushed. My heart thumped against my chest as if telling me to wake up – as if it were rapping the following advice…
…this is what it should feel like when you’re with a man.From the off you shouldn’t be telling yourself to give it time or that all relationships need work. The chemistry should be there from the instant you meet – that first look, that first word, that first touch…you shouldn’t be able to stop thinking about him any more easily than I should stop pumping blood…
‘Yes. Very satisfactory,’ I said and sipped my drink. I put it down and tightened my ponytail. ‘I’m not sure Chatty would have been impressed though. If he could have seen he’d probably want to give you a few tips.’ I took another mouthful.
He chuckled. I did too and my drink spluttered down my top. I wasn’t bothered. I hadn’t even smoothed down my hair before entering the house and after years of grooming it felt refreshing. They said the mirror didn’t lie, but that wasn’t true – depending on your mood it could make you stride like a catwalk model, or skulk, hiding your face under a hood. Reality came from the inside, not a sheet of mirror. Perhaps when I got back to England, I’d remove one or two of the mirrors around the flat.
Chatty hopped up and down excitedly before settling on my lap, leaning against my chest, his little face staring upwards even though he had no sight. I spoke to him for a few moments. Said how handsome he was. Scratched behind his ears. When I glanced up Rick was staring.
‘I think I’ve got competition.’
Cue belly laughs again.
‘Yes. Sorry. Unless you can learn to whistle out-of-tune, you stand no chance with him.’
Rick scribbled whilst I analysed each website page and how user-friendly it was; before I knew it the afternoon flew by.
‘Your tips are amazing.’ He consulted his notebook. ‘It’s obvious now – the amount of information on each page does need reducing, for clarity. I have to stop being afraid of white space. Plus there aren’t nearly enough photos. I’ve been thinking about it since you first came up with the concept – I’ll definitely incorporate an image of Chatty as the face of our brand. As for your idea of running a blog with all the latest news – I can’t believe I never thought of that. Volunteers can guest post and keep former ones up to date with news of the new enclosures and benefits of the work they did. I could offer them a slight discount if they did.’
‘That will build a community of people who have worked here in the past and keep them involved after they’ve left. You stand more of a chance, that way, of them continuing to talk about Seagrass Island with people they meet. In terms of advertising you can’t beat word of mouth commendations. Customers at Best Travel often tell us they heard about us through a friend, business associate or relative. Perhaps you could reach out to influencers in the conservation space, inviting them to come out to the island. I’m sure that would pay dividends.’
Rick listened to every word.
‘And don’t forget what I said about the design being mobile phone friendly – your current model isn’t quite. I can fix that. In fact, I can make all the changes I’ve suggested. It won’t take long. Plus I’d suggest expanding, a little, on how exactly the money is spent. I understand, now, why staying here is so expensive but potential volunteers may not. I’d explain in more detail about how you hope your work will benefit other islands too.’
‘Cheers, Sarah. I so appreciate all this.’
‘I’m not totally selfless. Hopefully all this will mean I get to spend more time with Chatty.’
Rick yawned. Chatty heard, jumped over to him and slipped his paw into Rick’s mouth. He pulled the monkey’s hand away.
‘Be careful what you wish for! It’s a miracle that I’m still alive, what with all the germs Chatty must deposit on me each day doing his little tricks. Come on, little chap – let’s go and see Jackie.’
‘There is something, actually, I’d like to do thatisselfless – and I need your help. Benedikt and Jonas – I’ll go and get them now to take a look at your piano and guitar. I don’t suppose… do you have a bottle of wine and any snacks?’
He shrugged. ‘I’ve got beers. There’s a family-sized packet of crisps. Malik comes over one evening a week and we need them to fuel compiling the weekly shopping list together – that’s our excuse, anyway. Why?’
‘I just thought the lads deserved a treat – seeing as they are doing you a favour.’
‘Sarah. You just rubbed your nose. Don’t you know, that’s a classic giveaway for when someone’s lying?’ He pulled a comical face but his tone had sounded serious.
‘Honesty’s really important to you, isn’t it? And of course it should be,’ I added hastily.
Breaking eye contact, he stroked Chatty’s dark back. ‘Yes. I was let down once. Badly.’
Up and down his hand went. The monkey gave an appreciative squeak. Rick remained silent. I didn’t like to pry.
‘Just between us… I think they fancy each other. They just need a shove in the right direction.’
He looked up. ‘Ah… I thought so! Now and then I’ve seen them stealing looks at each other and Benedikt doesn’t seem to like you and Jonas getting friendly.’
