odd to walk outside in a towel and nothing else , but the sun kisses her skin through the vine leaves and she feels a distant promise that everything could be alright here in the sun.
The bedroom is also stone walled, with a really big bed and is exquisitely furnished in creams and pale blue.
Her phone peeps. The message this time is from Finn.
‘Hey! Meet us at café "Kendrikon", main square, Saros, midday.’
She taps her message back. ‘Ok, xxx, mum’
She likes sending x ’s and hopes he feels loved by them.
‘Is that coffee still warm?’
‘ It’s in the kitchen.’
‘ Joss and Finn say to meet them for lunch. Midday.’
‘ You’ve spoken to them then?’ He looks up, surprised.
‘ Text.’
‘ Oh.’ He is back in his computer.
Sarah strolls out onto the patio with a cup of barely warm coffee. Everywhere she looks, the place has been beautifully finished, the details considered. She steps onto the neatly mowed lawn and wonders who waters it to keep it so green in this heat. Her simple shift dress is a lot cooler than was her skirt and top. She ducks under the orange tree and the garden opens up: on one side, a row of flowering bushes marks the perimeter and on the other, the lawn merges into what must be Juliet’s garden next door, which has a more rural feel and is dotted with trees; long rushes grow from a natural pond by a solitary, twisted old olive tree. But Sarah is mesmerised by the blue of the pool in front of the fig tree, the water so clear, the sun reflecting from all the facets. The temptation to jump in fully clothed is almost irresistible.
She chuckles, a dry humourless sound as she imagines what Laurence would do or say if she were to do such a thing. Her coffee all gone , she still continues to move from bush to plant, taking it all in, looking at the details of nature, as she falls into a place where she thinks no thoughts.
‘ Darling, time’s flying. We’d best be off, I think,’ Laurence calls from the patio.
‘ It must be really early yet,’ she calls back but she knows it is not a discussion and the last thing she needs before seeing Pruella de Ville is a moody Laurence. All these people who annoy her. Maybe, she thinks, and it is not a comfortable thought, but maybe it is not them, maybe it is her. Her stomach grumbles. She still hasn’t eaten. She will have to wait for lunch now.
Lunch with Joss and Finn, both of them, at the same time, for the first time in she cannot remember how long. Joss and Finn, her lovely boys. Well, not really boys anymore . They are men now, and Joss perhaps a little too like his father ... But Finn is still her baby. If only she could have kept a younger version of them at the same time she let them grow up.
‘ Sarah!’ His tone is sharper this time.
‘ Okay, okay. I’m coming.’ She bends and dips her hand in the water. It’s not that cold; by late afternoon, it might even be positively warm.
The car engine starts up.
‘Oh for pity’s sake.’ She puts the coffee cup down on the table on the patio. The main door is shut and she cannot be bothered to go through the process of getting the key from Laurence to go inside for her bag. Besides, Laurence has the money, so really, all she is missing is her lipstick.
They park where they did the night before and head straight up a paved pedestrian street. Laurence has Googled the Kendrikon and leads assertively. Sarah tries to loiter, look in the shops, one selling seashells and inflated puffer fish, jewellery and postcards. Another sells cheesecloth shirts and loose trousers. On the corner, more shops sell art pieces in ceramic, felted items, and hologram bookmarks.
Sarah lingers , but not too long, so as not to lose Laurence. They have reached the town’s main square. It is bigger than she expected and has a vaguely Venetian feel. The perimeter is lined with cafés and tavernas, their seats and tables spilling out onto the smooth marble. In the centre, a colourful jumble of
The bedroom is also stone walled, with a really big bed and is exquisitely furnished in creams and pale blue.
Her phone peeps. The message this time is from Finn.
‘Hey! Meet us at café "Kendrikon", main square, Saros, midday.’
She taps her message back. ‘Ok, xxx, mum’
She likes sending x ’s and hopes he feels loved by them.
‘Is that coffee still warm?’
‘ It’s in the kitchen.’
‘ Joss and Finn say to meet them for lunch. Midday.’
‘ You’ve spoken to them then?’ He looks up, surprised.
‘ Text.’
‘ Oh.’ He is back in his computer.
Sarah strolls out onto the patio with a cup of barely warm coffee. Everywhere she looks, the place has been beautifully finished, the details considered. She steps onto the neatly mowed lawn and wonders who waters it to keep it so green in this heat. Her simple shift dress is a lot cooler than was her skirt and top. She ducks under the orange tree and the garden opens up: on one side, a row of flowering bushes marks the perimeter and on the other, the lawn merges into what must be Juliet’s garden next door, which has a more rural feel and is dotted with trees; long rushes grow from a natural pond by a solitary, twisted old olive tree. But Sarah is mesmerised by the blue of the pool in front of the fig tree, the water so clear, the sun reflecting from all the facets. The temptation to jump in fully clothed is almost irresistible.
She chuckles, a dry humourless sound as she imagines what Laurence would do or say if she were to do such a thing. Her coffee all gone , she still continues to move from bush to plant, taking it all in, looking at the details of nature, as she falls into a place where she thinks no thoughts.
‘ Darling, time’s flying. We’d best be off, I think,’ Laurence calls from the patio.
‘ It must be really early yet,’ she calls back but she knows it is not a discussion and the last thing she needs before seeing Pruella de Ville is a moody Laurence. All these people who annoy her. Maybe, she thinks, and it is not a comfortable thought, but maybe it is not them, maybe it is her. Her stomach grumbles. She still hasn’t eaten. She will have to wait for lunch now.
Lunch with Joss and Finn, both of them, at the same time, for the first time in she cannot remember how long. Joss and Finn, her lovely boys. Well, not really boys anymore . They are men now, and Joss perhaps a little too like his father ... But Finn is still her baby. If only she could have kept a younger version of them at the same time she let them grow up.
‘ Sarah!’ His tone is sharper this time.
‘ Okay, okay. I’m coming.’ She bends and dips her hand in the water. It’s not that cold; by late afternoon, it might even be positively warm.
The car engine starts up.
‘Oh for pity’s sake.’ She puts the coffee cup down on the table on the patio. The main door is shut and she cannot be bothered to go through the process of getting the key from Laurence to go inside for her bag. Besides, Laurence has the money, so really, all she is missing is her lipstick.
They park where they did the night before and head straight up a paved pedestrian street. Laurence has Googled the Kendrikon and leads assertively. Sarah tries to loiter, look in the shops, one selling seashells and inflated puffer fish, jewellery and postcards. Another sells cheesecloth shirts and loose trousers. On the corner, more shops sell art pieces in ceramic, felted items, and hologram bookmarks.
Sarah lingers , but not too long, so as not to lose Laurence. They have reached the town’s main square. It is bigger than she expected and has a vaguely Venetian feel. The perimeter is lined with cafés and tavernas, their seats and tables spilling out onto the smooth marble. In the centre, a colourful jumble of
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