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‘So, a day at sea, and then Santorini and then on to Athens,’ she said, ‘and I suppose it will be farewell, because you and your sister will be flying home and I will be staying on.’
I felt rather sad at the prospect. Evelyn had become a good friend in the time we had known her. But perhaps she had that effect on everyone she met. When the Avanti sailed on across the Mediterranean towards the Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean and the rest of the world, we would be going back to England. I was sure she would make more new friends who would accompany her, listen to her stories and marvel at her energy.
‘And where will you be stopping?’
Evelyn took a sip of her tea. ‘Dubai, Colombo, Singapore, some other places and then Sydney, where, all being well, Wendy will be there to meet me off the boat.’
‘That’s going to be some reunion,’ I said.
‘Oh, we will be bickering within the hour, I expect. But it will be so nice to bicker with someone I love at last.’
I thought about this and realised it was true. I would go home to Eddy, admire his new patio and we would settle back into our old routine unless of course, I did something to shake it up.
22
I thought about going along to the Fragonard spa after we finished our tea, but all of a sudden I was feeling pretty tired. Perhaps it was the mostly sleepless night, the stress of what could have been a far more difficult adventure, or just my age, but instead, I went back to our room. The bed had been freshly made up and looked very inviting. Surely it wouldn’t matter if I had a quick snooze?
I slipped my shoes off and lay down, but that didn’t really work because the waistband of my trousers was cutting into me, tactlessly reminding me of all the many calorie-filled days I had enjoyed, as was my bra wire.
When will someone invent a decent bra? And not one that keeps appearing on my social media apparently designed by some mythical grandmother, modelled on women who didn’t actually need a bra at all, and probably made in a sweatshop somewhere.
So instead, I got undressed and put on my towelling robe. Much better.
Ah, the bliss of slipping into a bed I hadn’t made, on clean sheets I hadn’t laundered. In minutes I was asleep.
I woke from a confused dream about driving in the dark while eating a bowl of pasta – which was easily explained – and then somehow getting locked out of the car so I had to run along behind it shouting. I realised someone had come in and was standing by the side of the bed.
‘Jill. What are you doing asleep?’
I jerked upright and saw my sister, and for a moment I didn’t recognise her.
I blinked at her for a few seconds, not quite sure where I was. Which is always an annoying way to wake up, it made me wonder if it was the first sign I was losing the plot a little.
‘What do you think?’ Diana said.
I stared at her.
‘Flipping heck!’
Her hair which had been grey, shoulder length and unruly, had now been chopped into what I could only describe as a glossy pixie cut. I was sure it was probably called something else, but she looked fantastic. There was a feathery, choppy fringe, and the rest had been shaped to her head.
‘You’ve lost ten inches of hair and about twenty years,’ I gasped.
Diana looked very pleased and went to preen in front of a mirror.
‘Isn’t it great? Evelyn’s hairdresser – whose name is Jeannie in case you are interested – took one look and before I knew it her scissors were out, and great hunks of hair were falling on the floor. I sort of made a mild protest at one point, but by then it was too late. And then she plastered on some heavy-duty conditioner and left me for half an hour.’
‘Unbelievable,’ I said. ‘In a good way.’
‘She was trying to persuade me to have it coloured too, but I know how lazy I am. The prospect of getting the roots retouched was too awful, and I read somewhere that older hair can get a bit springy and uncooperative, so I said no.’
‘What colour?’ I said, still trying to take in the new vision of my sister.
‘Blue streaks. Or bright red.’
‘Thank heavens you said no,’ I said, trying to imagine it.
‘I was wondering why I didn’t do this years ago,’ she said, turning to try and see the back of her head, ‘and then I remembered. Casper would have hated it. Which makes me feel sort of rebellious and crazy.’
