Wanderlust (2 page)

‘It’ll take you a day or two to get your bearings but it’ll soon come and there’s no rush.’ Penny said, linking an arm through Selina’s and leading her down the steps from the bungalow. ‘You’ll have plenty of time to explore the island. Well, we call it an island but in reality, you can walk over to the mainland, even at high tide. The bridge is used mostly for cars and bicycles when we need to go back but we’re almost entirely self-sufficient, including energy. Every bungalow has solar panels.’

Selina stopped and looked at them again. She hadn’t noticed before, but now she saw the sunlight bouncing off the panels on the roofs.

‘There are thirteen families in all, plus you and Alex. We can’t really cope with more than one volunteer at a time but Alex has been so fantastic, we wanted to make sure whoever came next got a steer on what was needed before he left. He’ll do a handover with you, and he’ll let you know what’s needed to be done.’

The idea of Alex effectively being her boss almost made Selina turn around and run back to the airport. He clearly thought she was already ill equipped, going by what he’d said about her shoes, and now he’d be responsible for assigning her work. At least he’d only be around for another week.

‘What exactly
is
needed?’ Selina asked. To her untrained eye, everything looked in order.

‘Oh, lots of things. We grow our own fruit and veg - tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, broccoli, raspberries - you name it. Needless to say, it takes a lot of maintenance, and we sell the excess at the weekly farmers’ market in Canderas, on the mainland. We always need extra hands for that. There’s also light building work, if you’re into that kind of thing?’

Selina grimaced and Penny laughed. ‘Don’t worry, there’s enough for you to be choosy and if you don’t get on well with the physical work, there’s always a load of admin to be done. I practice Reiki and massage and I’m happy to teach you what I know in exchange. Between all of us, we speak seven languages, play music, make sculptures, paint, practice and teach yoga, and everyone is happy to share what they know. You’ll get as much out of this exchange as you want to.’

Yoga? Reiki? It sounded so different to her life back in London. She’d wanted to escape her nine-to-five job and the humiliation of being the victim of a revenge porn scandal had left her no other choice. Selina shuddered. She’d had good reasons for giving notice at her temp job and jumping on a flight to Ibiza. It might not have the clubs and neon lights of the south, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe this would give her the distraction she desperately needed to stop thinking about what she’d ran away from.

Penny looked at her watch. ‘I’ve got a massage booked in ten minutes but you should take a wander around. It’s almost impossible to get lost. Take the rest of the day to relax and you can start working tomorrow.’

Selina nodded and tugged at her t-shirt, pulling the cotton away from her back. The heat was almost unbearable and her face was so sweaty that her make-up was running down her face.

‘The heat is a killer at this time of day,’ Penny said. ‘Make sure you wear sun-cream. Oh, and you should take a dip in the pool. It’s natural, with plants filtering the water instead of chlorine.’

‘Sounds great,’ Selina replied, trying to fill her voice with more enthusiasm than she felt. Surely a pool was supposed be filled with clear water, not plants?

‘This is my house.’ Penny stopped outside a purple bungalow with a small
Free Tibet
flag hanging from the eaves and small plants dotted around the porch. ‘It’s called
Hope
. All the bungalows are named instead of having numbers.’

Stuck into the ground was a wooden, waist-high signpost, with the word
Hope
painted in the same purple as the bungalow. As Selina glanced around at the others, she noticed that they all had the same signposts outside.

‘What’s ours called?’

‘
Wanderlust
,’ Penny replied with a smile. ‘Welcome to Colinas Verde.’

‘How’s it going, roomie?’ Alex asked when Selina stepped through the front door to their bungalow.

She looked at him as he sat on the sofa with a book in his hand and took off the black-rimmed glasses he’d been wearing. She couldn’t imagine someone like him having anything other than perfect twenty-twenty vision.

‘Fine. I just went for a swim in the pool.’

‘How did you like it?’

Selina couldn’t stop the grimace forming on her face. ‘It was…different.’

‘You look remarkably dry,’ he replied with that wry smile on his face again.

‘Well, it was just a dip, really.’

Thank God her brown skin prevented her from blushing. She couldn’t deny that the setting of the pool was beautiful. It was surrounded by olive trees and had elegant wooden decking. With the addition of double-bed sized sun loungers covered with a canopy of white cotton, it was almost exactly how she’d imagined a pool at an eco-resort would be, but Penny hadn’t lied about the plants in the water. Selina had looked at the trails of seaweed and told herself not to be a wuss, but she’d only got as far as dipping her legs into the water before she’d heard frogs croaking and got straight out again.

Alex smirked and irritation welled inside of her. So she didn’t like the idea of swimming with plants and wildlife, so what? Once again, he’d made her feel like she was some ditzy city girl, especially when he was lounging on the sofa, still topless and barefoot as if it were his natural state of being.

‘I should shower and unpack,’ Selina said.

Alex nodded. ‘Your backpacks outside your bedroom door.’

‘Thanks,’ Selina replied and he shrugged before going back to read his book.

She quickly made her way down the hall. He’d had that look on his face again, the one that made her feel out of her depth. He probably swam in the pool every day, relishing being surrounded by so much nature. She pushed open her bedroom door and sighed, longing to be by the clean blue sea instead, but as she stepped into her room, the longing was overridden by a smile.

The scent of lavender wafted in from the open window as she looked around her large and simply, but beautifully, decorated bedroom. Wild flowers sat in a vase on the wooden chest of drawers and next to it was a basket full of small bars of soap. She picked up the thick, yellow piece of card in the basket and smiled.

- Welcome to Colinas Verde! We thought you might need refreshing after your journey. Love and light, Lindy and Greg

Selina read the list of soaps on the back of the card: Zesty Lemon, Spiced Orange, Luxurious Lemon, and Milk and Oat. She sniffed each one of them. It was a lovely gift, especially when a bar of soap like this would cost more than what she’d usually spend on a decent lunch back home. It seemed that maybe there were some advantages of being in a place like this after all. The only thing she needed to do now was put up a couple of photographs of family and friends, and it would start to feel like home.

After she unpacked, she took a shower and changed into a vest and shorts, surrendering to the Ibizan heat. She wandered into the small living room, decorated with a low coffee table, sofa and two bookshelves. Tea-lights were dotted on the windowsills and warmly coloured abstract art hung on the walls. The glasses Alex had been wearing were sitting on top of a book on the coffee table and she held them up to her eyes. His prescription must have been pretty strong, because she took them off straight away, blinking to dispel the disorientation from the lenses. She put them back down before picking up the book they’d been resting on with raised eyebrows.
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
. If she hadn’t seen him reading it, she’d have never believed it was his. Despite his hippy-like attitude, the book didn’t strike her as his
thing
.

‘Feeling refreshed?’

Selina turned and saw Alex leaning against the living room wall.

‘Yep. Nothing like a good shower in this heat.’

‘I’m going for one too, if there’s any hot water left?’

She’d only been in the shower for five minutes. Ten, tops. But he was looking at her as if she’d stayed in there for hours, shaving her legs and deep conditioning her hair.

‘There’s plenty,’ she replied, even though she didn’t know if it were true. She guessed the water was solar heated and, if that were the case, there should be more than enough for the both of them.

He nodded towards the book in her hand. ‘Feel free to borrow it when I’m done.’

She looked at the cover again before putting it down on the table. ‘It’s yours?’

‘You sound surprised.’

Selina shrugged.

‘People are rarely ever who we think they are.’ He grinned at her before disappearing into the bathroom.

Selina walked over to the window and looked outside, leaning her hands on the sill.
People are rarely ever who we think they are.
He was right about that, but she knew his type. He was over-confident, bordering on arrogant, and something about him told her that he had a string of broken hearts behind him, just like Liam had.

She’d known all along that Liam would be bad for her in one way or another. He was always having ‘trouble’ with exes, and their own relationship was toxic at best. Once she’d started to look past his sexy smile and the overblown gestures he’d always used to win her back, she saw him for what he really was: spiteful and manipulative. She’d been happy to become an ex of his herself when she’d ended it, but she’d paid the price when she’d found herself looking at photos he’d posted on Instagram and Tumblr two months later.

She hadn’t thought for one moment that he’d share them and she’d reasoned with herself that even if he did, who’d be interested in her? After all, she was a normal twenty-five year old from Brighton. It turned out, a lot of people were. Almost eight thousand in fact. Eight thousand people had looked at, liked, retweeted and shared those topless pictures of her, with only a pair of tiny, lacy knickers to preserve her modesty and a pair of stockings, held up with a diamante studded suspender belt to add a touch of class. She grimaced. The photos had looked anything but classy when she’d looked at them, splashed all over the social media sites she frequently used herself. Her only saving grace was that she hadn’t gone fully nude but even still, her life had turned upside down overnight. That was only three weeks ago and now she was in a foreign country, it felt like her life would never resemble anything like normalcy ever again.

Outside, the sky was streaked orange as the sun began to set over the green hills of Colinas Verde and Selina pushed the thoughts of those photos away. Thinking about them couldn’t change what had happened and, at least here, she didn’t have to be
that
girl. She could be whoever she wanted to be.

She looked at the bathroom door. The next few months would be a lot more enjoyable if she broke away from old habits. Nothing good would come from Googling herself, or thinking of ways to get back at Liam. Colinas Verde aside, the next few months would be about luxury backpacking for as long as her savings would last, and absolutely
no
men.

The smell of Alex’s shower gel exploded into the air as the bathroom door opened and he stepped out with a towel tied around his waist. Droplets of water clung to his skin and he smoothed his wet hair back with his hands.

‘Hot water lasted then?’ Selina asked.

‘Just about. Are you hungry? I need to make some pasta.’

‘Are you going to put some clothes on first?’

‘You don’t like me being barefoot and you want me to put clothes on to cook dinner. Are you some kind of prude or something?’

‘No, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t walk around naked.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll save you the embarrassment. We’ll be eating with everyone else tonight anyway, it’s tradition for newcomers.’

Thank God for that. A communal dinner sounded nice, and much more preferable than eating alone with Alex.

She looked back out at the glorious sunset as he disappeared into his room. They only had one week together. Just one week, and then he’d be gone. Maybe she could do this after all.

Twenty minutes later, Selina looked at Alex as he opened a cupboard in the kitchen.

‘There’s no meat, I’m afraid. I’m a vegetarian, hope that’s okay for you?’ he asked.

‘It’s fine. Do you eat fish?’

Alex shook his head. ‘Call me weird, but I think animals are happier where they’re meant to be, instead of on a plate.’

For a reason she couldn’t figure out, Selina decided not to tell him she was vegetarian too. It was hardly a personal thing to tell someone, but after the photos had been posted online, she’d learned to keep herself to herself.

‘So, Penny mentioned that you’ll be giving me the jobs to do this week?’

‘Yeah. That way, you’ll get a proper handover and everyone will be happy,’ he replied, pulling a few vegetables from a wooden crate sitting on the counter next to the fridge.

‘What time do we start?’

‘Whenever you want, but I like to get going before it gets too hot. I’m usually ready by eight.’

Eight in the morning? It wasn’t that she was averse to working, but she’d been looking forward to being able to wake up without the aid of an alarm, especially after quitting her job.

‘Is that too early for you?’ Alex asked with raised eyebrows.

Selina looked at the way he was holding the knife with its tip right on the outer skin of an onion, as if her answer was dependent on what would happen next.

‘Eight is fine. Great in fact.’ She smiled, refusing to let him see even a hint of doubt in her mind.

‘Good.’ He nodded towards the pantry in the corner of the kitchen. ‘There’s some Rioja in there, if you want something to drink.’

‘A drink would be great,’ she replied, and retrieved the bottle.

After filling two glasses, she sat at the table as Alex began chopping the vegetables. Thank God Colinas Verde wasn’t an alcohol free zone. She might have left the cosmopolitan lifestyle behind her for a while, but that didn’t mean she needed to give up the odd glass of wine.

‘I thought you could start by picking the fruits and vegetables,’ Alex said. ‘It’s been a few days and there must be loads ready.’

‘Fine.’ She nodded. Picking fruit and vegetables, how hard could that be?

‘I’ll show you where the baskets and gloves are in the morning and then I’ll leave you to it. I’m needed somewhere else.’

Oh good. For a moment, she’d thought they’d have to work together but since he was
needed
somewhere else,
it looked like she’d be on her own. Which was just fine by her.

‘Why do I need gloves? It’s just picking fruit and veg.’

‘You don’t, but I’m sure you don’t want to ruin those pretty little nails of yours.’

He gestured to her hands with his knife and she looked down at them. They weren’t manicured, at least not professionally. Alex turned back to the chopping board and she stuck her tongue out at his back. Who did he think he was? So she had her nails painted, big deal. There was no need to be a dick about it.

‘I don’t need gloves,’ she replied and took another long sip of her wine to stop herself from firing a bitchy comment back at him.

He shrugged. ‘There’s quite a few bugs too, since they don’t use pesticides. Snails, spiders, centipedes…’

Unease crept up Selina’s back. She hated bugs, spiders in particular. Her method of dealing with them was to suck them up in the vacuum cleaner. He slid the vegetables into a frying pan and when she didn’t reply, he turned and looked at her.

‘Not a fan of bugs?’

Selina shrugged and took another sip of wine.

‘Are you sure you’re cut out for this place? You could always leave tomorrow and head down south. It might suit you better.’

She scrunched her eyebrows together and looked right back at him.

‘Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be just fine.’

‘Suit yourself.’ Alex smirked again and turned to carry on cooking.

As the aroma of sizzling vegetables filled the kitchen, Selina fought the urge to throw her glass at his head. If nothing else, it would be a terrible waste of perfectly good wine.

‘Is there anything I can do to help with the dinner?’ she asked, wishing she had something to do other than let Alex get to her.

‘Nope. Everyone brings one dish each. I’ve got ours control.’

She looked at his back as he tossed the vegetables in the pan. Why did that feel like a dig at her, as if he thought she weren’t even capable of putting some pasta to boil?

London felt a million miles away and even though she’d hated the way he’d said it earlier, he’d been right. She wasn’t in Kansas anymore, but if he could stick it out there then she bloody well could too.