I see now, my friend, is a fruitful journey ahead of you, a long and winding road with gain and reward at the end of it.’ Calli sat listening, rooted to the spot, her senses on edge. ‘I am well aware that you are by nature an inquisitive and thoughtful person; it is your trait as an Aquarian.’
Once again, the younger woman stared in disbelief; she did not recall ever mentioning her date of birth or her horoscope to anyone since arriving on Ikaria.
‘Don’t look so amazed, Calli, my dear,’ Maya burst out laughing, ‘I just know these things. But the point I am making is that although by nature you are sceptical you are also able to pick up things quickly and you have an innate curiosity for that which you don’t quite understand, which is a great asset.’ As with so much that Calli had been exposed to since arriving on the island, astrology was of no interest to her and she was at a loss to understand how her date of birth was relevant to the question she had just posed.
‘I suppose what I am saying,’ Maya continued, seeing the impatience in Calli’s eyes, ‘is that given your natural curiosity about people, and Paolo’s good heart, spending time with him will be beneficial and enlightening for you.’
Calli hardly needed to hear more. This was all the validation she had wanted. Her Ikarian oracle had spoken and had just given her, even if a little sketchy, the go-ahead to trust her instinct. Horoscopes, roads ahead and cosmic journeys were other matters that could wait: all she heard was that Paolo was a good man and, what’s more, that he would be good for her. She was a grown woman, but to herself at that moment she felt like a teenage girl about to embark on her first sexual encounter and it was all too thrilling. Lately she had been stuck in the past and apprehensive about the future; it was time for her to start enjoying the here and now.
The two women sat at the beach bar for a little longer until Calli made her way to her hotel room to work, and Maya to an olive grove to help with the picking. Calli had been transcribing each interview and editing photographs each day as she gathered her material. Now the piece was beginning to take shape and she was able to assess that before too long the process would be complete. She had made up her mind that as soon as the article was finished and had been emailed to David, she would have a splendid holiday, the kind she hadn’t had for a long, long, time.
She met Paolo at the beach for their allocated yoga lesson. She had tried to take a siesta after she stopped working but found it impossible to fall asleep or relax. Her mind swirled with unsettling thoughts, not the kind she had been experiencing recently that had made her ache with sadness – no. The thoughts that flashed through her mind now were making her body tingle with what she recognized as sexual desire, fuelled further by images of Paolo’s hands on her body. Eventually she gave up trying to impose sleep on herself and made her way to an empty beach; it was the time for rest, and there were still a couple of hours before she was due to meet Paolo, so she welcomed the opportunity to be alone for a while. For days now Calli had been surrounded by people and although she enjoyed the distraction and relished the company of her new friends, she realized that she also needed a little time alone.
She paced along the deserted shore and plunged into the warm waters of the Aegean. She let herself drift, arms outstretched, eyes closed, surrendering her body to the sea, which in turn evoked a sweet childhood memory. As a child she had had trouble allowing herself to float on the water until her father took it upon himself to teach her. ‘Relax, Calli, trust me,’ Keith’s voice drifted to her ears in the wind. At first her child’s body, tense and afraid, refused to relax and float. ‘I am right here, I’m holding you, don’t be afraid. I would never let you go!’ Keith reassured, banishing her fears. How comforting those words of his had been, and true to his words her father had never let go of her, nor had he ever let her