I glance at my phone, and notice I have no messages from Christos to enquire about Irene. Or if I even arrived home okay. I then wonder what on earth I would do if he asked me out on another date? Do I really want to be dating two men? I stuff my phone into my bag as I get myself ready for bed in a complete quandary.
TWENTY-FIVE
I climb into bed when Patsy calls and thanks me once more for coming this evening.
‘I’ve just nipped outside for a quick vape, before I settle down for the night,’ she says. ‘I really must quit.’
‘I’m sure you will eventually. Anyway, I will call you in the morning and see what’s what,’ I tell her. ‘I am sure Tasha will also want to know how Irene is doing too.’
‘I’m sure she will, although I don’t want to worry her, especially as she will be back off home to Australia soon enough.’ She frowns.
‘She would want to know though,’ I assure her. ‘Anyway, goodnight, Patsy. Make sure you get some rest.’
‘Oh, I will, I’m pretty pooped now, it’s all caught up with me,’ she says, stifling a yawn. ‘Thank you for coming, Mia, I was in a right old state earlier.’
‘My pleasure, I don’t think I would have settled either, wondering how Irene was doing.’
Before I close my eyes, I think of how the phone call from Patsy caused my evening with Christos to end abruptly. Then I think of the date I have the day after tomorrow with Andreas and my head is filled with confused thoughts. It seems I enjoythe company of both of these men, even though they couldn’t be more different. It takes me a little while to get to sleep. What an eventful day this has been.
I’m awakened the next morning by the sound of a shrieking alarm. It takes me a second to realise that a fire alarm is going off in the apartments.
I grab my robe and pull it around me as I head out into the corridor, where a member of staff is leading everyone to a fire escape.
‘Is it a real fire?’ I ask someone, bleary-eyed.
‘We are not sure just yet,’ says the staff member as he ushers everyone along, speaking to another colleague quickly in Greek.
A few minutes later, a fire truck arrives and the other guests and I are gathered in the car park of the apartment, while someone does an inventory of the guests using a laptop.
‘Good job the weather is so nice,’ says a woman I recognise from the wedding. ‘I wouldn’t fancy standing out here in the rain.’
‘Me neither,’ I agree.
A group of us stand chatting for a few minutes, when I hear a familiar voice behind me.
‘Oh my goodness, what on earth is going on?’
I turn to find Tasha and Owen, who have returned from their few days away.
Tasha glances all around, as the crew from the fire engine head in the direction of some smoke billowing out from a ground-floor window.
‘And oh my goodness, where are Irene and Patsy?’ Her hand flies to her mouth as she glances around, unable to locate them. ‘They are not still inside are they?’ she asks, panicked.
‘No, no they aren’t,’ I assure her.
I suddenly feel cold, even in the warmth of the morning sun, and I pull my robe tightly around me.
‘So where are they?’ she asks, puzzled.
‘At the hospital,’ I tell her. ‘But please, don’t panic, it isn’t anything serious.’
At least I hope not. I haven’t actually spoken to Patsy yet, to have an update about Irene.
‘What happened?’ asks a concerned Owen, a frown crossing his face.
I tell them all about Patsy calling me, after Irene had taken a tumble.
‘I’m sorry you weren’t told, but Patsy didn’t want to ruin the final day of your honeymoon. As it didn’t appear to be too serious at first.’
