‘Well, I am pleased to hear it. I was really concerned.’ She frowns.
‘Well you needn’t be, because I am fine. Anyway, I am more interested in hearing about your time in that villa on the secluded island,’ says Irene. ‘But not the censored bits obviously.’ She winks and Tasha laughs.
‘Oh, it was bliss,’ she says as Owen orders some drinks.
‘I could easily have turned into Robinson Crusoe and stayed there forever.’ He sighs, before planting a kiss on Tasha’s cheek.
They are so loved up; I wonder if I will ever meet anyone who looks at me in that way.
‘We never exactly had to hunt for our own food though,’ Tasha says with a laugh. ‘The chef came in and cooked us delicious evening meals. We did our own breakfast though.’
‘Some days we never surfaced until almost noon, and skipped it,’ Owen says.
‘Too much information,’ Patsy replies, putting her fingers in her ears and laughing.
We are sitting looking at the menu just as Bryn and Owen arrive.
‘Blimey, you look rough,’ Owen comments to Bryn.
‘I am a little,’ he admits. ‘I made rather a night of it last night after winning a quiz. It’s taken me all day to feel human,’ he groans.
‘In other words, he’s been asleep all day,’ explains Ash. ‘Which meant I could get on with finishing a song I have been working on.’
‘Ooh interesting, what type of song?’ I ask.
‘It’s a kind of ballad. Something I think would really suit your voice, actually. You can hear the instrumental if you like.’
‘Sure, I’d love to.’
He shows me a video of him strumming the most beautiful guitar melody.
‘I have kind of scribbled down the lyrics for you to look at,’ he says to my surprise, as he takes a piece of notepaper from his pocket.
‘But I don’t want to dominate the evening, so maybe you could look them over and tell me what you think? I will send the guitar video to you as well,’ Ash tells me kindly.
‘Perfect, thanks, Ash,’ I tell him, excited to maybe try and sing the lyrics to the music.
Talk turns to our time in Greece, and we fill Owen and Tasha in on how we have been spending the last few days while they have been away.
‘The Jeep safari sounds like fun,’ says Tasha.
‘It was, as was the boat trip. Oh, and Lulu says to say hi and to thank you both once more for your hospitality. She really loved the wedding, as did we all. It was such a special day.’
‘It was, wasn’t it?’ Tasha curls her hand around Owen’s. ‘It’s a day I will always remember.’ She smiles. ‘And it was lovely to meet Lulu, she seems so lovely,’ says Tasha as she picks up an olive.
‘She is. I guess I have good taste in friends,’ I say, and she makes a little heart shape with her fingers.
My mind flits back to the day of the wedding at the hotel, where Christos worked his charm on me. The thought of his kisses still makes me go weak at the knees, but as he hasn’t been in touch, I decide to push all thoughts of him to the back of my mind.
‘So this is it then, our last supper together,’ says Owen as our drinks arrive. ‘I hope you can come over and visit us in the not-too-distant future though,’ he tells me. ‘All of you, I mean. Not you though,’ he jokes to Bryn. ‘I get to see enough of you.’
‘Charming,’ says Bryn.
‘I would love to. I had better get saving though,’ I tell him.
‘Oh, it would be amazing if you could,’ says Tasha. ‘I would love to show you around my favourite places. And the beaches are pretty wow.’
‘I’m not sure I could do that long flight,’ Irene says sadly. ‘Life’s unfair sometimes, is it not?’ she comments. ‘Here am I with the money, but not the youth, while you are the other way around,’ she says to me. ‘Sorry, sweetie, I hope that didn’t sound too rude,’ she continues a second later, having thought about it.
