Page 86 of The Riviera House Swap
But she had her photos – selfies taken at dinner with Antoine and Sabine, pictures of the beach and the beachfront walk. The restaurants she’d visited with Pierre (she’d deleted the one picture they’d taken together), Sabine’s VW, Jean-Luc’s house. There were a lot of memories in there to sift through later.
In some ways, it felt a little defeatist to be going home. To be resuming her life in England after throwing caution to the wind for a few weeks. Worse, she was now going to go to live with her parents. Yes, she loved them. Yes, she’d be happy to be spending some time with them. But on paper, it did nothing for the self-esteem.
Before she’d set off again, Sabine had invited her to come on her road trip to Vienna. ‘It is just seven, eight weeks,’ she said. ‘You can fly back home after for Christmas. And it will be an adventure.’
Nina had seriously considered it for a few minutes, but then remembered the house sale was due to complete, and Jemima was expecting her back at her desk. Even Mum had probably made some preparations – perhaps filling the fridge with some of Nina’s childhood favourites as she had in the past. She couldn’t let everyone down; and besides, she’d had enough adventuring for a bit. Predictability was under-rated.
When she’d told Bess on the phone, her friend had surprised her by saying, ‘Why don’t you try it? You said you were going to take risks, remember? Find out where fate leads you.’
‘Maybe I will, just not yet,’ she’d said. ‘Plus you know, if fate does exist, I guess it’ll happen whether I like it or not. Right? Maybe I’ll just wait for a sign…’
She’d tried writing a list afterwards, to see exactly what she was giving up. But it, too, had been inconclusive.
Pros:
Get to see the world!
Vienna Christmas markets
Have fun with Sabine
Take a risk for once
Cons:
Have to quit job properly this time
Need to be there for house sale
Mum and Dad might feel let down
Not sure if I could sleep in a campervan!
So she was here, packed and ready to go. To say goodbye to Cagnes-sur-Mer for now. And nobody looked likely to stop her.
‘It’s back to reality, I guess,’ she said to herself, looking at her ticket and her passport before opening the front door. She’d spent the morning cleaning, and her taxi was due outside in tenminutes’ time. Antoine had popped in on the way to work to say a quick goodbye, but she was leaving as she’d arrived – alone. And it was OK.
It was colder than she’d imagined it would be when she stepped out of the centrally heated house and into the autumn air and once she’d rolled her suitcase to the end of the drive, she slipped her hands in her pockets. Inside one, she discovered a crumpled tissue, but in the other, her fingers touched something small and metallic. Drawing her hand out, she realised it was Pierre’s necklace – the one she’d brought with her as a talisman. Much good it had done. She smiled at the little silver heart with its tiny, spiky arrow one more time before dropping it over the bars of a nearby drain. ‘Bye Pierre,’ she said, wondering whether the necklace and soggy letters would somehow meet again in the sewers of southern France.
She didn’t notice that the necklace didn’t quite make it between the grill, but hung on, secured by the little heart that had caught on a tiny flaw in the metal drain cover.
The taxi turned up, reversing in front of her, and a woman got out, took Nina’s bag and slid it into the boot. ‘Airport?’ the driver asked, to double-check, and Nina nodded, finding suddenly that her eyes were full of tears.
‘Please,’ she managed to respond.
And they were off. Nina tried to remember the journey she’d had getting here – when she’d felt a world of possibilities in front of her. It had been just over three weeks ago, yet it seemed like an absolute age. She wondered what her former self would have thought about how it all turned out. It was a miracle that she’d found Pierre, had spent time with him – even if that time only revealed he was a bit of a bastard. At least she’d closed the door on that chapter.
She thought about Sabine and Antoine, and the friendship they had created in such a short time. She’d already added themboth to her social media and was determined to keep in touch – maybe even visit them again one day. How something had stirred within her when Antoine had revealed his feelings.
She thought about Sal. Without Nina opening her heart to the idea of love and fate, Sal wouldn’t have met Jean-Luc.
She thought then about work. About walking back into that office again. Finding it practically empty. Driving to and from her parents’ place to get there. The equity sitting in her bank.
Was she crazy? She wondered. She’d had a chance to travel – another thing she thought she’d missed the boat on – but again, she had decided to pass it up. What might have happened if she’d said yes to Sabine and taken a longer vacation? Would it really have been so disastrous? And Antoine – he really was a genuinely nice person – should she have explored it all more?
But there was no use speculating. She was here. She’d chosen her fork in the road and now she’d see it through.
The taxi bumped as they went around the corner and Nina felt herself rise up slightly in her seat. Perhaps it was a pot-hole. But the bumping sensation continued and minutes later, the taxi driver pulled to the side of the road. ‘One minute, madame,’ she said. Outside, she inspected the car, crouching down at its side. And Nina heard her cursing.
