Chapter 13 - Fun In The Sun (Previously entitled 'Off The Cretan Track' ) Edited and extra chapters.

Nick loved those kinds of discussions with Sal...to know what she thought about sex... when she thought about it, why she thought about it, how she thought about it, who she thought about when she thought about it. Basically, anything to do with Sal thinking about sex. Strange, he couldn't think of any other girls he knew who talked about sex like she did. He remembered the first time she'd done it; just randomly told him last year in the airport cafe that she really wanted it soon. Even his girlfriends hadn't exactly talked about sex with him.

That was one thing that really surprised Nick about Sal; that, for a girl, she talked an awful lot about it. And with him too. And if she talked a lot about it, then she must also think about it a lot as well. He would give anything to know some of those thoughts. The ones that were far to explicit for even Sal to talk about. That was a dangerous train of thought for him now though. He shifted on his barstool and turned his attention back to the conversation.

"...it's usually about thirteen minutes," Nick heard Sal say.

What was thirteen minutes he wondered. What had he missed?

"Really?" Ruth replied. "It kind of seemed like longer," she laughed. "from what I can remember."

Okay, he had to ask.

"What is thirteen minutes?"

They both turned to him.

"Keep up Nick," Ruth said. "We're talking about sex."

"Yes, I know that, but what takes thirteen minutes?" he asked.

"Sex," they both said at the same time.

"Woa, wait, no way!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, apparently, according to Sal's investigations, it takes an average of thirteen minutes," Ruth informed him.

"But...but... that can't be right," he replied.

"Why, how long do you think it takes?" Sal asked with a grin.

"At least thirty minutes, sometimes longer," he answered. "Up to an hour," he added.

"What?" Sal and Ruth exclaimed.

"Hold on," Ruth went on, "are you talking about the actual time doing it, or including the time before as well?"

He frowned and tried to calculate it. They watched as he attempted to add up the figures in his head.

Finally, he gave up. "For goodness sake! Who goes around timing these kind of things anyway?"

They laughed.

"The way I see it," he continued, "It's kind of possible to vaguely know how much time is taken before, but when it's actually happening," he paused to imagine it. Then he shook his head. "There's no way anyone could know."

"You make it sound very mystical and mysterious," Sal chuckled.

"So, why can nobody know?" Ruth asked.

"What?" Nick said, finding it a little hard to focus through the Sambuca haze.

"You said that when it's actually happening, no one could know how long it takes," Sal reminded him.

"Oh yeah, well you go into a different..." he tried to think of the right word, "...dimension."

Sal and Ruth both turned to each other with wide-eyed amazement, then laughed.

"Really?" Ruth said. "Are you sure you hadn't been smoking something funny at the time?" she laughed.

"No, that wouldn't be a very good idea at all, not for a guy," he answered. "No, I mean, well not exactly another dimension, but something similar. Time kind of stops going at its usual pace because... well... let's face it, everything is very focused on other things."

Wow, did he just say all that? He wasn't as bad at talking about stuff as he thought.

"Well that's nice," Ruth responded. "It sounds as if you pay a lady a lot of attention, Nick."

"Thanks," he smiled. "I do."

Sal contemplated him as he took a sip of his beer.

"I must admit, I have had one or two terrible lovers though," Ruth commented. "Some good ones too of course," she assured them.

"Why were they terrible?" Nick asked instinctively, realizing that this was actually a great opportunity for him to find out what women really thought about all of this. It's not like he got to know this kind of thing every day and it could help him find out if he was up to standard. "No actually, why were the other ones good?" he backtracked.

Ruth smiled. "Like I said, they were focused on me. Not just in it for themselves, or their egos."

He thought about that for a moment before replying. "What else makes a good lover, do you think?" He was aware that he was probably pushing this too much, and that he would never normally go anywhere near this kind of frank conversation if he was sober, but they seemed relaxed and happy to chat about this.

Sal stepped up then. "Of course all of the considerate stuff, that's really important, but after that..." she contemplated it for a moment. "It has to be exciting," she finished.

"Yes," Ruth agreed. "A boring lover really doesn't do it for me."

Sal laughed. "Nor me."

"Wait, so okay, what makes an exciting lover then?" Nick asked them.

"Not predictable," Sal offered.

"Masterful," Ruth chuckled.

"I like talking," Sal admitted suddenly. "If he does it right," she added.

Nick looked up then in confusion.

"What? Wouldn't that be a bit off-putting?" he asked.

It took Ruth a moment then to work out Nick's misunderstanding.

"No Nick," she laughed suddenly. "She's not talking about discussing what you did at the weekend!"

"Oh," he said, following it by, "ohhh..." when it properly registered what Sal had meant. "Right," he grinned, "Yeah, that can be good."

Sal giggled. "Yep, turns me on...what about you?" she asked, totally taking him by surprise.

He suddenly realized that these girls were clearly used to talking like this and they knew the rules. He, on the other hand, was a guy and hadn't a clue what the rules of such conversations were.

Ruth suddenly felt as if she was intruding on Sal and Nick then, which was ridiculous because they weren't even a couple. However, she couldn't help but think, and hope, that somewhere along the line, they would be.

"Looks like Bill wants to pay his tab," she said to Nick and Sal, making a discrete retreat down to the other end of the bar.

It had been a few moments since Sal had asked the question now and Nick still hadn't answered.

"It's ok," Sal said to him. "You don't have to tell me. It's just me being nosey," she added.

"No, it's ok...it just... why do you ask?" he said.

"There is a very good reason," she assured him. "So that I know men better. You know, the way they think. So I can understand them better and hopefully have better relationships."

Weird, but that made total sense. In fact...

He laughed. "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing when listening to you and Ruth."

Sal smiled. Then there was a short silence, which was followed by her prompting him with, "So?"

"So?" he echoed.

"So, what about you? What turns you on?" she asked.

"You," was the first thought that popped into his head. But no, he couldn't tell her that.

"Err..." He was faced with those ambiguous rules again. "Well..." he ran a hand through his hair.

"What?" she asked.

"Uhm..."

"What? Just say it," she prompted.

Right, just say it.

"Bouncy bits," he said, bursting out into laughter when the absurdity of the situation hit him.

Sal started giggling too.

"Hey, don't laugh at me," he said, still laughing himself. "You got me into this... and you encouraged me." He pointed an accusatory finger at her.

"No," she said, "I can understand how guys like..." she paused then before bursting out into laughter again shortly afterwards.

"Stop it," he grinned. "or there will be ramifications."

"Okay, sorry," she said. "I promise not to laugh if you tell me what else," she assured him, resting her chin on her hands and watching him with interest.

"More?" he replied incredulously. "You want me to go into the lion's den again!"

She chuckled. "What can I say, I'm insatiable. Anyway, I said I wouldn't laugh this time," she reminded him, putting on a straight face. "I won't, I promise."

"Think I need another drink for this," he said, standing up on his barstool foot rest to lean across to the other side of the bar where Ruth kept the Sambuca.

"I think Ruth will be closing soon," Sal said, watching as he pulled out some money and left it on the other side of the bar for Ruth.

"That's why I got this," he said, pouring Sambuca into a shot glass. "It's quick to drink."

"Go on then, I'll have one too," she replied, reaching for her bag to get some money.

"Don't worry about it," he said, pouring some of the Sambuca into a glass for Sal. "I left more than enough money for these two drinks."

"Okay, thanks," she said, picking up the glass, clinking with his and holding his gaze as they both drank.

She replaced the glass onto the bar with a grin. "So, are you ready to tell me now, Nick?" she asked, her light-headedness causing a mixture of excitement and fun.

"Woa," he said, shaking his head sharply. "That one had some kick...Am I ready? Uhm," he thought about it for a moment. What could he actually tell her? Could he really delve into all those fantasies he'd had, mostly about her. "On second thoughts..." he shook his head, "No really, Sal, I can't."

"Why?" she piped up.

"Because Sal," he leant towards her, his eyes travelling over her face. "If I do, this conversation is going to get seriously X-rated."

Her eyes widened. That was the second time that night he had surprised her with his reply. "Really?" she said. Then his answer fully sank in and she gasped. "Oh no, that's not fair! Now I'm totally intrigued. What on earth could be that x-rated?"

He laughed and put a hand over his face, shaking his head. "You really don't want to know, Sal."

"But yes, yes, now I do," she replied.

He laughed again. "Ruth wants to close, Sal."

Sal glanced behind her to see that they were now the only customers left in the bar and Ruth was tidying up.

"Okay, but you've got to tell me," she said, watching as he slid off his barstool and prepared to leave. "Tell me now quickly," she urged him.

"No Sal," he laughed, heading past her to move down the bar.

"Nick, come on," she said, jumping off her bar stool and chasing after him. "You have to tell me!"

Ruth glanced up from replenishing the fridges when she registered the laughter and commotion caused by Nick and Sal.

"What on earth are you two up to?" Ruth asked, as Sal chased Nick down the bar.

Ruth was noted however, with amusement, that despite being chased, Nick seemed decidedly happy about it.

As they pursued each other, dodging between the barstools, laughing and shrieking, she couldn't help but think it was like having two excitable children in her bar.

"Come on you two," she laughed. "You had better get down town while there are still some bars open down there."

Sal gave up then and flopped onto a barstool to catch her breath at the end of the bar, opposite where Ruth was cleaning the surfaces. Nick followed close behind.

"Sorry Ruth, it's just that I was trying to... and well, he was," she panted.

"Yes, I get the idea," Ruth grinned, glancing from Sal to Nick.

"Yeah, anyway," Sal replied, "Want to come with us?" she asked.

Ruth shook her head. "Thank for the offer but I'm going straight to bed; I'm shattered."

"Okay, next time," Sal smiled.

"Right, I had better pay up," Nick said, "Fair is fair, I lost that game of yours badly," he said to Ruth, reaching into his wallet for some Euro notes. He pulled out a crisp yellow two hundred note and tossed it onto the bar.

When Ruth saw the large amount of money she went to say something, taking a breath, only to be interrupted by Nick before she could speak.

"To be honest," he continued, "It's been such a great night. I'm more than happy to pay for everyone's drinks."

"Wait," Sal cut in with slight panic in her voice. However, leaving the money, Ruth busied herself to and fro, replacing objects behind the bar and reorganizing the supplies. Sal finally went around to the other side of the bar and caught up with Ruth at the till.

"Ruth," Sal said, tapping her on the arm and speaking in a whisper, "Nick can't afford all that. Let me pay," she appealed.

Ruth smiled. "No need." She continued in a louder voice for Nick to also hear. "Adam settled the bill earlier, Nick."

Nick glanced up then with a slight frown, "Wait, no..."

"He said," she interrupted him, "That he will take it out of your wages and give you extra shifts next week."

"But..."

"He needs the staff," she assured him. "Take that money back, Nick. Everything has been paid for," she repeated.

He paused for a moment before shrugging and retrieving the money again from the bar.

That was nice of Adam.

"Bye Sal," Ruth said, reaching for her goodbye hug.

"Love you Ruthie," Sal replied.

Ruth then locked the till and made her way from behind the bar to Nick, who was standing at the end, near to the doorway. Sal was behind her.

"See you tomorrow maybe?" she said to Nick.

"Yeah, for sure," he replied.

Ruth reached forward then to hug Nick. "Have a great rest of the night," she said.

He hugged her back but then made no move to leave. "I'll see you to your door," he said, as she turned off the bar lights.

"Don't be silly," she replied. "Honestly, I'll be fine."

She had forgotten how Nick was always so concerned about ensuring that she got home safely.

"No," he insisted. "I'm walking you back."

She laughed, "But it's only two doors down. There's no need."

"Do we have to go through this every time?" he asked.

Ruth sighed and then gave a small laugh. "Okay then, you can walk me back," she finally conceded.

They exited through the first set of glass doors where Ruth used her keys to lock them, however the second set of doors closed by simply being pulled shut.

"Stay here," Nick said to Sal. "I'll just be a minute."

He followed Ruth then into the cool, dark street and down the cobbled road to the building just a few moments walk away. She used another key to unlock the outside door to an apartment block with a narrow stairway leading up two floors to her apartment.

At the bottom of the stairs, she turned to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Nick. You're very sweet. It's great to see you back," she said.

"It's great to be back again. Thanks for such a good night," he replied.

"See you tomorrow," she said, turning to head up the stairs.

At the bottom, Nick paused for a moment before leaving, calling after her, "Ruth..."

She reached the top of the stairs and turned, leaning on the stair rail and glancing down at him. "Yes."

"How come you never had kids," he asked.

That question came out of the blue, surprising her.

"My life just didn't go in that direction," she answered honestly. "Not that I wouldn't have liked kids; the time was just never right."

He nodded, but still didn't leave. Ruth knew him well enough by now to know that he probably had something on his mind and was wondering how to say it.

"It's just that..."

"What is it, Nick?" she encouraged him.

"I was just thinking..." Damn it, he was just going to say it. "I wish you had been my mom." Then he laughed nervously. "Silly, eh."

She exhaled in a sigh and her whole expression softened then. "Nick, I would have been so proud to have you as my son."

He smiled, and then chuckled and didn't know where to look for a moment.

"Go on now Nick, Sal's waiting," she reminded him. "Go and have a lovely time."