Welcome To Crete Chapter 59

A Chapter by Repgreece

Adam sat in the office, gazing absentmindedly out of the window at the sea and mountains in the distance. It had been three days since that evening when he had walked home along the beach and telephoned Fay, and now all he could think about was her return. The following evening she had telephoned him again and their conversation had been light hearted and full of excitement for the time when they would be together again. He was pleased that she'd sounded happier during the phone call, however the reason for her departure still played constantly on his mind.

As his eyes moved lazily over the view he was abruptly pulled out of his reverie by the sight of Sal crossing the road and heading for the office. He smiled when she waved enthusiastically at him and bounded into the office, filling the room with her usual energetic chatter.

"You'll be pleased to know that I didn't make any blunders the other night on my transfer. It all went swimmingly well and I just thought I'd pop in to bring you my immaculately filled out paperwork," she boasted, placing the sheets on his desk and heading straight for the air conditioner, where she stood frantically fanning herself in front of it.

"Well done," he laughed, watching her with amusement. "You never know, we might make proper rep out of you yet!"

She pulled a face at him.

"So, I heard that you did the excursion talks! I was amazed! How did you get on with them?" she asked.

He had telephoned Fay immediately after the talks, proud of himself for standing in for her whilst she was away. The guests had actually been thrilled that the company director had taken the time to talk to them and he had tried to put in all the details and enthusiasm he had observed in Fay during their sightseeing trips.

"It went surprisingly well but I think I'll leave that kind of thing to Fay in the future, once was enough for me," he replied.

"Talking of Fay, do you know when she's coming back? She mentioned that she may be able to fly home sooner than planned."

"Yes it should be any day now, although I still don't know why she had to go away in the first place," he hinted, wondering if Fay had confided in Sal.

Sal looked nervous and skirted the subject, turning her attention back to the air conditioner.

"Well I can't wait to see her, it seems as though she's been gone forever," she exaggerated. "Anyway Adam, where have you been for the last few weeks? Nobody has seen anything of you."

"I've been in here a lot, sorting things out," he said vaguely, gazing back out of the window.

Sal watched him thoughtfully and moved across the room to take a seat at the desk opposite him.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit..." she struggled to think of the word, "distant."

He turned to look at her. "I'm fine, I just wonder..."

She waited for him to finish.

"Sal do you know why she left?" he asked suddenly, surprising her.

"Err... she had some things to sort out," Sal answered, picking up a brochure and pretending to show interest in it.

He sighed. "Not you too Sal, that's all I got from Fay but she's not happy back there and she won't tell me why. It's driving me nuts! Why doesn't she trust me enough to tell me? I've not hidden how I feel about her."

Sal put the brochure down and contemplated Adam's tormented look. "You know she was going to tell you before she left but she just never got the chance."

"Then why hasn't she mentioned it since?" he came back.

Sal hesitated. "Perhaps she wants to tell you face to face."

He thought for a moment. "Maybe, or maybe not. I don't know Sal, sometimes I think it's all going great with us but then at other times I'm just not sure how she feels."

Sal gave him a sympathetic look. "Adam, Fay isn't the best at showing how she feels but I've known her for most of my life and I know how much she likes you."

"Fay likes a lot of people Sal but I'm afraid that I've fallen too quickly for someone who just doesn't feel the same," he said with a defeated expression.

"That's not true," she stressed quickly. "She really does think a lot of you, I can tell."

Adam looked unconvinced. "Then tell me this, how long did the other men last before she got rid of them?"

Sal stared at him for a few moments. "You think she's doing the same to you? You're wrong." She tried to think of a way to convince him, concerned that he was giving up on Fay. "Listen Adam I've never seen Fay like this with anyone before. And it's all happened so quickly too. She told me about what nearly happened that night on the beach and I couldn't believe what I was hearing from her! She never gets that involved, let alone so quickly. She's going to kill me if she finds out that I mentioned this to you but she hasn't had a proper relationship for literally years. You can't call the men she's seen once or twice out here relationships."

Adam listened to her intently and then pushed for more information. "So what makes you think that I'm not just one of them?"

Sal's eyes widened. "Haven't you been listening? She doesn't get involved. How can I put it? She doesn't let herself go; she walks away when things get... heated. It didn't sound as if she was doing much walking away that night!"

He smiled. "You two really do talk about everything don't you?"

"Everything," she confirmed proudly.

"Then you do know why she had to leave then," he said immediately.

Damn! Trapped by her own admission!

"Don't ask me to tell you," she begged. "It's not my place."

"Hell Sal, I've even offered to go out there to be with her and help her out. That's how much I care about her!" he exclaimed, raising his voice in exasperation.

Sal looked shocked. "I'm not sure Adam, instinct tells me not to say anything."

"But she has to trust me; there can't be secrets between us if this is going to work. And how can I help her if I don't know? I have to know," he said forcefully.

"But she's my best friend and she told me in confidence," Sal said, standing her ground.

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Fay stood behind the glass doors at the exit of the office block and contemplated the rain outside. She watched the madness of the London street, the people rushing back to work after their lunch breaks, the sales men and women striving hopelessly to stop them and the desperate attempts of the cars to outmanoeuvre one another in an bid to reach their destinations first. She smiled to herself as she cast her mind back to Agios Nikolaos. The sun would be shining, the people would be taking their lunch breaks at work, a raki with the boss or a coffee with friends. Work would begin again at GMT, Greek maybe time, and if you wanted to buy something all well and good, if not there was always 'avrio', tomorrow. She glanced down at her formal tweed suit and high heeled shoes, hardly the best clothes for this type of weather but she shrugged and pushed the door open, stepping out into the rain.

Resisting the urge to rush for shelter she strolled down the street and across the road without a care in the world. She headed for the high street and glanced into a few of the shop windows as she passed, until she came to a bookshop where she found herself stopping when a display of books in the window caught her eye. She grinned and went into the shop to search for a book.

Just what he needs!

Tucking the purchase into her handbag, she continued down the street where she eventually found the place she had been heading for. She entered the building and was invited to take a seat behind one of the desks.

"So, how can I help you?" the woman asked.

"I'd like a flight to Crete please, today if you have one."

The woman looked surprised but turned to her computer and began to search through the flights.

"When will you be returning?" she enquired.

Fay smiled. "I'd like a one way ticket, I'm not coming back."

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