Welcome To Crete Chapter 70

Adam searches for Fay's beach

Adam rushed to finish the last of his paperwork, turned off his computer and locked up the office. He drove straight to his house, changed his trousers and shirt for a t shirt and a pair of shorts and searched through his kitchen cupboards for the map he had thrown there weeks before. After taking a brief look at the map, he put it into his pocket, grabbed his car keys and left.

An hour and a half later he had scoured the coastline in and around Agios Nikolaos, looking for a nearly deserted small beach. He had begun by passing the crowded beaches in search of the quiet ones, however after not finding Fay on any of them he began to backtrack and found himself aimlessly wandering across every beach he came to.

What the hell was he doing? Damn stubborn woman! Why couldn't she just show a little faith in him and admit how she feels so that they can finally be together and give up playing those silly games?

He finally came to a standstill at the far end of a beach on the outskirts of the town and contemplated his next move.

He'd gone to every damn beach there was! Where the hell was she? Okay, maybe he was not thinking about this in the right way. Maybe it was extremely small. Afterall, none of the beaches he'd found so far had been completely deserted.

He slowly smiled then as an idea hit him and he headed back down the beach. At the other end he climbed up a small hill and followed the path that lead from the beach back into the town. The path was approximately a mile and a half long and it looked down over the sea and rocks below. Adam had walked the path a few times before, choosing to enjoy the view and the sunshine as apposed to using his car. As he walked he stopped every now and then to lean over the wooden barrier and take a look at the coast below. Over the last couple of times that he had done that walk he had realised that the coastline appeared to look different each time, and it was with the changing levels of the water that small coves appeared and disappeared. Should Fay have found a way down to the sea he worked out that she would be able to use one of the coves for the period of time that it wasn't covered with water, and her time there would most certainly have been undisturbed.

It wasn't long before he came to a succession of such small coves and on the largest one he smiled smugly to himself when he spotted a figure sitting looking out to sea. He stood there and watched her for a few moments, wondering how to handle the tirade he was bound to face when she realised that he had found her. In a way he was especially determined to find this secret beach of hers to send out a message that he wanted to be wherever she was, be it England or there in Crete. Now that they seemed to be no longer in danger however he wanted for them to stay there, after all she obviously adored the place and he didn't really relish the thought of going back to live in London himself.

His eyes scanned the rocky edge for a way down to the cove, however the only way he could imagine getting down there was to climb over the barrier and scale his way over the rocks, a precarious manoeuvre. There had to be an easier way but he didn't have the patience to find it so he set about his descent immediately. He clambered over and across the rocks so that by the time he had reached the bottom he was standing out of her immediate line of sight. She was sitting with her arms tucked around her knees staring out across the water and as he approached her she eventually became aware of his presence, jumping with fright as she turned her head. He took one look at her tear stained face and his smile faded.

"What's wrong Fay?" he asked.

"For god sake! You just had to find me didn't you? Well done Adam but now that you have proven a point can you just leave me the hell alone!" she said with annoyance.

He sat down on the sand next to her and watched her for a moment, wondering why she was upset.

If it was because she thought he was leaving then why didn't she ask him to stay? He'd get down on his knees and beg her if the tables were turned!

"Come on sweetheart, I'm not proving a point, I just wanted to talk to you. Won't you tell me what's wrong?" he coaxed.

What the hell did he think? He said that he loved her and now he was moving away!

"In case you'd forgotten I've had one hell of time the last few days, what with nearly being burnt to death and all!" she replied sarcastically.

Nothing to do with her thinking that he was leaving then?

He reached out and wiped a stray tear from her face with his finger.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't very nice to you after it happened was I? All I can say is that I was confused...and to be honest I felt a bit guilty for falling and leaving you to deal with it all on your own," he explained.

Why was he being nice to her now? She didn't understand! She'd rather that he was nasty, it would make the fact that he was leaving easier for her to deal with!

She sighed and moved her eyes away from him.

"Look, we haven't spoken since Pedros phoned me, at least I should fill you in on what happened," he said, breaking the silence.

"Sal told me, the men have been caught right?"

So there was actually no need for him to go back...so why the hell was he?

"Yes, so we will be safe now thank god!" he exclaimed, trying to sound more positive.

"Who was hurt exactly, just Nick?" she found herself asking, despite her reluctance to talk to him.

"Yes, luckily Nick managed to get the people off the boat before it exploded. It was a well thought out move for them, it would have put me out of business and probably put tourists off altogether from coming here if it had made headline news," he pointed out.

"Poor Nikos. Have you seen him Adam?" she asked.

A frown crossed his face at her question and he stared at her in shock.

"You don't know everything that happened then?"

She could feel her anxiety rise as she watched his reaction.

"What do you mean? You said that Nick was the only one who was hurt," she said nervously.

He turned to face her then and he took her hands in his. She looked down at them with a frown; now he was really beginning to frighten her!

"Sweetheart it was Nikos," he said simply.

"What do you mean? Was he hurt?" she asked, misunderstanding him.

"No Fay, it was Nikos who chased Nick, who blew up his own boat, who began the campaign to rid the island of tourists and who tried to kill us."

She stared at him blankly for a while as the information refused to sink in.

"What are you talking about? It wasn't Nikos," she said in disbelief.

He nodded his head. "It was sweetheart."

She shook her head and stood up suddenly, backing away from him.

"It wasn't Nikos," she shouted, pointing a finger at him and turning to walk away.

He made after her then and she began to run, reaching the rocks with the intention of climbing back up them. He grabbed her by the arm however and turned her around before she had a chance to begin her climb.

"Why? Why would he do that?" she sobbed. "I've known him for years and he's always been so nice to me."

"It wasn't you, it was the fact that you were working for me and you just got caught up in all the madness," he said, cupping her face and moving one arm around her shoulder to pull her closer.

She pulled away and covered her face with her hands, fighting for control over her emotions. However the fear of being trapped by the fires and the picture in her head of Nikos on his boat tore at her heart and her tears fell through her fingers and ran down her hands. Adam reached for her again and again she pulled away but his arms shot out then and enveloped her in a hold that was too strong for her to escape.

"People like that aren't well babe, he didn't have a grip on reality. It wasn't personal against you," he said, trying to reason everything out.

She buried her face in his chest and allowed herself to be comforted by him for a few moments. He smelt like Adam and his arms held her so tightly that she felt safe again, even loved... but no, he was leaving her and so there was no point in getting used to having him there.

"I'm okay now," she said calmly, finally ending the tears. "Now I just want to go home."