‘Ah, you saw the dolphin. I bought that especially for you. Come on. Sit down. Let’s talk about this.’
Elias closes the front door, which is now ajar, and takes the suitcase from my hand.
‘We need to talk. Please, will you stay, at least until you hear what I’ve got to say? Then it’s up to you to make your mind up about whether you want to go home or not. Just say that you’ll listen to me first.’
‘I don’t know. I think I’ve heard enough. You obviously don’t trust me. Do you even trust me to tell me the truth here?’
‘Of course, I do. Honestly, I wish I’d never won that money sometimes. I’m all over the place. I’m sorry, but please listen to me, and then you can leave.’
Finally, I reluctantly agree to listen to him. I came all this way; I may as well see what else he has to say for himself.
‘Why don’t you go and sit by the pool, and I’ll bring us some coffees out,’ says Elias.
I wander outside and wait for Elias. I look up at the bedroom balcony where I like to sit and drink my coffee in the morning and to the window of the study that I love to work in. One thing is certain, Elias has very discerning taste. If I had to pick a dream home where money was no object, this would be the home I would choose.
Elias walks towards me, holding two mugs, and I look at his face. He looks older and tired. He smiles hesitantly as he approaches me. However, whilst I wanted this relationship to work out so badly, he would have to give me a pretty good reason to accept the fact that he keeps hiding the truth from me.
‘So…’ he says, putting down the coffee on the table beside my sunbed.
‘So,’ I say rather awkwardly.
‘I suppose I need to explain myself properly. I never meant any of this. It’s just that, like I said before, the money I won has been a blessing and a curse. I want people to like me for who I am, not what I’ve got.’
‘I know, but we’ve been through this. I thought you knew that I adore you as a person. I don’t care about the villa, the yacht, or anything else. It feels like the biggest insult to me that you pretended this was some kind of Airbnb and didn’t trust me enough to tell me it was yours. I gave you the chance to come clean when I asked who owned the villa. You’ve had so many opportunities to tell me the truth. It’s not about the money, it’s about the lies. If there’s one thing I despise, it’s a liar.’
‘I realise that now, but I don’t like showing off. I mean, I’m still that window cleaner underneath all of this, and I don’t want to come across like I’m trying to impress or show off. I didn’t mean to lie. I hate liars too. Oh, I’m so, so sorry. I’ve made the biggest fool out of myself.’
‘I just thought that we knew each other well enough now not to play games like this. When Renee from next door came and said that—’
‘Renee?’ says Elias.
‘Yeah, the next-door neighbour. She came around to meet the new people who’d moved in. I felt such an idiot when I didn’t know who owned it. That’s when I started to get suspicious.’
‘I’m so sorry I embarrassed you.’
‘Yes, you have. You’ve not only made a fool of yourself but me too.’
‘Oh, Lucy. Don’t say that. You’re far from a fool. You’re the smartest, most gorgeous woman I am starting to fall for. I thought we had something special here, and I didn’t want anything to spoil it. What if having all of this put you off me? Like I’ve said before, I just don’t know how to deal with all of this without coming across as some kind of knobhead,’ Elias smiles as he says this last bit. ‘I promise I’m not a knobhead, even though I may seem like it right now.’
‘Hmm, you do.’
‘Look, will it help if I promise, promise, promise that I’ll never do anything stupid like this again? I want to be transparent with you. Look, let me show you something…’
Elias fumbles in his pocket and pulls his phone out. He uses his fingerprint to open something and shows me the app for his bank account.
‘Here…There’s the balance. That’s everything I’ve got.’
I look at the balance with all its zeros. ‘You don’t need to show me your bank account.’
‘I do. If you think I’m hiding anything from you, let this show you that I’m genuine, and I’ll never hide anything from you again. If I promise, Scout’s honour, to never lie again, will you stick around with me and give me one last chance?’
I eye him suspiciously.
‘Please stick around a bit longer and don’t walk out on me, despite me being the biggest idiot ever. I’m sorry. The last thing I want to do is come across as some rich poser. I’m not very good at any of this – as you can see.’
‘You just need to be truthful with me. Don’t ever lie to me again. In return, I promise you can trust me. I likeyou, Elias, and definitely not your money.’
If we have any chance of this relationship working, we both need to be transparent with each other.
