‘I was just sitting on the beach drinking this. That is how lit my night was.’ He indicated the empty beer can he was going to dispose of later then sat down next to her.
‘Ooo, beer in a can. Things must be bad.’
‘It is worse. I took it from the hotel bar and put nothing in the honesty box.’
‘I might have to arrest you,’ Faye said.
‘Will you have handcuffs?’ he asked, dipping his head into her space a little.
‘Stop that.’
‘Why?’
‘Because we are in trouble, you know that, right? You saw the photographs.’
‘What photographs?’ he asked.
She had to look at him to check his expression, and the moment she turned her head he laughed out loud.
‘You really think I did not see the photos?’ Kostas exclaimed. ‘Everyone on this damn island…’ He paused then rephrased. ‘Everyone on this island has seen the photos. I would have called you but today was crazy.’ He sighed. ‘I should have called you. It was my fault that the reporters were there.’
‘And if you had called me, what would you have said?’ Faye asked.
‘Probably sorry. And that I hoped your daughter had not seen the photos.’
‘Yes, well, she has seen them.’
‘Shit, Faye, I’m sorry.’
‘It’s OK.’
‘So she was cool?’
‘No,’ Faye said. ‘She was not cool but that’s my issue to deal with.’ She took a breath. ‘Saffron found the break-up with her father difficult. Even when you’re nineteen, your parents going their separate ways is hard.’
‘What happened there?’ he asked.
Her heart pulsed, a reminder that told her thinking back still hurt.
‘Sorry,’ Kosta said. ‘You don’t have to tell me. I?—’
‘No,’ Faye interrupted. ‘No, it’s OK.’ She took a breath. ‘Things weren’t right for a while but, you know, I tried to brush it off, focus on taking care of Saffron, be the supportive wife and mother I’d always been, and then…’
‘Then?’
‘Then I found out he’d been cheating on me.’
‘What?’
‘And it wasn’t the first time. The first time I forgave him even though he left me, left Saffron too for over six months and?—’
‘Fuck, Faye, are you serious?’
She could almost feel the bristling furious energy emitting from him. He was incensed.
‘It’s OK. It happens.’
‘No, Faye, not when you’ve made a commitment to someone. If you’ve made a commitment, a contract, a vow, that’s it.’
