‘Yeah, not too bad. Caught some waves, chilled out and now I’m about to go and play football with Dan, you know, from the pub the other night.’ He made sure he held eye contact.
‘Of course, Dan’s sound. I can see you getting along with him. If you’re walking to Penmenna then and don’t mind waiting a sec, I’ll join you.’
‘Yeah of course but are you not…’
‘Oh no, we’ve finished lunch, haven’t we, James? Didn’t you say you had to go and see someone about something terribly important?’ She directed this at her date, who was not looking quite as smug as he had been a minute ago.
‘Well, yes, but—’
‘Great. Then I’ll walk home with Kam – we work together – and that saves you dropping me off. It’s such a lush day, I’d like to do that. I’ll just nip to the loo.’ James looked blindsided as she moved her chair out from under the table and dashed into the restaurant. Kam didn’t feel a pinch of sympathy. He hadn’t anticipated seeing Pippa today, and he had been almost disappointed that the bank holiday fell on Mondays, meaning he would have one less day in the class with her. He liked the idea of walking back over the beach in her company. Already he felt lifted and he’d only been in her presence a minute or two.
James however didn’t seem quite as pleased about his date scooting off. He stared at him coldly for a minute or two as Kam stood there feeling a bit awkward, and then stood up and came right up to him, invading Kam’s personal space without a qualm, narrowing his eyes as he opened his mouth.
‘I don’t know who you are but I see the way you look at her, so consider this a gentle warning: she’s mine – always has been – and no one else is getting her. I let her get away from me years ago and I’m not making that mistake again. So, if I see you sniffing around her again I’ll be making sure you never walk, talk or stalk again. I suggest you suddenly find yourself busy. Got it?’
‘Woah, I’ve only just met you. I’m not trying to sleep with your girlfriend.’ That was true. It didn’t mean he didn’t want to, but he certainly wasn’t actively trying. If anything he was activelynottrying. Kam pulled himself up tall as he spoke, ‘I work with Pippa. Her personal life has nothing to do with me, and no, I’m not suddenly busy.’
‘Seriously, you’re going take me on, are you? I know people, mate and—’
‘Hey! What’s going on.’ Pippa came back out of the restaurant. ‘Everything all right?’
‘Yep, fine. Just chatting.’
‘Hmmm.’ Pippa fixed James with a hard stare. ‘Okay, I’m going to talk to Mum and tell her what we discussed and then hopefully everything will be sorted. I’ll let you know how it goes. Right, beachwards.’ She slipped her canary clad arm through Kam’s and smiled up at him, James’ eyes lasering into his back as they wandered away from the restaurant.
‘I don’t want to cause trouble.’
‘Oh, it’s fine. You know what families are like. Relationships are always complicated. Plus, the cheeky bugger called me Big Bird and said I was an embarrassment.’ She used her hands to indicate her outfit from hair to foot and grinned mischievously as she did so, looking a little bit like that had been her intention. Kam couldn’t hide his laughter; with her hair in those tight curls and that outfit she did look a little bit Sesame Street. ‘Anyway, let’s not talk about him. Instead you can tell me all about you. What do you normally do on a bank holiday?’
‘What, at home?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Well, I’d usually do what I’ve done this weekend: go for a surf, chill out. The only difference is I’d probably nip in to see my family. Bank holidays are nice; my dad is always in a good mood because he can charge double time if there are any call-outs; my mum moans that we never spend them with her any more like when we were kids, but has a smile on her face as she does it. But we do try to get there, unless we’ve got to work. Hema works in a cafe and makes it over for the evenings, and if Anuja doesn’t have a performance she heads over. It’s nice. Mum cooks and my sisters and I bicker. Usual family stuff. I miss them but I do love it down here.’ It was true, he loved Cornwall. He could see why people made such a fuss about it. He would be happy to stay here forever.
‘I’m such a homebody I can’t imagine ever moving far away. I had a girlfriend once who wanted me to go and travel for six months. I was excited, but when it came to it, I was so homesick I came home again after three weeks and that was the end of that.’ Pippa shrugged her shoulders as if her early return home had been inevitable.
‘Huh, I spent two years touring the surf circuit, trying to carve out a career for myself, but in the end I came home too.’
‘Ah, that’s interesting. Why leave? Is that why you decided to teach down here?’
‘Yeah, mainly. I left the circuit because my love of surfing was dwindling as it started becoming something Ihadto do rather than something I chose to do. So I went back to Middlesbrough, not because I was homesick like you, but because I realised that surfing professionally wasn’t for me and my nan was poorly. I wanted to be near her, so I came home, did my degree (admittedly a couple of years later than most) and decided to stay in the UK and be near my family.’
‘And your nan? Is she better?’
‘No, she passed away after I finished my degree but I did get those three years with her, and then I guess I didn’t want to leave my mum right away – they had been close – so I stayed in Middlesbrough for her, slid into working with my dad in the family business and before I knew it, years had passed.’
‘That happens. What’s the family business?’
‘Plumbing. It wasn’t really for me.’
They had reached the end of the marina and come to the beach. Kam lifted his hand to Pippa to help her down the steep steps that led to the beach. As she reached the sand she took her sandals off and dangled them from her wrist.
‘I like the feel of the sand under my feet. I don’t think I’ll ever grow out of that. I know I’m being nosy, and you can tell me to stop at any time, but how did you make the leap from plumber to teacher?’
‘I don’t mind your questions. I’ll say if I do.’ He smiled down at her and she linked her arm through his again. This was nice, but he needed to be careful not to get caught up. ‘I had a break-up and it made me realise that I had become stuck in a rut and ended up doing exactly what I was afraid I would. Mia breaking my heart kind of did me a favour by making me reassess everything.’ He paused in case he was boring her. Kam didn’t often share such detail with people but talking to Pippa was just so easy. She nodded her head to encourage him to carry on. ‘I’d been working with kids at the surf club in Saltburn in my spare time and really enjoyed it. I bit the bullet and decided to train as a teacher. I didn’t want to teach business studies, which was what my degree was in, so I thought I’d try being a primary school teacher teaching a broad spectrum of subjects, and I have loved every minute of it. Best decision of my life. What’s more, I can do it anywhere, and so I moved down here. My friend Ben was already here, and now I can teach and surf. Best of both worlds.’
‘Your parents must be so proud.’
