Starting Over

Chapter Five

Chapter 5

They rode for a while; every now and again he’d pull over and point out various sites. They’d travelled about an hour when he pulled off any major road, and took them along virtual lanes. When he pulled the moped to a stop she was amazed. They were at what would be an estuary, if it wasn’t so dry. A deserted beach flanked the water in front of them, but a rocky crag provided some shade. The water was clear, the sand pale...and it was SO peaceful!

“It’s beautiful!” she sighed trying to climb off the moped but was severely hampered by the rucksack. 

Grinning Jan jumped off and took the bag from her, carrying it across the sand, before wheeling the moped in to the scant shade available. Ellen marvelled to see that along with an extensive picnic courtesy of the kitchen, he’d brought towels and a picnic blanket. Laying them on the sand, he took the picnic filled bag into the shade next to the bike, lifted off his vest, then flopped onto the outstretched rug. 

Suddenly Ellen felt apprehensive. It all seemed a little wrong to stand and purposely undress in front of him, he’d seen her in her beachwear other times, but this felt almost like a grand unveiling. So she took her time wrapping her hair up into a top knot, kicking off her shoes, then she followed with her vest and shorts, slipping down next to him. Though she needn’t have worried, it seemed he was asleep already!

She studied him now that he wasn’t aware. She’d not seen him like this, relaxed and half dressed, she’d presumed he was slim, but under his t-shirt he had a lean and muscular body without being too over defined. His stomach was flat, his Pecs firm and his arms strong, a tattoo adorned the right one, something else she’d had no idea of before now. It was some sort of entwined pattern, a cross? A snake? She’d have to ask him later. He also wore a set of dog tags around his neck and a leather bracelet wrapped around his wrist. 

Ellen remained propped on her elbows, looking out at the Med, which was as still as a millpond.  

She’d almost dozed herself when she heard his voice cut through her quiet thoughts.

“So what are you going to do when you head back home?”

She turned to look at him; he was rolled towards her, his head supported on his elbow. The fingers of one hand trailed through the fine warm sand.

“I don’t know exactly. I’ve given my home up; I was supposed to move into a new house...I’ve got no job, my replacement called me to tell me as I was flying out here.”

“Job? How?”

She then explained that Richard was her boss.

“Let me get this right, the guy screws your best friend and then sacks you? He can’t do that! You need to see a lawyer, unfair dismissal runs to tens of thousands of pounds.”

With a small sigh she replied honestly, “I don’t have the money for that. I paid for virtually all the wedding, and he wanted it to be huge. He was always going to get me a joint credit card so that he could take over paying, but it never happened.”

By now Jan was sat up staring at her, “you joke? Surely?”

She sat up too and shook her head, “we had a wedding for two hundred, more in the evening.” She smiled at the irony, “it cost me thirty thousand pounds, some things are still to be paid for part of why I came away was to run away from even more creditors!”

Ellen could see the blaze of anger flash across Jan’s face, “and you’re going to let him get away with this? Ruining you on so many levels?”

“What can I do?” She didn’t admit that for a small amount of time when nausea and fear of her debt ridden life took over her that she’d actually thought about ending it all. Now she was embarrassed that she’d allowed herself to get to such a low point, and it made the conversation difficult.