The Banker's Holiday

Day 2

ERICA SAT on the terrace sipping a coffee waiting for her mother. She was impatient to get to the beach, but Mummy had insisted that they go shopping for "essentials", even though she had brought most of them with her, since she said you couldn't trust most foreign things. She was always the same and must have filled an entire suitcase full of stuff that they never used whenever they went abroad. Mummy wasn't an early riser, so it was already nearly ten o'clock. It was already getting hot.

Erica had been up for hours of course and had coffee with Daddy before he went off for work. He was in a good mood and had slipped her an envelope as he left. Spending money he had said, for his little princess.

"Don't go mad with it shopping darling, it has to last and you'll want money for taxis and eating out, but that should see you alright. But don't tell Mummy how much I gave you!"

After he'd gone she'd looked inside and there were 1200 Cayman Islands Dollars in crisp new notes. That was $200 a week! She was sure she wouldn't know what to do with it all, but put $100 in her purse and squirrelled the rest away amongst her stuff.
Eventually her mother poked her head through the sliding terrace doors and announced she was ready. Experience had taught Erica that if her mother was then kept waiting, she'd get uppity, so she was ready and within a few minutes they headed off to the metropolis of George Town, the island's capital, on their shopping expedition.

It was busy, peak season of course, and they spent a pleasant three hours browsing around the shops and the Craft Market. Many things were colourful and quaint, but Erica had learnt to window shop first and then make your choice and go back and get the best, by style and price. So they looked, felt and draped things against themselves for the advice of the other, raising their sunglasses to better see the real colour.

Nevertheless, they ended up with armfuls of stuff from pharmacies – insect creams, sun tan lotion (even though Erica had already bought some and applied it this morning), headache pills and enough cleansing lotions and shampoo to fill the bathroom cabinet and bemuse Daddy (and probably every other male). They chose some colourful beach towels, obligatory flip flops and sun hats and of course deliciously cheap and nasty large shoulder bags to carry all the stuff to the beach in, although Erica wasn't sure she'd use hers as a huge bag could be an encumbrance. The pair also found a stall selling lovely light muslin ankle length skirts – it could get chilly in the evenings after a hot day – and they bought a couple each.

Erica found a beautiful medium length sarong which she thought not only pretty but knotted around her hip would make her look very sexy. Her mother made no comment on that, or on her other find, a super sexy metallic fluorescent micro bikini. But she did give her the look. That was Mummy's way, she rarely commented, but had a whole range of looks that conveyed her feelings. Much to her surprise, she bought it for her. The only problem was choosing which colour. Both agreed the pink and yellow were too lurid, the green suited her well, but the orange would look better when she'd tanned a bit. With unusual generosity, her mother bought both, saying only it's best to get it when you can, in case it's not there later on.

She'd had her eye on some very short and tight hot pants too, but it was best not too push Mummy too far in one day and she could come back on her own for another look and maybe buy them. Although Mummy might disapprove, she was philosophical once things had been bought and she hated waste.

So after three hours shopping, laden down with their purchases and with a happy sense of acomplishment, they found a delightful open air restaurant and tucked into prawns and salad.

FELICITY HAD never been a morning person and she always felt drained after a flight. She eventually surfaced, showered and made herself a coffee and saw that her daughter, as usual, was up already and on the terrace. Many of her friends had told her their offspring loved their beds and it was a task and a half to get them out of them, but Erica had always been good in that respect.