Wanderlust

WANDERLUST

By Natalie K. Martin

Kindle Edition

For Simon, the perfect partner in crime and Wanderlust

Selina looked around, holding a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the blazing Ibizan sun. Wasn’t somebody supposed to meet her? All she could see were densely packed trees and the taxi that had just dropped her off, disappearing into the distance. The almost deafening sound of cicadas filled the air. She was alone in the middle of nowhere, in a country where she barely knew the language beyond a few words that had stuck in her head since school and nothing more than the belongings in her bag. She turned back to face the narrow path leading from the road and fixed a look of determination that she didn’t really feel onto her face.

She was here now, like it or not. There was nothing to stay for in England, and everything to run away from. What else should she have done? Employed the stereotypical English stiff upper lip and carried on regardless, ignoring the fact that thousands upon thousands of people had seen those photos - photos she’d thought were private and long since deleted? After finding herself at the centre of a viral social media storm, there’d been nothing left to do but run.

She looked down at her backpack and sighed. She should have brought her suitcase instead of shelling out a hundred pounds on something that didn’t even have wheels. Just hauling it from the trolley into the cab at San Antonio airport had broken her into a sweat and now she’d have to carry it for god only knew how long.

Just as she was about to pick it up, a dog sprang out from the trees and bounded its way towards her with its tongue hanging from its mouth. Selina crouched down and laughed with relief when it licked at her face, its tail wagging excitedly. He seemed friendly, and she wasn’t alone after all.

‘Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite.’

Selina looked up and squinted at the man walking up the path. From a distance, he looked like he’d just stepped out of the pages of a magazine, with his naked torso, low-slung jeans and dishevelled hair. She looked down at his feet as he approached her and winced. He was walking barefoot, over the chalky, rocky ground.

‘His name’s Loki,’ he said, nodding towards the dog. ‘And you must be Selina?’

He stopped in front of her and smiled. Up close, he was even better looking than she’d first thought and his eyes were the same shade as blue sea she’d flown over to land in Ibiza. She would definitely have looked twice if she’d crossed him in the street back home, but one look at his bare feet made her shudder.

‘Yep, that’s me,’ she replied, remembering her manners.

‘I’m Alex. I’m guessing Penny mentioned you’d be taking over from another volunteer?’

Selina nodded, trying to focus on the hint of his accent that she couldn’t quite place, instead of looking at his feet again and wondering how, or why, anyone would ever want to walk on the dirty ground without shoes.

‘She did.’

‘Cool. I’m the one you’ll be replacing. Here, let me take that.’

He picked up her backpack as if it weighed half a kilogram instead of fifteen, and slung it over one of his freckle dotted shoulders. She couldn’t help stealing a glance at him. With a body like his, he was probably used to lifting heavy things all the time. His skin was beautifully sun-kissed and, surprisingly, he smelled good too.

‘Thanks,’ she mumbled, trying to clear her nose of his scent of wood and mint as they set off down the path with Loki running ahead of them.

‘So, Penny said you’re from London?’ he asked and Selina nodded in response. ‘I’ve never been. Is this your first stop?’

‘Yep. I’ll be here for a few weeks.’

‘You could do a lot worse than here. It’s a pretty sweet spot. Everyone’s super cool and chilled. The work’s not too hard either, if you count walking this guy as work.’ He nodded towards Loki, sniffing the base of a tree up ahead.

‘You’re joking, right?’

‘Nope. I mean, he sort of roams around all day anyway, but he needs to be taken for at least three long walks a week. I usually take him up into the hills to tire him out a bit.’

Four hours of work a day, in exchange for a free place to stay on one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean. It hardly sounded like work at all, especially if it involved walking dogs.

‘Have you been to Ibiza before?’ he asked.

‘A few times. I love the nightlife and lazy, hungover days on the beach.’

He looked at her with what Selina could only describe as utter disdain. ‘It sounds like you’ve come to the wrong end of the island then. It’s completely different up here.’

She looked up and saw a falcon gliding high above them under the perfectly blue sky. He was right about that. As the cab had driven further north, the scenery she’d become familiar with over the years had slowly receded.

She could have booked a ticket to Thailand or Cambodia instead of Ibiza but overcrowded, sweaty backpacker hostels weren’t her style. She had visions of what life would be like over the next few months and she didn’t want to compromise comfort for expense. Flashpacking was the new backpacking, and even though the details on the volunteering website had been more about the beautiful nature and scenery north of the island than the entertainment, it
was
still Ibiza. She’d packed a dozen flowing maxi-dresses in anticipation of sipping organic wine in the sun with the fabulous, eco-friendly backdrop of Colinas Verde.

Alex readjusted her overloaded backpack. ‘Still, if you get bored, it doesn’t take long to get back down south.’

‘Ow!’ Selina swore and balanced on one foot, looking at the sole of her shoe. She frowned as she looked at the jagged stone that had stuck itself right into the thin leather.

‘I hope you’ve got other shoes than those. They’re not very practical,’ Alex said, holding her arm so she could balance as she prised the stone away.

‘Of course they are, I wear them all the time.’

‘In London maybe, but you’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.’

She looked at the wry smile on his face. Was he mocking her? She shrugged his hand away. ‘And I suppose walking barefoot is much better?

Alex shrugged. ‘The human body can cope with most things, including walking around without shoes once in a while. It’s nice to feel connected with the earth.’

‘Yeah, well,’ Selina replied as she stood back on two feet. ‘I’ll stick to shoes all the same.’

She tried not to wince as they continued down the path, ignoring the smirk on Alex’s face. True, the label on the shoes had said they were for occasional, not everyday wear, but the pale pink ballet pumps had been too beautiful to pass up. And yes, maybe she should have worn her Converse instead, but Alex mocking her like that only stirred up the nerves in her stomach again. She snuck another glance at him as he walked beside her. He looked like some kind of earthy hippy, completely at home in their surroundings.

As they followed Loki around the curve of the path, the trees on either side opened up to reveal a large clearing. Selina stopped, putting her hands on her hips.

Bungalows were dotted around the edges, identical in design but each painted a different colour. Along with the multi-coloured prayer flags strung up in the trees and fluttering in the breeze, the place was a riot of colour. A huge steel bowl sat in the centre of the clearing, surrounded by low wooden benches and giant stone Buddha statues were placed under trees and half-hidden in bushes. Every where she looked, there were flowers and plants in tin buckets, watering cans, jugs and teapots. It looked haphazard and jumbled together, like an eccentric old lady’s back garden. It wasn’t what she’d expected but, somehow, it looked bizarrely enchanting.

‘Wow,’ she said, slightly shaking her head. The explosion of colour was almost dizzying and disorientating to the eye.

‘That’s what I said too, when I first got here,’ Alex said. ‘I’m going to miss this place when I leave next week.’

‘Where are you going to next? Somewhere else where you can walk around without shoes?’ she asked, lacing her words with sarcasm in a churlish effort to get back at him for mocking her.

‘Croatia. I’m going to a beach festival so I don’t think there’ll be much call for footwear.’ He grinned. ‘I’ve been here a month already and after Croatia, who knows? I like to have an open plan, see where the wind takes me.’

An open plan? See where the wind took him? God, could he sound anymore wanky? Selina ignored her desire to throw in another sarcastic retort and instead looked again at their surroundings. Being in such an open space was almost overwhelming after living in a city for so long. It was beautiful, but it wasn’t quite what she’d expected.

She’d known she wouldn’t be in touristic San Antonio or Bora Bora, but she’d expected there to be something around the place, maybe an elegant gazebo with a small bar. Instead, all she could see were bungalows, outbuildings and a forests worth of trees and plants. What the hell was she going to do here for the next few weeks? She was more accustomed to gigantic shopping centres, packed out pavements and bustling nightlife than country living.

‘Come on,’ Alex said. ‘Let’s dump your bag. Penny should be here any minute, and you’ll get the guided tour.’

Selina took a deep breath as he led her away. She could do this. It would be fine. She repeated the words in her head with each step she took.

‘So, this is our place,’ he said, pointing to a mint green bungalow in front of them. ‘There’s no key for the front door; we don’t really need one here, but there are keys for the bedrooms.’

Their place? She had to live with him? She chewed the inside of her bottom lip. It wasn’t that she didn’t like living with other people. London was so expensive that she couldn’t afford to live alone and she got along with her flatmate, Lisa, as well as if they were family. But Alex wasn’t Lisa. She looked at him as he bent down to pick up a piece of plastic.

He was annoying her already and they’d only been in each other’s company for ten minutes. And what was even more annoying was that, despite his haughty, confirmed traveller attitude, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at him. At least his annoying personality meant that he wouldn’t become a potential roadblock to the promise she’d made to herself before she’d left: no more guys. And even though she wanted to hit Alex more than kiss him, it still would have been nice to be able to avoid him as much as possible over the next week. That would be difficult, if they had to live together.

‘Home, sweet home,’ he said, putting her backpack down on the porch, next to a small wooden table and two chairs.

At least they didn’t have to share a room and, in all likelihood, they probably wouldn’t see each other that much anyway. After all, they were here to work, not become bosom buddies, and he’d probably be spending his spare time wandering around barefoot and being at one with nature as opposed to catching rays.

‘Here’s Penny.’ He nodded towards a woman approaching the bungalow, wiping her hands on a towel tucked into the waistline of her dark green harem pants.

Selina immediately recognised her from the photos she’d posted on the volunteering website, but the green feathers woven into her greying hair were new. And strange.

‘Ah, Selina,’ she said as she stepped up the three stairs leading to the porch. ‘Welcome.’

Selina smiled and went to stretch a hand out, but Penny laughed, shook her head and pulled her into a hug.

‘We don’t shake hands around here,’ she said as she pulled away.

Her hug was warm and welcoming, and Selina brushed her initial shock to Penny’s appearance to one side.

‘Hi,’ Selina replied, nervously.

‘My, my.’ Penny tucked a finger under Selina’s chin and tilted her face to the side. ‘Aren’t you a pretty little thing. Such beautiful brown skin.’

Selina laughed nervously at the gesture, but she didn’t feel uncomfortable. If anything, Penny had just unknowingly endeared herself to Selina even more. Her late grandmother used to do the same thing and, for a second, she felt like a child again, comfortable in her surroundings.

‘Isn’t she pretty?’ Penny asked, turning to Alex and dropping her hand.

Selina shifted on her feet. What was that about feeling comfortable? Her skin flushed when Alex looked at her with disdain and she looked away, telling herself that she shouldn’t care what he, or any other guy thought about her looks. Not anymore.

‘You know I only have eyes for you, Penny,’ Alex replied. ‘I’d better get back to it. I’ll catch you later.’

He patted Penny on the shoulder and jumped down the three steps before jogging away to the far corner of the clearing as if he couldn’t get away fast enough. Selina looked at the muscles flexing in his back. Thank God for that. Now that he’d left, she felt about ten stone lighter.

‘So.’ Penny spread her arms wide. ‘What do you think?’

Selina looked away from Alex and towards the clearing again, her eyes skipping over the slabs of stone leading away from each bungalow.

‘It’s really beautiful.’

‘Oh good. I love this place but I know it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, especially the young ones. After all, Ibiza is known for hedonism. It’s the only part about this exchange I worry about.’

Selina could see why. To her credit, Penny had said in her online posting that this wasn’t the place to come to rave the night away, but Selina hadn’t expected it to be this remote. Even so, it wasn’t something she would ever say. The opportunity had come right when Selina had needed it and she was grateful to Penny for taking her on, whether they were in the back-end of nowhere or not.