Sandcastles

"And instead... you're doing office work and watching the leaves change colour each year."

"Yeah. It's not very glamorous. But then real life isn't, I find. Time passes and you get more disillusioned with most of it. What about you, Charley?"

"Mm. Happy? No. Pretty content, all things considered, but not happy. Too much wreckage, too many hurts."

I touched her shoulder and she sighed.

"It's OK, though. I have a feeling things are getting better now," she added.

"I hope so. You deserve happiness."

"So do you."

"Meh," I shrugged. "I'm... okay for now."

"I'll get you sorted, don't you fret," she said.

"Uh huh. If I ever need an orgy organised I'll be sure to look you up."

"I'm hurt that you think that's all I'm good for," she laughed.

"So what else are you good for, then?" I teased her.

"Oh, wouldn't you love to know."

She leaned over and bumped her shoulder against mine.

I watched as the breeze teased her fringe, laughing softly at her as she brushed it out of her eyes with a frustrated sigh.

"I should trim it," she muttered.

"No, it's cute. Keep it," I said softly. "It suits you - you've got eyes that were made for peeping through dishevelled hair."

"Oh, you," she sighed long-sufferingly, and I laughed again.

"I wonder how many people have sat here looking out there," I said, after some time.

"Thousands, I guess. And that's not even counting the people who built this place."

"I wonder how many of them were happy."

"Most, I'd hope," she said softly. "Otherwise, what's the point of it all?"

"I guess."

"It's beautiful here, isn't it."

"Yeah, it is," I said. "It's always been one of my favourite places. The islands, the sea."

"I'm glad we found each other here again."

I turned slightly, watched the complex parade of expressions that fluttered across her face. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "What?" she said, squinting at me.

"Just watching you. You sounded... down."

"I was, a bit, I guess. Momentarily. Just regretting all the... wasted time."

"It's only a month or two when you add it all up."

"It's the years that matter," she said softly. "Time's a precious gift, Ari. I wish I'd got more with you is all."

"You'll have plenty with me from now on, you know."

"Never enough," she said with a dramatic sigh.

Another wasp buzzed us before settling on what was left of our lunch.

"We should probably move," I said.

She eyed the insect with distaste. "Agreed."

She shooed the wasp away, and abandoned the last of the dolmades on the dry grass below us - a gift to the victors. She carefully folded the paper plate and tucked it into her bag.

"Come," she said. "Let's go see what that bay's like for swimming in, then go lay in supplies for tonight."

I took her offered hand, and she eased me up again. "You make me feel so short," she complained.

"What's six inches between friends," I said, insufferably proud of the inspired double-entendre, and she cackled until she wheezed.

The bay was wonderful for swimming in, but what was even better was the strange, zen-like calm I felt as I nestled against her back on the scooter on the way back to the resort, my arms clasped around her as the world flashed by on either side of us.

It felt like a very small, intimate slice of paradise, and I didn't want it ever to end.

.:.

Supply run to the little local market completed, we'd spent the remainder of the afternoon in the sea. She'd requisitioned a dinghy and I'd done the same with a windsurfer, and as we had so often in our childhood we chased one another back and forwards across the bay until the wind died with the coming evening. I helped her drag her dinghy back up to the storage area, and she helped me wrestle my board back as well. She followed me out into the sea for my traditional dip, and stood, smiling placidly beside me as I bobbed briefly up and down on the evening's gentle analogue to waves.

"You're such a water creature," she said when I emerged.

"I know," I agreed. "Should have been a mermaid, I suppose. Maybe I was, once."

"It would be a good role for you, that's for sure."

"Shall we go drink and be merry?"

"That," she said, "sounds like a fantastic idea."

We waded back to the shore, and she took my hand loosely in hers as we wandered up the slow slope to my chalet.

Then she waited, arms crossed and tapping her foot, grinning while I fought with the lock on the sliding door.

"Fucking arsehole thing," I swore as I finally managed to trip the lock. "Go shower," I added. "If you want."

"I'll have a quickie."

I rolled my eyes and she laughed as she brushed my back in passing.

"What do you want to drink?" I called after her.

"A glass of the Assyrtiko?" she said. She pulled her shirt up and off herself and I turned my back on her to dig out the wine glasses and pour her wine for her.

She brushed against me again as she reached for it. She'd shed everything but her abbreviated bikini bottoms; the magenta and white stripes of which curved elegantly down from lower-mid-belly to gather in a sunburst between her really quite lovely thighs...

I flushed and looked away; busied myself with my own wine glass.

"I feel crispy," she complained. "Too much sun, not enough hydration."

"It was a lovely day," I agreed. I glanced back up at her, eyeing the faint pink lines that curved over her small, perfect breasts. "You do have some red on your shoulders. I'll put some Aftersun on for you later if you like."

"Yes, please. Otherwise I'll be peeling by tomorrow."

She leaned back against the counter top, scratched idly at the side of her left breast as she sipped her wine.

"I thought you were going to shower?" I said, amused by her laissez-faire approach to modesty.

"I'm getting there. Just... enjoying the moment," she answered with a smile. "I like being on holiday. I like knowing there's nothing chasing me - that I can spend this time here with you with no guilt or panic about other stuff I'm missing or letting fall behind."

"I suppose that I know what you mean, though my life isn't full of anything that requires much of my time."

"Really?"

"Yeah... I'm mostly alone - I've got a tiny circle of local friends but nothing that consumes a lot of energy, and work tends to just be work. I'm in-between hobbies right now too, so... "

"So what do you do? To keep yourself busy?"

"I read a lot. I walk a fair bit. I visit the library. Go to movies, the odd concert. It's fine, it's not too bad..."

"Hmm," she said, unconvinced. "You sound... lonely, Ari."

"Maybe," I shrugged. "I suppose I might be. But it's my ground state, whatever it is. You know me, Charley - I've always been happiest in my head."

She smiled. "That's true. I remember how intense you used to be about our sandcastles. I loved how important it was to you."

"Defensive fortifications are important!"

"Granted, yes, but so was just spending time being silly."

"We did do an awful lot of that."

"Yeah," she smiled. "Knowing I'd likely get to see you here kept me going a lot of the time," she added with a strange change of inflection.

"What do you mean, Charley?"

She looked away.

"I guess I just wish we'd lived somewhere closer together, and that we'd managed to keep contact. Once we... lost touch, I constructed entire mental dioramas of nonsense as an addict's desperate substitute, but none of it was ever enough for me."

She sighed.

"My final years of school and my time at Uni were... different than how they perhaps could have been."

"Why?" I said softly.

"It's... hard to explain, really. It's... I just... I just feel calmer when I'm near you is all. My highs aren't so manic and my lows aren't so... dark. I just feel like if we'd been regular parts of one another's lives then a lot of stupid self-destructive shit I did to myself might never have happened because I'd have had you as my... tall voice of reason. Frankly, Ari, sometimes I'm surprised I'm still here. Some of the stuff I did was... well, it was stupid is what it was."

She put her wineglass down with a clink, and with a sudden sharp pain in my chest I realised that she was on the verge of tears.

I put my own glass down and went to her and wrapped my arms around her.

"Oh, Charley..." I whispered.

She shuddered once, then sniffed hard.

"Sorry," she said, after a brief silence.

"No, don't. It's fine. I'm here now."

She sighed again as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled herself tightly in against me.

"Don't you dare lose my number again," she whispered, punctuating the command with another sniff.

And something moved me to gently kiss her forehead and tuck my face in against her. I barely registered the little noise she made over the cranberry ache in my own heart.

"I should go shower," she breathed after a while. "Or at least put a shirt on."

"Yeah. You're all salty," I mumbled against her.

"Pot, kettle..."

"I never claimed I wasn't. Right. Go wash the day off you. I'll get started on supper for us."

"I missed you so much, Ari."

"I know. And ditto. Come on, go get clean."

"OK."

She disentangled herself and stumbled off towards my bathroom. I took a slow, deliberate breath and shook my head several times to chase away the shadows.

I'd hurt both of us so badly. I hadn't meant to, but I'd done it all the same.

I resolved to get her number tattooed on my arm if that was what it took to hang on to her this time.

Then I brushed some moisture away from my eyes, coughed once or twice to clear my throat, and delved into the fridge to distract myself by preparing our supper.

.:.

She emerged, damp and slightly more upbeat. I eyed her and topped up her wine for her. "Need a jumper?" I asked her - she'd opted for a vest but no bra and her nipples were clearly visible through the semi-translucent cream cotton.

"Unless we're expecting company, no. Are we expecting anyone?"

"Nobody knows I'm here except you and my parents," I said. "I could fling myself off the edge of the world and nobody would be the wiser."

"Then unless it bugs you..."

"It doesn't," I said. "Whatever works for you. I've always been easy like that."

She touched my hand. "You're so lovely to be around."

"You're the only person on Earth who could say that and mean it."

"Yin and Yang, you and I," she said.

"Rather say Sun and moon," I countered.

"I'm OK with being your moon," she said, and I snorted.

"I've made the salad; we just need to sort the olives. I wasn't sure what else you felt like."

"Maybe those lamb thingies," she said as she bent to dig in the fridge. "The skewers."

"Good idea. Grab another bottle of wine while you're at it, will you? I'm not going to be satisfied with only half a bottle of this in me."

"Good thing neither of us have to go anywhere," she said. "I don't feel up to moving again tonight."

"I hear you. I'm also starting to feel the sun a bit."

"Don't you dare go fading on me."

"I wouldn't dream of it," I said. "I'll get my second wind soon enough."

Charley lit the chalet's awful kitsch Doric-column candle and put it on the outside table while I dimmed the internal lights. We carried our food out and set it out on stools that we placed between our deck chairs; I topped her up again as she assumed her position.

"Thanks, Ari," she said. "Thanks for looking after me so perfectly."

"How could I not?" I answered her. "Having you here again is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I'm glad you turned out alright."

"Not much chance of that not happening, I'm far too much of a goody two-shoes. Unlike you," I added, grinning.

"Oh, you wound me."

"I'll kiss it better then," I said with a flippant wave of my hand.

She flushed and glanced away.

We sat, and ate, and drank, and watched the slow procession of stars climb up above the sea. A small group of figures walked the beach by torchlight - some sort of night-time entertainment organised by the hotel, I suggested. Charley maintained they were probably German tourists putting out their towels to reserve their deck chairs for the morning, and I cackled at the thought.

Slowly the world stilled. The moon rose, flooding the land with stark silver light and making everything clean and strange.

"I wish I could paint this and frame it and hang it in my flat," she murmured. "This colour, this mood - the lights, the glass-like sea."

"It's beautiful, isn't it," I agreed.

"Heaven on Earth, complete with an angel."

"Giving yourself airs?"

"I meant you, you tart," she growled.

"I'm no angel. Too earthy." I disagreed.

"Not to me you aren't."

I smiled to myself as her fingers brushed against and then curled around mine. I'd always loved how tactile she was with me, how hugs were as normal as breathing to her...

"What are you smiling about?" she demanded.

"Just... how natural it is to be like this with you. Despite all those years. I was thinking how much I love it when you reach out and take my hand like you just did."

"It's because we both knew this was meant to be. Our... friendship. Time and distance were nothing compared to Fate."

"Mm. You're drunk, Charley Collins."

"Perhaps I am. But I'm happy. And that's a good place to be right now. Chilled. No angst, no drama. Just you," she said.

I stretched, groaning theatrically as I did. "I enjoyed today," I announced. "Definitely one of my better. We should go back to that bay. I liked swimming there."

"Maybe watch the sunset there."

"That would be nice."

"Yeah. I think it would. On that note, though, it's time for the entertainment to commence."

She rolled forwards off the deck-chair and got unsteadily to her feet.

"Where are you going?" I asked, curious.

"To the sea. It's time for the skinny dipping."

"Are you serious?" I laughed. "What if someone sees you?"

"Then they'll get an eye full of tits and bum, won't they," she said with a grin. "Hopefully they'll enjoy it. So... are you coming?"

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Oh, totally. I need a chaperone though. Come on. Put your wine down and come keep me company."

And she took my hand and pulled me up and after her.

.:.

"Oh God, the water is sublime," she said.

We'd made our way to the south end of the bay, close enough to not be isolated but far enough away to not offend anyone's sensibilities. She stood ankle deep, staring out to sea, her hair glowing silver in the moonlight.

"You're really going to do this?" I asked, amused.

"Totally."

She turned and made her way back to the sand. She smiled at me, then reached for the straps of her vest and pulled it up and over her head. She dropped it negligently to one side.

She undid the buttons of her linens and let them slide free of her shapely legs.

Then, grinning, she eased her underwear down her thighs. Her lovely perky breasts jiggled slightly as she shimmied her hips, and I watched her in amused (and jealous) admiration.

"I'm totally doing this," she said.

She collected her things into a bundle and turned back to the sea; I swallowed, suddenly and inexplicably touched by the wonderful curves of her profile under the moon's gentle kiss...

"Are you coming?" she asked.

"Who, me?" I said, guiltily.

"Yes. Come on. Be daring with me."

"Um... technically, we're not allowed to do this, you know..."

"Ariadne Taylor. Live a little, will you? Nobody's around but me, nobody will see you... except me. And I've already seen it all anyway."

I eyed her and then, flushing, heart fluttering for no good reason, I slowly stripped out of my shirt and bra and dropped them beside hers.

Then, face aflame, I untied the drawstring of my pants and let them and my knickers fall to the sand beneath me.

"Gosh, Ari, you grew up so nicely," she said, and I blushed even hotter if that were possible.

She grinned at me and reached out her hand; intensely and strangely self-conscious, I stepped forward and took it.

She dragged me out into the water with her, moving further and further offshore until the sleepy waves of the Aegean lapped at our bare breasts and shoulders.

She moved closer to me; leaned in.

"See?" she breathed. "Isn't that nice."

"It's.... weird..." I laughed, conscious of the goosebumps crawling over my back, of the strangely exciting feeling of cold water against my bare labia. "I... I've never done this before. It's so weird, not having fabric covering me..."

"Mm. I could tell you were a virgin. I do it whenever I can. Whenever the water's not freezing."

"Really?"

"Oh, totally, I love being in a state of undress in the water. Especially around... beautiful people," she added in an undertone.

"Really," I said, deadpan this time.

"Uh huh. I'm an exhibitionist, after all," she laughed. "Well. Sort of. Sometimes. Situation dependent."

"Why? What made you..."

"I don't know, really. Music festivals at Uni, perhaps - that cured a lot of hang-ups. Or maybe I was always just like this. Looking for an excuse to drop my knickers for all and sundry."

"Which am I then? All or sundry?"

"Definitely sundry," she said softly.

Something brushed slowly against my breast, and I jerked. "What the fuck was that?" I whispered, as visions of gills and fins and slashing teeth rose from my deep subconscious.

"My hand," she said. "Sorry. I misjudged, I was trying to just get my arm around you... better?" she added, as I felt her fingers trail down my back.

"Oh. Um..."

I stared down at her slightly lop-sided smile.

"Why?" I asked, shakily.

"Because I wanted to be closer to you."

"... Oh."

I shuddered.

"Charley," I whispered, as her fingers roamed further.

"Uh huh."

"What... what are you doing?"

"Seeing whether I can... possibly tempt you into... anything," she breathed over the soft murmur of the water.

"... Um..."

"Tell me to stop if you want me to."

"... I..."

She moved closer still.

"See, I'm definitely open to... things..." she murmured. "Very, very much so, in fact, from the moment I saw you yesterday. God, you're gorgeous, Ariadne..."

She pulled herself to me with a shivery little sigh. I swallowed as I felt her bare breasts and their firm, hard nipples against me; I let out some sort of weird whimper at how nice it felt, how wrong it felt...

How right... moaned an utterly foreign little voice deep within me.

She nuzzled my neck, and I let out a soft, ridiculous sound as she brushed it with her tongue.

"Charley..." I managed.

Her thigh nudged against me, and she slowly wormed her leg between mine, and upwards, and farther upwards still... and as I felt her skin press up against my lips, for a single shining moment I nearly, nearly gave in to the sudden hot alien rush of desire...

"Charley," I moaned.

"Mm..."

"I'm... I'm not..."

"Tell me to stop... and I will..."

"... Stop," I whimpered, almost hating myself. "Please..."

"Oh? Oh. Really? Alright," she sighed. She gave my neck one last kiss and released me. I moaned again as she removed her leg from where it had fitted so very, very well...

"Can't blame a girl for trying," she said, almost sadly.

I snatched a panting breath, then a second, and shook my head to clear it from the twofold effect of wine and incandescent desire to be touched again...

"Are you..." I asked, when I could.

"Bisexual? Oh yes. Very much so. Technically trisexual, really."

"Tri... what... what on earth..."

"I'll try anybody at least once."

I stared at her. And then I started to laugh, and soon enough she joined in.

She fumbled for my hand, and I squeezed it hard.

"No hard feelings, please?" I whispered. "I'm... just not... well, anything, really..."

"Oh, Ari. You could set me on fire and I'd still love you with all that I am," she breathed. "I'm... sorry for misbehaving like that. It won't happen again."