2018
Zoe arrives back from Kakopetria with Sofia in the late afternoon. She goes straight to her rooms, hoping to find Carl, but he and his notebook are gone.
She hides the report Sofia gave her under her mattress. She’ll tell Carl about it first and then show it to Joe and Holly. Before heading out again, she admires her reflection in the full-length mirror in the bedroom. After a long and boozy lunch, a stylist from Limassol called Maria arrived at the suite, laden with bags of clothing Sofia had ordered. Let the shops come to us. Amazing what money can buy. Amongst the outfits were several Sofia had ordered with Zoe in mind. Zoe protested at the generosity, but in the end selected the dress she has on now. A black silk slip with thin straps. The luxurious fabric clings to Zoe’s curves and reaches down to the silver Grecian sandals Sofia had ordered in her size. Before they left the hotel, Sofia applied glossy red lipstick to Zoe’s lips. The same shade as her nail polish. Zoe hardly recognises herself.
She finds Carl in the orchard. He is sitting at the wrought-iron table, captivated by the story spilling forth from his pen onto the page. When she slides her arms around his neck, he lets out a startled cry and looks around him, as if confused to find himself in the real world.
His confusion intensifies as his eyes slide over her revamped appearance. ‘Wow,’ he says finally, confusion giving way to approval. ‘Just… wow.’ He beckons her to him for a kiss. He tastes of coffee and tobacco. ‘That’s quite the pamper day.’
She takes the seat opposite him. Pulls it closer to the table. ‘It wasn’t all pleasure.’ She tells him about the report on Mel and gives him a summary of its contents.
Carl leans back in the chair and rests his head in his clasped hands. ‘Detective Inspector Mel has been a naughty girl.’
‘I haven’t told Joe and Holly yet.’
‘Mel will have to concede the moral high ground – that’s for sure.’
If Mel really wanted to stop Sofia’s plans, she could have reported the events at Pure Heart to the police at any time, but she hasn’t. Zoe used to think that was out of respect for Quinn but now she knows Mel has plenty of reasons to want to stay in the community. ‘Sofia gave the report to me because she thinks we can use it.’
Carl nods. ‘I expect we can.’
In the quiet that grows between them, Zoe hears the greedy insistent buzz of the wasps crawling over the rotting apricots nearby. ‘Sofia won’t give up on this,’ she says. She wonders if, without her encouragement at the hotel, Sofia might have given up. Or at least had serious doubts about what she was doing. ‘She wants justice.’
‘And, in the end, Quinn was sort of responsible for Eva’s death.’ Carl drums his fingers on the cover of his notebook. ‘Eva was in withdrawal from those meds and that made her kill herself. There’s no one else to blame.’
He gazes at the ground and Zoe knows he’s thinking about the night before Eva’s death. The two of them lying in bed, kissing and touching each other when a familiar knock at the door interrupted them. Tap tap tap. Eva outside, wanting to join them. Lately, her visits had been less about pleasure and more about comfort. Sometimes she cried while the two of them held her. That night, Carl looked at Zoe and shook his head.
‘I can’t handle Eva tonight,’ he said.
Zoe nodded her agreement. ‘Me neither.’
She felt relief when the tapping at the door stopped. Relief because no matter how much she enjoyed sex with Eva and no matter how much she told herself true love was not possessive, she couldn’t stop jealousy writhing inside her when Eva guided Carl’s head between her long and perfect legs.
‘Hey.’ Carl reaches for her hand across the table. ‘You okay?’
‘Yes.’
‘There’s no one else to blame.’
‘I know,’ she says. For months after Eva’s death, she wondered if they could have provided enough comfort to get her through that next day. She’ll never know, and this isn’t the time to dwell on the past. The future is still undecided and the chance to take control of it could easily slip away. ‘Sofia really thinks we could make this place a successful retreat.’
‘We could. With you in charge.’
Zoe thinks about the dead bird in the pool and the snake. Portents of regeneration and rebirth. ‘I think I could do a good job of it.’
‘You would.’
‘And you’re going to write a brilliant novel. Even better than your first.’
‘I think I just might. I certainly want to see how this story turns out.’
‘So do I.’
His eyes lock onto hers. She spies a wolfish hunger in them.
‘If we accept Sofia’s offer, there won’t be any turning back,’ she says.
‘I don’t want to turn back. Do you?’
‘No.’
Gazing into Carl’s eyes, she feels a spark of heat low in her belly. The sense of deep connection she’s been longing for. As if they are truly seeing each other for the very first time.
Even when the black, four-legged drone appears and hovers over them, its irritating buzz disrupting the early evening peace, they cannot take their eyes off each other.
‘I bet that’s Dmitri,’ Carl says.
Zoe nods. ‘Probably.’
‘You think about fucking him, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
Carl gets up from his chair and kneels in front of hers. ‘That’s very bad behaviour.’
‘I know. Someone should punish me.’
She gasps as Carl yanks her dress up her thighs, revealing the black lace underwear Sofia insisted on giving her. ‘Yes,’ she says as he pulls the underwear aside and slides two fingers deep inside her. She tries to shift her hips, but his other hand reaches up and grips the base of her throat, pinning her in place.
‘Punishment is exactly what you fucking deserve,’ Carl says.
The drone hovers for a moment. The thought of Dmitri watching her brings Zoe to the brink of orgasm. When the drone darts away, her tortured scream of pleasure chases it into the approaching twilight.