Lanzarote Love: A short story by Amanda Radley

Author:Amanda Radley [Radley, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Heartsome Publishing
Published: 2021-07-28T14:00:00+00:00

7

Not Quite Sure of the Protocol

Phoebe picked at her meal of pasta in a creamy sauce. It was excellent, better than any pasta-based meal she’d had in a restaurant or even that one time she went to Italy with her mother. But she had no appetite at all.

Nothing had been said since Erica bought the two bowls over and Phoebe had thanked her. The silence was stifling, and Phoebe found that she couldn’t focus on anything but Erica.

Suddenly she was right back at the height of her crush. She watched the way Erica held the lower part of her wine glass between her thumb and her finger, slowly stroking the length of the stem. She inhaled softly to capture some of the scent that Erica wore. She listened to the sound of Erica’s bare foot gently tapping on the tiled floor. It was all so familiar and yet so foreign. She’d been in Erica’s company many times during the period they’d worked together, but never like this.

She was becoming overwhelmed with the sensory assault that was this casual and yet tense Erica who had invited her into her home and cooked her a delicious meal, and yet quietly radiated fury.

“You’ve picked a good week to be here, weather-wise,” Erica commented casually.

Phoebe swallowed. “Yes. I… I saw it was going to be… nice.”

Silence filled the air again. Phoebe wanted to kick herself for missing the opportunity to converse with Erica rather than sit in uncomfortable silence. Why hadn’t she asked a follow-up question? Did she not know how conversation worked anymore? It was obviously an olive branch, but she’d messed it up. She needed to try again. Anything to diffuse the tension.

“The… beach here looks lovely,” Phoebe said.

The sun had nearly set, and the beach and the ocean were now barely visible. Even so, Phoebe grabbed onto the potential topic of conversation like a buoyancy aid.

“Do you have any recommendations for beaches?” Phoebe continued. “Like, do you have a favourite one?”

“That one.” Erica pointed out of the window with her fork. “Clearly.”

Phoebe resisted the urge to sigh at her own stupidity. Out of everything she could have asked, that was what she chose. Of course Erica preferred the beach outside the house she’d bought. She wouldn’t buy a house ten miles away from the beach she preferred, would she?

“Do ensure you try some local food while here,” Erica said. She surprised Phoebe with her sudden willingness to attempt the jump into another conversation. “Not just places in the tourist resorts.”

“I will,” Phoebe promised.

The second the words were out of her mouth, she sighed softly. She’d had the perfect opportunity to start a conversation, but she’d ruined her chance again.

Phoebe had previously been an expert at predicting Erica’s moods. It was hard to be so close to someone and monitor every move they made and not be completely aware of how they felt.

But it had been a long time and Phoebe was tired and emotional and woefully out of practice. Erica was angry, Phoebe knew that much.

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