in a bit of a hurry.’
‘Why are you in such a rush? And looking so angry?’
Edie suppressed a quiver of irritation that slid through her; she could do without an interrogation right now. ‘Sorry, Zayn. It’s not you – I’m just mystified about where Laura’s gone, that’s all.’
‘Laura?’ Zayn’s bushy eyebrows knitted together in further puzzlement. ‘I don’t know any Laura. Who is she?’ Edie sighed in exasperation; Zayn was evidently another one of those unobservant people who couldn’t tell them apart, who thought identical twins were exactly the same in every respect, from appearance to number of fillings in their teeth and bra cup size. Whereas in fact Edie not only had no fillings to Laura’s three but also was a D cup to Laura’s C.
Zayn was staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. Slowly, it dawned on Edie that she was forgetting a crucial fact. Neither Zayn, nor anyone else, had actually met Laura nor even known of her existence. No one at all other than Edie had seen her when she arrived at the resort. Edie had been in no hurry to advertise her presence, partly because she had wanted to keep her to herself for a few hours at least, partly in case Vlad made a fuss about someone freeloading and partly, of course, to make sure Laura didn’t get anywhere near Vuk before Edie herself had had a chance to consolidate her position.
‘Laura’s my sister. My twin sister,’ she explained, a flicker of irritation causing her to frown. ‘She came yesterday but now she’s disappeared and I don’t know where she is.’
Zayn said nothing for a moment. Then, gently, he asked, ‘But can’t you phone her and find out?’
For one fleeting second, Edie thought that Zayn had come up with the answer, the easiest and most obvious way to make contact with Laura. And then something Laura had said whilst they were drinking drifted back to her. She’d had her phone stolen along with everything else and had no money to replace it. That was one reason why she hadn’t so much as sent a text to alert Edie to her imminent arrival. She had suggested that, if Edie didn’t mind lending her the dosh, that’s the first thing she would do in the morning. This morning, right now, Laura had intended to take the scooter into the town and buy a new phone. Edie would have told her where to go, drawn a map of the old town which was so confusing with its maze of cobbled alleyways and passages. She would have asked her to buy homegrown strawberries from one of the old women in the marketplace to bring back for them to feast on. But none of that was happening now and, as Edie thought about it, tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Honestly, it was too bad of Laura to leave her in the lurch like this.
‘No, I can’t,’ she snapped back at Zayn. She folded her arms angrily over her chest. ‘She doesn’t have a phone right now.’
‘That is not good,’ answered Zayn, his brow furrowed in concern. ‘But don’t worry!’ He released the frown and smiled at her encouragingly.
‘We’ll look for her, we’ll find her.’ He cast his gaze skywards, narrowing his eyes as he searched for the right words. ‘How do you say in English? I’ll put my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with.’
Edie shrugged. ‘Yeah, thanks Zayn. That’s great.’
He was trying to help, and she appreciated it, but in all honesty what would he be able to do? Being sweet and kind wasn’t what was required right now. To work out Laura’s whereabouts she needed someone with natural authority about them, someone who knew how to kick ass. A description which exactly fitted Vuk. She also needed someone who could console her for the brevity of the time she’d had with her adored sister. Surely he’d be back from whatever boat trip he was on soon? Suddenly she felt desperate for him, for the soulmate that she was sure he was beneath his taciturnity and undemonstrativeness. She yearned for arms around her, strong and capable arms. Vuk’s arms.
Abruptly taking leave of Zayn, Edie sloped off to the bar for her shift. The afternoon dragged, each order an irritation, every customer an inconvenience. She kept looking around, anxious for any sign of Vuk, simultaneously expecting – hoping – that at any moment Laura might also reappear, a taunting smile on her face, wondering what Edie was making such a fuss about, decrying that anyone might have so much as noticed her absence.
‘Where on earth have you been?’ Edie would ask.
‘Here and there, shooting the breeze,’ Laura would reply, and that would be that.
So much for the idea that twins are psychic. Edie had never been able to read Laura’s mind. She banged down glasses and crashed piles of plates together for several long hours. ‘Edeeee,’ remonstrated Stefan. ‘You need be careful. You break something.’
‘Yeah, sorry.’ Edie began shoving handfuls of clean cutlery into the grey plastic tray on the table behind the bar. ‘I’d slow down but Vlad always tells me I’m letting the team down if I do that.’ She smiled self-righteously at the long-suffering Stefan as she flung down the last handful of forks.
‘You are a good worker, Edie,’ countered Stefan, his voice eager and anxious at the same time. ‘I’ve told Vlad that.’
‘Thanks, Stefan,’ said Edie, turning to survey the tables and assess what needed doing next. A tiny glow of pleasure seeped through her, despite herself. Stefan’s praise was nice to hear; at least someone appreciated her.
And then she saw him.
Vuk was making his way across the dry, powdery sand that edged the beach. Tall and upright, attracting admiring gazes from every woman around, just the sight of him turned Edie’s stomach upside down. Haphazardly depositing a pile of teaspoons on the counter, she raced towards him.
‘Vuk!’
He looked in her direction. Flying across the loose, shifting sand, Edie could not focus on his expression. She arrived at his side, grabbing his arm and hanging onto it while she caught her breath.
‘You are in a hurry today, Edie.’ The few words he spoke were always in impeccable English, learned during a few years he’d spent as a student in Leicester. She looked up into his eyes and saw the outline of herself, perfectly reflected in his black pupils. He smiled his lop-sided smile and she melted.
‘Oh, Vuk, I’ve been desperate to find you. I’ve missed you so much.’ As soon as the words were out, she regretted them. She mustn’t put Vuk off by being too available, too clingy; she’d made that mistake before. But he just riffled her hair with one of his dextrous hands and smiled, albeit somewhat distractedly.
‘Let’s go and get a drink,’ she suggested hastily, to cover up her over-zealous greeting. ‘I could do with one.’
She squeezed her fingers around Vuk’s. His hands were so big, so strong and muscular. They were hands that could cope, that could fix things.
The bottles that Edie fetched from the bar bled with condensation and foamed pale and yellow as Vuk poured the beer into glasses. Edie stuck her finger into the middle of the spume and circled it, observing how the frothy bubbles attached to her skin and then quietly imploded and melted away. It reminded her of the tops of the breakers on the Atlantic beaches of home, where she and Laura would wave-jump, shrieking from the cold and even more so when they landed and felt the squirm of a disappearing crab underfoot. How James had longed to join them when he was small but their parents had said it was too rough. It must have been hard for him, Edie suddenly realised, to be always on the outside looking in, always chasing after them but never quite catching up. A bit like how she felt about Vuk right now. She seemed to be doing all the running.
