Wish You Were Here

Alice sat stunned for a moment. Not because of her sister’s rude tone – she was quite used to that – but because perhaps for the first time in her life, Stella had actually given Alice some advice worth listening to.

That night, Alice couldn’t sleep. Stella’s words kept somersaulting around her head in a teasing chant.

‘Stop worrying about everything and start enjoying life!’

Alice sat up in bed. Start enjoying life!

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed herself. Stella was right. She was always worrying about everything, wasn’t she? Perhaps it was time to relax a little and have some fun.

For a moment, she thought about the dark-eyed gardener at the Villa Argenti. She didn’t even know his name but she couldn’t help wondering if he was somehow inextricably linked with Stella’s advice.

There was something else too – an idea which Alice just couldn’t shake from her mind.

‘Aphrodite.’ She spoke the name quietly into the silence of her bedroom. It sounded like a magical spell and seemed to weave rainbows in her mind. Lying back on her pillow, Alice closed her eyes. She knew it was ludicrous and impossible but, all the same, what did she have to lose? She would go back to the Villa Argenti tomorrow.

Chapter 10 (#ulink_7b16c696-14de-50b1-9f58-12579883f0d9)

The bus ride up into the mountains from Kethos Town was just as beautiful the second time. Alice had left around mid-morning and had tried to be as casual as possible when Stella asked her where she was going.

‘I don’t know yet,’ Alice had said with a shrug. ‘Probably a museum or something. Want to come?’

Predictably, Stella had declined which was a great relief to Alice who had made her escape into town and was now just about to get off the bus at the stop for the Villa Argenti. This time, a young couple got off the bus with her and they all walked together down the road that led to the villa. They were from Worcester and had just got married and Alice couldn’t help but envy them their new life together. She saw the way that Tim looked so adoringly at his new wife, Janey, and the way that they held hands so tightly. What must it be like to be so adored, Alice couldn’t help wondering?

There was a little old man by the gate today and he took their money with a polite little nod and Alice watched as Tim and Janey walked hand in hand towards a sunlit bench. She didn’t follow them.

All of a sudden, Alice wondered what she was doing there and a coldness resembling fear chilled her whole body. It had all been very well imagining romantic scenarios with the handsome gardener whilst in the safety of her bed but Alice really wasn’t the kind of girl to initiate something as wonderful and frivolous as a holiday romance.

She stopped by a little fountain and trailed her fingers in the cool water and sighed. Perhaps she was worrying unnecessarily. She couldn’t see the gardener anywhere and it occurred to her that he might not be there at all. She couldn’t help smiling at that. The one time she had allowed herself to be a little bit brave and the man in question had foiled her by having a day off. Besides, she had every right to be in the garden, didn’t she? Not only had he invited her to come back but she was a tourist who was simply enjoying a beautiful place. That was all. She nodded to herself and determined that she would let things fall into the hands of destiny.

It was then that Alice remembered that she hadn’t just come back to the garden in the hope of seeing Milo again but to see the statue too.

She walked down the neat path which led to the Goddess Garden, passing Artemis, Demeter, Athena and the others but she hadn’t come to see them. She’d come to see Aphrodite.

Once again, the statue of the goddess of love was in full sunlight and the loveliness of her face made Alice smile. She placed her hand on the hem of the finely-carved gown and felt the magical warmth seep through her skin. What did she have to lose? She closed her eyes.

Concentrate.

What did she want for herself that the goddess could grant? What was it the gardener had told her?

‘If your wish is for love or beauty, it will be granted.’

Love or beauty. The two words spun inside her mind until she had her wish.

‘I wish,’ she began, her fingers trembling against the warm stone, ‘I wish men would notice me. I wish I wasn’t so invisible to them but that they really really saw me.’

She thought of Stella for a moment and how much attention she got from the opposite sex. Her life seemed like one long joyous date and she was constantly showered in gifts and spoilt rotten. Just once, Alice wanted to know what that would be like.