‘You’d need a whole bottle of olive oil to massage me,’ Jess adds, trying to laugh her comment off.
‘Oi!’ I say, looking at her and scrunching my face up to signal my frustration at her self-deprecation. ‘You need to be kinder to yourself. Don’t compare.’
She shrugs again, like she’s telling me it’s an impossible task.
‘Am I allowed to say I think you look beautiful?’ I ask, hoping that I haven’t crossed a line.
Jess laughs and nudges my arm. ‘Oh, shut up! Is this all part of your service?’
‘No, I’m being honest. You’re gorgeous and you exude a lot of warmth. I like the way you talk about Dean, your twins…You light up when you talk about them.’
She twists her lips uncomfortably as she tries to absorb the compliment.
‘I know that’s a weird comment from me as a man with no kids who barely knows you, but anyone can see how lovely you are.’
Jess sits there quietly, almost speechless. I worry that I’m coming across as condescending, especially since my conversation with Chloe last night didn’t go down well. ‘I haven’t upset you, have I? I never wanted to do that?—’
‘You haven’t. I mean, it’s nothing Dean hasn’t said before, but I guess hearing it from someone who has no marital obligation to me means a lot. Thank you.’
‘You’re very welcome.’
Jess gazes over at the massage table. Chloe is sitting up, looking over at us and readjusting a crick in her neck that I hope Miguel didn’t give her. Jess smiles at me and undoes her robe to reveal a striped one-piece costume underneath. She stands up and takes a deep breath. I grin back.
‘Miguel! A final customer for you!’ I yell across the pool.
‘Guapa, come, come! Uncle Miguel is ready for you!’ he yells back, patting the sun lounger and beaming at Jess.
‘Thank you,’ she mouths to me, getting ready to walk over, not quite knowing what to do with her hands. Her pace quickens so she can get there faster.
‘No running by the pool, please. House rules,’ I tell her.
‘You said there were no rules,’ Jess shouts at me. She slows down her pace and pulls a face at me while Miguel wolf whistles at her. ‘Oh, do stop it!’ she says, blushing. It’s incredible to see her smile and watch the tension dissolve from her body and I put a thumb up to Miguel as she lies down on the sun lounger.Look after her, please.
‘You survived then?’ a voice suddenly says behind me. I turn to see Chloe wearing a red bikini, her robe open. As I’m sitting, my first view is of her stomach, shiny with oil. I try not to stare.
‘Oh, the snake. Yes. It attacked me but I fought it off,’ I tell her.
‘I’m glad,’ she says, twisting her lips to show that she’s marginally embarrassed that she abandoned me. ‘I’m sorry I ran. I was?—’
‘It’s all good. Before you disappear again…’ I joke and gesture to a plate on the table with wedges of melon fanned out on it, the flesh dewy and pastel green.
‘I like melon,’ she says, looking at the plate.
‘You told me,’ I remind her. ‘I got it fresh. It’s very ripe, super sweet.’
Chloe takes a wedge and holds it to her mouth, the flesh grazing her cheek, juice dripping down her hands.
‘Oh holy monkeys,’ she whispers.
I try to contain my laughter because Chloe is making quite the hilarious sound while she’s devouring the melon. Phoebe has said I make a similar sound when I eat mashed potatoes.
‘Good melon?’ I ask her.
She exhales and laughs. ‘I think I’m in love.’
‘Oh.’
‘With the melon.’
