Gregory

I arrived in South Africa in September 1997. I met Greg in February of that year at a resort we were both working at called Anfi on the island of Gran Canaria.

I persuaded my parents that going back to Gran Canaria was the right thing for me. I had never properly settled in England and I felt that going back home to the Canary Islands to be closer to my family would make me a whole lot happier. I was 25 at the time so it was quite a big decision for my parents to have me live at home again. I can’t say they were jumping up and down with joy, naturally they were quite apprehensive.

I started looking for work immediately. Julia had a friend whose husband worked in a resort in the south of the island and he recommended I approach them.

A couple of weeks later I began working in the Contracts Department of Anfi del Mar, an upmarket timeshare resort.

Gran Canaria has a large tourist industry on the island, particularly in the south. The climate is consistently good all year around, an average of 23 degrees. It is a favourite package holiday for Europeans, fairly close to reach by plane and quite reasonable in price.

The timeshare system works like this.

OPCs are the guys on the street, they are the first port of call. They are positioned in different tourist spots and their job is to approach tourists and invite them to have a look at the resort with the opportunity to buy a week or two’s accomodation at the resort. Once the tourists arrive, the in house sales team take over and take them on a tour, ending up with sit down drinks to discuss. If the salesman or woman manage to close the deal, they come down to the contract office to type a contract up. It has to be snappy before the tourists change their minds.

There were about 5 or 6 of us working at any one time in the office. We were a multi national group and we got on well. As time went by I got used to the work and built up a relationship with the team. Our offices opened up straight onto the beach and we would often watch the salesmen and women come and go.

Next door to us was the salaries office.

A blond guy dressed in khaki shorts, a white Anfi polo tshirt, some snazzy wrap around sunglasses, trainers and a money belt would walk past once or twice a day.

He was always in a hurry. His white blond hair stood up in a flat top. To get to the salaries office, he had to walk past our office. He had a loud voice, I couldn’t place his accent. I’d heard it before, it wasn’t Australian, or American, it was South African.

He had to come to the salaries office to hand in the OPCs’ time schedule of hours worked. He headed up a team of OPCs. They were positioned in many different tourist spots and his job was to keep track of them, make sure they were dressed correctly in their Anfi kit, keep them motivated and encourage them to approach as many tourists as they could.

Casually (not really) I ask who the guy is that keeps walking past our offices like he means business.

Ahhh that’s Greg, he manages the Scandinavian team.

Those wraparound glasses

For sure he has a girlfriend, I think. And why would he be interested in me anyway, I’ve got wonky teeth, oh no I don’t, they’ve been fixed, but anyway, he is probably taken.

You’re not in the least bit interested Sally. Play it cool.

I will do the exact opposite, I’ll become shy and self conscious.

So the days go on, I come and go, using my mother’s car to drive down to the South of the island, 40 minutes away from where my parents live.

Apparently Greg thought I was married, driving such a fancy car.

Oh, so I looked mature and independent, that’s nice.

Ha.

Little did he know.

Then one day I’m just minding my own business in the office when Greg appears from no where and asks for an Anfi brochure.

I nearly keel over and die of awkwardness, that hysterical laughter catches me once again. Why oh why. I go red, fumble around, barely hearing what he has to say, I shove some brochures into his hands, look at him briefly.

Jolly handsome, nice eyes.

He, on the other hand, appears amused.

Off he goes.

Valentine’s day is coming up and my whole office has planned to go out for the evening. They have been asking me for a while, they all live locally but it’s a bit more complicated for me living further away.

The evening arrives and we meet up at a night spot close to Anfi. So there we are, chatting and having fun when Luísa announces Greg is at the same spot. Come let me introduce you, she says.

No, I can’t.

I want to run and hide.

She isn’t having any of it, next minute she drags me across the room and positions me right infront of him. He smiles and I look awkward. I try to play it cool, this doesn’t work for me as you know, but somehow we start chatting and I think I fall in love right there and then.

Being a natural salesman, he pitches his sale to perfection. He’s from Cape Town, South Africa.

I'm African.

Wow.

Do wild animals live close by?

Yes, he says….Yeah right, little white lie there.

He loves nature.

Good sign.

He says he swims, sails, enjoys watersports.

Good, he passes the trunk test then (ask me later).

He’s a bit shy, humble, quaintly old fashioned, intellligent and interesting.

I’m looking more and more starry eyed.

Keep it together, Sally.

I come home, lie down on my parents’ bed and swoon.

Young and in love

I’ve met somebody and he’s wonderful.

My father takes this seriously, why don’t you invite him up? Plus he wants to suss him out, my last boyfriend was a dud.

I have to wait a good more couple of weeks so as not to scare him off completely, and then I ask him casually if he would like to come for dinner at our house.

Yes, he says. Straight away. That’s nice.

I haven’t prepared him, I’m not sure what he thinks he is coming to, but he turns up looking smart, dressed for the occasion. We arrive at my parents.

Back at the ranch, my whole family are bustling around getting dinner ready, waiting excitedly for us to arrive. Door bell goes. It’s them.

We arrive. A yellow open top car. Out we get.

He’s blond!! they say, stunned.

Most of my boyfriends have had dark hair.

The family comes out to welcome us. This is a family affair, we don’t just have my parents, but Nicola, Julia and Antonio, Julia’s husband at the time, a 2 metre tower of a man. Not intimidating at all.

The Spanish interrogation is about to begin.

Sally, Greg and the money belt