A Self Effacing Man

by Sara Alexi

  The softness of her lips is beyond what he imagined, the give of the muscles around her mouth more bewitching than he could ever have expected, but, almost immediately, it is something other than the texture of the kiss that keeps his focus: instead, he is aware of her yielding to him. It is unspoken, but he knows it is happening, as if she has no will of her own; then it changes again, and he can sense her urgency, her insistence.

  They are talking without words and he has never had such a wonderful, expansive conversation. He is being lifted up and up, they have left the ground and they are flying together, she is allowing him to lead, and yet she is showing him the way. Where he ends and she begins is no longer clear and for the first time in his life all his awkwardness is gone, all his insecurities have melted away and he feels complete.

  Finally, she pulls away, but he doesn’t want her to go. He seeks her lips with his and they meet again, but the two of them have grounded now and she kisses him again and again, shorter and shorter pecks until at last they draw apart a little; she looks at him directly and he sees her love for him in her eyes, sucking him in and under until he would drown, and be happy to, were it not for the expansion in his chest keeping him afloat. The adrenaline in his limbs tells him he could run a thousand miles, lift a building from its foundations or turn Maria from a mortal to a goddess. His hand shoots up to the back of her head, his fingers in her slightly greying hair, and he pulls her back to him, eager to join with the other half of his soul again.

  Their coffee goes cold, as do the freshly baked biscuits, and the official letter he is there to deliver remains unopened on the table for the next hour. They manage a small amount of talk between kisses. Their bodies demand that they become closer, and Cosmo lifts her slight weight so she is sitting on his knee; there they remain as they sort through all the misunderstandings and complications of the years gone by. They regret and forget them in the moment and discover that the outcome could never have been anything other than this: their lives were always heading toward this predestined conclusion. They straighten the path that has been and clear the route for the future.

  When they finally come up for air and remember the world around them, Maria makes fresh coffee and taps the letter that Cosmo is here to deliver.

  ‘I think you will find that this is for you,’ she says, and she puts the water on to boil.

  He tears it open and reads the heading. ‘It is from Babis the lawyer.’

  ‘Yes,’ she says.

  ‘It is your will. I should not be reading this. Get Babis to read it for you.’

  ‘Please read it, I want to check it is as I asked.’

  ‘It says that you will leave everything … to me!’

  She smiles. ‘Of course, who else? I have no intention of outlasting you. I have spent enough time alone.’

  A mischievous smile kindles her eyes as she puts his coffee down beside him; then, from under a side table, she lifts a wooden box, takes from it a needle and thread and sits down again and, taking hold of his sleeve, starts to repair the tear in stitches so tiny he can hardly see them.

  Chapter 24

  Thanasis has won for the fourth time.

  ‘When you meet your master it is better just to accept it,’ he says, taunting. He closes the tavli box and hails Theo for an ouzo.

  ‘You want one or are you still not drinking?’

  ‘Definitely not drinking.’ Cosmo laughs.

  ‘You know, I think you are looking at this all wrong. If it hadn’t been for the drink, you would never have written the letter, never posted it. Maria would never have come round to me and she would not have forced your hand. So really, it is because you were drunk that you got the girl!’

  He turns his head towards the counter. ‘Two ouzos, Theo!’ he calls.

  ‘One,’ Cosmo corrects.

  Theo brings two glasses and fills one. Thanasis points to the second but Cosmo turns it upside down. Theo chuckles and leaves, taking the bottle with him.

  ‘Ah, give it time and you will be in here like the rest of them, getting out of the house and licking their wounds. Have you set a date yet?’ Thanasis asks.

  ‘The papas says he can marry us a week next Saturday, but Maria wants it to be a small affair, so keep that to yourself until I know how she wants to play it.’ Cosmo grins from ear to ear.

  ‘You see, already she is calling the shots,’ Thanasis teases.

  Cosmo thrills at these words. It is going to be wonderful; in fact, it already is wonderful, with Maria taking over all the decision-making in his life. She cooks and shops, the house is clean, and she loves the white walls in the kitchen. So far she has not chosen which house they will live in, but she has decided that whichever it is they will rent out the other to make their lives a little more comfortable.

  He could not wish for more, except perhaps to share her bed. But that will be fulfilled in due course, when they are married. Although, if he is honest with himself, as each day passes, he feels a certain amount of apprehension over this. But then he comforts himself that she will too. They are both in the same boat.

  ‘Yeia sou, Cosmo.’ A farmer from the next village enters and comes straight up to him and shakes his hand.

  ‘I hear you got the reward. You want an ouzo?’ He raises a finger to Theo.

  ‘No, thanks. Yes, I got the reward. Never thought such things were real, but I guess I saved a lot of people’s oranges.’

  ‘You did indeed.’ The farmer pats him heartily on his shoulder and wanders off to find a table.

  ‘Have they actually given you the cash yet?’ Thanasis asks.

  ‘Got it and spent it.’

  ‘What, all of it?’

  ‘It wasn’t that much. I got the fan fixed. It needed a whole new motor after all. The back fence is replaced and Maria is keeping some back in case we need new furniture.

  ‘She has your purse strings already!’

  Thanasis laughs. Both his laughter and his words are quiet, without malice, but a brief cloud does pass across his eyes, and Cosmo wonders if Thanasis might be feeling just a touch of jealousy.

  ‘Babis wanted to hold on to it for me,’ Cosmo says.

  ‘Ha!’ Thanasis explodes.

  ‘Exactly! He kept making all these excuses, and I couldn’t get hold of it. But Maria paid him a visit, and half an hour later, not only was the reward transferred to my bank account but probate was complete at no further cost either, just like that!’

  Thanasis whistles through his teeth.

  ‘So you got it all, eh, my friend? The girl, the reward …’

  The farmer from the next village is leaving already and he nods at Cosmo.

  ‘And the respect of the village,’ Thanasis adds.

  ‘Oh,’ Cosmo says. ‘Talking of the respect of the village’ – Cosmo adopts a slightly mocking tone to indicate he does not accept this accolade – ‘here, happy name day.’

  From his pocket, he pulls the card he had signed by everyone.

  ‘What’s this?’ Thanasis asks.

  ‘It’s a card – you know, like they give for birthdays and celebrations and things.’ Cosmo bites his bottom lip, not sure how Thanasis will receive his offering.

  Thanasis tears it open and reads down the list of names, Cosmo’s and Maria’s at the bottom.

  ‘Oh – that is really nice.’ There is a break in Thanasis’s voice and Cosmo can tell the thoughtfulness has touched him.

  After a few minutes, in which Thanasis studies the card, Cosmo says, ‘Right, I need to get going.’

  ‘Now? It’s a bit early, isn’t it?’ Thanasis knocks back his half-drunk glass of ouzo.

  ‘Oh, but Maria is baking some biscuits,’ Cosmo says. ‘A new recipe.’

  ‘Ah, there is a lucky man, who can be satisfied with a plate of warm biscuits!’ Thanasis stands to leave too.

  ‘Says the man who cannot wait to get back to his donkeys,’ Cosmo chuckles.

  They stand on the top step of the kafenio, side by side, the sun slanting
across the square at an angle, softening the kiosk and the fountain and the palm tree and blurring the shadows. The whitewashed cottages around them glow a soft pink, the terracotta tiles a warm red.

  ‘Ah, but I didn’t tell you, did I?’

  ‘What?’ Cosmo rocks contentedly onto his heels and back, hands in pockets.

  ‘I had Coco checked out after the police brought her back. Guess what? She’s going to have a foal.’

  ‘Ha!’ Cosmo laughs. ‘It goes to show that it is never too late for any of us.’

  <<##>>

  Also by Sara Alexi

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