A Greek Affair

by Linn B. Halton

  Sally doesn’t respond but lets out a sigh instead. It doesn’t take much to be transported back to those early days when I first found out the bank was about to repossess our lovely home, thanks to Antonio. He’d been gone less than twenty-four hours when I was informed that Rosie and I were about to become homeless. Realising I could no longer take anything in my life for granted had been terrifying. Surely, even a therapist is going to agree that it isn’t humanly possible not to be harbouring at least a residual sense of anger, in addition to the disappointment and hurt?

  No Pain, No Gain

  If I had realised just how busy I was going to be, then I would have chosen a later date for the trip to Athens. But it wouldn’t be fair on Rosie to do another trip without her by my side and now, with school breaking up for half-term today, I’m beginning to panic. We only have two days left before we fly out and I’ve even had to suspend my walks.

  What a week it’s been. My head has been in a spin. Dad’s blood tests came back on Monday and they’ve adjusted his tablets, so it’s yet another waiting game to see if further tests show an improvement. Mum is on edge but trying her best to put on a brave face.

  I had a chat with Dr Watkins on Tuesday and now I have to wait for an appointment with a counsellor he feels might be able to help me.

  The agency rang, offering me three photographic jobs. I had to turn down two of them, only agreeing to the third one as I don’t want them to take me off their books completely quite yet. I agreed to do it on Monday the fifth of June, two days after we get back from Athens. At least I’ll have the weekend to catch up with any backlog on my desk.

  On Wednesday, I had a Skype meeting with Wendy Philips and her team at Loving Life magazine. We bounced around a lot of ideas and I’ve promised to deliver the first draft by the middle of June. At £900 per article, I can’t afford to mess this up and I’m beginning to realise that I’ve replaced one pressure for another. I might be out of debt, but now I’m mired in deadlines. But soon I’ll have money in the bank for a rainy day and that’s something I’d long since given up on dreaming about. Having a safety cushion is a big deal to me. It signals the end of the nightmare situation I’ve had to live with and the start of a life where financially I’m free.

  This morning I finalised my report on the cruise and sent it off to Sun, Sea and Tide’s marketing director. It was an easy one to write, if rather long-winded. I made a couple of suggestions but they were minor things. I’ve lined up a series of four blog posts covering my experiences on the cruise and at the various ports. All I need to do now is to sort out the photos, insert them and schedule the posts to go out over the next four weeks. I’m thrilled to have some good quality content and photos that really do bring the experience to life.

  Harrison heads home today and I don’t know how soon to begin reaching out to him. I figure that he’ll need a couple of days to catch up and get back into a routine. Secretly I’m hoping he makes the first move with a text to confirm he has arrived back safely and that will re-start our dialogue.

  A Magical Setting

  Sunday morning, Mum and Dad call around to help with the packing. Well, it’s an excuse because I know they both get a little anxious whenever we go away. Mum and I yank things out of the wardrobes and decide what to put into the suitcases.

  ‘What’s the weather like, have you checked?’ Mum asks, when Rosie refuses to pack a jumper.

  ‘Thirty-plus degrees. Hotter than we’re used to and dry. But you will need to wear something warm you can throw over your T-shirt, Rosie,’ I remind her. ‘It can be chilly waiting around at the airport and who knows what the weather’s going to be like on the return flight. We might come back to rain and it’s better to be prepared than to feel miserably cold.’

  Her head bobs up. ‘I’ll wear it then as I’m already running out of space. It’s going to be hard to fit everything in.’

  Mum looks at me and smiles. If Rosie’s case wasn’t half-full of things to test on her holiday, then she’d be able to fit in more clothes.

  ‘I’ll tell you what, give me some of your things and I’ll pop them in with mine.’

  I go in search of a few items of jewellery, maybe some nice dangly earrings and a necklace or two, just to brighten up a couple of the flowy dresses I’m packing. They roll up well and don’t crease, which is the main thing.

  ‘It’s nice to see you paying a little attention to detail again, Leah,’ Mum sidles up to me as I gather the items up into a soft pouch.

  ‘I’ve let myself go a bit, haven’t I?’

  ‘No, but I’m glad about your new healthier regime as you’ve lost that gaunt look you had there for a while. Now your skin has a glow and I suppose it’s all that fresh air. And maybe the sea air helped too.’

  Rosie has disappeared back into her room to fetch something and I feel that Mum has been waiting for the right opportunity to talk to me.

  ‘The cruise reminded me that socialising can be fun. It was nice to reconnect with the old me. It is still there, somewhere – it just got a little buried for a while.’

  Mum wraps her arm around my waist and gives me a comforting squeeze.

  ‘I thought maybe you’d met someone interesting on the ship. You have your whole life ahead of you, Leah and we want you to live it.’

  What can I possibly say to stop her worrying about me?

  ‘There is someone I’m keeping in touch with but he’s already in a committed relationship. He sat next to me on the trip from the airport and we hung around together. I appreciated having some male company and I have to admit it made me think it’s time to start enjoying life again.’

  I can’t tell her about therapy, or the fact that it’s the drama in our lives that initially sparked my friendship with Harrison.

  ‘Well, that’s a good sign, at least. I thought a luxurious cruise ship might be a very romantic setting, indeed.’

  ‘Right place, wrong guy, but I experienced a sudden glimmer of hope for the future and what might be. Well, that’s if I don’t mess it up by making the same mistakes all over again.’

  ‘You’ve come a long way, honey. Now you simply need to channel all of that energy into bringing some sparkle back into your life.’

  ‘Sparkle, eh? Well, I’m not sure I can promise I’ll find that in Athens, but we’re still going to enjoy every minute of this trip.’

  ~

  I had to pay for the flights myself, although the stay at the prestigious Plaka Kairos International Hotel is free, as are the transfers to and from the airport. Unfortunately, it was a case of grabbing what was available and we’ll lose the first morning of our five-day stay to travelling. The flight lands at just after two-thirty in the afternoon. It’s about a fifty-minute run to the hotel, so we’re expecting to book in at around a quarter to four. Similarly, with the return journey we head back to the airport at eleven in the morning, so we’re going to have to pack a lot into the three full days we have in Athens.

  The coach journey up to Heathrow airport is a relaxing start to our trip and Rosie is in high spirits. With her head bent over a tourist guide to Athens, she insists on making a list of things we must see. Suddenly my pocket begins to buzz and I drag out my phone to see it’s a text from Harrison. At last!

  Hey, lady. I’m back home and I invited the parents round. I’d just told them I was at a crossroads and then the doorbell rang. My neighbours arrived and it turned into an impromptu drinks party. They drank the entire contents of my gin bottle between them all. The words whirling around inside my head would have turned the air blue. My stomach was churning the whole time after I realised the moment was lost.

  My heart sinks in my chest.

  Poor you! I’m devastated on your behalf. Well done for trying, though. Don’t let this put you off.

  He responds immediately.

  The stomach churning might be down to the three Sex on the Beach cocktails I drank. My measuring skills weren’t the most accurate and I was feeling very sorry for myself. I seem
to have developed a taste for drinks with a kick and it got me through a tense couple of hours.

  I hope he manages to work up the courage to hit this head-on again.

  Okay, you might have failed this time, but that wasn’t your fault. What’s the plan, now?

  Rosie is chattering away and I stop briefly to look at her sightseeing list, wondering how on earth it’s going to be possible to fit it all in.

  I suppose I need to catch my breath and try to psych myself up for round two. It’s even harder than I thought it would be. You’re the wordsmith, can’t you help me out? How do I begin this conversation?

  Rosie turns to look at me. ‘Are you listening, Mum? Oh, is that work stuff?’

  She glances down at the phone in my hand.

  ‘Just a friend who needs some advice, darling, sorry. I won’t be a minute and then I’m all yours.’

  I type quickly.

  Keep it simple. Just say you’ve found someone and tell them a little bit about Ollie. You’re focusing on trying to preempt their reaction and I think that’s a big mistake. Just be honest. And don’t wait too long until you try again because the stress will screw up your head.

  ‘Right, I’m finished. Let’s take a look at this list of yours and see if it’s do-able.’

  ~

  The driver holding up the card with my name displayed in large letters is very welcoming. He speaks enough English for us to have a stilted conversation. After escorting us to the car he opens the rear door for me and insists on escorting Rosie around to the other side of the car to hold open the door for her too. As we settle ourselves into the back seat, Christos stows our suitcases inside the boot. Closing the doors and sliding into his own seat, he passes us both a bottle of mineral water and asks if we’re ready for him to set off. Rosie looks at me and raises her eyebrows, obviously very impressed.

  The drive is very pleasant, although we’re glad of the air-conditioning as it’s meltingly hot. The lightweight jackets we needed back in the UK are consigned to a heap on the seat between Rosie and myself.

  I watch as she stares out the window taking in the scenery that flashes by: intermittent rolling countryside interspersed with built-up areas. The beautifully blue sky seems to shimmer with the heat. The sun shines down quite fiercely on the multitude of plants, climbers, shrubs and trees in the fields and gardens we pass. The vibrant and prolific smattering of colours jump out and delight Rosie. She keeps pointing out things that are gone in the second or two it takes for me to follow her finger. For a small part of the journey we can even catch glimpses of the deep, turquoise blue of the ocean as we follow the coastline before, once again, turning inland.

  The journey slows as we hit what I assume is the outskirts of the city centre. For the most part, the traffic flows well until we hit a snarl-up and crawl along for a few minutes before we gather speed once more. The graffiti is a surprise, but then what cosmopolitan city doesn’t bear the markings of modern-day culture? Beautiful old buildings sit alongside office blocks that have little character to them, merely a testament to the concrete jungle created in the Eighties; then buildings of the Nineties displaying nothing but glass and steel. An eclectic mix for sure but as we get closer to the heart of the city, there it is on the skyline. With the sun starting to sink lower in the sky, brief glimpses of the Acropolis seem to be almost lit up by its rays.

  ‘Look, Mum, look!’ Rosie squeals as she catches her first sighting.

  The roads are narrower now and the car turns away from the vista of the Acropolis, into a side street. The gentle incline of a long hill stretches out ahead of us, flanked by hotels and restaurants.

  ‘The hotel, it is here,’ Christos confirms as the car slows to a halt.

  There’s a lot of activity with people walking in both directions and cars parked either side of the street. The hotel sits alongside the pavement and I wonder if road noise is going to be a problem. It isn’t until we’ve climbed the dozen or so marble steps and entered the lobby that I realise how big this hotel is; inside, it’s refreshingly cool and tranquil. You can’t hear any of the noise from the street and as we walk towards the reception desk a man moves out from behind it to greet us, with his hand outstretched.

  ‘Good afternoon. Welcome to Plaka Kairos International Hotel. How may I be of service to you?’

  Rosie is doing a 360-degree turn, taking in the grandeur of the open plan reception area that leads into a conservatory. It’s taken up by a large dining room and a bar. There are two massive tree trunks spiralling upwards and out through the glass roof. Everywhere you look there are plants and it has the feel of an indoor garden. All that is missing are the birds.

  ‘Good afternoon. Mrs Leah Castelli and my daughter, Rosie. You have a reservation for us?’

  He extends his hand with an ear-to-ear smile on his face.

  ‘Ah, welcome, welcome. We are delighted to have you here, Mrs Castelli and hope that you and your daughter have a most wonderful time sampling the delights of our city. My name is Thanos Fotopoules and I am the general manager of the hotel.’

  A porter is already wheeling away our suitcases and heads towards the lift. Mr Fotopoules steers us towards the desk and I fill out a short form while he sorts out our door entry cards.

  He’s very chatty and insists on giving us a handful of brochures, a walking map of the city and then he runs through some of the facilities available in the hotel itself.

  There’s a rooftop terrace with a bar, several hot tubs and a sun deck. It has amazing views out over the city, apparently. It’s a lot to take in and he doesn’t keep us long before personally escorting us across to the lift and up to our room on the sixth floor.

  Hotel corridors are the same everywhere and this one is no different. We follow him down a long, narrow passageway. Admittedly it is sumptuously carpeted, but with little by way of decoration. It’s well maintained but a little dim with only the inset lights above us imitating daylight. He stops, inserts a key card into a door, swinging it open and standing back so we can enter. Rosie bounds in ahead of me and she stops in the doorway, so I have to encourage her inside but I can see why.

  In front of us on the other side of two king-sized beds are wall to wall sliding glass doors looking out onto a balcony. But beyond that, with no obstruction whatsoever to the view, is the Acropolis in all its glory. It’s so close it almost doesn’t look real.

  ‘There are cranes, Mum. Is it falling down?’

  I start laughing and Mr Fotopoules’ smile hikes up a centimetre or two.

  ‘No, darling. It’s being restored to help preserve it for the future.’

  ‘The bathroom is in here—’ Mr Fotopoules pushes open the door to the bathroom which is surprisingly spacious ‘—and the minibar is inside the wardrobe, as is the safe. If there is anything at all you require please do not hesitate to contact reception by dialling zero. The desk is manned twenty-four hours a day. When you are ready for the tour of the hotel, please to ring reception and a member of staff will show you a variety of rooms and all of the facilities.’

  ‘Thank you so much, Mr Fotopoules. This is a delightful room and that view is one we’ll remember forever.’

  ‘Thanos, please, I insist.’ His broad and extremely proud smile can’t physically expand any further and he seems delighted with our reaction. As he exits and closes the door behind him, Rosie spins on her heels and throws her arms up in the air.

  ‘I love it here, Mum. I’m glad you’re so clever and you make me so happy.’

  She whizzes over to throw her arms around me and I fight to stop a tear forming in the corner of my eye. I take in a deep breath to calm myself. After all this girl has been through, she can still count her blessings and that touches my heart.

  Going Greek

  By the time we’ve had a quick chat with Mum and Dad, freshened up and taken the lift down to the reception area, it’s nearly half past five. Walking past the desk I give a nod in the direction of Thanos, who immediately comes across to us wi
th purpose in his footsteps.

  ‘Ah, Mrs Castelli and Rosie, don’t you look charming this evening.’

  Rosie blushes, feeling rather grown up with her hair pinned neatly into a French twist.

  ‘Efharisto,’ she says and Thanos nods and smiles, clearly impressed. The truth is that we both only know three Greek words – thank you, good morning and good afternoon. However, I’m proud that Rosie had the confidence to have a go.

  ‘Mrs Castelli, I know you are here to report on the hotel but we also have two villas only a short distance away. We were wondering whether you would be willing to do a special feature on these properties also? They are soon to become available as holiday rental properties, having been let out on a long-term contract which is due to end in August. I appreciate this will encroach on your time here in the city, though.

  ‘Naturally we would provide a car and a driver for the visit which would take no more than a few hours. In return, we would like to offer you a week’s free accommodation in one of the villas at a time convenient to yourself. Please give this some thought and let me know on your return, yes?’

  I think a little trip away from the city is an unexpected, and welcomed, bonus.

  ‘Please call me Leah. That would be delightful, Thanos, thank you. I don’t need to think about it at all. We can easily fit that in and I’m sure Rosie’s sightseeing plan has a little flexibility, what do you say Rosie?’

  She looks up at me and nods. ‘Everything is close by, Mum and I know how you like walking. Do the villas have a pool?’

  I’m a little shocked by her response but Thanos doesn’t seem fazed and looks at her, taking the question most seriously.

  ‘But of course! I also believe that Dr Preston who is currently in residence in one of the villas has his young daughter staying with him. I’ll ring him directly to make the arrangements for your visit tomorrow morning, if that is agreeable to you ladies.’