by Oliver Rill
“I can do this!”
“Ha ha ha. I believe you!”
As we rose into the air, it occurred to me what a good pilot we had. The takeoff felt as soft as a bird rising firstly towards the Pacific and then swinging in a long curve until we could see the spread of Los Angeles beneath us again. I thought of Matt, down there like an ant, stuck in the long ribbons of traffic or maybe even back at home already, glad of having the pool to himself for once. I had already scoffed the sweet pralines and the stewardess let me know that there was no Ouzo in the online bar supplies. I made a mental note of the omission, but it wasn’t so tragic. We were on the way to Berlin, after all, not Athens. I ordered a white wine but Aaron stayed teetotal.
As it was an evening flight, dinner was served soon after takeoff. Aaron asked for a second portion and I noticed that he actively avoided carbohydrates.
“None today because I’m not doing any sport.” He explained.
He didn’t have any desert either, but I tucked into the chocolate mousse with relish. Then I was ready to watch a film and after my third glass of wine I nodded off.
We changed planes in Berlin onto an Easyjet flight. It was like chalk and cheese or rather chalk and oranges in this case. We had started off in First Class of a jumbo and now we were sitting in the narrow seats of a low cost flight.
“God, it’s narrow! How long is the flight with this crate?”
“Two hours and 30 minutes. Oh, Aaron you look so cramped!”
“Your knees are right up against the seat in front, too. You can’t even lean the seat back.”
“Come on, Aaron, we’ll cope with this!”
“Hmm. What I wanted to say earlier … about, you know … I do have enough offers, you know? But it can get on your nerves. No one asks because they like me as a person, they just want to fuck a body builder. It’s just like people want to get lively with a black person because, you know, they think they have this massive thing between their legs. They don’t want conversation, they just want to act out their fantasies. Tick that one off their list and have done with it. I’m sure you know what I mean. Not everyone is nice to you because they think you’re a nice person. A lot of them are friendly because you have an airline, you’re good looking, you … and whatever, but not because of you as a person. Do you see?”
“You make me feel quite sorry for you, Aaron. Everyone is after your body and no-one is after you.”
“It’s not that I don’t do it too, but sometimes I do feel used and then just like I’m missing something. Then again, sometimes I just go along with it and have fun and it doesn’t really matter.”
“You can’t tell me that no one crosses your path now and then, that you really like, Aaron. I don’t buy that.”
“Sure now and then it happens. I just have to come clear with the fact that they aren’t all on the level. Some are quite convinced that people who look like me are dumb. We have brawn not brains. We only go training because we don’t have any grey matter to exercise up there. A lot of them don’t even bother starting a normal conversation – about politics or current affairs or whatever.”
“I think I know what you mean. I always used to wish I could choose who I laid on their back”
“Ok, you’re my boss but you’re good looking. I’m sure you’ve never had a problem finding someone. And someone who was serious into the bargain.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve spent more of my life being a lonely single than one half of a happy couple.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Then don’t. But it’s true, really.”
“Why was that? Were you a bit demanding? Too shy? Didn’t see the opportunities?”
“All of that, I think. And then again, I’m not the ideal gay. I don’t have strong thick arms or a six pack.”
“Not everyone is looking for that, Oli. Most of us, I think, most of us, want a normal guy. Just someone who they can relate to, who they could introduce to mom and dad. You’re that type, I think. You just have a really warped impression of how others see you.”
“I’m always asking myself how Matt sees me. He could have anybody. Anybody in the world!”
“Matt’s good looking, true. But even Matt likes the fact that you’re just normal. People don’t cop on to the fact that you’re gay right away. Sometimes you can see it, but you have to be looking for it. I just know that that’s one of the things he likes about you.”
“Maybe. Anyhow, you will find a couple of gays on the island.”
“I’m there to be looking after you, not to chase guys! There again, we’ll see what happens!” He grinned.
After collecting our luggage from the carousel in Athens, to Aaron’s surprise we took a bus rather than a cab or renting a car.
“We’ll get a cab on Sifnos.” I said. “And you? Can you ride a motorbike?”
“Naturally! I used to have a Harley, but I had to sell it.”
“Ohhh, I’m sure that was painful. What sort? I loved the Harley Fat Boy.”
“That’s the one I had!”
“Ha! I can just imagine you on that!”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It was! You wait with the bags when we get out. I’ll go get tickets for the ferry.”
“Best if I come with you.”
“Get real. I’ve done it 100 times.”
“You weren’t Mr Airline those times.” He pointed out.
“And no one knows that I’m Mr Airline now. I’m just a tourist, that’s all. A simple tourist.”
“That’s the island?” Aaron asked his eyes screwed up against the sun as we closed in on Kamares. Kamares harbor is the main entrance to Sifnos. It’s quaint beauty has been painted on a thousand canvasses, nestled in amongst the sparsely vegetated, rolling mountains in a fertile valley. Small white houses with painted blue windows, typical of the Cycladic villages line the paradise-like sand beaches, shaded from the afternoon sun by the towering rocks of the hills.
“That is Sifnos. Yes.”
“It looks as though it’s just jumped out of the Abba musical. Pretty!”
We took a cab directly to Apollonia, the capital of the island in the middle of Sifnos, opting out of the tempting stroll through Kamares and announcing my presence to my Sifnos friends. I hadn’t told anyone apart from Antonis that I was coming, even Aristo didn’t know I was there.
“There you are! Is that you new boyfriend? He looks fit! Tasty!”
I’d known Antonis for many years. A typical Greek, he was one of my oldest friends, even though he was moving towards middle age, he was an attractive man. I loved his Greek ways and friendly manner.
“Antonis, this is a friend of mine.” I introduced Aaron. “Not a boyfriend.” I hastily added.
Aaron took the keys and carried both bags down into the hotel. The small hotel had some luxury serviced apartments and was built under the cliff hang. A couple of steps led down into the reception, which followed through to the large terrace. Guests often gathered there and chatting with Antonis, drinking coffee or wine in the evenings. From here, there were stairs down to a deeper layer where the suites were. Each had a patio with a view out to the islands of Paros and its neighboring island Antiparos. Most of the suites were like small maisonettes, with steps inside and their own entrance onto the street outside.
Magnificently flowering shrubs lining the path through the gardens showed the care that was taken with all aspects of the hotel.
“Why don’t you share a room? Don’t you want to fuck him?”
“Antonis! He is not my lover, ok?”
“And what have you been doing all this time? I hardly see you on Facebook anymore.”
“I’m working in Los Angeles. It was a strange coincidence.”
“Are we going for a drink later?”
“That sounds good.”
“Aristo is here too. I haven’t spoken to him yet though.”
“He doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Really? I thou
ght you two were good friends.”
“We are, but I wanted to surprise him. How are you, anyway?”
“Ah, same old same old. Vienna, Bernd then back here to fix up the rooms. I am well booked out this year though.”
“And Bernd? Are you together or apart at the moment?”
“I’m not really sure. I think he’s coming here for summer, since I’m here.”
“Awesome! Nothing has changed at all. Anything new on the island?”
“Nah, the same as ever.”
“Great, let’s go eat at nine. I’ll unpack quickly and have a nap, ok? Which room has Aaron got?”
“He is in number four. Do you want to visit him?”
“Maybe …” I winked and went down the outdoor steps to my little two story junior suite. Antonis had had the bathroom and kitchen renovated. The bath was still too small, but it was big enough for me and it really was tastefully done.
“Hey, Aaron, is everything ok in your room?” I asked. I wanted to quickly check in with him before I went for a nap.
“It’s great, thanks.”
“I said we’d go to eat at nine. I want to lay my head down for a bit.”
“No problem, Boss! See you at nine.”
We went to Drakakis in Apollonia. It was only five minutes by foot from Antonis’ small but trendy hotel. Antonis ordered various tapas, which were served in the middle of the table for all of us to reach into at will. Drakakis was a typical Greek restaurant with the typically uncomfortable chairs surrounding tables that were too small set out on the edge of a small Greek square on the Steno, a pedestrian alley with a number of small shops, a handful of restaurants and bars stretching along the overhanging hillside. Aristo rushed in.
“Oli! Malaka!” he said, reverting into his native Greek. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” He wrapped his arms around me and I told him to join us.
“Oli, I can’t. I’ve got the shop open. But we can go for a drink later. Ok?”
“Good idea. Look forward to it!”
The next morning we got a scooter from the rental shop for Aaron. I retrieved mine from Flora’s husband, who always looked after it for me over the winter, and told Aaron to get a telephone card then amuse himself on the beach or something. I was going to look for some people I knew on the island and see how they were doing before I did anything else. We did discuss whether he should come with me, it was something I needed to do this alone. We parted knowing that we would meet on the beach around midday.
“Tell me Aristo, do you really think selling T-shirts is the right path for you? You have a proper job now!”
“My family needs me. If we hire someone in, well, things will start disappearing.”
“But you can’t do both. You have to think about your job.”
“I’ll be back at the end of September!”
“Four months off, from June to September! I don’t think so. We talked about two months, my friend.”
“But it’s my shop! I can’t just close up.”
“You’re going to have to look for someone to take over, then. I can’t give you four months off. Who’s going to recruit staff? Can Am can’t wait for you to sell a few beach towels.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“’Risto, I asked you and you made a decision. So look for someone – you do that for Can Am!”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I can pay someone.”
“Don’t even go there!” I saw red. “If you don’t make enough to pay anyone, you’ll have to close the shop. Or were you thinking of carrying on, just for the sake of having it open and not making a penny?”
“It’s not that bad, Oli.”
“Then get someone. Two months. No more. Really, I am serious. Show me that you’re taking it seriously too.”
“You can be a really hard business man, you know that?” He said, but I wasn’t going to be drawn.
“You won’t find anyone in Greece who will pay you as much and give you a Jaguar and two months holiday into the bargain. There is no one anywhere else in the world who would. Only Can Am would, and just from me and only because it’s you.”
“Yeah, ok. I’ll find someone.”
The next few days saw Aaron and I exploring the island on our scooters. Aaron thought the island was cool. It was 29 square miles of deserted island except for five villages and a few odd hamlets. It rarely took more than ten minutes to get from one village to the next on the scooter. The beaches wrapped around it were varied, but all very beautiful. The Sifnots as a people were always friendly and helpful. I met old friends everywhere we went and they always gave Aaron a strange look. True, he was a bit of an apparition, but I wasn’t sure if they thought he was my boyfriend or just a friend. I am sure there was gossip behind my back, but this didn’t faze me. If they were gossiping about me and Aaron, they were leaving Aristo alone. He would lose his reputation which he had suffered unjustly of being my boyfriend. All this of course behind closed doors.
“Tell me Oli, Do you still want to buy your house here?” Aristo asked me one evening.
“The old Face bar? I sure do! We’ll have to find out who it belongs to.”
“Should I ask around?”
“Yes. Do. Tell the woman who owns it, I want to talk to her.”
Two days later I was sitting at a table in a small Italian restaurant in Kamares with Dimitra, the house owner. Next to me sat Aaron and Aristo.
“I not selling, but you can rent house.”
“Ok. How much?”
“€80 a room each night.”
“The whole house I mean, for the year.”
“And upstairs?”
“Upstairs too.”
She took out her cell phone and tapped into it.
“I do you €38,500 if you wanna buy all house, ees 35,000.”
“You might get that if you had a long season and it was booked out the whole time, but it isn’t, is it? Really you’re only getting about half of that and you still have to change the bedlinen. You’ve got arrivals and departures. You’re not getting more than 20 thousand at the moment.”
“It ees nice to have a leettle more.” She said sheepishly.
“How old are you?”
“32.”
“Ok, let’s say that you earn €250,000 in the next ten years, that’s not counting repairs and cleaning.”
“I do myself.” She interjected quickly.
“Ok then, let’s assume you get €250,000 in the next ten years. I’m offering you half a million. You wouldn’t have to work for a long time. Or you could build a new house and maybe rent six or eight rooms instead of four.”
“I not sell.”
“Not for half a million? Why not?”
“It belong to me. I like it.”
“But you rent it out. You don’t even live there.”
“I still not sell.”
“Think about it. You’re living off €20,000 now. You wouldn’t have to work for another 25 years.”
“In 25 year, I am 57 years old. I am only ten years away from retirement then. I still possible sell house. What I do when 57 if I sell house today and have nothing money later on?”
“Maybe it would be better to rent eight rooms and live on 40,000 a year. Then you could buy a new house at 57!”
“No. I no want sell. If you want rent then ok. But sell. No!”
“Ok, I’ll rent it for €30,000 for the whole year. But my offer stands. €500,000 in cash. Think about it. I’d do it if I were you.” I passed her my card, she made her excuses and left us in the restaurant.
“And? Aristo? What do you think? Will she sell or not?”
“She’ll sell. She’s just trying to squeeze a bit more out of you.”
“You think so?”
“Definitely.”
Aaron kept up his gym habit on Sifnos. He was used to better equipment, but he made friends fast. Everybody wanted to know all the details of his training and what he took to keep his body in shape et cetera. We looked
like Laurel and Hardy on the beach. He was incredibly patient. He did his own thing most of the time, then ate with us, or drank with us in the evenings. He was there when I needed him, but stayed away when I wanted to meet up with friends.
Matt was in Florida at the weekends. It was so nice to hear his voice when we telephoned. The garden apparently was blooming and he was thinking of trying the surfing.
“I’m not going anywhere near your grandpop car though.” He teased. I considered buying him his Porsche for Florida, but how often was he there to use it? I could get him one for use in L.A. and just not give a damn about what people thought.
“How’s business? It’s looking good as far as I can see, isn’t it?”
“Bookings are more or less constant, yes. Nothing untoward happing here though. Chambers keeps trying to undercut us, but he hasn’t really caught on that it’s not going to help him.”
“And United? What’s Garcia up to?”
“They’re just doing their thing, whatever. They aren’t pushed around by anyone.”
“Good, that’s one thing Garcia does well.”
“Anything else going on?”
“No. I’m going to have to get on now. Talk to you later.” It had felt cold and impersonal talking to Matt on the phone. It could be that he just couldn’t talk at that point and tell me how much he missed me. I hadn’t said that either, but I had thought it!
“Aaron, you look completely relaxed.” I said at the airport in Athens.
“Yeah, I really had a great time. It’s an awesome island, nice people who were happy to talk. Yeah, really good.”
“I’m glad. Now back to civilization.”
“Did the woman get back to you about your house?”
“Her? Only to ask if the rental deal is still on and if I was laying down a deposit.”
“I thought she would cave.”