‘Hi guys, you’re not too late, then, after your classes?’
‘No, we let them go five minutes early,’ Martin laughs.
‘And made them work twice as hard,’ Alexis adds.
‘Stephanie, are you all right?’ Mum asks, sounding concerned.
‘I’m fine. I’ll fill you in later.’ I don’t want to tell her now and risk bursting into tears again.
Nikolaos and Eliana have made their way on to a little stage and are waiting for the chatter to settle down.
Helen whispers, ‘Are you okay, sis?’
‘I’ll be okay. I’m sure it will all work itself out. There’s no way back for Richard and me.’
Nikolaos clears his throat and begins to speak, in Greek, of course. My mind drifts; I try and imagine how our lives will be in fifty years’ time. I suppose it’s right what they say: you’re better off not knowing. I didn’t stand at the altar on my wedding day thinking I’d be filing for divorce six years later. I’ve no idea if it will all work out for Stefanos and myself, but I’m willing to take a chance. I feel at home here and it feels so right when I’m with him.
The sound of everyone laughing bursts my thought bubble. Stefanos whispers in my ear, ‘I will tell you later what he has just said. It was a funny story about Grandmama’s cooking skills when they first got married.’
Nikolaos has finished talking and Eliana is waving her finger at him humorously. Everyone is clapping. Giorgos and Xena have now joined them on the stage with the cake. It’s still covered up. Giorgos is saying a few words. He’s standing next to Nikolaos and I notice that there’s a striking resemblance between father and son. Xena, too, looks very much like Eliana. Despite the Mediterranean sun, Eliana has retained her youthful looks; Xena is the same. I think Costas and Stefanos take after Stavros, with their strong dark Greek features. Stavros is busy pouring something fizzy into everyone’s glasses for, I assume, a toast.
Costas whispers to our non-Greek group, ‘This is a toast to Eliana and Nikolaos. Get ready to raise your glasses.’
We all hold up our glasses and duly toast to Eliana and Nikolaos.
Giorgos taps his glass with the cake knife and everyone goes quiet again. ‘I would like to say a few words in English. We would all like to welcome Helen, Stephanie, Pamela and Michael to the party. We hope you have enjoyed your time on Mykonos. I will not dwell on what happened in Syros; thankfully, you all returned safely. We would also like to thank Helen for putting the Hotel Niko and the Hotel Giorgos forward for her company, and would like you all to know that they have both been recommended to be included in Loving Luxury Travel’s family-hotels list from next May.’
Everyone claps. Helen looks relieved and happy.
‘I will now hand you back to my father, who would like to say a few more words.’
‘As you all know, Eliana and I have been married for fifty years. I met her here, when it was her mother and father’s hotel, and we have worked together ever since. We have been thinking about this for a long time and have decided that now would be a good time to retire.’
There are gasps round the terrace, and lots of people are looking surprised. It looks like the only people who knew are Xena, Stavros, Giorgos and Katina, and possibly Costas. He gives Helen a knowing look.
‘Well, I never thought I would hear those words from Grandpapa,’ Stefanos says, looking shocked.
‘Or me,’ Nikos agrees. ‘But they are in their seventies, and they deserve some quality retirement time.’
‘So now we can cut our cake that has been such a big secret,’ Nikolaos says.
Xena and Giorgos carefully remove the cover that has been hiding it all day. And now we can see why. It’s two amazing cakes. One for their golden wedding anniversary and one for their retirement. Everyone moves forward to admire the cakes and take some photos before Eliana and Nikolaos cut into them.
‘And now we request that all guests join us in the Greek zorba!’ Nikolaos shouts.
There’s a huge round of applause and everyone gathers together as instructed. We place our arms on each others’ shoulders. I have Stefanos on one side and Helen on the other. The music begins. Slowly, to begin with, and then we start picking up the pace. Our private lesson earlier with Stefanos and Costas is paying off because we actually know what to do. Everyone is happy and laughing. Martin and Alexis are trying their best to show off their twerking skills, and Nikolaos and Eliana are showing no signs of giving up as we go faster and faster, round and round the terrace. It seems to go on forever and then it suddenly finishes, leaving us all breathless.
We all cheer as slower music starts to play. We reach out to hold our respective loved ones in our arms. All of us are happy, under a Greek spell.
Epilogue
Pamela
It’s hard to believe that it was my surprise sixtieth birthday party twelve months ago. I’m celebrating my birthday this year here in Mykonos, with Michael, Helen, Costas, Stephanie and Stefanos at the Hotel Niko. Xena, Stavros, Nikolaos, Eliana, Giorgos, Katina, Nikos and Selena are here too.
I couldn’t have wished for better partners for Helen and Stephanie. I’ve never seen them looking happier. Costas and Stefanos are very caring, and they always put Helen and Stephanie first.
It was a bit stressful getting them moved over here, but they’re here now and are building up a successful villa rental portfolio for Loving Luxury Travel. Their first clients will be arriving in the next few days for the start of the holiday season.
Michael and I were going to buy a villa ourselves, but that plan went awry. To help Stephanie, we gave her the money to buy out Richard. The house is on the market now and hopefully a sale is imminent. Helen has assured us that she’ll always be able to find us a villa or hotel room on the island, so our villa idea has been put to one side for now.
Xena, Stavros, Costas and Stefanos have been busy getting the hotel ready for its first season with Loving Luxury Travel. Helen and Stephanie have been helping by giving the hotel some subtle modern touches. They’ve framed some of the photos that Stephanie took last year and used them as their theme. There’s a beautiful canvas in the dining room, of the windmills. Steph’s photography skills have come into their own. She has done all the photography for the villa rentals website and brochures.
Nikolaos and Eliana have been enjoying their retirement and have been to see us in the UK. They are busy here, too, with the soap workshop and the little pottery workshop at the Hotel Giorgos.
I’m having a go at making some pottery tomorrow with Helen and Steph. Eliana will be showing us what to do. I’ve always fancied having a go, especially after watching that film Ghost. After what happened to Helen, Costas and Nikos during the earthquake, we all realised that life can take unexpected turns and that we should make the most of the opportunities that come our way. Our new family saying is carpe diem – seize the day.
* * *
Ooh, the lights have been dimmed and Helen and Steph are stood at the door with a cake alight with candles.
‘Hush, everyone! After three!’ Helen shouts. ‘One, two, three! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Pamela … Pam … Mum … Happy birthday to you!’
Steph and Helen are saying, ‘Make a wish, Mum.’ I take a deep breath in, close my eyes, blow out the candles and make my wish.
The little voice in my head tries to stop me, but it’s too late. My wish has been made…
References
Healthy Magazine Issue No. 102 May/June 2013
Pages 26, 29, 179, 180, 181
Vanzant I (1997) In the Meantime. Simon and Schuster UK Ltd
Pages 49, 94, 97, 98, 126
Delos, Pages 193, 194, 195, ancient-greece.org
Thank you
Thank you to all my friends and family who have waited so patiently for the arrival of this novel. At times it’s felt like the
day would never arrive but with all your encouragement I’ve persevered and if you’re reading this you’ve got my first novel in your hands.
Thank you Troubador and all the team who’ve helped me self publish my first novel. And to Chelsea Taylor for designing the cover.
Thank you to Dea Parkin and the team at Fiction Feedback who critiqued and edited the book.
Thank you to my parents Liz and Keith Cox for your support and love.
Thank you and much love to my husband Chris Pottage for listening to endless stories about my novel and writing in general and for the technical support when the computer is having a bad day. Thank you also to Lizzie and Sam for taking an interest in my novel.
Thank you Jen Cox, Sandra Hulme and Bridget Maddison for reading the early drafts and giving me the encouragement to carry on. Special thanks to Sandra for introducing me to punctuation!
Thank you to Carol Hibbs for going on holiday to Mykonos with me. Although I’d written a lot of the book before we went, actually visiting Mykonos enabled me to put some personal touches into the book.
Thank you to my Creative Writing Group especially Margaret Holbrook and Mark Henderson for your encouragement and advice.
Thank you to Anna Wickham, Debbie Rathbone, Sharon Wood and Jen Cox who I’ve consulted with on numerous occasions about various book conundrums.
Thank you to the ‘Ladies who Lunch’ who are the amazing colleagues that I worked alongside for almost 30 years, especially Helen Heery for holding the vision of a book signing.
Thank you Joanne Hibbert, Pippa McCartney and Dawn Hänsch for looking out for events and articles of interest in the literary world.
Thank you Martin Jensen for being the fabulous Aqua Aerobics instructor in my novel.
Thank you to Michaela from the lovely Itsy Bitsy shop in Chapel-en-le-Frith and the inspiration for Michaela’s Boutique.
Thank you to Spiros and Karen from Kouros cafe in Chapel-en-le-Frith for checking my Greek phrases and spelling.
I’d like to mention my dear friend Jill Leyden who sadly passed away in 2015. I met Jill regularly for lunch and she gave me lots of encouragement to keep going with the book. She gave me a card with a little Greek boat on the front that hangs in my office as inspiration.
Thank you to the reader – I hope you enjoy it.
Afterword
I’ve always wanted to write a book. I loved writing short stories at school and I did attempt to write a book in the late 1990’s but I ran out of steam. When I worked at the TSB I really enjoyed writing poems for my colleagues who were celebrating birthdays, getting married etc.
In January 2013 my husband Martin was diagnosed with cancer. After his chemotherapy treatment we went on a holiday to Paphos. It was during this holiday that I had some ideas for a book floating about in my head. With inspirations drawn from people watching especially the porter Nick, I was determined to commit to writing something and I downloaded Scrivener as soon as I got home and started writing.
During the early draft of the book I was picturing the hotel and surrounding area where Martin and I had stayed in Cyprus. As my character Stephanie was taking shape she decided to throw me a curved ball and the novel screeched to a halt. I was suddenly plunged in to my first rewrite with hundreds of words being deleted. That was my first harsh lesson in writing a book – using the delete button. It was also when the title Under a Greek Spell emerged as the story switched to Mykonos.
Unfortunately Martin’s health deteriorated in late October and he sadly passed away in November 2013. My writing pretty much came to a standstill for nine months.
The story was revived by a girly holiday to Mykonos with my friend Carol. Although we couldn’t afford to stop in a luxurious hotel where Stephanie and Helen would have stayed, we made sure we visited a couple of five star hotels for the purposes of research and sampled some cocktails. Visiting Mykonos also gave me the opportunity to wander around the town and soak up the ambience. I hope that my experiences in Mykonos come through in the book, although we never visited the beach club!
The whole process has been a rather steep learning curve (more a vertical line!). I have treated it as a hobby which has opened up many new doors and I hope any would be writers will be encouraged to give it a go.
Under a Greek Spell Page 29