The Summer House in Santorini

by Samantha Parks

  After about ten minutes, she decided to head back to the shop next to the cafe. But just before she got there, she passed a small alley where Elena and Vasilis were pressed against each other making out. At least Vasilis was indeed wearing a different top.

  Anna cleared her throat. “Should I come back?”

  Elena looked up, unfazed, as if she were always making out with one person when talking to another.

  “Don’t be silly,” she said. “We’re more than ready.”

  Anna shrugged, and as Elena turned back to give Vasilis another kiss, she snapped a photo. Elena didn’t even notice. This was going to be interesting.

  The photoshoot with Elena and Vasilis definitely was interesting. It was also incredible. They looked like they belonged on a movie poster or magazine cover. As much as Anna didn’t love the muscles, the camera did. Their faces always found the light, their clothes always billowed flatteringly in the wind, and their chemistry was undeniable. In fact, they had started to gather a little crowd of onlookers in front of what Anna now knew was referred to as Three Blue Domes.

  “Amazing Elena, try throwing your train up again.” Elena was wearing a white swimsuit cover-up with slits up both sides, creating a train in the back. She had her left leg poking out of it, and she threw the train out behind her into the wind as she kissed Vasilis.

  “Yep, just like that,” Anna said, capturing shot after shot. She looked down for a split second to check the shutter speed, and the image was so bright and crisp she thought she may not need to edit it at all.

  “I leave you for one day and you’ve got my cousin making out with random guys for a photo op?”

  Anna spun around to see Nikos standing behind her, looking over her shoulder.

  “Nikos! I didn’t know you were here. How did you know where to find us?”

  He gestured toward Elena, who didn’t seem to notice that the camera had stopped watching her since she was still posing as she kissed Vasilis. Then again, that didn’t seem particularly out of character. “Juliet Capulet over there texted me. Said she’d need to go soon.”

  “Oh,” Anna said with a frown, “I didn’t realize she was going anywhere. We’ve still got so much good light.”

  “Sorry,” Elena said, trotting over. “I have to work at the bar tonight, so I called in a replacement.” She took her cover-up off and pulled her work shirt and shorts out of her bag. The first public change had shocked Anna, but after over a dozen of them she was used to it now.

  “You’ve worked evening shifts every night for the last week,” Anna said. “You must be raking it in.”

  “It’s been alright,” Elena said. “It’ll be even better when the resort has its grand re-opening next week. I’m working every night until then, too. Except grout night, of course.” Grout night was what they had started to call the evening they planned to grout Anna’s floors.

  “And Wednesday night,” Nikos added.

  “Um, no, I’m working Wednesday,” Elena said, looking confused.

  Nikos threw up his hands. “What about the wedding?”

  Elena’s eyes went wide. “Oh, Nikos, I completely forgot. I am so, so sorry.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Myrto is going to be furious if there’s an empty seat. She asked me to confirm like three times.”

  “Take Anna, then,” Elena said, nodding toward her.

  “Uh, sorry, what’s this?”

  “Yes, great idea,” Nikos said. “She’ll be a better date than you, anyway.”

  Elena laughed. “Nobody’s a better date than I am, even if I am your cousin. She will do, though.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Anna said. “Now what have I been roped into?”

  “It’s just a wedding,” she replied. “Just find a dress that’s not white, and Nikos will pick you up. Sound good?”

  “A wedding on a Wednesday? Isn’t that a bit non-traditional?”

  “This coming weekend is a holiday, so they had to do it midweek to use the church.”

  Anna nodded. “Sounds good,” she said. “I’m in. It’ll give me an excuse to show off my dance moves.”

  Elena hugged Anna, kissed Nikos on the cheek and turned back to Vasilis, who had sauntered over. She took his phone out of his pocket, put her number in it, and returned it to him. “Call me,” she said to him, then, to Anna and Nikos, “see you guys later.” And then she was gone, suitcase dragging behind her.

  Nikos said something to Vasilis in Greek. Vasilis nodded at Nikos, then at Anna, before leaving.

  “What did you say to him?” Anna asked.

  “Just that I wouldn’t be making out with him for photos, so he should probably call it a night.”

  Anna laughed. “Alrighty, then, should we head back?”

  “Well, wait a minute,” Nikos said, “I doubt that you’ve gotten to experience much of the town while taking pictures of madam supermodel.”

  “That’s true…”

  “I didn’t have you bring a swimsuit for nothing. Why don’t we do a bit of exploring?”

  Anna nodded, let her camera rest around her neck, and followed Nikos back into the streets of Oia. As they wandered, they snacked on koulouri, a circle-shaped sesame breadstick they had bought from a street vendor, and ducked in and out of a few shops alongside the other tourists: one specializing in artisan olive oils, one that sold locally made ceramics, and a bookstore called Atlantis Books that was tucked underneath another building.

  “Did you know that Santorini was actually the origin of the myth of Atlantis?” Nikos said as Anna stared down at the orange and blue storefront.

  “Really? But I thought Atlantis was meant to be underwater?”

  “Yes, well, the island used to all be one, and people lived all over it,” Nikos said. “When the volcano erupted, it then collapsed in on itself, creating the caldera. That’s the underwater part.”

  “That’s so cool,” Anna said, stepping down into the shop. A cat curled around her feet as she walked inside. Books were stacked floor to ceiling against every surface, held up by rustic wooden shelves, each one different.

  She followed the signs for English fiction and picked up a couple of summery-looking reads, taking them to the checkout counter. Once she’d paid for them, she put them in her camera bag along with a candlestick she had bought from the ceramics shop.

  They wove slowly side by side through the town, making their way down toward the water. But all of a sudden, the road just stopped, and they were at a drop-off that went straight down into the water. “So, where to now?” Anna asked, but she already knew the answer. Nikos confirmed with the direction he pointed. They were headed down.

  Two hundred fourteen steps later, they were at a small bay lined with buildings. Sailboats were moored in the center, and a few people swam amongst them. The water was a deep, rich blue, almost completely still except for gentle rippling on the surface.

  Anna heard a shout and turned to the left to see a girl hurtling through the air toward the water. She flailed around, screaming, before plunging into the bay feet first. Anna gasped, but then she heard cheering and realized that there was a small group of people a little ways up one of the cliffs on a massive boulder, a tiny path winding up it toward them. Suddenly, Anna understood what they were there to do.

  “Um, I think I left something in the Vespa. I’m gonna go back up,” she said.

  Nikos laughed. “You did not leave anything in the Vespa, and you’re not walking up hundreds of steps to escape one itty bitty jump. My friend at the taverna over there told me we can leave our things with him, and the water is plenty deep. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Yeah, see, you’re wrong about that,” Anna said, but she didn’t leave. She didn’t go toward the jump, either, but she didn’t leave. She stayed planted, terrified, in place. Though Nikos was actually helping. Making her feel calmer. Calm enough to jump off a cliff, though? That remained to be seen.

  They pulled off their clothes, and Anna saw Nikos notice her bikini, then try
to look away subtly. She didn’t hate being appreciated after all the leering she’d done over the last few weeks.

  The drop looked so much higher the further up the rock they climbed and, as they got to the top, Anna froze. She had come all this way to Greece to what, sit around and paint cabinets? No, part of her had wanted an adventure. But jumping off the rock with Nikos felt like more than just swimming. It felt like abandon, which was something she had been trying to avoid since she had landed. Since her father had left, actually.

  “Come on,” Nikos said. “Have an adventure with me.” He held out his hand and smiled at her.

  Then again, how was she supposed to say no to that? Gathering herself together, she put her hand in his and nodded. “Okay. Let’s jump.”

  “I cannot believe you made me do that,” Anna said, taking a sip of her beer.

  “Oh, come on, it was cute when you screamed.” Nikos laughed and called the waiter over, then looked out over the water. Quickly, Anna brought the camera up to her eye and snapped a picture. The click of the camera made Nikos turn around. “Hey, no paparazzi,” he said, sticking out his hand. “Let me see.”

  “No way,” she said. “I never let people see my work before I’m ready.”

  “Well, I didn’t sign a model release form,” he said, “so I get veto power.”

  “Fine,” Anna mumbled, handing him the camera. The waiter came over and took their order as Nikos scrolled through the photos from the day.

  “These pictures are amazing,” he said. He took a sip of his drink and put it back on the table, sitting up straight like he was debating whether or not to say something. “You’re really talented, Anna.”

  “Thanks,” she said, shrugging. She figured that he probably felt that he had to say that.

  “No, really,” he said. “You could totally take photos for a living. I bet a lot of people on the island would hire you, especially the resorts and the businesses that cater to tourists.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t really want to spend my summer building a photography business just to have to start from scratch when I go home.” Anna said this casually, but when she looked up, she could tell that it wasn’t the response Nikos had been hoping for, and suddenly everything clicked into place.

  “You mean so that I wouldn’t have to go home,” she said. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to confirm or deny what she had just said, but he just looked back out at the water and frowned. Anna sighed. She thought about what Elena had said about the girls he had dated and wondered if he had been like this with them.

  “Listen, Nikos. I can’t just stay in Greece forever. I have a life back home.”

  “Do you, though?” he asked, turning back to her. “You said that you don’t have a job, a place to live, or any real friends there. Your sister lives hundreds of miles away, and you don’t get along with your mother. What do you have there that you don’t have here?”

  “Um, I don’t know… citizenship?” Anna said, but he did have a point. She had actually done some research before getting her job at the cafe, and she was automatically a Greek citizen because of her dad. She just had to apply. She had been thinking of this summer as a layover on her way to the next stage of her life, and she couldn’t forget about all the work ahead of her to get her to that place. But what if Santorini wasn’t the layover but the destination? What if she didn’t have to go back to the life that left her feeling empty and worthless? Wouldn’t that be worth considering?

  “This doesn’t have to be just an extended vacation,” Nikos said. “You have family here. Friends. A job with someone who doesn’t manipulate you. Find a few photography clients, and you could build a life here.”

  It was Anna’s turn to look out at the water to avoid eye contact. Nikos was making a lot of sense, but it wasn’t sitting right with Anna. Yes, she could probably find a way to stay in Santorini long-term. But would she be doing it for herself? For her friends? For a job? Or would she be doing it for a guy? She had told Nikos that she wouldn’t use him, but equally she didn’t want to change her plans for him. Not that she had any particular plans; she had been feeling adrift ever since she’d arrived. But forming plans around people she had known for just a couple of weeks seemed foolish, even if she had nothing else to plan for.

  “I don’t think so, Nikos.” She went to take another sip of her beer, but it was empty. “I’m having a great time today, and I hope we can be friends,” she said, reaching across the table to touch his hand, but thinking twice about the signal it might send and setting it on the table instead. “You and Elena are the first real friends I’ve had in a while, and I want to spend this summer with you. You make me feel like me, and I didn’t even really know what that felt like before I came here. But I plan to leave when the house sells. There’s too much pain here for me.”

  Nikos looked up, and she caught his gaze and held it for a moment. He looked sad, but like he understood as well. “Of course,” he said. “You have to do what’s right for you.”

  The two turned their gazes back to the water, where the sun was beginning to set. Anna watched it lower over the caldera and sink below the horizon, casting a glorious rainbow of color on the clouds and the buildings and the water. But despite their conversation, she wasn’t thinking about how her days of watching sunsets here were numbered. She was just enjoying the moment with her friend, and with herself. Her actual self, the one who jumped off cliffs and ate lots of pastries and cared about more than her career and her social image. The self that she hadn’t seen in a long, long time.

  12

  The cafe was usually quiet on Mondays, so Anna was able to close up a bit earlier than expected. Nikos had offered her a ride home, so she decided to sit down on a pool chair and lay in the sun until he finished his shift.

  As she powered up her phone, she saw an email notification pop up. Her email was usually pretty quiet, so she opened it quickly to see what it was.

  What she saw nearly made her drop her phone into her open mouth.

  TO: Anna Linton

  FROM: Marcus MacMillan

  DATE: 24 June 2019, 15:03

  SUBJECT: Well played

  Hi Anna,

  Imagine my surprise when the winner I picked last night for the Emerging Talent Contest ended up being you. My assistant was absolutely shitting herself when I came in this morning, afraid to tell me. I had to think about what to do, but ultimately you earned this. You’re the winner. There’ll be a more formal email later offering you the placement, but I just wanted to say, WELL PLAYED. I definitely didn’t see that coming.

  See you soon,

  Marcus

  Anna could hardly believe the words she was reading. With everything she had going on, she had pretty much forgotten about the contest. Now she had won it!

  Her first thought surprised her: that she would have to leave Santorini in order to accept. Of course she would. But she had been planning to do that anyway, right? Maybe it was the sudden end date to her time here that had her feeling panicked. But it didn’t matter. If anything, it made things easier.

  Her next thought was about Marcus. What would it mean to accept this from him? She had been proud of herself for standing up to him before she left. She knew she had done the right thing by quitting. Sure, the winner was chosen anonymously, as always, but was this just running back to him and the life she’d left behind? Or was it the opposite, where she had left on her own terms and was somehow being rewarded for it, by him and by the universe?

  Either way, she knew what she had to do. It was everything she had wanted for so long. All of those days spent in the gallery gazing at the names of the photographers whose work was on display, every time she had submitted her work somewhere only to be told it wasn’t what they were looking for… it was all worth it for this moment. She had won. And she’d be a fool to say no.

  Without another thought, she scrolled through to the next email, the formal offer Marcus ha
d mentioned, and responded with just two words:

  I’m in.

  13

  Anna balanced carefully at the bow of the small speedboat and leaned forward, feeling like Rose and Jack on the Titanic. Though hopefully this vessel wouldn’t end up on the bottom of the caldera. Luckily, the seas weren’t exactly littered with icebergs. They certainly would have all melted by now.

  The breeze hitting Anna’s face provided some much-needed respite from the heat of the sun, and the occasional splash of water on her face felt like heaven. Her tee shirt stuck to the sweat on her back and stomach, and her thighs were red from rubbing together in the heat. Summer in Greece was officially next-level hot, and they hadn’t even experienced the heatwave that was expected, so when Nikos offered a day on the water, Anna was glad to accept.

  “You cooling down up there?” Nikos shouted from the steering wheel. Anna put both thumbs up in response. You couldn’t have paid her to go back to the stern, where she could practically feel the rays of sun burning the back of her neck. The journey to the volcanic island in the center of the caldera only took a few short minutes, but she would be spending all of it here, at the front of Nikos’s friend’s boat, making as big a surface area as possible for the breeze to hit.

  A few minutes passed like this, Anna with her arms stretched out, before the boat slowed.

  “We here?” Anna asked, opening her eyes to see that they were pulling into a small harbor. She climbed back to where Niko was stood.

  “Yep, we’re here,” Nikos replied, easing the boat up next to a slightly larger one and tying onto it. He checked his knots before motioning for Anna to step across to the next boat. She took his hand and stepped over, slowly making her way across the makeshift flotilla to the dock.

  As they reached solid ground, Nikos reached into the backpack he was carrying and pulled out some sunscreen and a bottle of water. “We’re going to be on this rock for a bit,” he said, motioning uphill, “so let’s lather up, okay?”