by Lacey London
Hearing more laughter float into the room from the beach, I decide to wrap up the call.
‘Well, I’m glad to hear everything is going well. I was worried Noah might be feeling a little homesick.’
‘Not at all!’ My mum babbles, finally learning how to flip the camera around. ‘We’re all fine here. You go and enjoy your holiday!’
Smiling back at her, I wave at the screen and hover my finger over the end call button.
‘Oh, wait!’ She cries suddenly. ‘Is Janie there? It’s been a while since we have DVD called!’
Knowing very well that once my mother and Janie get talking they won’t stop until the sun goes down, I shake my head regretfully. ‘It’s a video call, Mum and no, she’s not here. Sorry.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame…’ She says sadly, resting a hand on her hip as my dad yells in the distance. ‘One moment, Clara, your father is talking to me… What’s that Henry? Aunt Lucinda is here?’
Aunt Lucinda. The woman who smokes a hundred cigarettes a day and talks to anyone who will listen about her ingrowing toenail is the last thing I need right now.
‘Clara, do you want to talk to…’
My pulse races as my mum rushes to the front door with the phone firmly in her hand.
‘The signal’s going, Mum. Sorry, Mum! The signal, it’s…’ Jabbing at the end call button, I breathe a sigh of relief at avoiding the dreaded Aunt Lucinda and drop the phone onto the dressing table.
Not wanting to risk her calling back, I turn off the handset and grab my flip-flops from the side of the bed. Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I pause to twist my hair into a ponytail before heading for the door. The beautiful aroma of Stelios’s home envelopes me as I make my way through the villa. Think subtle lily and sweet peony, with a hint of amber and soft spice. It almost puts you into a dreamlike state as it carries you through the building, refusing to let go without leaving its footprint on you. The delicious scent is still with me as I reach the beach a few minutes later.
Kicking off my flip-flops, I swoon as silky-soft sand slips between my toes like talcum powder.
‘Where’s Stelios?’ I ask, suddenly realising he is no longer here.
‘He’s gone to collect my winnings!’ Marc stammers, a look of sheer disbelief etched on his face.
‘I hope you’ve been playing nicely.’ Knowing that Marc is the Poker King, it doesn’t surprise me one bit that he’s cleared the others out. ‘What were you guys playing for?’
‘A freaking limo!’ Vernon hoots, grabbing a card as the wind tries to whisk it away.
‘A limo?’ I repeat sceptically. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘Stelios doesn’t play for money.’ Bending the peak on his cap, Oliver raises his eyebrows. ‘He plays for limousines, apparently.’
‘You can’t be serious? Who the hell plays poker for limousines?’ I say in bewilderment, really hoping they’re joking.
‘Billionaires!’ Oliver answers, flipping over a card to reveal the joker. ‘You couldn’t make it up, could you?’
Feeling rather uncomfortable with the idea of them playing for such ridiculous stakes, I look down at the jumbled cards on the table.
‘Here he is now!’ Vernon says eagerly, pointing into the distance.
Spinning around, my stomach churns as I spot Stelios and either Ioannis or Georgios walking our way. Waving a set of keys in the air, he grins manically and sprints across the sand.
‘There you go, my friend! You win!’ Dropping the keys into Marc’s hands, Stelios sits down and expertly shuffles the deck of cards. ‘Who’s in for another game?’
An astounded silence falls across the group as we all stare at the keys.
‘Stelios, I can’t really accept these.’ Marc says, wiggling his fingers so the keys jangle lightly. ‘Here, take them back. Put them back in your pocket and we’ll have another game…’
‘No!’ Stelios protests, dealing cards casually. ‘I lose, you win! Maybe I win next time. Who knows?’
I peek at Oliver and realise he’s watching the scene unfold carefully. His expression gives nothing away as he looks from Stelios to Marc and back again.
‘Dude…’ Vernon begins, placing a friendly hand on Stelios’s back. ‘You don’t actually have to hand over the keys! It was just banter!’
‘Banter?’ Stelios repeats, looking up at Ioannis for an explanation and frowning when he translates into Greek.
‘No banter! The limousine is yours.’ Holding his cards close to his chest, Stelios motions for the others to pick up theirs. ‘Any more of this refusal and you will upset me. You will upset me very much. Please, continue.’
Taking the hint that he obviously isn’t going to accept his keys back, Marc and Vernon reluctantly pick up their cards. From my place up on the balcony it seemed the guys were having a friendly bonding session, but now I’m in the midst of their game I am seeing it in a whole new light. It feels wrong, it feels false and worst of all, it doesn’t feel fun in the slightest.
‘Oliver?’ Stelios prompts, pushing a set of cards towards him. ‘Are you in?’
I hold my breath as Oliver stares at Stelios for a moment too long before nodding.
‘I’m in…’
* * *
‘What’s going on up here?’ I ask, following the sound of Janie’s cackle onto the terrace. ‘I could hear you lot down at the beach.’
Discovering Gina, Lianna and Janie drinking from a giant bowl in the centre of the table, I suddenly wish I had stayed with the guys.
‘Aris made us some fishbowls!’ Lianna manages between slurps, hooting when she makes it to the end of the bowl first.
‘Fishbowls?’ I repeat, grimacing as memories of teenage trips to Tenerife come flooding back to me. ‘Why?’
‘It was Gina’s idea…’ Li explains merrily, diving into a bag of nachos and offering them around the table.
‘Ahh…’ Not needing any more explanation, I groan as a bartender, who I presume to be Aris, places another enormous bowl on the table.
‘I have to say, Janie.’ Aris mumbles uncertainly, handing her a selection of foot-long straws. ‘This makes a difference to pouring Mr Christopoulos’s ouzo of an evening.’
‘A good difference?’ Janie asks, looking up at Aris and giggling at his appalled expression.
Aris looks over at Gina, who is cheering boisterously and politely excuses himself. Giving him an apologetic smile as he slips back into the building, I resist the urge to run after him. It appears I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to be a part of this.
‘Alright!’ Clapping her hands together, Gina bounces up and down in her seat. ‘I’m definitely going to win this one!’
‘Are you in, Clara?’ Lianna asks, twisting a piece of hair around her finger and reaching for a pink straw.
Shaking my head, I turn to leave and stop when Janie tugs on the sleeve of my kaftan.
‘Oh, come on!’ She says coaxingly, pulling me back towards the table. ‘Aris is the best mixologist in Mykonos!’
Glancing at the giant bowl of multi-coloured liquid, I don’t have much faith in the lethal concoction tasting anything like the mojito I’m craving right now. The sickening neon potion is making my stomach feel queasy just looking at it. However, knowing they won’t give up, I begrudgingly sit down and take a green straw as they whoop happily.
‘Three… two… one!’ Gina yells, causing Li and Janie to start gulping like a pair of hungry fish.
Bracing myself before taking a sip, I immediately recoil and fight the urge to spit into the bowl.
‘What the hell is that?’ I ask in horror, shuddering at the sour taste.
Not bothering to answer, the three of them race to the bottom until Gina bangs her hand on the table in victory.
‘I told you!’ She cheers, turning the empty bowl upside down and placing it on her head. ‘I’ve still got it!’
‘Is this phase two of the midlife crisis?’ I ask jokingly, holding my hand out for a h
igh-five. ‘Drinking games?’
Gina’s smile freezes at the words midlife crisis and I immediately regret bringing it up.
‘Midlife crisis?’ Taking the bowl off her head, she drops it onto the table with a clatter. ‘What midlife crisis? What are you talking about?’
Seemingly losing the ability to speak, I stare at Gina open-mouthed.
‘It was a joke!’ I reply eventually, hoping she accepts this and moves the conversation along. ‘Why so touchy?’
‘Because… because I’m hardly middle-aged, Clara!’ Forcing a strained laugh, Gina dusts an imaginary piece of dust off her shoulder. ‘I’m thirty-nine and a whole lot of months. That is not middle-aged.’
A little stumped by her overreaction, I look at Lianna for help and frown when she signals that she doesn’t want to get involved.
‘No, but…’
‘But what?’ Gina snaps, not missing a beat. ‘What are you trying to say? Don’t beat around the bush.’
‘It’s just that you’ve been letting your hair down an awful lot lately. The drinking on the plane, the old dresses, the tacky tattoos and now fishbowls?’ Attempting a friendly laugh, I stop when Gina glares back at me. ‘Come on! You can see where I’m coming from, right?’
Hearing their tattoos being referred to as tacky, Li and Janie join Gina in giving me daggers.
‘No.’ Gina says seriously. ‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.’
Realising the subject of Gina’s glaringly-obvious midlife crisis is going down like a lead balloon, I try to backtrack. ‘I’m kidding! Haven’t you known me long enough to know when I’m pulling your leg? Besides, you’re way past a midlife crisis. The next thing for you is an end-of-life crisis!’
Finally relenting, Gina smiles and nudges my shoulder. ‘I should have known you were pulling my leg when you said tacky tattoo!’
Breathing a sigh of relief that I seem to have dodged a bullet, I laugh along with the others as they compare their inkings.
‘I mean, just look at it!’ Gina says, stroking her wrist and beaming brightly. ‘It’s totally classy, right?’
Crossing my fingers behind my back, I smile back at her and nod in agreement.
‘Yes, it is, Gina. Yes, it is…’
Chapter 12
‘An actual limo, Marc?’ Gina gasps, taking the shiny keys from him and gaping at them in shock. ‘You’re seriously telling me that you won a limo?’
‘I know, it’s insane, but he just wouldn’t take no for an answer.’ Marc whispers, accepting a canapé from one of the butlers and popping it straight into his mouth. ‘The more I tried to give the keys back, the more insulted Stelios became. Like it or not, the limo is now ours.’
I lock eyes with Oliver and hold my glass against my chest. We haven’t spoken about the now infamous poker game and we don’t need to. The way his lip curls up with disdain each and every time the word limo is mentioned tells me everything I need to know.
‘How the hell are we going to get it home?’ Gina’s asks, abandoning her drink and jingling the keys in her hand.
‘I don’t know, but I’ll drive it back myself if I have to!’ Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his sunburnt nose, Marc laughs and shakes his head. ‘We’ve got a limo, Gina!’
The same silly expression that Marc had down on the beach creeps onto Gina’s face as she drops the keys into her handbag.
‘This is the best holiday ever!’ Letting out a squeal, Gina stamps her feet excitedly. ‘Did you know about this, Clara?’
I nod and step aside as Lianna and Vernon finally join us at the bar. ‘I did, but I don’t think Lianna does. Why don’t you fill her in on the news?’
Picking up my glass, I leave the others to chat and head over to where Aris is expertly pouring drinks by the balcony. My abrupt departure from the group might seem a little rude, but I don’t think I can stomach another second of listening to their shrieks of delight. Their acceptance of Stelios’s limousine has disappointed me somewhat. I secretly hoped Gina would refuse the outrageous gesture and maintain a little self-respect, but alas, they have done the complete opposite.
‘Aris?’ I say gently, coming to a stop by the open windows. ‘Do you happen to know where Janie is?’
Placing two glasses on the counter, he nods and points down a corridor to our left. ‘Janie is preparing herself for dinner in the bedroom.’
Following his gaze, I realise he’s pointing to a wing of the villa I am yet to explore. ‘And which room would that be, exactly?’
‘The sixth door on the left.’ Aris replies, stepping out from behind the bar with a silver tray bearing seven flutes of fizz. ‘You like me to take you there?’
‘I’m sure I’ll find it.’ I flash him a wink and take another glass from his tray. ‘Thank you, Aris.’
‘Parakaló…’
Slipping through the many members of staff, who appear to be doing nothing more than straightening already-straight furniture, I slowly walk down the hall and count the doors carefully. The same neutral theme from the guest wing continues throughout the spacious lobby, making the plain walls appear painfully bare. Gentle music from the bar creeps up on me as I study the minimalistic furnishings and nondescript photographs, wondering how a building so prestigious can feel so bleak and vacant.
Pausing to study a painted canvas, I frown at the ivory splashes and try to see something within the random blotches of paint. Just like the rest of the villa, the artwork is empty and insipid, without any depth of character. What you see, is simply what you get. Nothing more and nothing less. There’s no hidden meaning, no sense of what inspired the artist and no secret to be revealed within its beauty. In this place, it seems beauty is most certainly skin-deep.
Walking away from the painting, I stop outside a set of gold doors and knock on the heavy wood. A muffled response comes back at me and I take it as my cue to release the handle.
‘Janie?’ I whisper, really hoping Stelios isn’t going to appear in his birthday suit.
Slowly pushing open the door, I step inside and look around the enormous suite. ‘Janie, are you in here?’
Too distracted by the giant regal bed, I almost don’t see Janie sitting at a garish metallic dressing table.
‘There you are!’ I say with a grin, holding out one of the glasses. ‘May I come in?’
‘It looks like you already are!’ Pushing herself up, she accepts the fizz and immediately takes a huge gulp. ‘But sure, get in here!’
Smiling back at her, I allow the door to close behind me and marvel at the peculiar interior. Unlike the rest of the building, this grand boudoir has Janie written all over it. From the leopard print bedding to the scarlet walls and oversized chandelier. It couldn’t reflect more of the Janie we know and love if it tried.
‘Wow! It’s… bright in here.’ I muse, choosing my words carefully. ‘What a dramatic change from the rest of the place.’
Nodding along, Janie stands back and looks around the bedroom proudly. ‘Do you like it?’
‘I love it!’ I lie, hoping she can’t see through my strained smile. ‘You’ve certainly put your own stamp on the place!’
‘Believe it or not, this is all Stelios.’ She confesses honestly, motioning around the flamboyant room. ‘I haven’t changed a single thing. Not that I would want to.’
Studying the many portraits of Stelios, I feel my spirits lift as I spot a polaroid of Janie in a heart-shaped frame.
‘I knew the sleek and sophisticated look wasn’t really Stelios.’ I reply, stroking the velvet curtains. ‘Why isn’t everywhere in this style?’
‘Stelios has to keep a level of professionalism at the villa.’ Shrugging her shoulders, Janie sits down on the bed. ‘He holds the majority of his business negotiations right here in the dining room.’
‘So?’ I reply, glancing up at the mirrored ceiling and shuddering. ‘What does that have to do with anything?’
Pouting her collagen-filled lips, Janie places her glass on
the bedside table. ‘In this industry, image is everything. Stelios already has a reputation for being a little offbeat. His associates wouldn’t be very impressed if they arrived to see personalised thrones and gold statues…’
Following her gaze, I laugh at the sight of two epic thrones with satin cushions.
‘I can understand his predicament, but it’s a shame Stelios can’t be himself in his own home. Being a billionaire should allow you to enjoy such luxury.’
‘You’d think…’ Janie grumbles.
Taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to her, I hold out my arms to steady myself as the mattress wobbles beneath me.
‘It’s a water bed.’ She explains, rushing to grab my drink before I spill it on the plush carpet. ‘Well, I say water, but it’s actually filled with Champagne.’
‘Champagne!’ I giggle, kicking off my shoes and shuffling along the mattress. ‘Surely even Stelios isn’t that ostentatious!’
‘I’m being serious!’ Janie laughs along with me and throws herself back onto the cushions. ‘His doctor insists it’s good for his arthritis!’
Not believing that for a second, I bounce up and down and immediately feel seasick. ‘Only Stelios Christopoulos could have a Champagne-filled mattress!’
A flicker of annoyance hits Janie’s eyes before she replaces it with a smile. ‘He can afford to.’
‘I know he can afford to, but he doesn’t have to.’ Hoping she recognises where I’m coming from, my heart sinks when she stares back at me blankly. ‘You do know that Stelios gave Marc a limo before, don’t you?’
‘He did?’ Batting her long eyelashes innocently, she frowns and sits up straight. ‘Why?’
‘Marc won it in a game of poker.’ Stopping to assess her reaction, I take a deep breath before continuing. 'Yesterday, he tried to buy The Haven for Li and Vernon and when we first arrived, we were all presented with rubies big enough to be used as doorstops. Don’t you think that’s a little excessive?’
Nodding slowly, Janie twists a ruby bracelet around her wrist. ‘I told Stelios the rubies were a bad idea. He thought they would win everyone over. In fact, he was sure of it.’
