Under a Greek Spell

by Simone Hubbard

  As the bus starts climbing the hill, I glance down and notice the sheer drop. I suddenly don’t feel so good about bagging a window seat. In an attempt to distract myself, I send a text to Costas.

  Thanks for a

  lovely day and

  for taking me to

  Shirley Valentine’s

  beach. C U later

  :) Xx

  It’s now safe to look out of the window again and appreciate the sea sparkling in the late afternoon sun. The bus pulls into the town of Ornos. A few people get off and a handful get on. I assume the people getting on have been on the beach, which is lined with parasols.

  The bus finally reaches the stop for the hotel. I walk wearily to the pool to find a sunbed. I lie down to catch my breath and absorb the impact of Costas’s kiss and my afternoon with him. I’m half dozing, dreaming that we’re running down a beach, splashing each other in the water. He’s calling my name, but somehow, this time, it’s my real name.

  ‘Stephanieee! Stephanieee!’

  Chapter 16

  Helen

  I’ve spotted Steph. I could be wrong, but I think she’s catching flies.

  ‘Stephanieeee!’ No response. ‘Stephanieeee!’ I dip my fingers into a glass of water and flick her a couple of times with it, which seems to do the trick. I’ve stirred the sleeping lioness so I take a large step back.

  ‘What the hell? Bloody hell, Helen! What are you trying to do? Give me a bloody heart attack? I was just having a lovely dream about… Anyway, what time is it?’ she asks grumpily, stifling a yawn.

  I think she’s calmed down but you’re never sure with Steph, especially when she’s just woken up. ‘Cocktail o’clock. I’m going to order while it’s happy hour. Should I surprise you with something off the menu?’

  ‘Yes, what-bloody-ever. I’ll just dry myself off after someone flicked water all over me.’

  ‘Flipping heck, Steph, it was only a couple of flicks of water. You’ll soon dry off in the sun.’

  I walk off before she can say anything else. I don’t want another showdown – the one with Selena and Nikos was quite enough for one day. I can’t wait to tell Steph about it.

  I reach the pool bar just as my phone bleeps. It’s an email.

  Hi Helen,

  Sorry to ask, but I need a massive favour from you. The interviews for the manager’s assistant position at the Syros Boutique Blue Hotel, due to open in a couple of weeks, are taking place over the next couple of days.

  Originally I was sending James to help with the interviews. Last week I lined up someone else so that you wouldn’t have to go. Unfortunately, this person has had a family bereavement and can’t go. I’ve therefore arranged for you to go instead. You’re booked on to a flight that leaves tomorrow morning at 10.00 a.m. I’ll email the necessary paperwork to you.

  Again, please accept my apologies for the inconvenience. I realise that you were expecting to be finished today and spending some time with your sister.

  I’ll discuss some recourse with you on your return to show my appreciation for you both being inconvenienced.

  As you are only going to be there for a couple of nights, I assume your sister will prefer to stay where she is, as the new hotel isn’t open yet, but if she would like to travel with you I’m sure we can arrange something.

  Regards,

  Daniel

  Managing Director

  Loving Luxury Travel

  I’ve now read the email five times and I still can’t take it all in. I can’t believe that I’ve got to stand in yet again. The planets must be in some strange alignment, that’s all I can say. Steph’s going to go mad unless she comes with me. But she’s really not going to want to leave this five-star luxury for a hotel that isn’t up and running yet. I’ll break it to her gently over our cocktails. I send a reply to acknowledge the bloody email. I should just ignore it, as I officially finished my duties an hour ago.

  Hi Daniel,

  Can’t say I’m jumping for joy at the prospect of spending another two days working while I’m meant to be on holiday, but I can see how you’re fixed and I know you’ll recompense Steph and me. Just on my way to break the news to her, so will let you know if she wants to join me.

  Regards,

  Helen

  Manager

  Loving Luxury Travel

  I order a Strawberry Daiquiri for Steph, which sounds nice and refreshing, and a Limoncello Collins for me. I’m keen to try one that’s not been made by Selena, with her extra dash of lemon. I make my way slowly back to the sunbeds pondering how I’ll break this latest change of plan to Steph.

  ‘A drink is on its way. How’s your day been?’ I’ll get the small talk in first.

  ‘Oh, you know. I just lazed on the beach mainly, and did a bit of swimming,’ Steph replies in calmer tones.

  ‘Well, that’s what holidays are all about – lots of relaxation. Oh great, the drinks are here.’

  ‘Strawberry Daiquiri? And the Limoncello Collins for you. Anything else, ladies?’ asks the waiter.

  ‘No, that’s it for now. Thanks.’

  ‘It’s very considerate of them to name a whole bunch of cocktails after us. I had the Limoncello Collins at lunch at the Hotel Giorgos. You’ll never guess who made it.’

  ‘Tom Cruise?’ Steph replies.

  ‘Yeah, right, he just popped in from his latest film shoot. No, it was Selena from the Royal Blue. It turns out she’s engaged to Nikos – you know, who works here.’

  ‘Whoa, you’ve lost me already. Why was Nikos from here, there?’

  ‘Hotel Giorgos is his parents’ hotel. He was there to help out and to meet James, who he thought was doing the reviews. Anyway, I didn’t tell you the other day that when I first met Selena, she was wearing a necklace that was exactly the same as the one James gave me. After all her pouting about James this and James that, I yanked mine from round my neck and told her to put it in the bin. I couldn’t believe it when Nikos introduced her to me as his fiancée.’

  Steph has suddenly come to life and sat up on her sunbed. ‘Oh my God, Helen! I bet her face was a picture.’

  ‘Oh, indeed, but it gets better. We had lunch together and I swear she was trying to make me ill. She brought us all a Limoncello Collins and put extra lemon in mine, which made my hair stand on end. This one tastes nothing like the awful drink she made me. Then I think she told Katina – Nikos’s mum – to put extra garlic in the food. Then she tried to finish me off with an extra-strong Greek coffee.’

  ‘Are you sure you’re not letting your imagination run wild?’

  ‘Well, I’ll tell you what I’m not imagining. Nikos arranged for her to come here with Katina for some beauty treatments. Understandably, she was really reluctant to leave Nikos with me, in case I told him about James, and even more so after this fell out of my bag in front of her.’ I show Stephanie the condom, which she promptly takes off me to inspect.

  ‘Ribbed and dotted for maximum pleasure. Wow, Helen, I’m impressed.’

  ‘It’s not mine,’ I tut. ‘I found it at that bloody awful hotel I went to yesterday, under a bed.’

  ‘Lovely, and you’ve kept it because…?’

  ‘I meant to show it to the manager as an example of poor cleaning standards. Anyway, back to the story. I’m pretty sure Nikos was flirting with me.’

  ‘Oh, Helen, now you’re being ridiculous. He must be at least fifteen years younger than you.’

  ‘Well, thanks very much! Anyhow, some men prefer an older woman. I think the term is “cougar”.’

  ‘Okay, whatever. So let’s hear your definition of flirting.’

  ‘Well, I mentioned that I was here with you and he said he’d seen us and that you must be my older sister…’ I can’t resist a little snigger.

  ‘The cheeky sod! Wait until I next see him. He must ne
ed his bloody eyes testing!’

  ‘Ah, see, now who’s getting her knickers in a twist? Anyway, the room he took me to was the honeymoon suite. It had a four-poster waterbed…’

  ‘Oh my God, don’t tell me you’ve been romping about on a waterbed all afternoon with a gorgeous Greek guy!’

  ‘For crying out loud, Steph, of course I haven’t.’

  ‘Bloody hell, why on earth not? You could have tried that condom out.’ Steph is sniggering.

  ‘Well, Selena rang him, if you must know, and they started arguing. Anyway, at the end of the day, I didn’t really want to take advantage of Nikos to get back at Selena and James.’

  ‘Fair play. So, is that it?’

  ‘Oh no, it gets much more interesting. I was admiring all the wonderful pottery…’

  Steph bursts into laughter and her mouthful of drink is sprayed everywhere. ‘Let me get this right. You’re standing in a room with a gorgeous bloke and you’re admiring pottery. Sis, you really need to get out more.’

  ‘Oh, sod off. I’m not telling you the rest of the story if you’re going to take the piss out of me.’

  ‘Come on, Helen, you know I’m only joking. Please, pretty pleeeease, tell me the rest of this pitiful story.’

  ‘Right, well, I’m admiring this pottery – art-deco-style if you must know – and Nikos tells me he’s made it. I just happen to mention that I’ve always fancied having a go at a potter’s wheel. So Nikos leads me to his very own pottery studio…’

  ‘Whoa, now you’re talking! Don’t tell me you’ve had a steamy sex session on his potter’s wheel…’

  ‘Do you know what, Steph? You’re not even remotely funny. It’s not always about having sex, you know. Sometimes it’s the sensuality of the moment. And it was a hot moment and pretty erotic without sex, actually. And, if you must know, Selena came storming in before anything happened – apart from my clay flying off the wheel.’

  ‘Oh, right, so if Selena hadn’t come marching in you’d still be there now would you, spinning round on his wheel?’

  ‘Maybe. Who knows?’ I reply wistfully. ‘Anyway, she was furious and they started arguing. She threw a plate at him and her engagement ring at me, saying I could have it and was welcome to him.’

  ‘Wow, I’m impressed. So, you’re now engaged via a jealous ex-fiancée – congratulations. Where’s the ring and when’s the big day?’

  ‘You are so not funny. I gave the ring to Katina, if you must know.’

  And then Steph delivers the predicted line perfectly: ‘Well, Helen, that’s another fine mess you’ve got yourself into.’

  ‘Yes, indeed, and there’s more.’

  ‘For fuck’s sake, there can’t be more. I’ll need to lie down in a dark room after all this.’

  Sod it, I’ll have to take the bull by the horns. ‘Daniel has emailed to ask me, or tell me, that I need to go to another hotel tomorrow and the day after to do some interviews.’ I brace myself for her reply.

  ‘Well, that’s okay isn’t it? Or is there a “but”?’

  Steph has sussed me. ‘The “but” is that the hotel is on another island. But you can come with me, if you want.’ I say the last bit quickly and quietly to lessen the impact.

  ‘Is your boss having some sort of laugh, Helen, at our expense? I hope you’ve told him to take a running jump.’

  ‘Well, actually, no, I haven’t. They’ll compensate us for this – maybe with a nice weekend away or even another week here to make up for this one. Like I said, you can come with me. The only thing is that the hotel there isn’t fully up and running yet because their season starts in two weeks’ time.’

  I’m expecting Steph to explode into another tirade, but she takes a sip of her cocktail and mutters, ‘C’est la vie. I’ll be fine,’ and lies back down.

  My mouth opens and closes and no words come out. She must have knocked her head, or maybe it’s sunstroke. Whatever it is, I’m leaving it well alone. ‘I’ll email Daniel then and tell him it’s just one ticket?’ I ask gingerly, for clarification.

  ‘Yes, I’ll stop here. No point in trailing off to another hotel when I’ve just got my bearings here.’

  I email Daniel quickly before she changes her mind.

  Hi Daniel,

  Just one airline ticket. I’ll await further information.

  Helen,

  Manager

  Loving Luxury Travel

  ‘Right, I’ve sent the reply to Daniel. He owes me big time.’

  ‘Yes, he does. Oh, by the way, I’ve booked us into the other restaurant tonight, at half seven, for a change of scenery, if that’s okay with you?’

  ‘Absolutely fine with me. I need to visit it at some stage. Maybe Costas will be serving us. He’s a bit of all right and I’m sure he fancies you. Could be a little holiday romance there…’

  ‘Bloody hell, Helen, what’s got into you? Are you on some sort of mission to marry me off before we get home? Have Mum and Dad bribed you with a load of money? I’m fine, thank you very much. I can sort my own love life out. You just concentrate on your impending engagement.’

  ‘Flipping heck, Steph, I was only saying. No need to bite my head off. I’ll sodding well not bother in future.’

  I stomp off towards the pool and sit on the edge for a while. Steph went completely over the top with my comment about Costas. Hmm… I wonder if she’s hiding something. It seems very odd that she’s suddenly not bothered in the slightest that I’m leaving her for two days and a night.

  I pluck up the courage to have a swim in the gorgeous but chilly pool. The hotel’s idea of heated and mine are a few degrees different. I swim up and down for a bit and mull a few things over in my head. It’s certainly been an interesting day, what with Costas this morning and my inherited fiancé Nikos this afternoon. And Selena with her little outburst – I wonder if Nikos picked up on what she said about me? She nearly dropped herself in it, the stupid cow.

  My peaceful swim is shattered by a guy diving in and doing the front crawl like he’s an Olympian. I bail out. When I get back to our sunbeds, Steph’s phone is bleeping with messages.

  ‘Gosh, Steph, you’re busy.’

  ‘Oh, you know what it’s like, just trying to keep up to date with everyone.’

  She looks positively guilty. I suppose it could be a fella, but she hasn’t mentioned anyone to me. She reckons she’s happy on her own at the moment.

  We have our second two-for-one happy-hour cocktails before heading to our room to get changed. I can’t wait to try the food in the main restaurant, and I can update Steph with the other events of the day over a drink or two. It’ll be interesting if Costas the waiter is about. I could always stir things up a bit and see how Steph reacts to a bit of sisterly banter.

  Chapter 17

  Helen

  I’m booked on a ten o’clock flight this morning. Before I leave, I’m enjoying a quick room-service breakfast on our balcony. The sun hasn’t reached me yet so it’s still a nice temperature here. I check my emails, messages, WhatsApp and Facebook; James still hasn’t responded to the message I sent the other day. I wonder if Selena has mentioned my visit. Maybe’s he’s lying low. Or maybe he’s been eaten by a shark.

  I catch sight of Costas in the restaurant across the way. He seems like a nice guy. He obviously fancies Steph, judging by their flirting last night. I just need an older version – or even a younger version – for me. In my dreams! Mind you, I had both yesterday. The other Costas – sultry, serious, sexy. Then the gorgeous, carefree Nikos. Well, until Selena got the wrong end of the stick. He had to park the ‘carefree’ bit while he was ducking that plate. I wonder if he ever did manage to calm her down and take her out to her favourite restaurant. I’m guessing not.

  My phone alarm alerts me that it’s time to leave. I slip quietly back into the room so that I don’t disturb Steph, and make he
r a cuppa from the remains of my pot. I leave it by her bed. I’m never sure that she actually drinks them, but I reckon that after all those cocktails last night she’ll be a bit worse for wear and will drink anything when she wakes up.

  I whisper to Steph that I’m leaving and apologise again. She mumbles something completely incomprehensible.

  There’s no sign of Nikos today but my taxi to the airport has been ordered and is already waiting. The driver doesn’t seem interested in engaging in conversation so I start glancing through my interview notes. I’d love to ask one of those silly questions like ‘If you could be an animal, what would you be and why?’ I’d like to be something slinky and sexy with long legs. The animal that springs to mind is a giraffe, but is it slinky and sexy? A long neck would be useful, at a pop concert, say. On the other hand, it could be a hindrance. I’d always be hitting my head on something. I suppose I’d better just stick to the boring old script that I’ve been sent. ‘Tell us why you think you’re a suitable candidate for this job.’

  These things always make me laugh. People who are good at blowing their own trumpet are always going to interview better. So, you give them the job and two months later you’re left wondering what went wrong. James is a good example of this. He gave a brilliant interview. But I must have been wearing rose-coloured spectacles that day, anyway. I was dazzled by his good looks and taken in by his charm. My God, what on earth was I thinking?

  The taxi driver breaks into my daydream. ‘We arrive at the airport, Miss Collins.’

  ‘Oh, right, thank you.’ Gosh, that was quick.

  He pulls up outside the terminal and comes round to open my door. He pops my suitcase on the pavement and then he’s off quicker than I can say ‘Here’s a tip.’ I assume my company has paid the fare directly.

  It’s reasonably quiet at the check-in desk, which isn’t surprising for a domestic flight. I’m quickly checked in and through security. I walk into the small lounge. While I’m waiting, I Google the Syros Boutique Blue Hotel to have a peep at the website. It’s still got artist’s impressions up instead of photos; it wouldn’t surprise me if Daniel asks me to take some while I’m there. There’s also a link to meet the staff. I click on it. Oh dear, it’s looking a bit sparse. There are just a couple of photos, one of the head chef, Jakub, who’s from Poland, and one of the bar manager, Darius. Oh, this is interesting: he previously worked at the Mykonos Boutique Blue. I wonder if he can mix cocktails like Costas.