“Well, she sounds like a peach,” the American replied.
“Oh, she was,” the Greek woman said. “They were divorced a few years later. She’d been having an affair, and when he found out, she accused him of one instead and got him deported. Kept his kids away from him, too.”
Anna felt her jaw clench.
“Holy shit. That’s terrible,” the American said.
“Yeah, well, we all told him not to trust her. She must have been through half a dozen guys during the summer she was here, none of which he knew about. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.”
Anna felt a hand on top of hers and realized she had been squeezing her own leg – it was beginning to go numb. She softened her grip under Nikos’s touch.
“You need a drink?”
She nodded in response, and Nikos disappeared, reappearing a couple of minutes later with two gin and tonics and a couple of shots.
“Oh god, Nikos, shots?” she said. “I’ve been through enough tonight.”
“Sorry,” he said, picking up his shot and tapping hers with it. “The bride and groom’s signature shots are free at the bar, and I already bought you one drink. All this money spent, you would think they could spring for an open bar.”
“Signature shots?”
Nikos shrugged. “I guess it’s an American thing. I’m not complaining, though.”
Reluctantly, Anna lifted the shot and took it, grimacing as it went down, but a few moments later, as her forehead started to relax and her shoulders began to unclench, she was glad she had. “Are there more of those?” she asked, and Nikos pulled two more from behind his glass, smirking at his clever foresight. They took those shots too, and then the bride and groom were announced to cheers and hollering, Anna and Nikos as loud as the rest of them.
It’s nothing you didn’t already sort of know, Anna told herself. Well, except that she cheated while she was here. But is cheating habitually worse than cheating once? Anna wasn’t sure. But it drove home the fact that her mother had not only poisoned her against her father in a way he didn’t deserve, but she had also managed to exclude her own missteps from the conversation. She had just been trying to save her own ass.
Anna’s first instinct was hatred toward her mother, but she checked herself. She had allowed Grace to keep her from her father, and now Giorgos was gone. Could she justify estranging herself from her only remaining parent, no matter what she had done? She wasn’t sure she could.
At the moment, though, she just wanted to forget about the conversation entirely, and whatever revelations it had inspired. She wanted to have fun tonight. And she knew just how to do that.
She kept her glass filled all through dinner, got signature shots for her and Nikos between every course, and pulled him out onto the dance floor the second she could. In her attempt to forget what she’d overheard, Anna managed to truly relax for the first time since she had arrived on the island.
15
As the evening wore on and midnight passed, more and more of the older guests started to leave, and the dance music transitioned from traditional Greek music to the kind of stuff she had heard at the resort bar. Anna and Nikos danced with everyone, saying hello to people they knew as they danced past, but as the hours slipped by they became more and more focused on each other. By the time more guests started to leave, they were pressed together on the dance floor, hips touching, swaying to the beat. Every now and then, Anna would smile at Nikos and feel herself go a bit red in the cheeks, and he would exhale and then chuckle a bit, as if he had dreamed the moment and couldn’t believe it was coming true. It felt like a dream to Anna, too. During one song, when the dance floor was mostly full of couples staring even more intensely at each other than Anna and Nikos were, Nikos let out a sigh and stepped back.
“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
Anna put her hand in his, and they started toward the door. As they walked past the bar, Anna grabbed one of the bottles of champagne from the counter and started to run. Nikos ran alongside her, both of them laughing. She slipped off her heels as they reached the sand, sprinting along the shore toward the resort as if they were being chased. She suspected no one would miss the champagne, but it felt conspiratorial; like they were on the run. It felt exciting. It felt fun.
As they neared the resort, Anna began to shush Nikos. It was well past midnight, and he was singing some song in Greek as they stumbled through the sand. He cheered as they reached the resort, nearly collapsing on a beach chair, and Anna was grateful that the beach was unusually quiet. She sat down behind him and stared out at the darkness.
“Oh my god, I have the best idea,” Nikos said, standing up again and beginning to unbutton his shirt. “We are so going for a swim right now.”
“No way,” Anna said, trying to get him to sit back down. “You’re not supposed to swim when you’ve been drinking. Or at night.” But Nikos was already stripping down.
This time he went all the way down to his underwear, and Anna didn’t even try not to stare as he walked down the beach toward the water. The faint light from the resort reflected off the sweat glistening on his back, highlighting his muscles. She stood up to follow him, as if he were a magnet.
“Come on, we won’t go too deep,” he said, stepping toward her and putting a hand lightly on either side of her waist. Then, in a whisper, said, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
He pulled her closer to him, and Anna felt herself press against him instinctually. She knew exactly what could happen. But whether it was the signature shots or the romance of being on the beach all alone, Anna wasn’t sure she cared. She slipped one strap of her dress down over her shoulder, and then the other. Nikos’s eyes went wide as she shimmied out of it, revealing the sheer bra she was wearing underneath. He let out a heavy breath. She was all but naked in front of him, and he didn’t attempt to disguise how he felt about that. In fact, she could feel it.
Then she ran past him and splashed straight into the ocean.
By the time she turned around, certain that her hair and makeup must be all over the place but laughing anyway, Nikos was wading in behind her. She turned around and smiled at him, half appreciation for him and half appreciation for the way he was clearly appreciating her. She tried to remember all the reasons she hadn’t let anything happen with Nikos, but the booze was drowning them at the moment.
She splashed him as he got close, and then he splashed her back. But then he swam slowly up to her, and she didn’t step away. As he got closer, he placed his hands gently on her hips and lifted her up until she was wrapped around his waist, pressed close enough together to feel each other’s heartbeats. To feel everything.
Anna’s breath went shallow as Nikos slowly leaned his head toward hers. She could feel the heat of his breath on her face, the smell of wine just as intoxicating as it had been when they’d been drinking it. He was waiting for her to give him the go-ahead; to tell him that she was okay. Not too deep, she told herself, but somehow she knew this would send her right off into the deep end of her feelings. But she couldn’t bring herself to care.
With the sea around them and the stars above them and Santorini behind them, Anna pressed her mouth against Nikos’s, her head spinning with intoxication of every kind. He kissed her back, soft but firm, his hands running over her back and up her neck. She felt his tongue against hers as their kiss deepened, and she felt herself begin to rock her hips against his. He grabbed her ass and aided her movement, their pace quickening. Anna let out a moan as she felt him begin to react, tilting her head back as he kissed her neck. She ran her hands down his back and slipped them under the waistband of his underwear, ready to throw caution fully to the wind.
And just as she was about to, she heard someone call her name from the shoreline.
16
“Do you think the lighter grout was the right call?” Anna asked, wiping her forehead and staring down at the off-white grout they were spreading between the tiles.<
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“Well, I’d say it’s a bit late to question that,” Elena said, wiping a tile clean. She was right, of course. They were nearly done with the floor, heading toward the front door just like Anna and Nikos had the day before. Of course, this had taken a lot longer. Not only was Nikos not helping, but Anna and Elena had to watch seven different YouTube videos to figure out what they were doing. Plus, they hadn’t really gotten started until nearly noon thanks to Anna’s killer hangover.
Elena had been walking down the beach with Vasilis after finishing her shift at the bar when she’d seen Anna and Nikos in the ocean. Anna had very quickly snapped out of her lustful haze and after quickly scrambling back into their clothes, Nikos had bid her a hasty goodnight. Anna hadn’t seen or spoken to him since then. She knew she should say something; he probably thought she was angry. And she was. But she was angry with herself, not with him.
Now the sun was setting, the two girls had barely spoken all day, and Anna’s stomach was rumbling. “Shall we wrap this up and go get some food?” she said, eyeing the last couple of tiles that needed grouting.
“Sure,” Elena said, “but I think we should talk first.”
Anna nodded and kept working. Elena did the same, the two working in parallel like they had been for most of the afternoon.
“I’m so sorry,” Anna started. “I know I shouldn’t have let it get that far with Nikos. But we were really drunk. I know it’s not an excuse, but it’s true. I won’t let it happen again. I’ll keep my feelings in check.”
Elena chuckled softly. “You think I’m angry that you have feelings for Nikos?”
“Well… yeah. Isn’t that what’s happening here?”
Elena laughed again and stopped scraping, sitting back on her knees. “Not at all, Anna. You’re my friend. I think you’re great. And I think you and Nikos would be great together.”
The two girls stared at each other silently for a moment, Elena smiling and Anna frowning. “I’m confused. Then why did you stop us last night? Not that I’m not grateful, but why?”
“That’s why,” Elena said. “Because you’re grateful. You know deep down that you and Nikos would be good together, but you also think that it’s a bad idea. Why is that?”
Anna sighed. “Because I’m leaving.”
“Damn right. Because you’re leaving. And if you hook up with him and let him get his hopes up and then leave, you’re no better than the other girls who come here for their Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants romance and then fuck off back to their normal lives. You can sleep with whomever you want. But it would break his heart. And I think that would hurt both of us, wouldn’t it?”
Anna couldn’t say anything. She could just nod. Elena was completely right. She had judged Nikos for catching feelings for tourists, but she was allowing the same thing to happen now. Except she had a chance to prevent it.
“Unless…” Elena said after Anna didn’t respond, “you’re considering staying?”
“No, you’re right,” Anna said, shaking her head. She still hadn’t told Elena about the gallery placement, but she also didn’t want them to think she was sticking around. “I do care about him. But I am leaving. And that’s why I can’t let anything happen.”
Elena stood up and stepped over to Anna. “I really like you, Anna. I consider you a friend. But my loyalty is to Nikos. I’d love to know that we could be friends without me feeling like I’m betraying my family or letting him get hurt.”
Anna reached out to take Elena’s hand, and Elena pulled her to her feet. “I promise,” Anna said. “I won’t do anything to hurt him.”
Just as they were finishing up, Anna heard the truck pull up outside, and she heard Christos and Nikos chatting. Anna locked the door to the summer house and followed Elena out through the gate.
“All done, girls?” Nikos asked casually, but he didn’t make eye contact with Anna.
“Yep, all done,” Elena said. “You driving us back?”
Nikos nodded and said something to Christos, who responded and threw him the keys. Finally, Nikos looked at Anna, and his face softened. “Christos wants to know if we all want to come over for lunch on Monday. It’s a public holiday.”
Anna looked at Christos and gave him a thumbs-up. He returned it with both hands and a huge smile on his face.
“I’ll go in the back,” Elena said, hopping into the bed of the truck. Anna felt her cheeks go red as Nikos opened the passenger door and looked at her.
“Shall we?” he said with a sigh.
Anna climbed in with a feeble smile, and Nikos walked around and got in the driver’s seat. As he turned on the ignition and started down the drive, Anna looked behind her to make sure Elena wasn’t listening, but she had headphones in.
“Listen, Nikos, about last night—”
“Don’t say a thing,” he said. “It was completely my fault.”
“I mean, it wasn’t,” Anna said. “I have as much to apologize for as you do.”
“No way,” he said. “I came onto you, and it was wrong. You asked me not to, and I went against that.”
Anna considered this for a moment, but it was annoying her for some reason. She couldn’t help but say something. “I never asked you not to come onto me,” she said. “I told you I didn’t want anything to happen.”
“Same thing, isn’t it?”
“Not really, no.” Nikos looked at her, confused. “I think it’s an important distinction. If I had actually asked you not to do anything, then most of our relationship would be in violation of that. But I didn’t say that. I just said I didn’t want anything to happen. And anything that has happened has been just as much my doing as it has been yours.”
“Okay,” Nikos said, “but it still feels like I’m the one who owes you an apology.”
“I don’t agree,” Anna said. “I don’t feel like either of us did anything wrong. It was just a kiss. I just think we need to be clear about the page we’re on. Make sure we’re on the same one.”
“And what page is that?”
Anna thought about this for a moment. As much as she didn’t want to hurt him, she hadn’t felt in the wrong last night. It had felt good. But as she looked over at Nikos, she knew that the best thing for him was for them to stay friends. Just friends. And if she cared about his feelings, then that was the best thing for her, too.
“I think we’re on the friendship page. And while we briefly turned that page last night, I don’t think we passed the point of no return.”
Nikos sighed. “If you say so.”
“What do you mean?”
He pressed his lips together and looked from the road to Anna and back to the road, back and forth, like he wasn’t sure he should say what was on his mind.
“I mean that you seem to want to get together,” he said. Anna felt herself go red again, and it didn’t go unnoticed. “See? You’re even blushing. I just don’t understand why you keep insisting that it would be a bad thing.” He reached over to the passenger seat and put his hand on her thigh, rubbing it with his thumb. His touch felt so good, and Anna immediately slipped back into last night; into the desire to just give in to what she was feeling. But without the booze to drown her concerns, and with the light of day shining on them, she couldn’t ignore the truth.
“Because I don’t want to just get together, Nikos,” she said, her voice raised. “I care too much about you. And I don’t want either of us to get hurt when I leave.”
Nikos pulled his hand back, placing it back on the steering wheel. “Well, that sucks,” he says. “But I guess it’s nice to know that it’s not all in my head.”
Anna looked at him and tried to smile, but she knew it wasn’t quite convincing. “Of course it’s not in your head.”
He nodded. “Thanks for being honest… I guess. But can I just say one thing?” The truck pulled past the sign for the resort, and Nikos guided it into one of the service spots, turning off the engine. Elena climbed out of the back and started walking toward the building.
“Sure.”
“I’m going to be hurt when you leave no matter what. Even if we never get together. I care about you, too. And I’m going to be sad to lose you when you go.”
He leaned across and kissed Anna lightly on the cheek, then got out of the truck and went inside, leaving Anna alone with her thoughts.
When she finally made her way inside, she found Elena and Nikos sitting on the sofa in her room with Xenia, who was showing Elena how to control the lighting, dimming the sconces next to the bed.
“Hi, Xenia,” she said when she walked in. “You alright?”
“Yeah, great,” she replied. “I just wanted to check in and see how the new room was.”
“It’s amazing,” Anna said.
“Yeah, she especially loves the sea views,” Elena said, and both Anna and Nikos glared at her.
“I’m not even going to ask,” Xenia said with a laugh. “But no issues so far?”
Anna scanned the room quickly, trying to remember anything she’d noticed. “Nothing that doesn’t work, but I thought it could be nice to have shaving plug adapters for the bathroom. Since there’s a vanity in there, it would be great to be able to use hair dryers, straighteners, stuff like that.”
Xenia nodded. “I’ll have to see if there are any safety rules about that, but I like the suggestion.”
Elena picked Anna’s camera up off the coffee table and waved it at Anna. “Ooh, can we look at pictures of me, please?”
“What’s this?” Xenia asked.
“I had a little photoshoot with Elena the other day,” Anna said, pulling the memory card out and putting it into the USB adapter.
“Oh, this I’ve got to see.” Xenia sat down on the sofa next to Nikos. “You should be able to plug that directly into the TV.”
Anna reached around and plugged in the USB. Nikos turned on the TV with the remote and they started scrolling through the pictures, starting with the ones of just Elena, then through the ones of the girls who had paid Anna, and, finally, through the ones of Elena and Vasilis.
The Summer House in Santorini Page 14
