After she’d shaken the water from every part of her body, including her eyelids, Maddie twisted her hair into a rope and wrung that out too. She wasn’t injured, thank goodness; it was just her dignity that had taken a hit.
When her friends came back into full focus, it was obvious Sofia and Charlotte were trying desperately hard not to catcheach other’s eye, and she could swear that Sofia was pinching her own hand to stop herself losing it.
While she could appreciate that the whole episode must have looked like something out of one of those programmes where they paid people hundreds of pounds for funny videos, it wasn’t quite so amusing to be the star.
But her friends’ desperate attempts not to laugh were ridiculous, and Maddie found her mouth twisting into a grin too, much as she tried to stop it. Charlotte clamping both hands over her own mouth was the final straw, and Maddie was powerless not to join the others as the tears streamed down their faces.
The three of them hung on to each other, barely able to breathe, as the laughter ripped through their bodies, bending them double.
‘Sorry for laughing. But when you shot out…’
Sofia couldn’t even complete the sentence, as the domino effect started again and all three of them fought to gulp down enough lungfuls of air to survive.
Maddie put up a hand.
‘Stop! We’ve got to stop. I may not have laughed like this for a very long time, but I can’t cope with much more.’
The others nodded, but their shaking bodies told Maddie they were far from finished.
Giannis finally rocked up as the next bout of laughter took all three of them down again. He turned to Sofia.
‘Is everything OK? Shall I call a doctor? Is your friend having a fit?’
Sofia shook her head as the three friends clung to each other, helpless in the grip of another wave of giggles.
They’d got into this state at school on several occasions, much to the irritation of the teachers, but it had been a very long time since it had last happened. Maddie certainly wasn’t going to be taking up paddleboarding any time soon, but it waswonderful to see her friends’ faces lit up with laughter for a change.
Sofia checked the address on her phone one more time. It was a flat at the top of the old town, away from the hustle and bustle of the port and its string of restaurants. She’d eaten at one of the tavernas overlooking the sea earlier with her friends after their paddleboard outing.
It had given them all a fierce appetite, and they’d enjoyed plenty ofkalamarákia tiganitá,squid cooked in a delicate batter until just brown and smothered with lemon juice, accompanied by a simplehoriátiki,the traditional Greek salad that varied slightly from village to village and town to town. The combination of ripe tomatoes, slices of fresh cucumber and peppers, plump black olives and chunks of feta cheese liberally drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs never disappointed. She’d tried to make it many times at home, but it was never quite the same.
Pleasantly full, she’d suggested an early night for the others after their busy day at the beach, and they’d gone off quite happily. Her excuse for not joining them was that she was restless and needed a good walk to get rid of some of her energy, which was partially true, the energy bit anyway. Maddie had given her an old-fashioned look when she kissed them both goodnight and wished themkalinýchta.
The streets she was walking through narrowed as she climbed higher with every step. A WhatsApp message from Adonis earlier had told her that the hotel restaurant had another party on and he wasn’t free to speak until the following evening.
He was harder to get hold of than the Pope. She’d somehow thought that being in the same country and time zone would make it easier to chat. He was only a couple of hours away by boat. Work appeared to be his greatest love, but he could be lying for all she knew, and staring into one of the waitress’s eyes right now, or worse.
There was one woman who always seemed to be at his side in all the hotel’s social media pics. Attractive, a lot younger than her, and definitely Greek, she was called Aphrodite, a goddess for his god. She’d hate for anyone to know that she’d gone to the trouble of looking this woman up on the hotel’s website, but she wouldn’t let it get to her. She and Adonis weren’t joined at the hip, and they definitely weren’t a couple. They both had their own lives to lead.
Darkness was falling fast, but the white painted walls helped with navigation as they threw what light there was back at her. The red dot on her phone told her she’d arrived.
Chapter Seven
Asteep set of stairs led up to a pale blue door, and on each step was a painted oil can containing a geranium, their red petals still bursting with colour in the gloom. The plants matched her red halter neck dress perfectly. Charlotte would love the arty touch on the steps, and maybe it was the sort of thing that would break her painting drought, not that she’d be bringing Charlotte, or indeed anyone else, up here.
The door was opened before she reached the top of the stairs, and a smiling Giannis, barefoot and dressed in a white linen shirt and jeans, ushered her in. He must have been watching out for her, which was a bit freaky.
There were a couple too many shirt buttons undone for her liking– she’d seen plenty of his chest during the day– but it felt good to be enfolded in his arms, and his slightly too powerful aftershave was a wonderful mix of lemons, salt and basil.
‘Sofia. Welcome.’
He beckoned to her to follow him through the living space, painted a simple white, with a single sofa and couple of blue rugs on the rough tiled floor. She caught a fleeting glimpse of a bigwooden bed through a partly opened door, but he swiftly led her away from the bedroom and up a few stairs to a roof terrace.
Sofia took a moment to appreciate the view spread out below them, clusters of pulsating lights dancing all along the coast, lit-up boats in the harbour swaying in the breeze and the sound of a guitarist somewhere picking out a mournful tune. There were fairy lights all around the railings that enclosed the terrace, and a tiny blue metal table was set with a bottle of wine, two glasses and a bowl of olives. Luckily, she’d already eaten, but she hadn’t come here for food, and they both knew it. A burning candle gave out the fragrance of a whole orange grove. As a seduction scene, she had a very strong feeling it had been used more than once.
Giannis took her hand and escorted her to the table. He insisted on pulling out her chair with a theatrical flourish and made sure she was seated before he took his own seat. His hand grasped the wine bottle like it was an extra-large paddle, his long brown fingers almost reaching all the way round the glass.
‘Shall we?’
