The cool water enveloped Sofia as she dived deeper. She opened her eyes to stare at the dolphin painted on the bottom of the pool.
Hopefully Charlotte, or Sherlock as she’d be calling her from now on, wouldn’t dig any deeper into why she was suddenly so flush with money and able to take such a large chunk of time off.
The truth was too painful to voice to her friends. She’d been cruelly tossed aside by the law firm she’d helped to build, leaving a big black hole in her life. The words redundancy agreement in black and white at the top of the letter delivered to her house by a courier had left her breathless. She might have more money in her bank account than she’d ever had in her life, but what the hell would she do next?
That, she wasn’t ready to talk about.
Chapter Two
Sofia turned and shut the bedroom door quietly behind her, in case anyone else on their corridor was still having a snooze. Between three and five in the afternoon were the golden hours in Greece, when many of the shops shut and nearly everyone took a break, either at home, dozing, meeting friends in a café, or having a long leisurely lunch. Even the workmen were supposed to down tools.
She’d agreed to meet the others downstairs in the pool bar bang on five, for their trip into town.
The door to her left opened too, and Charlotte stepped out into the corridor. Sofia held her finger to her lips. Like her, Charlotte was in a flowing floral maxi dress, pale green to her pale pink, and they walked silently past Maddie’s door and down the stairs to the covered bar area. Charlotte popped up onto a white-painted high stool with ease and nodded her head at the neighbouring one.
‘Do you need a hand up?’
‘Bloody cheek. Just because you’re a giant. I’m petite, not a dwarf.’ Sofia looked around her. ‘Not that I have a problem withdwarves of course, but I can manage to get onto a bar stool myself, thanks.’
Charlotte put her hands in the air in a gesture of surrender and failed to stifle a grin at Sofia’s ungainly ascent.
‘Fair enough. This giant’s just asking.’
She indicated at Sofia’s dress.
‘I’m pleased you listened to what I was saying about the dress code in the monastery. It’s no bare legs and covered arms. I know we’re both wearing elbow-length sleeves, but I’m taking a scarf as well just to be on the safe side. It would be terrible to climb all the way up there and be turned away, wouldn’t it?’
Sofia rolled her eyes.
‘Yeah, terrible. Not sure how I’d cope.’
‘OK, no need to be sarky. We agreed there should be something for everyone on this holiday, didn’t we? And this is very definitely something for me.’
Dimitris the pool guy moved in their direction from the other end of the bar.
‘Oh look, here’s something for you…’
Sofia smiled a tight smile. Her love life had long been a hot topic of conversation. Going for younger guys who didn’t expect any commitment had worked out well for her over the years. If you didn’t get close to people, they couldn’t leave you. Just the thought of her mother’s anguished face, hoping against hope that her husband would leave his mistress and come back to her someday, was enough to put her off anything more serious. Her friends got a vicarious thrill out of her dates too, loathe though they’d be to admit it.
‘You’re hilarious.’
Dimitris was indeed a sight to behold, one made up of a tanned, ripped, body with a full head of dark curls and eyes the colour of the sea on a cloudless day, and normally she’d waste no time going into flirt mode. But she was on a very special holidaywith her friends. Not on the lookout for men. Not this early on, anyway. It was only day one.
‘What can I do for you, ladies?’
Sofia hated being called a lady and it was even worse to be lumped in with a group of them. That was unnecessarily ageing in her opinion. Being called girls was way preferable.
‘A coffee for me please,dipló cappuccino skéto zestó, parakaló.’
‘Ooh flash.’ Charlotte turned to her. ‘What exactly is that?’
‘A hot double cappuccino, without sugar. They often whack loads in unless you ask them not to. The Greeks are sweet-toothed by nature. Also, once the sun comes out, they assume everyone wants their coffee cold with ice, which is afreddo espressoor afreddo cappuccino.You’re considered strange if you still want it hot.’
‘I’m strange too then. And don’t say it! How do I ask for the same?’
‘To ídio, parakaló.’
Charlotte tried out the strange words, rolling them round her mouth.
