Avlaki
Faye ran out of the hotel, hair flying in the breeze, and Kostas watched her from the pillion of a motorbike he now owned, not dissimilar to the one he had hired when he’d returned here almost a year ago. And she had never looked more beautiful to him. It had always been how natural she was, how effortlessly and completely herself. She was still the strongest, yet sweetest, person he knew, and he was thankful every single day that she was in his life.
‘I don’t have long, Kosta, I have a wine delivery coming and they’ve asked for me to be there because Katerina signed last time and it was wrong and no one could work out afterwards if it was too much or too less and it was a nightmare so?—’
In one quick move, he got off the bike and silenced her with a kiss. It had only been hours since he had last kissed her, in the master bedroom in her little house at Almyros, but he knew now the need was always so strong when you adored someone this much. And he totally and utterly adored her. She had helped him become the person he was today, the man who was still learning, still evolving, but definitely, without doubt, on the right track. So much so that he nestled against the cushions on Faye’s bed and there were circular crochet dinner mats on her table that his grandmother had made which he actually used and did not fear.
‘Kalispéra,’ he said, smiling.
‘I like that kind ofkalispéra,’ she answered. She grabbed the helmet.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked.
‘Putting on the helmet,’ she said. ‘We’re going to lunch, right? You said we were going for something to eat.’
‘I did,’ he agreed. ‘But we’re not going on the bike.’
‘You want to take my car?’
‘No,’ he replied, and then he gestured up and back with his head. He watched her look in that direction and then her expression cracked.
‘Are you joking, Kosta?’
‘Come on, Faye. We have not ridden in the cart for almost a year now. It is nostalgic. It reminds me of the very beginning of our relationship. It is romantic.’
‘You are so crazy,’ she told him.
‘You think?’
‘I know.’
‘OK, then you can drive,’ he said, leading the way.
‘No, no, it’s OK, we don’t want to break with any romantic traditions,’ she answered fast.
* * *
Faye closed her eyes as they rolled along the road, towards the other end of Avlaki beach, enjoying the light breeze and the warm, not-yet-roasting temperatures of the island. There were plenty of tourists here already, but it wasn’t quite at the summer peak that meant she was fully booked and completely hectic. Not that she didn’t still totally love her job. And not much had changed. Dimitria still owned Hotel Margaritári but she had stepped back a little further from the physical helm and had been doing some much-longed-for travelling over the winter.
‘Why are you not looking at your paradise?’ Kostas asked as he drove. ‘Or has Almyros taken over this role?’
Faye opened her eyes and shook her head. ‘Almyros is my home now, but you know Avlaki will always be my special place.’
‘I do know that,’ Kostas said. ‘So… here we are.’
He pulled the cart to a stop, got out and rushed around to her side of the vehicle to offer her his hand.
‘Why am I getting this weird princess treatment today? It’s not my birthday.’
‘Ah, well, do we need a reason?’
She took his hand and got out onto the stones of the beach. And it was then she noticed the blanket and picnic basket set up on the shoreline.
‘Kosta! A picnic!’
‘You sound even more excited than when I took you to Green Park in Athens.’
‘Sorry.’
