‘Oh… oh, I see.’
‘Let me stress myself,’ Kostas said, closing his eyes. ‘Think of things I do not like.’
A few moments later he opened his eyes.
‘OK,’ he said. ‘I want to show you something.’
‘I thought you said we had to stop.’
‘Now who is turning everything into an innuendo?’ He took her hand. ‘Come on.’
39
‘Wow. It’s so big!’
‘I know.’
‘Not that that’s a bad thing.’
‘No?’
‘I mean, I don’t know how I never noticed this before.’
‘Maybe, when you saw it before, you did not like it. Because it was so big and not like anything else. I am not sure the size of the ball is accurate, you know.’
‘I wouldn’t know. I am not a ball connoisseur.’
‘Really?’
‘Stop it.’
Kostas took a deep breath as he and Faye stood by his bronze statue. Her impassioned talk about the area of land he wanted to get his hands on to create his statement complex had thrown him. As had the news of the offer Stathis had obviously made without him. Now that was done, other people were involved – an estate agent, Dimitria – there was no going back. But he was feeling torn and he didn’t know what to do with that. On the one hand he felt he should stay focussed on what he had come here to do, but on the other… he found himself wanting to be real. With Faye. As real as he had been with anyone. And that was dangerous because that meant that emotional side he kept in check, the side that hid wall-hangings and cushions in the wardrobe, was starting to reveal itself. So, apparently, that meant he had brought her here. To his statue.
Did he loathe it a little less now he was seeing it for a second time? Maybe simply it felt different because it had lost its initial impact. He’d known it existed, he had seen photos, then he had come with Stathis and it had been weird to see it in person, but now, now there was a small part of him that felt something other than hatred. But like with what was happening with Faye, he wasn’t quite ready to define exactly what that something else was.
‘People worship this,’ Faye said, looking at some of the things around the base.
‘Yes,’ he answered. And there were definitely new items since the last time he had come – a vest he had not seen before, some drawings on cardboard.
‘Your career meant something to people here,’ Faye stated. ‘You mean something, or they wouldn’t leave… offerings.’
‘Don’t say offerings,’ he begged. ‘Or sacrifices. Stathis found this very amusing when he brought me here.’
‘Seriously though, Kosta. Whether you like it or not, whether you think you deserve it or not, people here care about you.’
He sighed. ‘People here do not know me.’
People in Athens didn’t know him either. He kept guarded because, in his experience, the more people knew about you, the more they could use it as ammunition. Naivety usually led to exploitation, and his knowing that meant he had turned the tables, deployed it himself, to succeed but also to keep safe.
‘They know what you did for your team, for your country’s team.’
He looked at her. ‘I never told you I played for Greece.’
‘No,’ Faye said. ‘Wikipedia did. And I fact-checked it with your Instagram account.’
‘Faye, have you been stalking me on social media?’
‘Saffron says it’s called “intelligence gathering”.’
