‘Is that why you came to Corfu?’
He nodded again. ‘Yes.’
He watched her put her hands to her hair in frustration. ‘Did you spend time with me to get more information on the area and the hotel for this?’
He took a breath before responding. ‘Initially, yes.’
‘Oh my God!’ Faye exclaimed. ‘I am so stupid! So stupid! That’s why you had sex with me! And I thought it was me looking good for my age and having a stunning personality!’
‘Wait, what? No, Faye. I mean, yes. I mean, us having sex was nothing to do with this. And it was everything to do with you being beautiful and having a stunning personality.’
‘Like I’m going to believe you now!’ She backed away from the kitchen island. ‘Like I’m going to believe anything you say to me now. You’re just like him.’
‘Faye,’ he said, taking a step towards her.
She was shaking her head. ‘You know, I was fully prepared to have sex and move on, you know, like everyone is doing these days. I have a life here, a life I took time to build and create my way after spending so many years doing everything for everyone else instead of me. But then you kept wanting to see me again… and you’re pretending to be interested in my favourite fucking ice cream flavour and you’re turning up when my daughter needs help and… being there to save a turtle.’ She took a jagged breath. ‘Why did you make me care?’
‘Because I care, Faye,’ he said, reaching out to her. ‘I care too.’
‘Well, you can’t,’ Faye told him, shrugging off his touch. ‘Because you weren’t honest. I told you, at the very beginning, that honesty means everything to me.’
‘I know,’ Kostas said. ‘And you don’t know how deeply I regret that, how deeply I regret it all.’
‘Really? Or are you just saying that because you’re not getting your own way? See, now I have no way of knowing.’
He looked at her deeply then, saw in her eyes that, right now, she was lost to him. She despised what he had done. She didn’t trust him, and why should she? It wouldn’t matter if he told her he was going to pull the plans; there would be no difference if he told her the outline for his new idea he hoped was going to make people interact with life and each other a lot more. His words were currently empty vessels unwelcome at her marina.
‘I’m going to go,’ he said, bowing his head slightly. ‘But I want you to know that we are going to talk about this.’
‘You don’t need to talk to me, you’ll be talking to the whole island when the news about this gets out and, I promise you, none of the PR will be good.’
‘Kalinixta, Faye,’ he said, heading towards the door. ‘Goodnight.’
‘Yeah,kalinixta, and I guess I’ll see you for your grand reveal as the hotel purchaser at Cavo Barbaro tomorrow!’
He stepped out into the hotel grounds, closed the door and closed his eyes tighter. He took a moment to ground himself in the moment, exactly as he had in between quarters of basketball. Listening to the cicadas’ song, feeling the humidity dampen his T-shirt… And then he opened his eyes. He wasn’t someone to give up easily. There was work to be done.
58
ALMYROS
It was the next morning and Faye’s sunglasses were hiding puffy eyes both through lack of sleep and tears she hated herself for spilling as she pulled her car up outside the little white-washed house on Almyros beach. Last night, almost as soon as Kostas had left, she had curled up on the sofa bed and when she heard Saffron returning from Maddie’s, she had feigned sleep to avoid conversation. What was there to say? She had been well and truly used and she only had her own naivety to blame. This was what happened when you diverted from your perfectly curated pathway when you should have known better. But today was a new day and her personal feelings were nothing compared to the plans to build a Petsas Palace on her piece of paradise…
‘Oh, Faye!’ Dimitria exclaimed, getting out of the car first. ‘It looks delightful, absolutely delightful!’
Faye smiled and got out too as Saffron rushed from the backseat, almost racing Dimitria to the front door. Perhaps her daughter was a little interested in this potential new home after all.
‘Do we have to wait for Alexandros for us to be able to get in?’ Dimitria asked, looking like she might be ready to jimmy the door open.
‘No,’ Faye answered. ‘He actually had to be in Corfu Town so he dropped the keys to reception earlier.’ She reached into her handbag and shook them.
‘The flowers are nice, Mum,’ Saffron said, pointing to the bright pink bougainvillaea winding around lattice and spilling petals and fragrance all around this neat area of front terrace.
‘I love the bright blue door,’ Dimitria remarked. ‘And have you seen how close it is to the sea!’
Faye put the key in the lock and turned. Despite everything else, she knew how she felt about this house was dependent on one thing and one thing alone. Gut feeling. Her own instinct. Not switching things up or taking other people’s advice that riding around on motorbikes might be nice. Whatever initial reaction she had to this place – good or bad – that was going to guide her decision-making. She took a breath and stepped inside.
* * *
