One Greek Summer Wedding

Chapter 21

‘It was another wild night, no?’

Horatio was wiping oil and shaving foam from his body as he talked. The night’s dance show had just finished and they were getting cleaned up and changed.

‘I have scratches along my shoulders,’ Akis answered, checking out his wounds in the mirror.

Horatio laughed. ‘Everyone wants a piece of The Deacon.’

Akis shook his head and rushed to get out of his costume.

‘How was the wine and cake tasting today?’ Horatio asked, beginning to take off his make-up.

‘As organised and scheduled as the wedding will be. I was surprised my mother did not pay for a sommelier just to pour for her.’

‘And Cara, was she there?’

Akis picked up his T-shirt and pulled it over his head, saying nothing.

‘Oh my God,’ Horatio remarked. ‘You are ignoring me. This is bad. Or should I say, this is actually good. This is someone you are into.’

Akis shook his head again. ‘No.’

And he offered his friend nothing more. Because how things had been with Cara when she had rushed from his grandmother’s garden had been the very opposite of good. He had pushed her and she had retreated. Didn’t he know exactly how that felt? You didn’t back someone into a corner, even if you thought it was for their own good, because the second you did that you lost them. It was like taking away their decision-making, something she had confessed to him that she struggled with as it was.

‘What, the eyes are not working for you?’ Horatio asked.

‘I am not playing, Horatio. And she is a guest at Cosmos’s wedding, a wedding I still don’t know if I’m going to be present at.’

‘But you are the best man,’ Horatio reminded him. ‘The organiser of the bachelor party.’

‘When it is something my mother is at the heart of, things could change by the hour. Actually, I take that back, they could change by the minute.’

‘OK, so, we drink to forget tonight, yes? A little something to eat and then 54 Dreamy Nights?’

‘Not tonight,’ Akis said, doing up his jeans. ‘I am going to find Cara.’

‘Wait, what?’ Horatio remarked, stopping mid eye-liner removal. ‘But you said?—’

‘I didn’t say anything,’ Akis said. ‘But things ended a little awkwardly and I want to smooth it over if we are to be wedding guests together.’

He wasn’t going to mention to Horatio about the wedding singer issue.

‘If your mother lets you join in.’

‘Exactly.’

‘So, you are? Going to call her, I mean?’

‘I don’t have her number,’ Akis admitted.

‘OK, so you are, what? Going to Cook’s Club? To stand outside and hope she comes by?’

Akis thought about that sentence and then frowned. ‘How do you know she is staying in Cook’s Club?’

Horatio palmed his hands to the sky. ‘Anastasia told me. She loves the DJ nights there. It is all she speaks about in the winter time, remember?’

‘Right,’ Akis said.

‘OK, your plan is terrible. Give me one second and I will make a few calls. I will find out where she is.’

This was turning into something more than he had anticipated.

‘Aki, go and get us both a drink and I will be two minutes.’

‘Maybe this is a bad idea,’ Akis said, having second thoughts. Couldn’t he just wait until the next wedding event? Besides the bachelor night, there was the blessing of the snakes.

‘No, this is a good idea. I have not seen you this full of anticipation since you auditioned for the orchestra.’

‘And look how that turned out,’ Akis said, waving his three-fingered hand.