One Greek Summer Wedding

Chapter 24

Akis had dropped the anchor in a bay opposite a beautiful little white church stuck out on a promontory all on its own. It had arched windows, a tiled roof and a bell tower, like every idyllic chapel depicted in a Greek wedding. It was bigger than the church in the olive grove that belonged to Akis’s family, but from here on the boat in the sea, it felt just as secluded.

‘Are you coming?’

Cara looked away from the view of the church to Akis and saw he was stripped down to his rather moulded-to-his-attributes underwear, the shirt and jeans discarded on the seating.

‘You were serious about swimming?’ Cara asked.

He laughed. ‘You cannot be “serious” about swimming. Swimming has nothing serious about it. It is getting in water and moving your arms and legs.’

‘You know what I meant.’

‘Do I not look like I am meaning it?’ he asked, arms outstretched.

All his pose did was highlight his lithe and subtly muscular physique. It wasn’t the torso of someone who focussed on heavy weights, more someone who toned every single individual muscle… and Cara was still gazing.

‘Is it hot? No… I mean… is it cold? The water.’

And now she was close to blushing.

‘Why not find out for yourself?’

With that said, he jumped from the edge of the boat and splashed into the sea.

Watching him resurface, she quickly gave herself a whispered pep talk. ‘It’s swimming not singing. It will be fun. You can tell your mum you communed with nature at night. Margot wouldn’t hesitate.’

She shook her head. Why was she still making comparisons to others or seeking approval? It was her decision! If she wanted to swim, she should. If she didn’t, that was fine too.

‘There is a ladder,’ Akis called from the water. ‘If you do not want to jump?’

Done with thinking, she stripped herself down to her not-too-conservative-but-not-transparent underwear and, casting an eye at the rather tiny metal ladder that looked like it needed to be folded down, she got up onto the seating. There was only one thing for it. She jumped.

When the water hit her it was a shock at how cold it was. She came up for air and could hardly get the words out.

‘It’s… freezing,’ she said, moving her arms and legs to tread water.

Akis laughed. ‘It is actually around twenty-five degrees but, you know, it is close to being thirty-four degrees in the air. Keep moving. You will adjust.’

That sounded like a mantra for life more than just for warding off the chill in this moment. But it really didn’t take long for Cara to appreciate the coolness rather than feel overwhelmed by it. She followed Akis’s lead, swimming around the boat then heading in a gentle direction towards the church.

‘For someone who says they don’t want to be a priest, you seem to be taking me to a lot of churches,’ Cara remarked when they had stopped close enough to be able to touch their feet to the rocky seabed.

‘You think that is a little crazy? To like these buildings and be grateful my grandmother has her faith to cling to, but to not want to commit my whole life to it?’

‘Well…’

‘Can I ask you a question, Cara?’

His gaze was pretty intense and she wondered what was coming next. She nodded. ‘OK.’

‘Do you still want to sing?’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said as her pulse rate quickened. It wasn’t a simple question at all.

‘I mean, beneath everything, forgetting the bad performance you said you had, putting to one side what your aunt has done here…’ He paused before carrying on. ‘Would you still want to sing if there was nothing riding on it? If it was only for fun. Only for you.’

Singing had been everything. Her whole life. For as long as she could remember. Always with the aim of it being her career, her future. Now he was trying to make her think differently about it. What it had been once. What it was now. How it could be again?

There was only one true answer she could give. ‘Yes, of course.’

He nodded. ‘I thought so.’

She ran a hand through her wet hair and took a deep breath. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, like with the churches, just because one element of something scares you, it doesn’t mean you have to turn your back on the whole thing.’

She let his statement sink into her consciousness. In fact, it felt like such a big declaration, it was almost like she could feel it across her shoulders, evaporating the sea water and chilling her skin.

‘When I see a church now, or when I go into the family chapel, it is like I want to be challenged.’ He swept a hand through his hair. ‘I want to look right into the eyes of the icons and question the validity of this curse. But I also want to feel that whatever decision I make, it won’t change what I think or who I am. I think, even if I joined the church, I would hope to be able to separate things, you know? That it wouldn’t have to be everything.’

‘You’re really thinking about it? Going through with becoming a priest?’ Cara asked.

‘It would make it all stop,’ he admitted. ‘Cosmos would have one thing less to worry about. My mother’s craziness would subside for a time. And if I could separate the different parts then…’ He stopped talking, brushed some water droplets from his shoulders. ‘I don’t know.’

‘But, don’t you want children?’ Cara asked. ‘Or to get married one day? Priests can’t do that, can they?’

‘Well, in fact, it is possible to marry. But only before ordination, so if I have to be ordained before I am thirty, I would need to find a wife by October and, well, you know, I am not in any kind of relationship now so…’

The sentence hung in the air between them and Cara felt goosebumps break out on her arms. It was obviously the water temperature. Because marriage was never going to be on her agenda again. She didn’t even know why she had brought it up now.

‘Cosmos worries. All the time. That has always been what Cosmos does. He worries and he hides from life. It is only with Wren, that I see little pieces of something different from him. He smiles now. He laughs. He still overthinks but there is less misery, you know?’

She swirled her fingers in the water. ‘Less misery is good. I did notice he was heavily invested in the icing to cake ratio. I mean, I know it’s his wedding but?—’

Akis smiled. ‘He has always been an unimportant details person. I think it stops him thinking about what others might class as more important details.’

‘Like how his brother is thinking of giving up his whole life as he knows it so he doesn’t have to worry.’

Akis nodded. ‘Maybe.’

She took him in anew. This guy who loved life and thought it could be the brightest, burning, most vibrant experience if you put your heart and soul into it and worried a little less about public opinion, was also someone who was thinking about giving all that up just so his younger brother could have less to fret about.

‘So,’ Cara said softly. ‘If I were to, maybe think about trying singing again, do you have something better than that ancient relic of a keyboard you could accompany me on?’

‘You are serious?’ Akis asked, obviously unable to keep the surprise from his expression.

‘Well,’ Cara said, smiling. ‘Singing doesn’t have to be serious, you know. It’s really just getting your vocal cords to wave around a bit.’

‘Hey! You make fun of what I said about swimming!’ He splashed her.

Cara screamed and ducked her body back down into the water. ‘Last one back to the boat has to drive it.’

She set off swimming at pace but in not too long a time he was alongside her and he was first to the ladder at the back of the boat. Meanwhile, she arrived breathless, wondering why the hell she would make such a bet.

‘I have a piano,’ Akis told her. ‘At my apartment. It is not the best these days, not like the one at the theatre, but it belonged to my grandfather.’ He paused before continuing. ‘If you wanted, after the blessing of the snakes tomorrow, we could, you know, make music together.’

Cara swallowed. Him using that term had her mind travelling not back to singing but to his dance moves at the hen party. But the thought of having fun with singing, no pressure or expectation, it was as exhilarating as this late-night swim in this secluded bay was.

‘OK,’ she agreed with a nod.

‘OK?’

‘Why not? It doesn’t have to be serious, like you said.’

‘And it does not have to be Adele either. You can challenge me.’

‘You might regret that,’ Cara said.

‘I will let you know later,’ he replied. ‘When you have driven us back to the marina. Hopefully before the port authority has notified the police of the larceny.’

‘What?’ Cara exclaimed. ‘But you said?—’

‘I am kidding with you, Cara. It is my friend’s boat. I promise.’ He smiled. ‘Come on, before the dolphins have all gone to sleep.’