Chapter 2
Nikos had just enoughtime to sidestep before the ceramic cup collided with his head. The sound of it flying over him was less startling than the warm liquid from the cup splattering all over his body.
Before he could orient himself, the lady in front of him started speaking. “I... uh, sorry, do I know you?” she stammered, acting like she didn’t just almost hit him with a freaking cup. And before he could respond, she huffed and stood straight up, her head held high in that haughty way he was so used to with rich girls as she stared down at him. It was quite a sight, seeing as he was many inches taller than she was. “You’re my bodyguard, aren’t you?” the woman sneered. “I told Dad that I didn’t need one!” She glared at him like he had anything to do with whatever her issues were.
“I—” he said, attempting to introduce himself.
“Well, since you’re here, please make sure the security is tight, alright? We wouldn’t want someone coming in here and violating my privacy.”
It was Nikos’ turn to huff. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or kick her out. His Pappouli had promised him a quiet and drama-free stay, however, the first thing he encountered was drama—and he had been on the island all of five minutes!
The lady standing before him gave him a confused look, probably because he didn’t fall over himself, bending to her will, as she expected, before she stomped away. She’d given him a once over, which he used to from all of his time dealing with high society people.
He watched her walk away, wondering how he was going to survive the one month he had promised to his grandparents when he clearly had an entitled brat living in his personal space.
Nikos looked around his meticulously clean house, a sense of nostalgia washing over him, but he pushed it away just as quickly as it had come. He was here for one thing, and one thing alone. He was going to renovate the hotel so he could sell it to the potential buyer he already had lined up. It would be silly to relive memories of his childhood home that somehow still smelled exactly as he remembered it: something bright and fresh—his yayioula’s very own cleaning fragrance, which told him that while he wasn’t living here anymore, his house had been far from abandoned.
Nikos turned around to pick up the suitcase he’d left on the door, only to be greeted by a stained wall where the rest of the liquid had landed. Something about the dull brown stain on his white walls bothered him and brought forward his need to renovate and make sure everything was in pristine order. Unfortunately, if he cleaned up the bothersome stain, he knew he’d barely have finished that before the next stain caught his eye, and he really needed to see his grandparents.
He had been talking to them every day since he left over twelve years ago, when he was a teenager. Occasionally, they met off the island and he went on vacation with them. But something about seeing his grandparents again and actually being at home had him too giddy to focus on much else besides reuniting with family.
With his mind made up, Nikos dropped his bag on the table that sat next to the entrance, skipped over the cup on the floor, which thankfully didn’t break when it landed on the carpeted floor, and headed to the side of the resort where management resided. He knew he’d find his papous there and, hopefully, someone who would clean up the mess.
“Why did you have to rent out my place?” was the first thing he said to his papous as soon as he found the man. He was exactly where Nikos had thought he’d be—in his office, hunched over mountains of paperwork.
“Nikos, my boy!” the older Kappellis cheered as he brightly smiled at his grandson. “Come here, let me see you.” He put out his hands and Nikos walked over to him, leaning down so he was eye-level with his grandfather. “You are a big boy now,” his papous said in Greek, his smile getting even bigger as if Nikos’ presence was the best gift he ever received.
No matter how many times this happened, Nikos would never tire of how his grandparents always acted like they hadn’t seen or heard from him in a very long time.
“You say that all the time, Papou.” Nikos tried to scowl, but he could barely master a frown. His face split in a wide smile as he took a seat in front of his grandfather after they were done with their greetings. He ignored the disapproving look his papous sent his way, knowing how much he disliked the fact that Nikos being away for so long made him forget his mother tongue to some extent. “But, seriously,” he sighed, not wanting to get started with the topic of preserving the language, culture, and whatnot. “Why my place? We have so many vacant rooms—”
His papous gave him that look, the same one that always made Nikos reconsider his words. He sat straighter in his seat, trying to act like the subtle glare and raised eyebrow did not affect him anymore. But, of course, it did. The second his grandfather had the look, Nikos knew he was headed toward trouble and should carefully reconsider what he was saying and how he was saying it.
“You have heard of Xander Clarke, yes?” Papous said after making sure the base in Nikos’ voice dropped.
No matter how old he got, Nikos would always find the older Kappellis a very intimidating man.
“Vaguely,” Nikos replied in a neutral tone, suppressing his irritation so it didn’t come through. He knew that his family had been working with generations of Clarkes as long as they’d had the hotel. He just wasn’t sure which one was Xander because he had been very disconnected from the family business.
“That’s his daughter, Olivia, and she needs our help for as long as she wants it.”
“Help with what?” And why should we have to help her? Of course, he didn’t say this out loud. He didn’t have a death wish.
“That’s not really our business,” Papous said as he shuffled some papers around him. “Our business,” he leveled Nikos with a look, “is me knowing when you want to take over so I can fully retire.”
And there it was... The one topic Nikos did not want to get into. One he’d hoped he would avoid, at least for a few days.
“I—I, uhhh...” he stammered as he looked around for an excuse, anything to change this topic. He shifted uncomfortably in the chair he sat in, the weight of his papous’ expectant stare weighing him down.
For the longest time, Nikos had known that his family expected for him to be the one to take over management of the hotel so his grandparents could enjoy their final years. It had never been much of a problem until he left the island and had aspirations of his own. Coming back and setting up a life here had been something that he absolutely dreaded. That his papous took his coming to visit as a sign that he was ready to take over just brought home the full weight of these expectations.
His grandfather’s expectant stare didn’t waiver, patiently waiting for him to answer. Nikos felt exposed, almost vulnerable, as the words threatened to spill out that he would never take over the management of the hotel.
“I’m thrilled that you have come back to work with us full-time,” Papous said, as if in encouragement, except he might as well have just shoved a dagger through Nikos’ heart. “Your yioula is excited too,” he added, twisting the metaphorical dagger even deeper into Nikos’ chest. Adding Yiayia to the mix reminded Nikos of just how much he was going to disappoint his grandparents. “We can finally step away from the family business, knowing it’s now in excellent hands,” Papous piled on even more, unaware of the turmoil his words awakened in his grandson.
“Yeah,” Nikos laughed awkwardly as he adjusted his collar, not knowing how he could even branch the subject of him not wanting to take over now that Papous had expressed his feelings about retirement.
And why was it too hot in the room, for Christ’s sake?
Before coming to the island, he’d rehearsed this very scenario multiple times. He knew what he wanted to say when this very subject came up, and he’d hoped he’d simply blurt out his true feelings and intentions.
I don’t want to run the hotel but, don’t worry, I already have a buyer lined up, is what he thought he’d say. Except he didn’t count on the other side of the conversation. The one where he’d have to look into his papous’ eyes and tell him that the legacy he had talked about over and over all Nikos’ life—the one where they passed the hotel to the next generation to run it as generations before they had—was actually going to end with him. And, even worse, that Nikos had no intention of upholding said legacy.
He especially hadn’t anticipated the hopeful look his papous would wear as he tried to sell the idea of Nikos now owning the hotel like it was the best thing that would ever happen to him. The bitter taste in his mouth didn’t leave him as his grandfather moved on to discussing his unexpected roommate, as he gave him rules on how to live with the girl.
They both ignored the fact that Nikos never gave him an official answer—or at least, it looked like Papous did. The unspoken words and unanswered questions echoed a little too loudly in his brain.