29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Idon’t see him for another fortnight and I don’t message him because I don’t want to impose. It’s late on a Thursday evening when he finally texts me that he’s back and we agree to meet up that evening. Tom is still watching the evening news when I enter the living room.
“I’m ready. Shall we go?”
He turns off the TV, turning to look at me a second later. “Babe, what the hell?” I’m wearing the flimsy floral midi sundress he bought for me a few years back before I had put on ten pounds. I hadn’t worn it since.
“What? Should I change? I’ve never been night fishing before so I’m not quite sure of the dress etiquette.”
“Sweetheart, you look stunning.”
I walk over to him and plant a soft kiss on his cheek. This dress was the very reason I busted my ass trying to lose all that weight I gained from the drugs for my underlying vertigo treatment.
He stands, and I admire how good he looks in his cropped khaki pants and a black T-shirt. “We’re going now?”
“Yes, it’s almost nine,” I say, since I am counting down the minutes.
“Did you bring condoms?”
I smile, because I love how he thinks of everything. “Yes, we’re all set,” I say, pointing to the oversized beach bag I carry. With August’s full moon slowly rising and the perfect light breeze blowing in from the Aegean Sea, I know tonight is going to be a night to remember.
***
When we reach our meeting point, Nikos is already there, scrolling on his phone. He hasn’t seen us approach him yet and I take a moment to admire him from afar; dressed in comfortable black shorts and sporting a dark purple crew neck t-shirt, I can hardly believe I’ve had this man inside me already and that I’m about to make love to him again tonight.
He nods when he finally sees us walking over toward him.
“Hey. I see you’re all ready for a picnic,” he says when we’re within hearing range.
“It’s just stuff I thought we might need,” I say, turning to look at Tom who’s looking around at the passers-by. “Tom and I have never gone night-fishing before.”
He smiles, the look in his eyes one of modest impatience. “You’re going to love it, trust me. This is the perfect night for it. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll even get an octopus. Have you guys tried one of those skewered and grilled over an open fire?”
“Can’t say that we have,” Tom says flatly.
“Seriously? You’ve been here all this time and you still haven’t tasted grilled octopus?”
I look into his eyes, offering a smile. “We’ve seen them hanging out from clotheslines out of fish taverns but never really had one.”
He stops a few minutes down the road and I realize we’re at what looks like an abandoned boatyard near the seafront.
He’s now a few feet ahead of me, bending down over a decrepit wooden boat, searching for something.
I walk over to where he is and watch as he unlocks a large metal box and pulls out three pairs of brightly colored latex shoes and a bunch of other things including a weird-looking lamp.
“Here, hang on to these, while I get the rest of the things we’ll need.”
When he’s finished getting out the rest of the gear, he walks over, taking the heavy light from my hands and strapping himself with the rest of the stuff he gathered.
“Here, you can carry these, Tom. You don’t want to step on a sea urchin with bare feet.” He hands him a large plastic bucket containing the shoes and some other items I’ve never seen before and starts walking. “Come on. Let’s go.”
We follow him the rest of the way as he takes us down a deserted beach, the pale moonlight and calm waters creating a beautiful scenery. “It’s not far down this way.”
Every once in a while I hear Nikos’s voice greet the locals as we walk down the narrow cobblestone alleys to the sea, the cicadas’ endless buzzing during the day giving way to the soothing sound of the crickets at night.
Turning around, Nikos winks at me and I just smile, the butterflies in my stomach now dancing around like crazy. A few moments later, we reach a secluded beach and Nikos stops.
“We can stop here, take a swim, and then go look for urchins. What do you guys say?”
“It’s perfect,” I say. “I’m going in. It’s been too long since I had a night swim.”
When I am a few feet in the water, I look across to see them both staring at me. “Are you guys going to watch or are you coming in?” I shout. “The water’s perfect.”