17. Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
T he accented voice is male, much lower than those already on board, and coming from directly over my left shoulder. I know, without having to look, that the question is directed to me.
I tip my head back and meet a pair of chocolate brown, heavily lashed eyes staring down at me. Thick, nearly black hair falls lightly into his face which is covered in a neatly groomed stubble beard.
This is definitely not Captain Spyros.
It’s him.
The stranger from Rhodes. And the ferry. And then the bakery this morning.
Before I can say anything, the others are up out of their seats and crowding around him.
“Dimitri!”
His eyes flick away from me and his stern look cracks as Mary envelops him in a tight hug. He hugs her back warmly, before moving on to Margaret, Nora, and Peter who have all eagerly lined up to greet him.
“God, boy it’s been what...three years? Four?” Peter asks.
“TOO long!” Mary claims, scooting in for another hug. The springy curls on the top of her head barely coming up to his chest.
Dimitri laughs, flashing a smile as he takes in their questions.
“Definitely too long” he admits, swiping his hair off his forehead, only for it to fall right back into place. “But I am happy to be back for now and it is good to see you all again.”
At that point, the group seems to remember me sitting there awkwardly.
“Oh! Calla! This is Dimitri,” Mary smiles up at him like a proud grandmother. “Dimitri grew up on the island. We’ve known him since he was a little boy.”
“And Dimitri, this is Calla. She’s visiting from Canada for the first time. Here all by herself! So of course, we had to bring her and show her the best boat trip on the island!”
“Nice to meet you.” I stick out my hand, before remembering it’s still smeared with my sunscreen. Snatching it back, I rub my hand on my thighs and try again. His eyes glance down at my legs quickly before they go back to my face as he takes my hand in a firm but quick shake.
“Welcome onboard.”
He turns away from me as Spyros makes his way to the front of the boat, the rest of our group following behind.
“You have seen my surprise!” he bellows, his heavily accented voice loud and gruff. Spyros slings his arm around Dimitri’s shoulder. “All the way from Athens!” he chuckles to himself, clearly as pleased as everyone else to see Dimitri again. “Three years he has been away! Three! Took a baby to get him to come back.”
“A baby?” Peter asks.
“Ah yes! Yiannis! He and Angela have just had a baby! A little girl!”
I remember the woman who greeted him off the ferry with the tiny baby. That must be who Spyros is talking about.
The group oohs and ahhs in congratulations and a few more hugs and handshakes are exchanged.
“Yes, yes. Thank you!” Spyros beams, “Dimitri had to come home for this. He is…how you say it?”
“Godfather,” Dimitri offers.
“Ah yes. He is godfather to baby Anna,” Spyros proudly shares as he looks around the group, doing a double take as he notices me.
“You have your own surprise! Who is this beautiful lady? Hello, I am Captain Spyros.”
He swoops in to take my hand, pressing a kiss to it before returning it to me.
“Hello Spyros, I’m Calla.”
“She’s a first-timer!” Ed pipes up from somewhere in the back.
“Oh ho! Well, we will have to make a good impression, yes? In which case we’d better get going. More talk later. Come, Dimitri, we have work to do!”
Dimitri and Spyros head to the back of the boat, a few of our group following behind to sit in the shade.
Peter settles himself back down into the cushion and turns to me to explain.
“Yiannis is Spyros’ nephew but he treats him like his son. He’s the one who usually helps out onboard.”
“Lovely boy,” Nora chimes in.
“Yes,” Peter continues, “and Dimitri, who you have just met, is his best friend.”
“Like brothers,” Margaret tells me.
“Exactly, just like brothers,” Peter agrees. “They did everything together.”
“When they were younger, they would try to stow away and hide to come out on these day trips,” Mary recalls fondly. “Of course, we all knew they were there. Not too many places to hide and the giggles always gave them away.”
“Then as they got older,” Peter continued, “they became the deck hands. Learned the ropes of the boat, helped cook the meals. It was actually the boys who started the BBQs on the island.”
As Captain Spyros takes us from the port, Arthur and Ed both come up to the front as well and join the others in regaling me with tales of young Yiannis and Dimitri who sound equal parts adorable and equal parts troublemakers.
“Dimitri left for the mainland a few years back.” Arthur tells me. “Smart boy, had a good work opportunity come up.”
“Work?” Ed snorts. “I thought he went after that girl he met in Rhodes. What was her name - Isabelle? Isabella? Something like that.”
“Isabelle,” Mary nods, “pretty girl.”
“Aye,” Margaret agrees. “Her father offered him some work, I think? Didn’t he run some big hotel company?”
“Yes,” Arthur states, a slight frown pulling at the corners of his mouth. “But it’s just the job that keeps him in Athens now. From what I understand, he’s doing quite well there.”
The conversation fades as Spyros guides us out of the port and around the bay, following the coastline of Symi. We all settle in comfortably, watching the scenery go by or, in the case of Peter who is lightly snoring on one of the cushions, napping.
As everyone predicted, the day is absolutely beautiful. The sea is relatively flat and the sky is an endless blue. I end up trading the sun-bed cushion for a bench seat at the front of the boat just so I can watch the water sparkling in the sunshine. It’s absolutely mesmerizing.
About 30 minutes later, we reach our first swim stop: a quiet sheltered bay with a small pebble beach. We’re the only boat, the only people, here.
“OK!” I hear Captain Spyros yell from the back. “SWIMMING STOP!”
“Oooph, and about time too!” Mary fans herself dramatically with her hand. “I’m in need of a cool down, that sun is hot!”
Slowly the group starts making their way to the ladder, it seems like everyone is ready for a swim.
“Are you coming, Calla?” Margaret calls, looking chic in a classic black one-piece. Her hair, once again, tied up into an elegant knot.
“Um, yes! Be there in a second!” I nod.
I have every intention of swimming as much as possible but hopefully without putting on a show the entire time. I figure if I can get in and out last, there will be fewer eyes on my butt.
One by one, the group goes down the ladder and into the sea. Sighs of “ahhh” and “doesn’t that feel nice?” echo on repeat.
Stripping off my shorts, I grab my towel and walk in the direction of the ladder, leaving it by the table for a quick grab when I come out. Rather than climb down the ladder like the others, which would undoubtedly expose my butt, I opt to dive in instead.
“Ohooo!” Ed yells as I surface, “nice dive, Miss Calla!”
I grin in response, then slowly roll over to my back, lifting my face to the sun and closing my eyes as I float gently in the sea.
After our second swim spot of the day, Captain Spyros takes us to our lunch stop. A small island called Seskli where he and Dmitri quickly set up a grill and an array of salads, dips, and other dishes. Soon the smell of spiced grilled meat fills the air and we gather around the makeshift table, filling our plates from the impressive spread.
From what I gather, it’s usually Yiannis, Spyros’ nephew who helps on board as an extra set of hands and the cook. Dimitri has taken over while he’s back on the island to give Yiannis some time at home with his wife and newborn daughter. Despite being away for three years, Dimitri seems to have fallen back easily into what was once a familiar routine.
We sit together in a large circle, plates and napkins balanced on our knees as Dimitri and Spyros offer everyone beer, wine, or ouzo.
Spyros laughs when I politely decline the ouzo he’s passing around. “No ouzo, Calla? Oh, come on, you must try it!”
“I did try it!” I defend myself, as the others around me join in on the laughter. “But once was enough for me, thank you.”
“Ok, ok,” he grumbles, but with a smile still on his face. He screws the cap back on and sets it on the table. “So, no ouzo, but tell me, do you like Greece?”
“I LOVE Greece,” I gush.
“But of course!” Sypros bellows, “Greece is amazing! Now tell me this, where have you been?”
So, I share my story so far. How I started in Santorini, which was beautiful but crowded and not quite what I thought. Meeting Evie at the winery and how she told me about Rhodes and Symi so I changed my plans to go there instead. I told them about meeting Sophia and everywhere I went in Rhodes. How it looked nothing like what I had imagined Greece would look like, but I fell even more in love with that version of it.
“And what about Symi?”
“Well,” I admit, “I only just arrived yesterday, but I think it’s going to be my favourite. Symi seems pretty magical.”
I notice Dimitri watching me as I share my thoughts on the island but I look away quickly when we make eye contact, wondering how cheesy he thinks I sound as a tourist calling his island ‘magical.’ Thankfully, I’m rescued by Dennis.
“Symi is magical.” He agrees, taking a sip from his glass of ouzo. “I mean, clearly we all think so if we keep coming back.”
Everyone agrees, which makes Sypros’ smile even bigger. “I love to hear this! Now, should we go to the final stop?”
Our last stop of the day is called the Seal Cave. I feel a tingle of excitement thinking back to what Peter said earlier about the seals. As Spyros drops the anchor I look out across the water to the rocky shoreline and small cave, wondering if there are actually any seals inside.
“Final swim stop!” Sypros calls out as he shuts off the motor. Whereas before, everyone was happy to get off the boat and into the refreshing sea, this time I’m the only one. I glance around me, noting everyone in various states of relaxation. Some are napping in the shade while a couple are reading books or just chatting. I turn to Margaret, who is stretched out in the sun, and ask if she’s going in.
“Not this time, dear. I’m just going to soak up the afternoon sunshine after our busy morning. But you go on ahead! It’s a great spot and if you are really lucky, you might spot a seal.”
It feels a little funny to go in by myself but I’m not going to miss out just because I’m the only one.
I peel off my shorts again and head for the ladder, plunging off the platform into the clear water below.
“Calla!” Spyros calls out over the railing, “Wait one moment. Dimitri will come with you.”
“I’m ok!” I shout back, throwing a thumbs up into the air in the hopes that it will be enough to convince him. The last thing I want is to be alone in the water with the grumpy looking guy that seemed annoyed to have me on the boat in the first place.
“No, no!” Spyros hollers, “Nobody swims alone.”
I open my mouth to tell them that I’ll just come back to the boat but Dimitri already has his shirt off and plunges into the water, surfacing with a shake of his head as he swims in my direction.
Great.
I hesitate for a second, unsure whether or not I should wait for him but he’s a fast swimmer and reaches me quickly.
“This way,” he tilts his head to the left, “we’ll go along the shore quietly and come in from the side. If the seal is there, it won’t see us so quickly.”
I nod in understanding and together we swim to the rocky shoreline beside the cave.
“Be careful,” Dimitri murmurs as we get close to the rocks, “there might be sea urchins here so don’t get too close.”
I swim out a little further, staying behind Dimitri as we creep slowly along the rocks towards the cave.
“Look.”
Dimitri gestures for me to swim forward, and I end up beside him as he leans in close to me. His breath warm against my neck.
“There, on the left side against the back wall. Do you see?”
I scan the tiny pebble beach inside the cave and…there! The chubby oblong shape is nearly the same colour as the pebbles on the beach, especially in the dim cave. But without a doubt, it’s a seal.
Even though I’m from Vancouver and see harbour seals on a regular basis, I feel a bubbling sense of excitement as I spot the seal. I’ve always loved seals, their puppy-like faces and the way they twist and wind so gracefully through the water. Plus, as I learned earlier today, the Mediterranean monk seal population is quite small which means seeing this one is extra special.
“You can go a little closer,” Dimitri says beside me, keeping his voice quiet to avoid alarming the seal. “Just don’t block the mouth of the cave.”
We creep a little closer and watch as the seal huffs on the beach. It lifts its head, sensing us watching but relaxes after a minute and snuffles around the beach.
I’m fully engrossed in watching this little seal when I suddenly feel Dimitri’s hand rest gently on my shoulder. Turning, I see him looking at something else along the rocks. Following his gaze, my eyes spot something small and dark moving through the water towards us. It takes me a moment before I realize that it’s another seal.
I hold my breath in anticipation, trying my best to stay silent and still, but the child inside of me is squealing with excitement. Not just one but two Mediterranean monk seals! And this second one is headed right towards us.
The seal pauses for a second when it sees us, as if assessing. Determining that we are not a threat, it slips back underwater. However, because it’s so clear and calm we can see it glide right past us as it enters the cave. Popping back up to the surface as it arrives at the beach, the seal shuffles its chubby little body up the rock with several hops before coming to rest beside the first seal. The two seals look at each other, almost like they are having a silent conversation between themselves, before they both settle down amongst the pebbles.
I look over at Dimitri, unable to hide the huge smile on my face, wondering if this is anywhere near as exciting for him as it is for me, or just another day on the job. But he’s not watching the seals, he’s watching me. I meet his gaze, noting how beautiful his eyes are. The dark brown is punctuated by tiny gold flecks and fringed with thick, long lashes, partly hidden behind his hair. Hair that looks nearly black now that it’s wet. I have a sudden urge to brush it from his face, to get a better look at his eyes, but I don’t because that would just be weird. Instead, I keep my hands firmly in the water.
“Ready?” he asks, keeping his voice low so as not to not disturb the seals.
I nod and together we push away from the shoreline, swimming back towards the Elena and the group on board. I’m so excited to tell everyone what we saw that I don’t even worry about Dimitri seeing my ass on full display as I climb up the ladder in front of him.