Chapter 46
HOTEL MARGARITáRI, AVLAKI
‘Have a wonderful time at Paleokastritsa,’ Faye said to a family of guests as they prepared to leave the hotel. ‘Take lots of photographs!’
They all waved and smiled and, as always, it gave Faye a warm buzz of satisfaction.
Sometimes she really needed to take a moment to appreciate how wonderful her life was here.
She got to spend every day on an idyllic Greek island, doing a job she adored under a warm blue sky.
No, every life issue hadn’t evaporated the second she’d moved to Greece, but at least she was problem solving in a much better climate than the UK and, more importantly, somewhere with infinitely better tomatoes.
And whatever happened with Dimitria’s decision about the hotel, no matter what fallout there would be from Saffron when Faye told her about the pictures of her and Kostas in the news, she could handle it like she always handled it.
She smiled to herself and then her smile dropped slightly as Alexandros walked through the front door.
‘Yássou,’ he greeted, approaching the desk.
‘Yássou, Alexandro.’ This felt awkward, but it really shouldn’t, and she could be professional. ‘Are you here to see Dimitria?’
‘I have seen Dimitria. We took coffee on the deck.’
‘Oh, I didn’t realise. Is everything OK?’
‘Yes, everything is fine.’
‘Good,’ Faye answered with a nod. More awkward.
‘So, now I am here to see you,’ he stated.
It was best to head this off. ‘Alexandro, I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you about—’
‘It is OK,’ he interjected fast. ‘Like the rest of the island I woke up to the Corfu news pages this morning.’
Faye nodded. ‘Wow, I need to find out how their posts have so much visibility and see if I can get our hotel account doing as well.’
‘Listen, we do not need to make a big deal about it but it might have been better if you had not let me make a fool of myself.’
‘Alexandro, you did not make a fool of yourself. I should have told you…’ She stopped herself, unsure what to say next because what was it she would have told him? She didn’t really know what was going on herself.
‘But,’ Alexandros continued, ‘I am a good person so I am going to give you the benefit of my experience in dating.’
‘OK…’
‘Young people these days, they look for something fast, something disposable, something meaningless, worth something one minute and worth nothing the next—’
‘Please, Alexandro, do not say anything else.’ She took a breath. ‘You actually don’t know me, so you have no idea what it is I want from dating or from life.’
‘I am assuming you do not want to be treated like you are meaningless.’
‘No, of course not,’ Faye stated firmly, getting to her feet.
‘But I am also someone who has been treated that way for a vast period of my life by my ex-husband, so I am well equipped for figuring it out and dealing with any potential mistreatment. I appreciate your gesture, but it is unnecessary, really.’
It was obvious Alexandros was feeling burned by the fact she had turned him down, but it wasn’t his place to make comment on her life choices, as it also wasn’t her place to make him feel better about it.
She held her ground and then he seemed to deflate a little, ego perhaps punctured.
‘OK,’ he answered with a nod. ‘We understand each other better. So… now there is something I have for you. Business.’
He put the leather portfolio he was carrying on the reception desk and removed some paperwork. He put the papers on the counter, turning them around so they faced her. It was property details.
‘This is not yet on the market. I went to see it yesterday. I know it is not your exact preferred area – it is a few kilometres away in Almyros – but it is two bedrooms, it needs a little updating, but it is right on the beach.’
Faye looked at the photographs. White-washed stone and wood, pink and purple flowers, a small patio looking right out onto the sand and the blue waves. ‘I know where this is,’ she said. ‘I’ve gone past it so many times when I’ve walked that way.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes,’ Faye said, feeling a pinch of the first real excitement she’d had about a property here. ‘But… it’s a bit out of my price range.’
‘I know,’ Alexandros told her. ‘But I think the owner would take a slightly lower offer.’
Faye smiled at him, knowing how much he hated to give any kind of percentage away in his dealings.
‘Do not tell anyone,’ Alexandros said, cheeks reddening. ‘I have a reputation to consider.’
‘Thank you, Alexandro,’ Faye said.
‘So, you are interested?’ he asked. ‘In the property.’
She nodded. ‘Can I go and see it?’
‘Yes. Let us arrange a time,’ Alexandros agreed.