Chapter 7
I wake up earlier than usual.
Tapping my phone screen to see it’s 7:37am.
The sun is up already, the sea smoothly waved from the beach, the birds singing cheerfully.
I open up the balcony door, letting the breeze stroke my face.
Rather than getting back into bed, I decide to get on with my day, chucking on a vest top and shorts and strolling down to the bar to grab a coffee.
Waving to the resort staff who are preparing the breakfast tables, disappointment hits me as I see the closed sign hanging from the bar, realising I’ve woken up too early to even grab a coffee.
Guess I’ll see what places are nearby my resort to grab some breakfast.Just a short walk along the beach there’s a little cafe.
As I walk along the beach and decide to take off my sandals, embracing the feeling of the sand between my toes, the salty smell of the water hitting my nose.Cats scattered out along the sunbeds, snoozing in the morning air.
After ten minutes I reach the cafe.
Flowers are dangling from the sign, white chairs and tables with the classic meander pattern along it. I walk up the stairs and am greeted by an older woman, her face radiant and wrinkles that tell a thousand stories.
“Morning”
she says, standing up from her seat behind the bar.
“Good morning!”
I stare up at the chalkboard menu, trying to decide what I’d like to drink. I bite my cheek nervously.
“Oat milk?”
I ask. The lady opens the fridge below and pulls out a carton, writing in Greek but a photo of oats on the front.
BEYOND THE BLUES
“Perfect!”
I say enthusiastically
“Iced coffee with oat milk, please.”
The woman nods and gets to work, fiddling with the coffee handles, the smell of the roasting coffee reminding me of home. She signals me to sit down, so I sit outside, placing the book I brought with me on the table in front of me. She places a coaster down on the table in front of me, with the iced coffee dripping with condensation on top.
“You’re very…”
She clicks her fingers, as if trying to think of the word.
“Beautiful,”
she says to me, flashing a warming smile.
“You’re even more beautiful!”
I compliment, causing her to smile even harder before placing a kiss onto my cheek. She points to herself.
“Althea”
“Ophelia”
I point to myself.
She gives me a soft rub on the shoulder and walks back into the cafe.
That’s the beautiful thing, you don’t need to speak the same language to understand another person, actions and expressions explain everything.
I open my book and read.
Enjoying the sounds of everything around me, deciding not to block everything out with my headphones.
I sip on the iced coffee, the sweetness combined with richness pleasuring my taste buds perfectly.
Althea knows how to make a wonderful coffee.
I decide this will be my daily ritual’ till I go home, to make this my morning trip.
After reading fifty pages of the book, I pick up my coffee glass and coaster and bring it inside, handing it to Althea and waving goodbye.
I walk a little further down the beach and come across a supermarket.
Glancing over at the cats on the beach, I think of a brilliant idea.
I grab a couple bags of cat treats, and some kitten milk, because every cat loves kitten milk.
Walking out of the shop, hands filled with cat treats.
I sit on the beach, and shake the bag, the cats trotting over to me.
The purring noises as they eat fill me with warmth, as if a cat whisperer, more cats appear.
They rub their heads against my knees, their sandy fur scratching my knees slightly.
I notice a couple black and white kittens, their fur patterns varying behind I assume their mum, wary of my treats.
I place the treats down in front of the mum, smiling at her.
“It’s okay, I’m a kind lady.”
I whisper to the cat. She gnaws down on the
*
treats whilst her babies crunch down on the rest, showing off their little teeth.
I feel my eyes well up, worried about them not having a home to go to, but I guess as long as they have their mum, they’ll be okay.
Home is a feeling, not a place I always think.
I stand up, scattering more treats on the floor and saying goodbye to the cats.
As I walk back, my phone buzzes with a video call from my mum.
I answer it, the video lagging a bit but showing my mum sitting in the living room.
“Hi Mum”
“Hello darling, how is it so far?”
“It’s been good so far. I just grabbed a coffee and now I’m walking back to the resort.”
My mum’s face seems to be laced with concern.
“What?!”
I question
“I’m just saying, if you want to come home early, me and Dad will help pay.”
I scoff. The fire in my stomach sets alight, the frustration fuelling me.
“I can go on a trip alone, Mum!”
“I know it’s just…”
She sighs.
“You used to do it with Coco. It’s just not your forte being alone.”
Her words feel like a punch to the gut. I have been alone. This entire morning I’ve spent alone, doing things for myself. I mean, I have been hanging out with Nora, but that’s not my entire trip. Maybe I need to do things alone.
“Think I’m going to go now.”
I say bluntly, and before my mum can respond, I hang up the call feeling bad, but I’d feel worse if I said something I don’t mean. I contemplate back and forth whether to stop this thing going on between me and Nora before it’s too late.
“Hello trouble.”
I look up and see Nora at the entrance of the resort, cigarette in hand, bed head on.
“Hey.”
I mumble, unsure of what to do with this situation.
“What’s up?”
“I think this thing we have going on needs to stop.”
Nora shakes her head in disbelief, stubbing out her cigarette underneath her foot.
“May I ask why?”
“Well, I came to Greece not only for Coco but to gain more independence and my mum thinks I can’t do it and basically-”
BEYOND THE BLUES
“Ophelia.”
Nora interrupts my rambling.
“You can still be independent and hang out with people, you know that, right?”
“But being independent is about being alone?”
“No, independence is about having the freedom to do what you want, not what your mum wants, or what I want, or what anyone wants. It’s about what you want.”
I take in what Nora says, and really consider it. Most of my life, I just go with what other people say about me and not what I want to do.
Ophelia, you want to go to university! So I go.
Ophelia, let’s go here. It’ll be fun! So I go. Most of my life, I have followed what others want from me, to make them happy and not necessarily myself. Especially since Coco has passed, the people around me have been telling me what’s ‘right’ for me and the best way to ‘get over this’, but the only person who truly knows what’s best for me is me.
“You’re right.”
I lean into Nora for a hug, her arms cocooning me into her chest.
“Had a tough morning?”
I nod into her chest.
“I fed some cats, though.” I mutter.
“Of course you did”
Nora chuckles, stroking my hair.