Chapter Fourteen #2
Nina tried to hold on to the joy of the day, but Theo was quiet as they walked, and she could feel the sobering of his mood.
Matters weren’t helped as they approached the house, hot, tired and thirsty now, by Maria storming out onto the path to confront them.
Well, hobbling was a more accurate description, Nina thought, but the expression on Maria’s face and the jagged way she moved clearly showed that the intention was to storm.
‘Oh, now you come, do you?’ she asked, stopping in front of them and blocking the path, arms folded.
‘I – hi, Maria, we’re just coming home, we’ve been exploring a bit and Baba was telling me –’
‘Oh I see, out on a jolly-jolly day, is it? And you forget about me, did you? Just a nonsense old lady, doesn’t matter we have plans.’
‘Oh, I –’ She was confused for a moment, only remembering now that she had agreed to meet Maria today for more cooking lessons.
‘Oh – Maria I’m sorry, I was out last night with Vassilis and then I slept in and I just .
. .’ She turned to Theo, looking for some kind of support, but his face was turned away, expression closed.
‘Pfft, that boy,’ she said, apparently referring to the thirty-eight-year-old Vassilis. ‘Well, never mind, I make it myself and you miss out.’ Maria shrugged, affecting nonchalance, but Nina could see she was hurt. ‘You two both as selfish as each other. Father like daughter, eh.’
She turned and limped back into the house, shoulders straight and head held high.
‘I’m sorry,’ Nina called after her. ‘I’ll come tomorrow, we can make something then . . .’
Theo swung round to stare at her, eyes wide and cheeks red. ‘I thought you were helping me tomorrow? Now you abandon your baba for this grumpy bird?’
Nina sighed. ‘I can do both. She’s upset, I feel bad.’
He snorted as they walked on to their own house. ‘She’s a tyrant.’
‘What’s going on with you two?’ Nina asked, frowning. ‘You were fine when we first got here; what did you argue about?’
Theo scratched his ear. ‘Oh she’s just a nuisance, you know, picking fights. It’s nothing.’
Nina took in the defeated slump of his shoulders and the downward tilt of his mouth; it didn’t seem like nothing. But before she could respond, something else distracted her – the sound of voices, raised in a chant.
‘HOTEL CHAIN MEANS WILDLIFE PAIN.’
Hot annoyance surged through Nina. Not this nonsense again.
She stormed the last few steps to the house to find what appeared to be the same rag-tag bunch of people waving their rag-tag placards, led by the same irritatingly smug man, George.
She made straight for him, registering the answering flash of defiance in his eyes as she approached him, attempting to knock the placard from his grip.
But he was prepared this time, clutching on to it stubbornly, and they tussled for a moment in an absurd battle of wills that Nina would have found funny in other circumstances.
At last she let go. The chanting faltered to a stop.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ she said. ‘This is harassment, we’re not doing anything wrong. Whatever stupid idea you’ve got into your stupid head you need to check your facts.’
‘Eloquent,’ he said. The sarcasm lacing his tone made her want to wrench his stupid glasses off his nose and stamp on them.
‘You’re trespassing,’ she said. ‘Get out, or I’ll call the police. I don’t know what you think we’re doing here, but you’ve got it all wrong, and this has gone far enough. I’m not having it anymore.’
She glared at him, and he glared back, their faces so close together that she could see the deep blue of his eyes behind his glasses and the smattering of freckles across his nose and defined cheekbones. They both breathed fast and heavy, apparently each as furious as the other.
‘What you’re doing is just selfish and greedy,’ he said. ‘And if you can’t see what damage is being done to natural wildlife here, then we’ll cause you as many problems as we can until you do!’
Nina shook her head in disbelief. It was all she could do to stop herself stamping her foot. ‘What? I don’t know what you think we’re doing that’s so wrong. My dad and I are just sprucing up the house a bit so we can –’
He snorted with laughter. ‘Sprucing?’ he said, apparently incredulous. ‘Who talks like that?’
‘I – what?’ Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment. ‘That’s not the point anyway, you’ve made a mistake and you need to . . . ugh, tell him, Baba.’
She turned to Theo, who stood at the door, biting his lip and looking despondent. Nina hurried over to him; he never got down like this.
‘It’s okay, Baba, come on. These idiots are going now.
’ She shot a look at the leader, who was now watching them with a more sheepish expression.
He gave a small nod, and began to gather the motley group together and lead them away.
Looking at Theo’s creased forehead and the lines around his eyes, she felt capable of doing that George some real damage. He was entirely to blame for this.
She took Theo into the house, the kitchen still covered in dust and pieces of splintered wood, some of the cupboards half destroyed and falling off the wall.
It was a little depressing in this state, and Nina had another flash of the kitchen as she would decorate it: white-painted walls with blue cupboard doors, the original beams in the wooden ceiling above, the alcove where the fire place had been intact.
She shook herself free of these thoughts. This wouldn’t be her house to decorate.
‘Don’t worry about those idiots,’ she said. ‘There’s been some kind of mistake. We can get it cleared it up. I mean, we’re not doing anything wrong. Are we?’
She couldn’t see how what they were doing would affect the local wildlife, which seemed to be the point of their objection.
They were only doing the house up a bit to sell; what harm could there be in that?
But George seemed so convinced, she was beginning to wonder if there might be something in it.
Theo rubbed his eyes and sighed. ‘This boy, he just gets all so worked up, you know? And now this place is a mess.’ He looked around, his shoulders slumping in defeat. ‘We will never be finished in time.’
‘We will, Baba. You know what it’s like with DIY – it always looks worse before it gets better.’
She smiled encouragingly and led him out to the courtyard, where he flopped into a chair. The sky melted to a burnt orange that was reflected in the sea below; Nina tried to stay in the moment and appreciate the beauty, but it was hard with Theo huffing and sighing beside her.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll get there,’ she said.
He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. ‘I feel like I’m losing my thoughts.’
‘Losing your mind, Baba,’ she said softly.
He gave her a black look. His miserable expression upset her; he was usually so playful and full of mischief.
She leaned towards him. ‘You know, we could always go home,’ she said.
‘Leave this to someone else, maybe just sell the house as it is.’ He was already shaking his head.
Stubborn old man. ‘It just seems to be stressing you out, Baba. I don’t know if it’s worth it. ’
He reached over and patted her hand. ‘This is kind of you to think, my sweet Antheia, but I will be okay. We stay.’ He smiled, and she was almost convinced by it.
‘We do the house up my way, we sell to the best buyer, we get you nice little inheritance, yes? What your mama wanted for you. You will always have things you need, Nina. I promise.’
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘If that’s what you want.’
She stared out at the sea below, lilting gently against the golden sand, and breathed in the fresh scent of sweet peonies and salt in the warm air. She wasn’t sad to be staying a little longer.