Chapter Twenty #2
‘No, nothing like that. He was just – he was rude to the waitress and then he sulked because I was upset, and he was just . . .’ She couldn’t say the word to her dad that would properly describe what Vassilis was being last night.
He dipped his head in an acknowledgement that this wasn’t great. ‘Ah still. He is young and stupid boy but he did come say sorry. And I think he really was sorry. And you’ve been so happy lately, when you’ve been out with him. This deserves another chance, I think.’
Nina looked at her baba, his big brown eyes hopeful, his hands clutched together as he leaned towards her. She wasn’t sure that Vassilis, pushing forty, deserved the excuse of youth and stupidity.
‘I’ll think about it,’ she said, sitting back in her chair and closing her eyes again, though she honestly didn’t think it was worth the effort.
‘For your baba,’ he said, his voice warm with satisfaction.
‘For my baba,’ she replied. And when she felt his hand reach out to her, she took it in her own.
It wasn’t that she meant to surprise Vassilis. She was tired and she didn’t have the energy to arrange anything; he’d shown her where he lived, it wasn’t far away and, though she’d never been in his flat before, it seemed easy enough to walk there and see him.
He was clearly surprised to find her standing on his doorstep, his expression a mix of shock and joy at the sight of her.
‘Nina! Did you – I didn’t know you were coming.’
She was about to say that Theo had made her come, but realised it sounded somewhat ungracious. ‘I came on a whim.’
Eventually he recovered his senses enough to step aside and let her in, frantically gathering the shoes, clothes and tools that littered the floor of the hallway, his arms soon overflowing so that a dirty sock and a used takeaway cup fell to the floor.
He glanced at her sheepishly, smiling wryly as he threw them in to a very messy bedroom before firmly shutting the door on the chaos. ‘I was not expecting visitors,’ he said.
Nina was too tired to care about the state of the flat.
In fact, there was something endearing about finding he was a bit of a slob, this Adonis of a man who treated her like a queen and took her to the most glamorous places.
His embarrassment was a vulnerability she hadn’t expected, and found oddly appealing, though it did nothing to wipe out the memory of his behaviour the night before.
He led her to a small, modern living room, with a large window overlooking forested mountains. This was marginally less messy, with a leather sofa facing a TV and gaming console, though the coffee table was littered with dirty plates and glasses.
‘But I’m glad you came,’ he said softly, taking her hand in his own and gazing down at it.
‘I – I was a jerk, right?’ He looked up, smiling ruefully, and against her better judgement, Nina found it hard to hold onto her anger with him, distracted by the sheer beauty of his sharp cheekbones and strong jaw. Dark eyes, gazing into her own.
But she removed her hand and took a step away from him. She wasn’t going to be won over so easily. ‘Yes, you were.’
He followed, turning her gently so that she faced him. ‘Yes, and I am sorry for it. I should have – you were upset, I should have been understanding more.’
‘Yes, well . . .’ She could feel herself slip into forgiving him too easily.
‘Let me make this up to you, yes? We’ll do whatever you like, we’ll go to Argostoli or we’ll walk on the beach here or go for quiet drink at a bar.’ He smiled as he repeated what she’d wanted to do the night before. ‘Or you can come here and I will cook for you.’
He pulled a face and she laughed; if his housekeeping skills were anything to go by, his cooking wouldn’t be too impressive.
‘Maybe,’ she said, making her way back to the front door. ‘But not today. I’m tired and I’m still annoyed with you.’
He sighed and nodded. ‘This is fair. But I hope you will let me make things up to you. And I promise, you will never see this in me again. I will only be the good man.’
Hesitantly, he reached out a hand and ran his finger gently down her cheek. The warmth of his touch still raising the hairs on the back of her neck, no matter how hard she tried to be angry with him.
She stood in the hallway, looking into his deep brown eyes, considering.
He had behaved badly when she’d been upset, but he was sorry, and everyone messed up sometimes.
Perhaps, she thought as she glanced around the untidy flat, he wasn’t as mature and together as she’d thought, but he’d made the effort to take her out, he was focused on her when they were together, he apologised when he’d messed up.
That was more than Sam had ever managed.
‘I’ll think about it,’ she said. Then, giving a playful grin, she pushed open the door to his bedroom. ‘You can start by giving me a tour of the flat.’
She’d done it to see the look on his face, to tease him a little, with no intention of going into the messy room that clearly embarrassed him, or exploring the flat further. She suspected there wasn’t much more to it, anyway.
The door was only open for a few seconds, and she barely glanced through, focused more on seeing his expression. But as she closed it, she realised she’d seen something in there, just a glimpse, blink-and-miss-it.
There was a moment when she stood, still holding the handle of the closed door, frowning as her mind processed what it was that nagged at her. She stared at Vassilis, and he stared back, his eyes full of anguish.
Surely not. It couldn’t be.
They spoke at the same time.
‘Wait . . .’
‘Nina, I – please, don’t . . .’
But she had already opened the door, stepped through into the room, scanning the clutter in the half-light that filtered through closed curtains. And there, on the top of a chest of drawers, next to an empty crisp packet and some keys, was her bracelet.