Chapter 10
Emilia had gotten close enough to the taverna by now to hear a faint bouzouki melody emanating from the speakers. It was one of the many songs that had become iconic, having been featured in the Greek movies of the 60s. Ah… Perfection!
She stepped onto the wooden deck just as a middle-aged man appeared through the front door carrying a tray with coffees and glasses of water. The sight made her swallow hard. Yikes! So thirsty!
‘Excuse me?’ she said, catching the attention of the man. ‘I’d like to order something, but, I am in a bit of a predicament here.’ She showed him the puppy in her hands and the man smiled to see it. So did some of the patrons.
‘You’re welcome to sit here with your doggie, I don’t mind,’ said the man as he went to a table nearby to serve what was on the tray.
‘Thank you,’ she said, sitting at the closest vacant table, ‘but the thing is, this puppy is not mine. I just found it over there, under the trees.’ She pointed toward the tamarisk trees in the distance and added, ‘Thought that perhaps it belongs to one of the families living in this neighbourhood?’
The man approached her and put a hand on his waist. Turning to face the few people that occupied the tables he shouted, ‘Hey, guys! Does anyone know this puppy?’
Everyone shook their heads, except for one, who raised a finger and replied, ‘I think I’ve seen it before. There used to be a bitch under the trees there last week. She had about half a dozen puppies with her. I remember seeing a couple that were white and black like this one. I bet you it’s one of hers.’
Emilia’s heart gave a thump. ‘Oh, that’s great! Do you know where she is? I’d love to take it back to her.’
The man shook his head. ‘Sorry. Haven’t seen her since Friday or so. She’s been in the area for years and has puppies from time to time… She also tends to move from here to there; she could be anywhere really…’
‘Well, I’ll have a look around, you never know…’ she said, realizing it might prove futile but she had to try.
‘Lady, you look parched! You’d better have some water before you go roaming under the sun!’ said the waiter. He hurried inside and returned swiftly with a tall glass of water. He plonked it on the table. ‘Drink! You don’t look so good.’
Emilia let the puppy drop softly on her lap and grabbed the glass with both hands. She drank from it as if it were a chalice, her gulps reverberating in her own ears loudly.
‘Thank you,’ she said when she drained the glass, wiping her mouth with a single brush of her hand. ‘I guess that was well overdue. Can I also have a Frappé parakalo? Glyko, me gala . Chilled coffee. Sweet, with milk.’
‘Coming right up,’ said the waiter, and he went back inside.
A man in his early fifties sitting at the next table offered her a full glass of water and said, ‘Here. Give some to the doggie too.’
‘Oh! Thank you!’ she said, taken aback.
The middle-aged stranger was tanned and handsome like a movie star. When she met his eyes she froze for a moment, feeling dazed as his warm fingertips brushed against hers when she took the glass from him.
She shook her head and giggled, ‘Silly me! I drank all of mine and forgot to give it some. You’re most kind.’
As he watched, a sweet smile playing on his lips, she put out one hand over the cement floor to pour water into her palm. She brought her hand gingerly near her lap.
The puppy drank thirstily, water spilling all over her lap and its coat. Her palm now empty, it began to lick its front paws that had got drenched, causing her to laugh.
It was the cutest thing. She put out her hand, about to pour some water on her palm again, when she heard the dragging sound of a chair. The movie-star-gorgeous stranger approached with a titter.
‘Let me have the glass… You hold him and keep him steady…’
She did as he asked, and he poured some water into his palm. Putting it near the puppy, it began to drink. It emptied the man’s palm in a few seconds, his lolling tongue making a satisfying sound in her ears, causing her to smile broadly, happy for this kind man who had offered to help. His much larger palm held more water than hers ever could.
Emilia watched the man surreptitiously as he filled his palm to give the puppy another helping, and she felt herself swoon. He was dark and tall, with an athletic build, and could easily pass for a Pierce Brosnan lookie-likey any day. He wore a casual white shirt with rolled up sleeves and jeans, and even had the same salt-and-pepper strands in his temples and the same sparkling blue eyes as Brosnan. This man looked so suave, so gorgeous, he might as well have mistaken Milos for Kalokairi.
Even his hair was seductive. He was wearing a white Panama hat but it was tipped back. His dark fringe of flimsy strands tremored in the breeze over his brow, as if his beautiful blue eyes needed anything else to draw attention to them. His well-sculpted nose and chin and the dimple at one corner of his lips when he smiled made up an eye-watering vision.
Emilia continued to watch him as the puppy drank. Every now and then, he’d make a cooing sound and look up at her to smile from ear to ear. He must be a dog lover…
‘I think it’s had enough now…’ he finally said, reconnecting her to the present with a start.
She looked down at the puppy to find it turning its little nose at the offer of water, finally uninterested.
‘Bless the poor thing, it was so thirsty! It drank three times from my hand!’ He chortled as he wiped his hand on the side of his jeans. On his feet, he wore stylish brown sandals.
‘Thank you so much, this was very kind,’ she said as he put out a hand to caress the puppy’s head, then tickle it under the chin. The puppy responded with little yelps of joy, jumping up on its hind legs to meet his hand as he now caressed the top of its head and its ears.
‘I just love dogs,’ he said. ‘I’ve had many over the years in Germany.’
‘Germany? Is this where you live?’ she asked, a little disappointed, but she did expect him to be a Greek living abroad. He had this different air about him. And his accent was slightly off too.
‘Lived. I moved back here permanently, just a month ago!’ he said, straightening.
She opened her mouth to speak, but then the waiter arrived to bring her coffee. She thanked him and he left, then the handsome man lingered for a few moments as they gazed into each other’s eyes for a bit. She wondered what was keeping him, standing before her like this, rather than returning to his table. Not that she minded in the least. Could it be he’s interested in taking the puppy off my hands? Oh, that would be perfect!
And then, he dropped a bomb. Or, at least, that’s how it felt when he spoke next, causing her heart to break into a frenzied rhythm.
‘Perhaps… you’d like to join me at my table?’ he said with a lopsided smile that she found irresistible. He pointed toward his table, and she noticed for the first time that it had been set for two people. A small carafe of ouzo stood at the centre with a medium-sized platter of meze. Two cutlery sets with ouzo glasses had been placed before two chairs.
Before she could express her bewilderment about this, since there was no one else sitting at his table, he explained, “My son and I had come here together to have some ouzo, but he had to go urgently to tend to some business in the capital. I hate to eat on my own. You’re welcome to enjoy this meze with me, if you like. Or, if not, just enjoy your coffee, and perhaps give me the pleasure of your company?’
‘Are you sure?’ she said to be tactful, even though the sight of the fried prawns, tyropitakia and keftedakia on the tray had started to cause her to salivate. She thought of the puppy too. Perhaps I can feed it something. It must be hungry.
‘Of course, I’m sure. Come!’ he said, gesturing frantically with his hands. ‘Let’s fill the puppy’s tummy with keftedakia . It’ll be fun!’
She got up giggling, and feeling amazed too, that they’d had the same notion just then. Seeing that she carried the puppy, he picked up her coffee and the half-full glass of water and brought them over to his table.
‘Thank you, this is a feast!’ she said as she sat down, the puppy sitting calmly on her lap, facing her. When it turned and saw the food, it stood on its hind legs, its paws on the table, and it started to yelp, sniffing the air, eyes fixed on the platter, tail wagging frantically.
They both laughed and the man sat near Emilia, much to her delight. He took a keftedaki —a meat ball—from the platter, then cut it into bits and fed it to the puppy. It devoured the morsels in record time.
As he took another from the table to feed it, he gestured with his hand and said to her, ‘Please! Help yourself. Let us not leave it all to the doggie or it’ll get a heartburn!’
Emilia smiled and bobbed her head to acquiesce. ‘Thank you, I think I will. These look delicious!’ She pinched a tyropitaki —a cheese pie—between two fingers and took a bite. It was heavenly. The pastry was crunchy and the feta cheese filling delicious. ‘Mmm! Spearmint and fennel! I love cheese pies with herbs in them…’ she exclaimed, her eyes half-closed as she chewed.
‘Yes, the herbs are important. I wouldn’t dream of having a tyropitaki without herbs in them,’ he said, popping one in his mouth. ‘Oh my! This place makes the best tyropitakia ever. Take it from me. I’ve been visiting tavernas all over the island.’
‘Are you actually from Milos?’
‘Yes, from the capital. Plaka.’ His eyes lit up and he wiped his hand profusely with a napkin before offering his hand. ‘How rude of me! Let me introduce myself. I am Andreas Labiris.’
She shook his hand and said, ‘Emilia Paschos. Pleased to meet you.’
Their eyes seemed to lock for an eternity and that caused her to feel magnetized, both unable and unwilling to break away.
Suddenly, he stretched out both hands before the puppy. ‘May I take it off your hands, Emilia? You can eat in peace then.’ He grimaced and added, ‘Let me rephrase that. Will you let me hold it please? To be honest, I’m rather jealous you’ve held it for so long. You must learn to share.’ He winked and gave a mischievous smirk.
Emilia giggled, beside herself, as she handed the puppy over. She leaned back in her chair and watched him as he took another keftedaki from the platter . He ate half and fed the other half to the doggie.
Emilia tried a prawn this time, then downed the rest of the water, her coffee scorned, for now.
‘So, are you here on holiday?’ he asked, laid back in his chair, the sunshine that crept in through the straw awning playing with his eyes, bringing out the blue hue in a way that caused her to stare. She was aware of it but couldn’t help it.
‘No, actually, I’m no more of a tourist than you are, Andreas.’
‘You live here?’
‘Used to. I was born and raised here, in Adamas. But my family and I moved to Athens twenty years ago.’
‘Why Athens?’
‘It’s a long story…’ she said, looking away.
After a short pause, he let out a soft sigh, eyes focusing far into the distance, and said, ‘Isn’t life strange? It seems illogical to leave a paradise such as Milos to go to Athens or even Germany… and yet both of us did that. But life can be unpredictable, I guess…’ A shadow crossed his face when he said that, but then his eyes filled with light as he caressed the doggie’s back. He slapped his hand on the side of his thigh and added, ‘So! You’re back now for good or just visiting?’
‘Just visiting… I think. Again, it’s a long story.’
He leaned forward, capturing her gaze. ‘I don’t mind telling you, Emilia, you’re a bit of a mystery to me.’
She laughed. The mock-wickedness in his look was hilarious. Once again, it caused her heart to lift. She loved that effect he had on her.
Seeing that she never responded, he gave a mischievous grin and said, ‘I am wondering why you’re not saying anything. You’re not an axe murderer, are you? You didn’t take this puppy from its mamma to chop it into brizolakia and have it ston fourno me patates ? To cook it in the oven with potatoes? You didn’t, did you?’
Emilia laughed like a drain. She really enjoyed being around this man.