Chapter 27
Emilia felt herself melt away in Andreas’s welcoming embrace. He was still holding her, and rocking her back and forth, as if they were two long-lost friends. All the while, he made a lightly grunting sound in jest, which she found adorable.
He let her go eventually, and she smiled at him, lost in his bright blue eyes. Finally, they unglued from hers, wandering to the girls standing on either side of her.
Emilia beamed at him. ‘These are my friends, Elise and Chloe. Girls, this is Andreas.’ They shook hands, and then Andreas led them all to a table where they took their seats emitting sounds of appreciation. A large fan hanging high on the wall was blowing cool air toward them. They looked up at Andreas, and he winked. ‘Only the best table for you, girls!’
Before they could say anything, he turned to face the front door and shouted, ‘Nakis! Emilia is here with her friends! Come! And bring some menus!’
He turned to the three again, and they asked how the business was going. Andreas wiped his brow with a quick hand, then placed the other on his waist, about to speak, but then Stefan appeared from the interior, a half-dozen menus in his hands.
‘Hi!’ he said with an open smile and rushed toward them. He’d met all three on the beach before, so there was no need for introductions.
After greeting them all, Stefan said, ‘Lovely to see you again, girls! But, where is Lia? She didn’t come with you today?’
Elise, quick as a flash, responded, ‘Uh… no. She’s gone to Plaka today for a spot of shopping.’
‘Hopefully, for some gardening utensils, too!’ joked Andreas with a loud guffaw. ‘You know, Emilia, I still cannot believe the person who replied to our ad was your niece! This was just amazing. Don’t you think?’
‘Yes, indeed it was. But, I hope you didn’t employ Lia on the strength of that alone. She is a truly amazing professional. You’ll be very pleased with her work, I can assure you.’
As she spoke, Emilia noticed Elise and Chloe were sniggering on either side of her, hands over their mouths surreptitiously. She knew it was naughty to compliment herself like that, but she couldn’t help it.
Andreas shook both hands profusely before his face. ‘Oh yes! Of course. I have no doubt about that!’
‘And we can’t wait for her to start work tomorrow,’ piped up Stefan.
Emilia nodded, then said, ‘Stefan, your father told me you have a German girlfriend?’
Stefan’s face ignited with excitement. ‘Yes! Her name is Anja! And she’s coming soon for a holiday here. I can’t wait!’ Answering questions from the girls about how the two met, Stefan said they’d met two years ago during a mountain hiking tour. They both loved traveling – and going on camping trips in particular. He then carried on to say how they dreamed of travelling around the world together.
Andreas grunted suddenly, and that stopped Stefan mid-sentence. They all turned to look at him and he just rolled his eyes. Looking nervous all of a sudden, he took three of the menus that Stefan still held in his hands and handed one each to Emilia and the girls. ‘The menu lists mostly drinks, coffees and desserts at the moment. But if you’d like to eat, I have wonderful seafood today. Fresh from Adamas. Mussels and prawns!’
Emilia cast away her mystification about what had just transpired and gave him a sweet smile. ‘You must be in our minds, Andreas. We did come here for ouzo! And seafood sounds perfect!’ She handed him back her menu and added, ‘Bring us a big platter of meze please. And… I guess we’ll take it from there?’
Emilia turned to the girls and they both nodded their assent, so she continued, ‘Maybe, we’ll just have some meze and later a starter or two? If you have them? I know you said you still don’t have a cook—’
Andreas shook his head. ‘Sorry, girls. No starters on the menu. And I am glad you didn’t come hoping for lunch as we don’t serve any. Not yet. We are still to find a cook, you see… and it’s proving difficult. So, all we serve at the moment is drinks, coffees, desserts that we buy from a bakery, and some basic meze. The latter is whatever Nakis and I can prepare on our own. We can do some basic stuff but we are no cooks.’
‘Well, I hope you’ll find a seasoned one very soon,’ said Emilia.
‘Yes, we’d better,’ said Andreas. ‘We are considering a couple of applicants but are still open to new ones. And we must decide soon. We’re having the opening in a couple of days! Tourism is picking up on the island, and we want to ride the wave from early on, you know?’
‘Of course…’ said Emilia, and the girls made similar sounds.
Emilia felt the mood plummet somewhat after that, so she attempted to change the topic of discussion. ‘Anyway, you can take your time with our order, if it helps. We’re not in a hurry or anything. We just had some orange juice at Trata…’ She said the last sentence with a wink and brought her voice down an octave.
Andreas responded with a heavy exhalation. ‘Oh. You visited the One-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, huh? She’s one bad neighbour, I tell you! And…’ He pointed with one sharp thumb over his shoulder without looking back, ‘… that’s why this heavy sheet of canvas is back there. Keeps her nasty looks from reaching my property. I swear, her eyes emit some kind of bad juju! See?’ This time, he spun around and pointed to one long strand of dry garlic heads hanging from the wall behind him, at the edge of the canvas sheet. ‘I am not taking any more chances with her!’
Everyone laughed at that, then Andreas continued, ‘Emilia, your cousin’s seating area used to be in view from here across the front yard of the warehouse standing between us. She only used to spy on me all day long.’
He pointed to Stefan standing beside him and added, ‘Nakis passed by her restaurant once, just as she was putting people off coming our way. They were asking her where Trata was, and she was ushering them inside her café, telling them Trata is no longer in business. Can you believe it?’
Emilia didn’t bat an eyelid. Of course, that was so Aleka. Devious to the max. She pressed her lips together, nodding, then said, ‘You did well to put the canvas up. You stay on your side and let her stay on hers.’
He grinded his teeth, then said with a wink, ‘Too damn right!’
Moments later, father and son returned inside to prepare the order. Stefan reappeared alone a little later to set the table, then to bring out bread and a large choriatiki salad.
‘Say, Stefan? Can I ask you something?’ piped up Elise.
Stefan had turned to go so he stopped short and said, ‘Of course.’
‘I noticed your father calls you “Nakis”, not “Stefan”. Should we be calling you “Nakis” too?’
Emilia was appalled to hear Elise ask that. Emilia had always had hyper senses that allowed her to pick up bad vibes, especially within family dynamics. She’d picked up immediately that the name was an issue between Stefan and his father. But since Stefan had introduced himself with that name, obviously, this was the one he preferred. And Elise was perceptive enough to know that. So, what was she doing putting him in this awkward position by asking him about that?
Stefan cleared his throat, looking pensive, taking his time to respond. Emilia couldn’t help throwing Elise a fiery look, but the latter didn’t seem to notice. Elise’s expression was benign, almost angelic, as she gazed into Stefan’s face, waiting for his answer.
Stefan gave a nervous chuckle and finally said, ‘My name is Stefan. That’s the name I’ve always known while growing up in Germany. As for Nakis… That’s my grandfather’s name. My father’s dad. He was Stefanos, Nakis for short. My father likes to call me that. I guess… it comforts him. It reminds him of his dad.’
The girls nodded and said nothing, the awkwardness of the moment palpable in the air.
With a tight-lipped smile, Stefan mumbled an ‘excuse me’, and hurried back inside.
‘Elise! That wasn’t nice!’ Emilia scolded her as soon as he was out of earshot.
Elise turned to her and smiled as if Emilia had just given her praise instead. ‘It may not have been, but it was necessary, trust me.’