Chapter 37
Elise went to the back door to take a look outside. No one was about, all the way to the back of Perdika in the distance. Once or twice an hour she did this, the notion in her mind strong that she had to, for some reason, and she trusted her instinct. What she didn’t trust was Takis and Aleka. Not as far as she could throw them.
All of a sudden, Takis came into view, appearing through the back door of Perdika. He lit a cigarette, took a puff, then inevitably turned her way and clocked her standing at the doorway. He waved and she raised a limp hand to wave back.
Takis blew her a kiss then, a half-smile playing on his lips.
Elise felt like her mouth had just been sprayed with vinegar. She tried as hard as she could not to let her expression betray the feeling. What a loser.
He then made a gesture that suggested he was coming over and began to take a few steps in her direction. Elise shook her head and called out, ‘I have to go! Catch you later!’ then hid from his view inside the door frame.
I flirted with him just once, just to test his loyalty to Aleka, and now he thinks I’m game? Shoot! I shouldn’t have flirted with him! You should have known better, Elise! You want to keep him AWAY from here, not to lure him over! She looked at her watch. This was going to be a long day. She was bound to find it hard to keep tabs on those two in Perdika. Stefan had gone AWOL, too excited about the arrival of his girlfriend to show up for work today. Which meant she had to serve all the tables herself till he arrived for the opening tonight. At least, Andreas was helping.
I wonder if… Takis had just gone back in Perdika. She threw a glance at the sink, where Voula was doing dishes, absolute stacks of dirty ones on the counter. She checked her watch . Nearly three thirty. A dead hour for business. Time to pay the vile duo a visit. Just two minutes. Tops.
Elise took her ethereal form in the blink of an eye and simply transported herself to Perdika as soon as her mind willed it to be so.
###
‘Takis! How many times do I have to tell you? Smoking is not good for you!’ said Aleka, her hands on her hips. Takis had just come back into the kitchen through the back door. He was eying her with apprehension. The new cook, Mrs Popi’s daughter, was putting trays into the oven at the other end of the kitchen. Surely, she was listening, but pretending not to. Elise guessed these two rowed all day.
Aleka’s brow furrowed further. ‘Why won’t you cut it down at least? All those cigarette breaks keep you away from your post!’
‘I wouldn’t have to serve all the tables myself if you hired a waitress! Or if you helped me a little!’ said Takis, causing Aleka to huff.
‘Trata hired a waitress!’ continued Takis. ‘And Andreas serves tables himself too. You think you’re too high and mighty for it!’ he continued. ‘The owners in Trata don’t work themselves to the bone like you have me working!’
Aleka grunted, then said, ‘Takis! You can’t talk to me like that! I am the boss here, the owner , and don’t you forget it! I have to talk to my patrons. And to supervise everything!’
He waved at her dismissively and went to the far counter where a few items of clean crockery sat. He began to put dishes and cutlery away.
He seemed defeated but Aleka hadn’t finished yet. She went to stand beside him as he worked and, with a fleeting glance at the cook’s back, she whispered, ‘I blame you ! It’s your fault we lost our cook! If you weren’t so keen on flirting with anything that dons a skirt, she wouldn’t have left us!’
His face lit up with indignation as he turned to her and whispered, ‘What are you talking about? I never flirted with Voula!’
Aleka dragged him like a rag doll out of the kitchen and into the internal seating area of Perdika, way beyond the cook’s hearing range.
Elise tittered to see how he’d actually allowed her to drag him this way. Oh, Takis… Not much of a man, after all…
‘I don’t know what you’ve done!’ Aleka put to him when she let go of his arm. ‘She left us, and now they have her and we don’t!’ She is the best cook in town and you know it! How are we going to compete with them now? Hardly anyone came for lunch today here, and they haven’t even opened yet!’ Aleka made air quotes, then scoffed.
‘And the cherry on the cake? Pun intended!’ she continued. ‘ We should have been the ones to throw that stupid girl a party! And give birthday cake to all the guests! I can hear them cheering from here! A genius idea! Because people will see, and then ask at Trata if they can do their own children’s birthday parties there, too! Aaargh! It makes me mad!’
She poked Takis hard in the ribs. ‘Why didn’t you think of that, huh? Do I have to think of everything myself?’
Takis took a calming breath, then said, ‘Yes, I can see we don’t have many patrons since Voula left, Aleka… And yes, had I known her daughter needed a place to host a birthday party, I guess I would have told you hosting it here might attract more business for us, okay? But I didn’t know. And I didn’t do anything to make Voula go! And, if I might add, it wasn’t me who shouted at her all day long.’
Aleka made a swatting gesture mid-air with an impatient hand as if trying to ward off a pesky fly. ‘This is irrelevant. Besides, I am the boss. If I raise my voice, I have a good reason to.’
‘Speaking as someone on the receiving end of your shouting voice, Aleka, I can vouch for the fact that this is not always the case.’
She gave him a mocking grin. ‘Cute. Very cute. But can we discuss our real problem here?’
‘What else is there to discuss?’
Aleka leaned closer to him and whispered, ‘We have to sabotage them! Don’t you see? We have no other choice! Their success will mean the end of us!’
The look in her eyes turned soft as she laced her hands around his arm, the very same she had clutched roughly earlier. Now, she was caressing it with soft fingers as she said, ‘You are friends with Stefan, aren’t you? Next time you’re there to say hi, perhaps you could… um, I don’t know… throw something in the pot to… say, spoil the broth ?’
Takis’s eyes came alive with excitement. ‘Hm… Interesting… And what do you suppose we do exactly?’
Elise couldn’t believe her ears. Not that she didn’t expect it. Her instinct to watch them closely had been pressing from the start. It never failed her. But outright sabotage? This was too much. You two deserve each other! Is it war you want? War you will have then!
Aleka was poised like Sherlock Holmes now, eyes looking to infinity, a finger tapping her chin, and he was looking at her intently, waiting to hear her best ideas to destroy Andreas’s business. Watching them made Elise nauseous.
Before Aleka could speak, Elise heard Andreas call her. It hadn’t been a physical voice in her ears per se, but rather a notion in her mind. She had attuned herself to his essence long enough already to be able to know, somehow, that he was looking for her.
In a flash, she transferred her consciousness to the ladies’ room in Trata. Making sure no one was about, she took on her semi-ethereal form that allowed her to dwell among the humans.
Andreas was calling her from the kitchen. Now, she could hear him. She had missed Aleka’s actual ideas on how and when they intended to sabotage them, but now she would be watching them like a hawk.
Entering the kitchen, she found Andreas stacking dessert plates together on the counter.
‘Elise! Come help me please!’ he said when he saw her. ‘Get me some dessert spoons. About a dozen ought to do it.’
###
Emilia was eating her piece of cake, rolling her eyes. The cream on the top was so fresh and the chocolate had an orangey tang that was out of this world. As she swallowed the last morsel, she began to debate with herself whether or not it would be all right to ask Voula for the recipe. A gentle tap on her naked arm ended her thoughts with a start.
Dreading what she would see, she looked up. Andreas and Elise stood there. Which one touched me? Oh my God!
They were both carrying stacks of dessert plates. Either of them could have supported the stack against their torso for a second to tap her on the arm.
‘Hey, Lia?’ asked Andreas, a benign look in his eyes. ‘I got some work for you! If you don’t mind that is?’ He was being playful. Anything but what she was right now. Her eyes darted to Elise, seeking understanding.
‘Andreas was wondering if you could help me cut some pieces of cake for the patrons,’ said Elise. ‘He and Voula are running headless in the kitchen. But… I can do this on my own, if, you need to go ?’ Elise had said the last word with meaning, her eyes full of apprehension. They conveyed what Emilia already knew, even before the dizziness came upon her.
###
Emilia made it to the ladies’ room in Trata in good time, clutching her back pack against her as if her life depended on it. She closed her eyes and leaned against the locked door until the dizziness left her completely.
Now, standing before the sink, she looked at herself in the mirror. The sight of her real face—wrinkles, freckles and all—caused her to feel a mix of shame and sadness. How long can you keep this up, Emilia? And does it even make any sense? Avoiding the touch of the very man you love?
Thinking about it for a moment, she looked at her open bag. She had unzipped it previously, knowing that listening to the song with the headphones on her CD player would solve her little problem. She would come out of the bathroom young and breezy like Lia again to resume her place at the table. She had had her meal already, and her cake, and soon it was time to go. But… what if?
She mulled it over again. Yes, what if? Aren’t you tired of being afraid of his touch? Don’t you miss it? Yes… Oh, so much. She ached to speak to Andreas, and, yes, to touch him. Just to hold his hand again, to kiss him, even on the cheeks, as a friend.
The urge to be with him in her true form overcame her. Before she knew it, she had removed her eye contacts and the scrunchie too, to let her hair fall freely over her shoulders. The way Emilia liked it. The way she liked it. Zipping up her bag, she opened the door and got out, heading for the kitchen, but stealthily.
Stefan wasn’t here today. Elise and Andreas were still outside. She had asked them to excuse her for a minute to use the ladies’ room, and she had promised to return soon and help Elise with serving cake to the patrons. I have to hurry, but I can make it! It’s only Voula in the kitchen now and she’s always busy. If I duck, and rush across to the open back door… and if her back is turned, she’ll never see me! It was a bold plan, nothing like she’d ever done before, but her urge to be with Andreas… properly… was all she needed to decide.
It all went according to plan. With a stealth that would put Lara Croft to shame, 45-year-old Emilia surprised herself with her agility and swiftness. Dashing on tiptoe in her sandals, she took full advantage of Voula putting crockery away inside the open cupboards and bolted out the back door.
Once outside, she began to sprint toward the nearest tourist shop. She needed a change of clothes.
###
Emilia breezed along the street on her way back to Trata with the kind of excitement that made hearts beat like a drum. As she strode, she felt the caress of the sun on her face and felt strangely loose and agile on her feet. Her step had a spring to it she’d only experienced recently as Lia. This was the first time she felt this good in her skin, her real skin. Is it all the exertion? My manual labour in Andreas’s garden? Or the hours I’ve spent reviving my aunt’s garden as well? So… Is that it? Or is it something else?
She didn’t have long to wonder though as she was there already, going up the steps of Trata. Smoothing her long patterned skirt, she felt lucky to have found it. It was beautiful, and the tight-fitting t-shirt she’d found to go with it was, well, sufficient. It had the cheesy motto ‘Life’s a Beach’ emblazoned across it. She wouldn’t wear anything like this normally, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Andreas and Elise were serving cake at different tables. As she approached her own, she noticed the children were now engrossed in playing a board game. The table had been cleared, with only the cake and the empty dessert plates remaining on it.
Looking around the seating area, she calculated that only about ten people remained to be served cake. At least, Lia hadn’t abandoned them with tons of work to do.
She greeted the children and they were amazed to see her. She explained she’d seen Lia on her way there, hurrying along the street. A customer had phoned her about some kind of catastrophe in their garden, and they needed her urgently. As she spoke, she felt a twinge in her heart. But, she had to admit, she was getting really good at lying. She only hoped Andreas wouldn’t suspect anything.
As if on cue, Andreas’s voice echoed from behind her. ‘Emilia? Hi! What a lovely surprise! Did you say you saw Lia?’
She spun around and he greeted her warmly, kissing her on both cheeks. In those precious moments, the endless lies felt almost worth it.
‘Yes… She said she’s sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, but a customer called her urgently. She said something about a catastrophe in their garden.’ She swallowed hard, then added, ‘Something about broken pipes.’
He pressed his lips together for a few moments, then said, ‘I guess she had to go if it was this urgent, but… she couldn’t say goodbye?’ His eyes were sad, his look full of disappointment. It felt like a stab in her chest.
‘She apologises for that…’ she managed to say feebly.
‘Yes, sure, no problem,’ he said in the end, flicking his wrist, then Elise approached, her face full of intrigue.
Andreas relayed to her what Emilia had said. As Elise listened, her eyes remained glued on Emilia, and she seemed delighted for some strange reason.
Emilia, on the contrary, felt so bad she wished she could disappear. The disappointment in Andreas’s eyes had been strong. How long can Lia act strange toward him until he says something? Or, even worse, realise that Lia and I are, actually, the same person?
The sound of crockery and cutlery ended her thoughts abruptly. Elise had a few more plates to serve and Andreas was helping her.
‘Please. Let me help!’ Emilia said, moving to take the cake knife from his hand and he let her. ‘Least I can do with Lia going AWOL on you like that,’ she added, managing a giggle to lighten the mood.
It had worked. He gave an easy smile. ‘Sure. But don’t you go away. Are you hungry? Shall I get you something? And there’s cake, obviously.’
‘I have eaten, thank you,’ she said, knowing she couldn’t have a second piece of cake, no matter how heavenly it was. ‘A coffee would be nice, though?’ she said as she continued to place pieces of cake on the plates. Elise was coming and going in great haste.
‘Sure!’ he said brightly. ‘I have hazelnut coffee brewing in the percolator. Be with you in a second. I deserve a break, I think.’
‘Wonderful,’ she replied, and as she watched him walk away she hoped this awkward escape of hers as Lia earlier would be swiftly forgotten. Overcome earlier by her unbearable desire to see him in her true form, she’d failed to consider how rude Lia’s sneaky escape would seem to the others.
But, strangely enough, she didn’t regret it. She hadn’t acted this impulsive since she was young. Acting thoughtlessly, even with this awkward result, felt exhilarating, somehow. It felt… well… young .
It occurred to her then that feeling young doesn’t require one to be young or even to look young. Still, she dreaded the next time she’d meet Andreas as Lia. She had to really work on her excuse…