Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Something or someone was pulsing bright light into her eye. Over and over again. And it hurt, big time. Finally, Sofia managed to open the eye that wasn’t being blasted, but the same thing happened again. Where the hell was she?
When she finally managed to raise her head from the pillow, it all came back in one big rush. The endless rosé, the free liqueurs and the dancing. Even the thought of being twirled around now could bring on a migraine, she was sure of it.
The tiny gap in the curtains she’d haphazardly pulled together in the early hours of the morning solved the mystery of the light torture. It was the sun sneaking its way in. But she wasn’t in a John Donne poem where the sun stroked lovers in bed with its playful touch; she was in hangover hell.
Her head ached like she’d been kicked by a mule and her stomach churned ominously. Sofia reached for her phone. Eleven thirty already. They’d missed breakfast. Not that she was in a state to eat any, but still, it was included in the price, and she hated to miss out on the extras.
A message from Adonis made her smile.
I hope you had a good night with your friends. Talk soon.
It had been a bit too good.
In the shower, tiled in hundreds of tiny turquoise mosaics, she turned the dial to cold and the power on full blast, and let it run all over her, including her open mouth. She remembered a second too late they’d been told not to drink the water. A few mouthfuls wouldn’t hurt, surely.
Feeling slightly better, she took some painkillers with the cold bottled water from the fridge and picked out a turquoise bikini and a hot pink broderie anglaise mini dress, with matching fuchsia flip flops.
Sunglasses firmly in place and her hair scraped back into a ponytail, she spared a thought for how the others were faring.
A gentle knock at the door told her at least one of them was up.
Maddie stood on the threshold in a dressing gown, dark rings under her eyes, her red hair in a wild halo around her head.
‘Morning. I feel like shit. Why did we drink so much?’
Sofia turned out her hands.
‘Pass. But it was fun, I do remember that.’
‘Suppose we’ve missed breakfast?’
‘Can you seriously think about food now?’
A grumble from Maddie’s stomach told Sofia in no uncertain terms that the answer was yes.
‘We can probably get something from the bar.’
Sofia nodded her head in the direction of Charlotte’s room.
‘Did you knock for her too?’
‘Yeah, nothing. She was definitely the worst of the three of us. She never normally drinks that much.’
Sofia shoved her phone into her silver cross-body bag along with the room key.
‘Well, we’d better go and check she’s OK. You know what a lightweight she is.’
Repeated knocking and gentle calling had no effect. Sofia put her hand on Maddie’s arm.
‘You stay here. I’d better go down to reception and see if they’ve got a master key. She could be choking on her own vomit or something.’
Maddie snorted.
‘That’s a bit OTT. She’s a middle-aged woman who’s had a few too many, not Jimi Hendrix.’
Sofia failed to hide a smile as she made the sign of the cross.
‘God rest his soul. This is serious.’
Maddie put her finger to her lips as very slowly the door opened in front of them. A figure in a white nightie, looking like an understudy for the part of Miss Haversham in a very out of town production of Great Expectations, appeared at the door.
Sofia put her hands together in prayer.
‘Holy crap, Char. You look truly awful.’
The wraith-like figure put her hand on the door to steady herself.
‘I feel truly awful. Come in.’
The effort of getting to the door had obviously taken it out of her and Charlotte collapsed down on the bed, head in hands.
‘I think it’s food poisoning.’
Maddie sat down next to her and patted her on the shoulder.
‘Is that what they’re calling drinking your own bodyweight in wine nowadays?’
Charlotte attempted to lift her head.
‘How can you make a joke of it?’
Sofia stayed standing, warily gauging the exact green of Charlotte’s face on a posh paint chart. Somewhere around Minty Pallor, with a touch of Leaf Mould around the edges and definitely a hint of the Parsley Dip they’d consumed many hours ago.
A sudden attempt by Charlotte to sit up was followed by a low groan.
Maddie pulled her hair back from her friend’s face and gathered it in one hand.
‘Quick, Sof, she’s going to be sick. Get towels from the bathroom and wet them if you can.’
‘Can’t she make it in there?’
‘No time.’
Sofia rushed into the bathroom just as she heard the unmistakeable sound of someone being sick.
She glanced back to see that Maddie had managed to pull Charlotte forward so that there was now a multicoloured mess on the tiled floor.
Charlotte’s head was between her knees.
‘Nooo. Nooo. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’
Maddie still had hold of her hair with one hand and was stroking her back with the other.
‘Shhhh. Don’t worry. Better out than in.’
Maddie beckoned to Sofia to lay the towels down.
‘Can you help me get her into the shower?’
Sofia nodded, but kept her head turned away and tried not to breathe in. If she caught a hint of the smell, she’d be off herself. Maddie seemed oblivious. She supposed endless exposure to elderly people and grandchildren could do that to you.
Once inside the bathroom, Maddie pulled Charlotte’s nightie over her head and coaxed her under the shower while Sofia hung back.
‘Don’t worry, I can take it from here. I know it’s not your thing. Go downstairs and explain that we need new towels urgently. And can you put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door when you leave, please.’
Sofia caught a glimpse of Maddie gently soaping Charlotte’s body under the shower as she closed the door.
It was the owner Maria on the desk, a jolly dark-haired woman of around her own age. Sofia was glad that it wasn’t the trendy young receptionist, Elina, she had to explain it all to.
Maria threw her hands up in the air the moment she saw her.
‘Oh no. You have missed breakfast. You and your friends.’
This was obviously a serious issue. Not eating for more than a few hours in Greece was seen as a problem akin to getting stopped by the police or having your wallet stolen, as she’d observed before on her visits to the country.
Sofia leaned over the desk to whisper as a couple of guests were milling about.
‘It’s fine. We’ve got a bit of a situation upstairs. Charlotte in room one has got food poisoning…’ Sofia mimed a spectacular vomit. ‘And unfortunately we need some clean towels.’
Maria fixed her with a stare.
‘Food poisoning is very rare in Greece as we use only the best and freshest ingredients.’
Dissing the food hygiene obviously wasn’t going to get her very far. The Greeks were justifiably proud of their cuisine as well as their beaches and history and weren’t shy in coming forward to praise every single aspect.
Maria leant over the desk.
‘Maybe it’s not food poisoning?’
The hotel owner was giving her a chance to wriggle out of it, which Sofia grabbed with both hands.
‘No, you’re right, Maria. I think it’s too much sun.’
Maria winked.
‘Or maybe too much…’
Maria mimed knocking back glass after glass of something. Sofia met her eye and both of them had a little giggle.
‘It’s no problem. I will call Dimitris at the pool and send him up with fresh towels, a bag to put the dirty stuff in and a couple of cleaning bits.’
‘Thank you. So much.’
‘I’ll tell my son to leave it all outside rather than barge in.’
Sofia took a step back.
‘Dimitris is your son?’
Sofia was aware this wasn’t the takeaway from the sentence she should be focussing on, but it brought her up short. He was a lot younger than she’d thought. She could quite possibly be a mother to a son the same age. It was a sobering thought.
‘Yes, my baby. Youngest of three, and the most difficult.’
Sofia forced out a smile as Maria took out her phone.
‘We’re very grateful to you.’
‘Den peirázei. It doesn’t matter. You’re welcome.’
While Maria spoke in rapid Greek, Sofia fired off a text to Maddie letting her know the plan.
Her phone pinged with a message seconds later.
She’s over the worst. Sleeping it off in bed. Stay where you are. I’ll be down as soon as I’ve cleared up. Mads x
She didn’t need telling twice. Clearing up sick really wasn’t on her list of preferred activities. She wasn’t sure it would be on anyone’s, but she’d much rather deal with the admin side.
Maria had finished the call. Like most conversations in Greek, it had sounded like a shouting match, but Sofia had learned to accept that ninety-nine times out of a hundred it was just a friendly chat.
‘That’s all sorted.’
‘Thank you again…’
Maria put up her hand.
‘Stop with the thanks. Now, you go and sit outside under an umbrella, and I will bring you a coffee.’
‘If you’re sure. That would be lovely.’
She could certainly do with one.
‘Pah. This is my job. Off you go.’
Twenty minutes later she was joined by Maddie, and as soon as Maria spotted them together, she came out with more coffees and a laden plate.
‘We had some pastries left over from breakfast. They are all spitikó, home-made. I made them myself. You cannot go all morning without food.’
Sofia shook her head.
‘Oh no, Maria, it’s really not necessary. Coffee is fine.’
But Maddie already had her hand on the plate.
Her shock at seeing Elsie’s doppelganger last night had put her off her stride, and she’d eaten a lot less than the others, carefully concealing food and only taking tiny amounts. But her appetite was back with a vengeance.
‘This looks fantastic. I could eat a horse.’
Maria’s smile at Maddie’s enthusiasm lit up her whole face.
‘Let me explain.’ She held up a large cigar shaped tube, dusted with icing sugar.
‘These are bougatsa, filo pastry filled with a sweet custard, these, kourabiedes, cookies made with almonds, and these’—Maria puffed out her chest and pointed to the large squares—‘are pieces of portokalópita, an orange pie, or cake really. Try… try.’