Page 15 of Take a Chance on Greece

‘I am tired, but not too exhausted to get to work straight away, I promise. There is one thing I was wondering. Do you have a washing machine I could use? I left rather quickly, and I’ve still got my holiday clothes that need a good wash. In fact, you could probably smell them from a mile away. Not very pleasant. Sorry about that.’

Yiota laughed. ‘Of course, and do not worry, I will not make you start working this evening. I think a good night’s sleep will probably be the best thing for you. And then you can start tomorrow morning. The washing machines are busy right now as it was a changeover day yesterday. But when you start work, I will find some overalls for you. If you can be down in the breakfast room by eight, that would be a great help. Eleni is finding the mornings a struggle because she cannot move about as easily now and I would like to give her some time off now you are here.’

Chapter Eight

Iwoke with a start, my heart thudding and hot panic surging around my body. For a few moments I lay tangled in the covers, light streaming onto my eyes from a gap in the blinds, and wondered where I was and what on earth I was doing here. The scratchy sheets were unfamiliar and the dimensions of the room didn’t fit either of the places I would normally wake up in. I listened carefully, trying to work out if the distant sound of running water was Jim taking a shower. But there was no atonal singing to accompany it, and it was too far away to be coming from the ensuite off his bedroom.

And then the sleepy fuzz in my brain started to clear and I remembered that I would never be waking up in a room with Jim again. I waited a few moments for the pang of separation and loss to hit me. But the only thing that happened was that my stomach grumbled and I started wondering what I might be able to find for breakfast. I quickly pulled my thoughts back from dreaming about yoghurt, fresh fruit and cake. I knew I should probably be feeling sad and guilty that irreparable differences and a misguided tattoo had driven me apart from the man I had thought I’d be spending the rest of my life with. But instead, I felt nothing, except maybe a sense of disappointment that I’d allowed myself to be taken in by him for so long.

I stretched out and tried to starfish in the bed, then quickly realised that a rickety single was not the best place to relish my solo sleeping arrangements and newfound freedom. I gingerly patted the small of my back and was reassured to find that the swelling seemed to have reduced and it had finally stopped feeling quite so tender. The fact that the tattoo was starting to heal had to be a sign that I was doing the right thing returning to Kefalonia and seeking a new life. The idea of tracking down ‘Awesome Andreas’ seemed no less ridiculous in the cold light of day, but then again it gave me a focus and a purpose now that I’d chucked away everything that I’d previously been working towards. Now I’d ripped my five-year plan to shreds, having a goal – any goal – was better than nothing. And why shouldn’t I have some fun while pursuing this outlandish one? At the very worst, my Andreas quest would provide a good excuse for exploring different parts of a beautiful island and meeting new people along the way. And at best, I could actually meet him, that mythical Mr Right.

But how could I get started on my mission? Kat would probably do something brave like standing in the town square holding up a sign saying ‘Andreas’ to see who approached her, but that felt a bit tooLove Actuallyfor me. I didn’t want to look desperate, after all. If telephone books were still a thing, then I could have worked my way through all those people listed under Andreas. But in lieu of that old-school method, perhaps I could do a search on social media, narrowing down the location to Sami first of all, and then widening it out to the rest of Kefalonia? And that way, I’d be able to look at pictures and do a bit of due diligence/stalking first to see if any potential Andreas jogged some memories.

With the makings of a plan, I rolled over contentedly and checked my phone. Then I felt that panic all over again when I realised what time it was. Never mind daydreaming about breakfast and men (in that order!) I was due to start work for Yiota in five minutes. She was a reluctant enough host as it was, and I didn’t want to give her any excuse to say the arrangement wasn’t working. It would be an early end to my dreams, and it would disappoint Alexis who had been kind enough to go out on a limb for a stranger.

I rummaged through my suitcase and berated myself for not having taken the time to unpack last night. The washing machines might have been occupied, but if I’d thought about it, I could have at least rinsed some underwear in the sink so I had clean knickers this morning. Overwhelming tiredness and the strangeness of my new situation had clouded my normally practical brain and today I was going to pay the price. Alas, despite some frantic searching, a fresh pair of pants did not miraculously appear from the jumble in my suitcase, and reluctantly I pulled on a swimming costume instead. What it lacked in convenience, it at least made up for in cleanliness. I sniffed a few T-shirts and went for the one which smelled least offensive. Sadly, it was a souvenir job declaring ‘I love Greece’ in big letters, but then again, an open declaration of affection for their home might help me to curry favour with the locals. And although I really wanted to wear shorts – judging by the temperature of my room, it was going to be a sweltering day – I figured they might give the impression that I was here on holiday, so I pulled on the old faithful leggings again. Then I sprayed a generous amount of deodorant over my entire outfit, scraped my hair back into the neatest bun I could manage – spoiler: it wasn’t very neat at all – and hurried downstairs to report for duty in the breakfast room.

Yiota took one look at me and clearly decided that my scruffy appearance would put the guests off their food. She handed me a mop, bucket and a set of overalls in lieu of a morning greeting. Then while I pulled the overalls on, she gestured at a document in Greek which I assumed was some kind of health and safety notice. Once I was dressed in my makeshift uniform, she checked me over with a critical eye, did up the top button which I’d left undone in the vain hope it might help provide some much-needed ventilation, then nodded.

‘If your trial works out, I will give you a uniform like the others—’ She gestured over at one of the waitresses who looked deliciously cool and stylish in a white T-shirt and beige culottes ‘But that will do for now. You can start cleaning on the top floor. Every surface must be wiped, and any towels thrown in the bath must be replaced by the ones in the cupboard at the end of the corridor. Any which are not in the bath can be straightened and put back on the towel rail. It saves money. And the environment too.’

She handed me the key for the aforementioned cupboard, a great big iron thing which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Disney castle.

‘Most of the guests from the top floor are booked on an excursion with an early start today, so you should not have them in your way, but do not forget to knock before you let yourself into the rooms.’ I thought I saw a glimmer of something resembling amusement pass over her face. ‘You may be searching for Andreas, but I would prefer that you do not search for him here by walking in on male guests. That kind of thing can give a hotel a bad reputation.’

I laughed nervously and since it was obvious that work was to be prioritised over food, I headed off to perform my cleaning duties.

Mindful of her warning, I knocked on my first door and listened carefully, before letting myself in. The room was a tip. Someone had clearly arrived back from a night out and left a half-eaten kebab on the side, along with several bottles of suspicious-looking liquid. I thought back to the hotel room we’d hastily exited on our way to the airport and hoped we hadn’t left it in quite such a state. Well, if we had, then karma was repaying me for it.

I pulled up my sleeves and set to. Within minutes, I had developed a serious antipathy for the overalls. Indestructible they might be, but breathable, they certainly weren’t. Despite the best efforts of the air-conditioning unit in the corner of the room, I was soon perspiring enough to fill the cleaning bucket. There was little point in me polishing the surfaces if I then went and sweated all over them. Deciding that this was a situation where practicality won out over appearance, I stripped down to my swimming costume and continued working like that. I might look ridiculous, but at least I wasn’t marinating in my own juices anymore.

After what felt like hours, but hopefully wasn’t that long really, I stood back to take a look at my hard work – and get a breather – and felt proud at what I’d achieved. One bedroom down, only a dozen or so more to go. I checked my phone and was horrified to discover that I’d been in here for nearly fifty minutes. At this rate, I was going to spend all the daylight hours working, and where would that leave my Andreas hunt, not to mention my chances of seeing more of this beautiful island? I told myself not to despair. This was the first room, on my first day. I was bound to speed up, and it was more important short-term to impress Yiota and get a longer contract than it was to immediately put myself out there in the Andreas dating world.

I gave the room a final check, then lugged my cleaning implements into the corridor ready to start on the next room, only to bump headfirst into someone.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, wishing I knew how to apologise in Greek. I had a feeling it was a phrase I was going to find very useful over the course of my employment at the Helios Hotel. I instantly clocked the man’s white polo shirt and beige trousers, which was some relief as if I had to barge into anyone, it was better that it was a fellow member of staff than some hapless guest.

‘Signome,’ he said.

‘I’m sorry, Signome,’ I replied.

‘No no no, my name is notsignome, it is the Greek word for sorry. My wife says that it is important that you start learning our language properly as soon as possible, so I thought it was better that I apologise for crashing into you in my language rather than yours.’

The embarrassment caused my temperature to rise even further. This was just what I needed, getting caught by my boss’s husband while I was dressed only in a swimming costume, and then mangling their language on top of it.

‘Duly noted.Signome, I will make sure I use that in future. Although I’ll try to avoid getting myself into situations where I need to apologise,’ I added hastily.

He chuckled. ‘Ah, it is a word I have to use all the time around my wife. She likes things just so and I always disappoint her. But if I got it right, she would also be disappointed, so I carry on this way.’ Although he was pretending to be exasperated with Yiota, his voice was full of affection as he spoke about her. ‘But that is enough about me. You must be Lydia. Welcome to the Helios Hotel. We are very pleased to have you staying with us. My name is An—’

‘What is going on here?’ Yiota arrived on the corridor in a whirlwind, interrupting him before he could finish his introduction, and leaving me in an instant panic. Had he been about to introduce himself as Andreas? I really hoped not, because if his name was Andreas, I could be in big trouble. I somehow knew he wasn’ttheAndreas, but given that Yiota knew about my quest, she’d probably assume I’d thrown myself at the first one I came across, especially as I was in a considerably more undressed state than I had been when she’d sent me off to work.

‘I’ve been cleaning and got hot,’ I said quickly, so quickly in fact that it probably made her believe the exact opposite. ‘The room is immaculate, I promise.’ I turned to open the door to show her but she stopped me in my tracks.

‘The room? I hope you mean rooms? Eleni would have finished this corridor by now and she is eight months’ pregnant. Angelo, have you been distracting her?’

Relief surged through me. He was Angelo, not Andreas, and rather than thinking I’d been trying anything on with her husband, she was blaming him for keeping me from my work.

‘No, I promise, he hasn’t. I’ve been attempting to be as thorough as possible and it took me longer than it should have. I think I’ve worked out the best way of doing things now, so hopefully the next room will take me a lot less time.’

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