Page 60 of Love on the Rocks
My new plans for the resort were taking root in my head. I could see it now and I was excited! We’d be as fully sustainable as possible. The olive grove would be incorporated into the design of the hotel, and the oil we produced would be used not only in the kitchen but in some of the spa products, as would the pomace from Stamatis’s vineyard, and thermal water from the springs. I was still working out some of the seasonal menus, but they would all showcase local products. All I had to do now was convince Greystone to accept this compromise. And, though I told myself it shouldn’t matter, I really wanted to prove to Nikos that I had the island’s interests at heart.
“So, Yiannis, do you think Nikos will approve of this new plan?” I asked as I took a sip of frappé, my latest addiction.
“Approve, no. He won’t approve but maybe relent. Is that the word?”
“Yes, I understand. He’s still reluctant to give up his fight against Greystone, but he must see it’s a losing battle.” I checked my watch. “I have my video call with Fred now. Mind if I take it outside?”
To my surprise Gaz was on the call. His hair was messy in a very purposeful way. He had a new lip piercing and a new neck tattoo. Somehow, I no longer found any of it very sexy—it was too studied, obviously done to reinforce his image of kitchen “bad boy.”
As I started to present my report to them, Gaz cut me off. “I’m sure you did a fab job, love. Just send the report to Fred here and we’ll look at it. I wanted to talk to you about somethingeven more important. We’ve got good news. The so-called artifact is a fake, so we can move forward with the permits.”
“Oh!” That was unexpected. I thought I’d feel vindicated, but my stomach sank. I’d brought Nikos’s book with me to read on the ferry, and I could see the spine sticking out of my purse. All those stories of mermaids and pirates and ancient spells—they’d sucked me in. I guess I secretly wanted them to be true. Theyfelttrue.
“Here’s the plan, love. We want to feature you in an article forTastemakers. We’ll have the magazine come out for a photo shoot. I’m letting you know now so you can maybe shed a few before then. I can even get you some Zempy to get back to where you were when we met.”
“When I was miserable and starving, you mean? Fuck you, Gaz. I’m not going on a crash diet for a photo shoot. This is who I am. Take it or leave it.” I was fuming and tempted to toss my computer out the balcony.
“Didn’t mean it like that, but I know how you are, darling. So hard on yourself.”
“If I’ve been hard on myself in your company, it’s only because of your constant little barbs.” He was so infuriating, but he was right about needing more of a media presence. No one knew me yet, and I hadn’t figured out what my brand was. “I’ll do the photo shoot, but what you see is what you’re getting, okay?”
“Fine, babe. You’re gorgeous. You know I didn’t mean anything by it. We’ll see you soon then.”
“We?”
“Yeah, I’ll be coming out as well. Have that real estate friend of yours find me a place to stay, all right?”
“I have just the place for you.” I’d stick him right in that old cottage. He wouldn’t last an hour.
After we hung up, I sat there in shock. Teresa came out tentatively from the bedroom to check on me. “Everything all right?”
“It will be,” I said with more conviction than I felt. I hated the way he made me doubt myself. When was I ever going to be enough?
Thanks to Gaz, I was in a foul mood for the rest of the afternoon. What a waste of a good spa day. Leave it to him to ruin that for me. Now I had to take the ferry back to Lyra. Teresa had offered her couch for the night, but I didn’t want to intrude on her private time with Yiannis.
As Yiannis walked me to the ferry, I kept up an internal monologue berating myself for my poor taste in men. First, Gaz, and now I’d slept with a man who apparently had multiple children on other islands.
“I suppose it’s too much to hope that Nikos will be gone when I get back to Lyra.” I sighed. “How often does he go see his children?”
“His children?” Yiannis let out a loud guffaw. “Nothischildren! He helps at the migrant camp on Kos. There are many children, unfortunately.”
“The migrant camp?” That was not the answer I was expecting and immediately felt guilty for thinking the worst of him. “Why didn’t he ever mention it?”
“He does not like to talk about it because it makes him angry.”
“Wow, I wish I had known about that earlier. It might have changed my opinion of him.” I marveled at the complexity of the man I’d written off so quickly. Was he overbearing and secretive? Yes. But he also cared deeply about things. He had principles. It was confusing to learn about these different facets of him. I almost wanted to go back to knowing nothing about him because I didn’t know what to believe anymore.
“Does this mean you like him now?” Yiannis winked at me.
I rolled my shoulders back. “I’m not that easily convinced.”
* * *
I settled back into the ferry, now weirdly delighted to be heading back to Lyra. How was it possible that, in such a short time, I’d developed a genuine fondness for the island and its inhabitants? Nikos had been right when he said that I was more of a city girl. I’d grown up in Cleveland and gone to school in Ann Arbor before moving to Paris and London. And my ultimate goal was to have a restaurant one day in a big European metropolis.
But there was something magical about the island; it was at the crossroads of history and myth, and somehow felt outside of time.
I pulledThe History of Lyrafrom my bag and took up where I’d left off. Not every chapter had been translated yet and I’d nearly reached the end of the part that had. Once again, I was blown away by how good it was. A reluctant smile curved my lips. “Of course, he would be an excellent writer. God, how obnoxious . . .”
