Page 48 of The Greek Café

‘Sweltering. Thankfully I can get out of it soon, after I have handed out the last of these leaflets to the parents.’

‘Let’s have a look then,’ I say, taking one of the leaflets from her.

They are advertising a children’s treasure hunt in the rear garden of the hotel tomorrow. There are digging areas and buried bags of sweets. The finder of the golden bone gets a free family pass to Aqualand in Rhodes.

‘I swear it’s revenge for handing my notice in,’ says Summer.

‘So, you’ve told her then?’

‘Yup. She wasn’t that bad really; I would say mildly irritated more than anything. I think she was relieved that I gave her a month’s notice though.’

‘As long as I don’t have to cover the kids’ disco when you’re gone,’ I say, a sudden panic gripping me.

‘Doubtful. We are fully staffed now, including staff at the kids’ club. She needs you poolside.’

‘Thank goodness. Right, I will chat with you later. It feels weird talking to a giant blue dog.’

She is about to head off, when a parent asks if she can take a photo with their excited toddler. Blue dog gives a thumbs up and I walk away giggling to myself.

Kai is scheduled to take the water aerobics session this morning whilst I man the children’s pool. At the breakfast table, he asks me if I would mind swapping.

‘I think I’ve put my back out,’ he tells me as he munches on some toast. ‘I think I overdid things last night.’

‘Too much information,’ I say, holding my hand up.

‘Get your mind out of the gutter. I think I hit the gym a bit too hard. I may have upped my weights a little too much.’

‘I see. You should try a gentle sea swim later; the salt might help ease your muscles.’

‘I might just do that – cheers for the swap.’ He walks away slowly and without the usual bounce in his step. The things we do to look good. There is no doubt it is working though. Not that I would ever tell him that. Takis looks really good too, I think to myself, feeling slightly disappointed that he isn’t free. Perhaps it would be foolish to get involved with the boss’s nephew anyway. Best not to mix business with pleasure.

TWENTY-FIVE

The morning aqua session is a lot of fun, and before I know it is lunchtime.

I am excited to see the progress on the café, as this morning the new windows will be in the process of being fitted. I am so grateful to the workers who are putting in extra hours to get the job finished. Today I have slices of melon, chocolate croissants and some lemonade for the workers, as it is already shaping up to be a very hot day.

My heart skips a beat when I see Takis walking towards me as I make my way to the café.

‘Hi Takis, how are you?’ I ask breezily.

‘I am good. Just heading back from a friend’s house,’ he says, and I wonder if he means his girlfriend, although I am not sure why he would make a secret of that.

‘I am just off to check on the progress of the work on the café,’ I tell him.

‘Mind if I come with you?’ he asks.

‘If you like.’ I shrug

‘I would. I am curious to see how things are looking,’ he says as he falls into step beside me. ‘I remember walking past here when it was Ireta’s place. I have happy memories of calling in when I was young boy, after I had been swimming with my friends and my brother,’ he tells me. ‘We rode our bikes around here. Happy memories.’ He smiles. ‘At least most of them.’

‘It must have been a lovely place to grow up. Especially having a beach nearby too,’ I say. ‘Nothing like where I grew up.’

I tell him about the small town back home, where there is little to do. It all felt so insular, and I would often hop on a train and spend the day in nearby Chester at the weekend, eating lunch overlooking the boats on the river before heading to the shops. Returning to the small town where I lived, I often felt mildly depressed. The one thing that kept me going was my job at the leisure centre.

Outside the property, Jack is overseeing the building work as two workers are busy lifting a new window ready to be fitted.

I introduce Jack to Takis and they nod politely at each other.