Page 7 of The Greek Café

I thank my driver and give him a tip, before I stand with my suitcase for a minute and simply take in the lush surroundings. The view of the sea with the reflection of the silvery moon dancing upon it has me dreaming of early morning swims before I start my shift and I immediately feel my shoulders relax.

I breathe deeply as I take it all in. I am here! I arrived in one piece, and I wonder what I was so worried about. I am proud to say that it all went without a hitch. I just hope I can say the same about the rest of my stay here for the next three months. I don’t have anything to rush back home for. It makes me determined to ensure everything here is going to be the best it can be.

SEVEN

‘You made it, welcome, welcome.’

The lady who interviewed me is striding along the marble-floored entrance after I announced my arrival at reception. She is wearing a cool-looking pale-blue cotton top and trouser two-piece, and her dark hair is piled up on top of her head.

‘Your flight was good?’ she asks, whilst gesturing to a young hotel worker to assist me in taking my suitcase to my room.

‘Really good, yes, thank you, Zeta,’ I say, as I stifle a yawn.

I glance around the large reception area that looks far superior to the pictures I viewed online.

A huge chandelier hangs from the ceiling, and the stylish area is dotted with tall plants in pots, and comfortable-looking sofas on cool marble floors.

Zeta walks alongside us, until we arrive at a block of apartments set back and separated by a lawn dotted with trees.

‘This is the staff accommodation,’ she tells me. ‘You are on an upper floor, if that’s okay – hence the suitcase assistance.’ She smiles.

‘Perfectly fine, thank you.’

‘Meals are included, as you know,’ Zeta continues. ‘See you tomorrow in the breakfast room; I will introduce you to some of the new staff and brief you of your duties.’ She smiles. ‘Shall we say eight thirty?’

‘Yes.’ I nod. ‘See you in the morning.’

I thank the hotel worker, and briefly wonder if I ought to tip him, but then remember I am a worker here myself. Thankfully he disappeared the second he set my case down, so I did not have time to overthink it.

It is already eleven o’clock and I am suddenly overwhelmed with tiredness.

Pushing open the bedroom door, I am greeted with a basic but spotless room. The bed has white cotton bedding and pine furniture that consists of a wardrobe, dressing table and a couple of bedside cabinets.

I am pleased to discover I have a double bed, onto which – after quickly putting my things away and glugging down the bottle of water on the hospitality tray – I fall, fully clothed and spread out like a starfish.

I eventually wriggle out of my clothes and slip beneath the cool cotton sheet. It feels so soft against my skin; before I know it, I am out like a light.

I awake the next morning around seven, as the sunlight floods my room. Wrapping my thin robe around me, I fling open the patio doors and take in the scent of the surrounding forest and let it drift inside.

The daylight reveals the surrounding vista in all its glory, and I sigh at the view of a lemon grove in the distance, a strip of sparkling sea beyond.

I can hardly believe that this is to be my home until the autumn, something I would never have imagined a few weeks ago.

After a quick shower, I make myself a coffee, grateful for the hospitality tray in my room. I take it outside onto the balcony and sit on one of the white plastic chairs.

After finishing my drink, I feel a tiny knot of nerves in my stomach. I am well and truly out of my comfort zone here, but I reassure myself that water aerobics is the same the world over. I will gauge my audience first though. I don’t want to be called GI Jane or worse, after my first session.

I smooth my long dark hair down with some gel, and pull it into a ponytail. My large brown eyes look a little tired, so I apply some mascara to my long lashes. A slick of lip gloss and I am ready to make my way downstairs.

I enter the large, airy breakfast room that has a huge buffet of hot and cold food, set out on long tables against the back wall.

Zeta is seated at a table with several other people. She beckons me over, before introducing me to a couple of new starters including a guy called Kai, who has piercing blue eyes and has been here for a week. There is a young woman around twenty years old, part of the animation team, another bloke around my age with a shaved head and a ready smile, and a middle-aged guy with greying temples who I am told will be the new bar manager.

‘Our previous bar manager left to go travelling,’ explains Zeta, ‘which is up to him, of course, but he gave me no notice.’ She shakes her head in annoyance. ‘Lucky for me, Carlos agreed to come back for this summer season, even though he wasn’t planning to.’ She places her hand over his and winks and he looks ever so slightly embarrassed. ‘His cocktails are legendary.’

She hands us all a timetable of events along with our individual rota. I notice there are only morning sessions for the aerobics, but I guess I will be a lifeguard for the rest of the time.

‘Of course, you are all expected to do a little bit of everything,’ says Zeta breezily. ‘You will be, how do you say in English, a Jack of all the trades.’