‘And she has no friends who could take her?’
‘I have thought about that.’ He sighs. ‘Although she tells me the friend she is staying with does not have a car, I hope I have not encouraged her.’
‘Why would you say that?’
‘Because I get the feeling she is interested in me, now that her most recent relationship has ended.’
I feel the warmth of the evening turn cold.
‘So maybe I have been giving her the wrong impression.’ He sighs.
‘Are you sure it’s the wrong impression?’
‘I have no interest in her, romantically,’ he says, looking into my eyes. ‘You have to believe me. We are history. Do you think I could ever trust someone like her again? I regret agreeing to her requests.’ He shakes his head.
‘Yet you are taking her tomorrow?’
‘I have already arranged to do so, so I will honour that. But I will make it clear it will be the last time,’ he says, sounding genuine.
‘If you say so.’ I am trying to remain calm, but what am I to think? His beautiful ex is back in town, and I will soon be thousands of miles away.
‘Please, Claudia, you must believe me.’ He reaches across the table and takes my hands in his, and a mixture of desire and confusion races through me.
I can hear Athena’s voice behind us and the sound of her shrill laughter. I paint on a smile and try to enjoy the rest of the evening, but even the beautiful location can’t lift the heaviness I feel in my heart. When Dimitri escorts me home, I leave him at the door.
‘Can I see you tomorrow?’ He looks at me pleadingly. ‘I will take Athena in the morning, then I will be working until five o’clock on the boat. Maybe tomorrow evening, I can cook for you at my place?’
So, Dimitri is inviting me to his flat, a day before I leave?
‘Maybe. I have to log in tomorrow as I will be working from home.’
‘I will call you tomorrow.’ He gives me a peck on the cheek, before walking off.
It takes me a long time to get to sleep, going over the events of the evening. I can’t shake the picture of Athena from my mind,and how she placed her hand on his shoulder, but eventually I drift off and wake bright and early to the sun streaming through the windows once more.
I invite Phoebe in for coffee. She sniffs as she enters the kitchen.
‘You burn the dinner?’
‘I did, but I think even the stray cats in the street would turn their nose up at it, I’m sure.’
I tell her what happened with the spice mix and she roars with laughter.
‘A lamb-flavoured Christmas cake, I like it. Dimitri has humour. So you see him again?’
‘He has invited me to dinner this evening, at his place.’
‘Don’t be too hard on him,’ she tells me, when I tell her my concerns about his ex. ‘He is a kind man, who likes to help people. But remember, it is you he talks of all the time.’ She taps her nose and smiles. ‘Now, I know that you have work to do,’ she acknowledges as she stands to leave and I give her the magazines to take to Eliza. ‘You have been very kind.’
‘Nonsense, you have done so much for me too. We’re friends, right? It’s what friends do.’
After a breakfast of fruit, Greek yoghurt and honey, I spend the morning working, occasionally wondering how the conversation is going in the car between Dimitri and his ex. Is he really so certain that they will not rekindle their romance? After all, I will soon be back in England. But perhaps the time has come for me to let my guard down as Evie suggested, and have a little fun and expect nothing more, although I have never really been someone who is into casual encounters.
Later that afternoon, I log off and nip outside to stretch my legs and go for a walk along the beach. Dimitri’s aunt is there with Prudence, who jumps up at me in greeting.
‘Kalispera,’ she says.
‘Kalispera.’
