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Flushing once more she had shaken her head emphatically.
“No…no one”, seeing the surprise on his face.
Taking a sip of her tea, she was not prepared to expand further on her breakup with her boyfriend of two years. Once more she had felt the prickling guilt at having hurt him so much after he had asked her to marry him, Mina realising at that time that she was not ready for such a commitment.
Seeing the look in his eyes, she had changed the direction of his question.
“Is Claire your girlfriend?” she had asked conversationally, seeing as his lips had quirked, his eyes full of humour.
“No. Claire is not my girlfriend” he had chuckled, taking in the way her eyes had dropped to her cup, the embarrassment so clear in them.
“I see” she had said, searching for something else to say, kicking herself for asking the question in the first place. His silky voice had made her look up, a smile on his handsome face.
“Claire and I have… an arrangement” his voice sure, as she had picked up her cup.
“I…I see” she had repeated taking a large gulp to steady her nerves. However, as his eyes had once more returned to the paper she had felt a flash of anger, telling herself that she was not the one that should be feeling embarrassed about the previous evening. It was not her choice to be living under his roof, and placing the cup back down she had looked back at him with more fire in her eyes.
“Actually I don’t see” she had said, Nikos looking back at her with surprise, a small frown creasing his brow.
“So she is your … mistress?”
Nikos had raised his brow in surprise at the change in her, his mouth twitching once more as he had regarded the woman before him.
“Claire and I have an agreement. We can both see other people if and when we want…it suits us both”.
Mina had been unable to hide the small hint of contempt that had reached her eyes.
“So that makes her what…….your part-time mistress then?”
Far from being angry at her comments, Nikos had laughed, nodding softly.
“I guess you could call her that” his eyes flashing full of humour which had made her grit her teeth, as so calmly he had continued.
“I have never felt the need for a full time mistress…unlike some”.
The reference to her own situation had been openly inferred, and raising her chin defiantly she had glared back at him.
“Well at least my father only felt the need to have one mistress” she had bitten back as he had regarded her a little more coldly.
“Yes, a shame he so easily forgot about the wife he promised to be faithful to” his tone now icy.
Mina had looked away, shame filling her, knowing him to be right.
Nikos had looked at Mina, suddenly feeling ashamed at the way he had turned on her. With all the stress on her, he did not need to be adding to it and in a more gentle voice he had asked.
“How is your mother, I got the impression that things were not well last night?”
Surprised, she had turned to look back at him, her eyes filling with pain as the memory of her mother had once more filled her thoughts.
“She seems to be getting weaker each day” her voice filled with sadness.
“I’m sure it is just temporary” her tone not full of the confidence she wanted so much to believe. He had nodded softly at her as he rose.
“I am sure you are right” his tone kindly as he had drawn a business card from his pocket, placing it in front of her.
“However, if you need anything, then call this number anytime”.
With that he had moved out leaving a surprised Mina, who with a small frown had lifted the card seeing on the back what was most likely his mobile number, surprised that he would do this.
Pulling from her pocket the sheet of paper he had given to her the previous day she had given a small sigh, jumping slightly as the housekeeper had moved in behind her.
“That was a deep sigh Mina…you sound like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders”.
Mina giving a small chuckle lifting the paper, “No not exactly, just instructions to shop” laughing as the other woman had given a grin making swooning motions “Oh, the awfulness of it…not SHOPPING”.
Still chuckling she had looked back at her “Well easy for you to say… but where do I get all these clothes…is there a shopping centre nearby?”
“Did you not ask Nikos?” Theresa had asked in surprise, seeing as Mina had given her a grimace.
“I don’t want to keep bothering him with every little thing”, Theresa moving to look at the list, giving a soft laugh “You can’t just pick up these things from a shopping centre. Yanis can help, he has connections”.
Winking conspiratorially she had moved to the door calling her son who had quickly appeared, a warm smile on his handsome face. Talking quickly in Greek she had filled him in on Mina’s predicament, Yanis turning to her and smiling broadly.
“I have just the place. One phone call and I’m sure that we can get you sorted”.
Flashing them both a thankful grin she had asked if they could arrange it for after her mother’s visit, the memory of how weak she had seemed the previous day once more seeing her eyes grow sad.
One phone call later Yanis had returned smiling telling her that he would take her to a new boutique that was opening up on the island, but which had already had many of its designs showcased on prestigious magazines. Smiling Mina had risen, relieved that the two had been able to help her, moving quickly to her car, her stomach in knots as she had dreaded any further deterioration in her mother.
Returning home, she had smiled warmly at Yanis who had met her at the door Mina surprised at how excited he seemed holding back her ‘unusual for men to like shopping’ comment which had risen to her lips.
“How is your mother?” he had asked kindly, Mina smiling at the obvious sincerity in the question giving him a dazzling return grin.
“She seemed better today” she had replied, her response truthful as she had remembered her mother in high spirits, her eyes bright and focussed as she had chatted happily with Mina.
“Much better”.
He had nodded back “Good” his big smile filling his handsome face.
“I thought that we would go now…give you lots of shopping time”.
With a chuckle and a small nod she had moved to the black car he had picked her up in the first day she had arrived, pausing squinting up at him.
“Do you mind if I ride up front?” she had asked, seeing the surprise then return smile, before she had slid into the passenger seat.
Starting the engine, Yanis had looked sideways at the woman beside him.
“You are not really much for airs and graces are you Mina?”
He had spoken softly, seeing as her mouth had twitched.
“No. This is really not my world; I find it all very strange” a wistful note to her voice as she had looked thoughtfully out of the window, hesitating, her eyes briefly flicking to him.
“I don’t really know what Nikos has told you” she had said softly. Yanis shaking his head quickly a kindly look in his eyes “He has told us nothing…and it is not really our place to know”.
At this she had chuckled.
“Well believe me, if you knew then you would not be so impressed”, her face looking at him with humour in her green eyes.
“I am a nobody…a school teacher from the UK that’s all, and all this”, she had given the sheet of paper in her hand a small smack.
“This is all designed to make a sow’s ear into a silk purse”.
At this Yanis had given her a considering look, his brows furrowed, his voice thoughtful.
“My father used to always tell me Mina that the worth of a person is not in how they appear on the outside, but how they behave on the inside…and you are not a nobody. You are one of the nicest ladies I have ever met…certainly not a sow’s ear”.
He had added with a small laugh as she had thrown him a thankful look.
As they had driven further, Yanis had sneaked a look at Mina, gripping the wheel tighter, the feeling of uneasiness filling him. This woman had no pretences about her, no hidden agenda, and his deception was eating away at him. With a large sigh, which had seen her turn to look at him in surprise, he had pulled the car over turning to face her.
“Mina…I can’t lie to you”.
Her eyes had widened with surprise and confusion.
“The boutique I am taking you to…it isn’t on the covers of magazines, nor does it have major stars as customers”.
His voice had grown quieter “It is my girl friend, Francesca’s. She is just starting out…and well given the kind of events you are going to be attending I thought that the publicity would do her good…that plus the sales would help”.
His expression had been one of apology and discomfort as he had sighed.
