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Were these Katerina’s handiwork as well?
Looking at the rest of the collection, she doubted it; the composition was just so different. Maybe they belonged to a friend, or a family member, whom she had agreed to support or mentor?
As a jewellery designer, Suzie was aware that when it came to hand-crafted articles, beauty was in the eye of the beholder, and while the paintings didn’t float her boat, she knew there would be others who would wax lyrical over them. Nevertheless, she was relieved they were hidden away at the back of the shop so that their melancholic vibe didn’t detract from the ambient cheerfulness that permeated through the rest of the gallery.
She glanced at her watch and was shocked to see that several hours had passed since her arrival and it was now almost midnight.
Tiredness clawed at her bones, so she decided to call it a night and head back up to Amber’s studio, shelving her earlier intention to unpack her suitcase. She converted the sofa into a bed and within moments of her head hitting the pillow she was floating down sleep’s superhighway.
Chapter Five
The next morning, after rinsing away the final cobwebs of her journey from Devon to Santorini in a lukewarm shower, Suzie took her mug of peppermint tea onto the balcony to watch the sun peek its nose above the horizon. She was used to seeing the sunrise – Archie had made sure of that since coming to live with her – but it seemed different here. The sky was a deeper, richer blue, the landscape was picture-postcard perfect, and, of course, it was warmer. But unlike the melodic dawn chorus at her glamping site in Blossomwood Bay, the early morning soundtrack in Oia was a cacophony of crashing and banging as the shop owners in the street below prepared for another day of trade, and the whine of scooter engines.
She rinsed her mug under the tap and returned it to its place in the cupboard above the sink, giving herself a metaphorical pat on the back for her tidiness. Next, she checked her hair in the mirror, smiling when she saw her ruby nose stud glint in the sunshine that streamed through the kitchen window; that tiny red gem – along with the silver rings she wore on each of her fingers – was the only jewellery she owned after the fire had robbed her of all her stock.
She didn’t think Katerina would appreciate her turning up in harem pants and bare feet, so for her first day at her new job, she had chosen to wear one of Holly’s plain white tee-shirts, a pair of tailored navy-blue shorts, and the comfortable-yet-smart leather deck shoes that Beckie had lent her. She added a spritz of the perfume Freya had made for her using her favourite fragrances – the rich, earthy aroma of patchouli mixed with a dash of lemongrass – and inhaled a deep breath before heading down the stairs to the gallery, excitement – and a little trepidation – zipping through her veins.
No sooner had Suzie set foot in the gallery than the front door burst open and in walked an attractive thirty-something woman balancing a takeaway coffee in one hand and a large painting-sized parcel – wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string – in the other.
‘Here, let me help you with that,’ said Suzie, rushing forward to grab the parcel before Katerina spilt her drink on the pristine marble floor. ‘Wow, that’s heavy!’
‘Suzie! It’s great to meet you at last! I’m Katerina Loukas.’
Dressed from head to toe in black – black long-sleeved tee-shirt, figure-hugging black jeans, and a pair of sky-high black stilettos – Katerina was a couple of inches taller than Suzie, her makeup carefully applied, her manicure perfect, and her wavy shoulder-length hair so glossy it shone. A patent leather handbag dangled from her wrist by a thick gold chain, its zip wide open to reveal a cornucopia of random items – a pair of over-sized sunglasses, an engraved silver compact, a large roll of sticky tape, a collection of paintbrushes, and, weirdly, a small, paint-splattered hammer – which, along with her takeaway coffee, she dumped onto the gallery’s glass desk so she could envelop Suzie in a warm, Chanel-infused hug.
‘It’s great to meet you, too, Katerina,’ said Suzie, stumbling a little as she was released from Katerina’s unexpectedly tight embrace.
‘Oh, it’s Kat. That’s what my friends call me. Have you settled in upstairs?’
‘Yes, I have, thanks.’
‘Before we go any further, can I just say a huge thank you for agreeing to cover for Amber while she goes travelling with Tom. She’s told mesomuch about you, I feel I know you already!’
Suzie groaned inwardly, praying that her sister hadn’t told her friend and colleagueeverythingabout her, otherwise any hope of building a friendship with Katerina would be over before it began.
‘It’s no problem,’ she said quickly, anxious to avoid the conversation straying into the reason she had nothing else to do but fill in for her sister, so early in the day. ‘By the way, you speak really good English.’
‘That’s because I spent a year at art school in Brighton after finishing university. I had such a wonderful – and productive – time there, I’d love to go back one day. Okay, are you ready for a tour around the gallery so I can answer any questions you may have about what we sell here before we’re inundated with customers?’
‘Absolutely.’
Suzie spent a most enjoyable hour following in Katerina’s fragrant slipstream as she explained the layout of the gallery, where to find the various price lists, and how to use the card reader to take payments. They then moved on to the best part of the tour; discussing the wonderful products that were for sale, most of which Katerina had created herself, and the rest by a select group of artists, sculptors, painters, and photographers who lived and worked on the island, from whom she took a small commission when the item was sold.
‘I work with a variety of raw materials; clay, wood, glass, sometimes marble, but I also get a great deal of pleasure from reusing, repurposing, and upcycling. This, for example’ – Katerina picked up a beautifully carved representation of a dolphin – ‘started life as a piece of driftwood that I found when walking on the beach. And this here, is made from recycled plastic bottles, would you believe.’
‘Wow, they’re so tactile.’
Katerina beamed as she casually set the driftwood dolphin down on a different shelf to the one where it had previously formed the handsome centrepiece to an eye-catching display featuring items with a clear sea-based theme, before moving on to select a graceful, long-necked cat with mesmerising blue eyes from the shelf showcasing an eclectic mix of animals from the feline fraternity, which had also been grouped together in an artistic way.
‘I enjoy what I do, and I love seeing the expression on people’s faces when they find something that I know will take pride of place in their home. I can definitely see this Grecian cat sitting on someone’s mantelpiece, surveying all the domestic drama being played out in front of her, or this cute little glass cat being kept in someone’s pocket to bring them luck in their exams. But I’ve got so many other ideas, too, like expanding into printed fabric. I adore the way I can take one of my watercolours, or hand-painted water jugs, and transfer the same design onto cotton, silk, linen, or hessian, and then turn that into bags, hats, or maybe even clothing! I adore fashion!’
Suzie couldn’t prevent her eyes from straying to the all-black outfit Katerina was wearing and she was mortified when Katerina noticed.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean…’
Katerina laughed, her dark brown eyes sparkling with amusement. ‘Don’t worry, everybody reacts the same way. I love cerise, and emerald, and vermillion, and saffron just as much as the next person, but when I’m at the gallery I prefer to wear black, cream or white so that my sartorial choices don’t detract from the real beauty that’s on display here. First impressions are everything, and I want those to be about theart, not the artist. Do you understand what I mean?’
‘I do, I absolutely do.’
