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A few minutes later, Giorgos placed a plate ofGalaktobourekoin front of her and, after a quick glance around his eponymous domain to make sure his patrons were happy, he surprised Suzie by taking a seat next to her.
‘So, what do you think of Santorini?’
‘Oh, I love it, it’s… well, it’s magical. You are so lucky to live in a place like this.’
Clearly, she had said the right thing because Giorgos beamed at her response, before his shoulders sagged slightly and his eyes clouded with sadness.
‘I love my home, Suzie. My family have lived here for generations. My grandfather opened this taverna after the earthquake of 1957, which devastated the island and forced him to reinvent his life from scratch.’
Giorgos paused, and when he continued his voice was filled with emotion.
‘In those early days, Santorini was a place people could come to relax, to create, to enjoy a slice of our Greek paradise, and I’ve met some wonderful people over the years, people who want to experience therealSantorini, to learn about our food, our history, our culture, maybe a little of our language. There’s more to Santorini than the beautiful sunset, or the equally stunning sunrise. We have picturesque vineyards, interesting churches and monasteries, unique and diverse wildlife, important archaeological ruins – it is a sort of Greek Pompeii – not to mention the fact that some believe the lost city of Atlantis originated here.’
‘Really?’
Giorgos nodded, but legends and myths clearly weren’t what were on his mind.
‘We’re faced with an impossible conundrum. We need to make a living to provide for our families, so wewantvisitors to come here, but modern tourism needs to be sustainable, otherwise we risk destroying the very thing that we rely on for our livelihoods. We need to control the numbers who come here, and to the other more popular Greek Islands, but our politicians are at best slow, and at worst, blinkered to the disaster that is looming if we continue to do nothing. Have you seen the cruise ships in the caldera?’
Suzie nodded.
‘Over the last ten years they’ve grown larger and more frequent, especially in the summer months, and they regularly disgorge more than three thousand visitors in the space of a couple of hours. We simply don’t have the infrastructure to cope with that amount of people, all searching for the same thing. Our island is overcrowded; our water supplies are perilously low, we’re plagued with traffic jams, and waste management is a constant struggle. We’ve reached breaking point and it’s time for our community leaders to think of something other than euros and make the changes we all know need to happen if we want Santorini to survive for the next generation to enjoy.’
Giorgos shook his head sadly, before raising his eyes to meet Suzie’s, and she was shocked to see they were shining with unshed tears. Realising he might have got a little carried away, he smiled and reached out to pat her hand.
‘I’m sorry, Suzie, I didn’t mean to spoil your breakfast.’
Before she could assure him that he hadn’t, that his anxieties were completely understandable and legitimate, Giorgos had pushed back his chair and ambled to the other side of the veranda to welcome a group of new arrivals in search of one of Stefanos’ breakfast platters. His seat was immediately taken by Heidi.
‘Hey, Suzie!’
‘Hi, Heidi, I—’
Suzie couldn’t stop herself from performing a doubletake. That morning, her new friend’s choice of makeup was even more dazzling than before; a wide swathe of glittery peach eyeshadow enhanced by a thick contour of rich magenta eyeliner, and lashes coated in a vibrant crimson mascara. She looked amazing, but Suzie couldn’t say the same for the scent she was wearing, which smelled like what her mum had rubbed on hers and Amber’s chests when they had a cold as children. Clearly another one of Heidi’s own “inventions”.
‘I love your mascara.’
‘Thanks, I mixed it myself.So, how was your date last night?’
Suzie rolled her eyes. ‘Itwasn’ta date.’
‘Okay. Was it just the two of you on the boat?’
‘Yes, it was, but—’
‘And did you watch the sunset together?’
‘Of course we did, that was why we were—’
‘Was there Champagne?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t—’
‘Did you kiss?’
‘No! We didnotkiss!’
‘But you wanted to?’
