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‘Don’t they look…’ Heidi began. ‘Oh, how wonderful!’
Suzie couldn’t help but smile when she saw four of Giorgos’ friends leave their game oftavliand follow his lead by asking Diana, Robyn, Ana, and Eleni to join them on the dance floor, too. They gleefully accepted, giggling as they introduced themselves – apart from Eleni, who clearly already knew Andreas – and warned them to watch out for their toes. Suzie’s smile changed to surprise, then joy, when Stefanos came out of the kitchen, removed his white chef’s jacket to reveal a figure-hugging black tee shirt, and strode purposely towards Katerina, leaning forward to whisper something in Greek that caused her to grin broadly.
‘So cute,’ murmured Heidi, until her eyes widened with astonishment. ‘I don’t believe it!’
Standing on the threshold between the restaurant and the veranda was Nathan, clutching his notebook to his chest and looking like a deer caught in headlights. Suzie could see from his demeanour – and the look of alarm on his face – that he had forgotten about that evening’s dance class and had simply strolled into the taverna in search of his usual glass of red wine. His eyes filled with panic, but before he had chance to spin on his heels and bolt for the hills, Heidi had dashed towards him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him into the melee on the dance floor, her smile just as wide as Katerina’s.
Feeling a little like a wallflower, Suzie experienced a flicker of discomfort, her earlier confidence deflating a little as she found herself standing on the periphery of the ebullient group, the fact that she had no partner to dance with overlooked in the excitement. To her relief, Giorgos noticed her predicament and was clearly about to invite her to join him and Miranda when he stopped, his gaze focused on a spot over Suzie’s right shoulder.
She turned to see what had caused him to pause, and her heart soared when she saw Christos standing on the steps next to the band’s podium, looking super-sexy in a pair of smart navy-blue shorts and a cream linen shirt, which she assumed was his usual “sunset cruise” attire. As soon as their eyes met, she was thrilled to see his whole face light up, and she experienced a sharp frisson of desire when he dropped a quick kiss onto her lips, slid his palm into hers, and escorted her onto the dance floor.
‘Okay, shall we begin?’ said Georgios, in his deep, gravelly voice that caused everyone to pause their conversations immediately and turn to face him. ‘We Greeks love to dance. It is in our hearts, in our souls, and over the centuries it has evolved to reflect the regional diversity of our culture. Of course, the most recognisable dance for most visitors to our beloved island is theSirtaki, but what a lot of people don’t know is that this dance only dates back to the 1960s when it was specifically created for the movieZorba the Greek. However, it is easy to learn and lots of fun. So, shall we do this?’
‘Yes,’ came the chorus of replies.
Giorgos was joined on the makeshift dance floor by histavlifriends, and to the lilting strains of the instantly recognisable tune, they hooked their arms over each other’s shoulders and demonstrated the first set of steps to the famous dance, left to right, then forward and back, while those watching clapped along to the rhythm.
Then it was their turn.
It took Suzie a great deal of concentration to get the hang of the steps, but fortunately she wasn’t the only one, with Diana and Robyn tripping over their feet, and Miranda and Ana regularly moving to their left instead of their right and vice versa. However, under Giorgos’ patient tuition – and the fact that they were all paired up with partners for whom the choreography was second nature – they soon got the hang of the dance steps, although it was obvious that they would never be as proficient as Katerina and Stefanos, and Eleni and Andreas, both couples looking like they were taking part in the Santorini version ofStrictly.
Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Heidi, who had just performed a twirl that had sent her crashing into a stack of the taverna’s chairs. Instead of laughing it off, or helping her to disentangle herself, Nathan watched on in bewilderment, his expression making it clear to everyone that he really didn’t want to be there. Suzie hoped it was because he wasn’t a lover of dancing, or music – or fun, maybe – and not because he wasn’t enjoying Heidi’s company. Even the most disinterested onlooker could see that Heidi liked him, and she hoped that a concentrated splash of her friend’s sunny personality would burn through Nathan’s cool exterior before the end of the night.
Midway through their lesson, the group of diners Giorgos had forgotten about stumbled into the taverna, each wearing powder-blue polo shirt featuring a large, gold-embossed logo of a yacht. Before anyone had the chance to tell them that this was a private dance class, they’d joined them on the dancefloor, and when the tempo increased, the circuitous line of dancers morphed into an exuberant Conga-like line, with plenty of high kicks and whoops of delight.
When the music finally stopped, everyone was gasping for breath, laughing and joking, and declaring how much fun it had been. The guys in the polo shirts started to take selfies of themselves, before including the rest of the group, encouraging them to strike model-like poses, with their hands on their waists – Miranda, Diana, and Robyn – or pouting into the camera –Ana and Eleni – as they dashed around with their phones held aloft, pretending to be paparazzi and causing even more hilarity.
‘Okay, thanks everyone! The drinks are on the house!’
Giorgos’ declaration caused a noisy stampede to the bar where Stefanos handed out bottles of cold Mythos beer to those who wanted one and opened several more bottles of chilled white wine for everyone else, apart from Robyn who had now moved on to gin with a splash of tonic, and Suzie, who had decided to stick with iced water. Then, after hoovering up their meal as though they hadn’t eaten for days, the yacht guys bid them a fond farewell, and headed for the busier bars in the centre of Oia to continue their evening of revelry.
‘Where’s Christos?’ asked Katerina, joining Suzie at the table hidden behind the two enormous Greek urns where she’d escaped to, to avoid being roped into the boisterous disco-dancing moves that Heidi, Ana, and Eleni were currently demonstrating to Miranda, Diana and Robyn.
‘He’s taking a phone call.’
Suzie gestured towards the lemon grove on the other side of the veranda where Christos was strolling backwards and forwards between the trees, his phone glued to his ear as he spoke in rapid Greek to the person on the other end of the line.
Katerina smiled. ‘I like him. He’s great fun, not to mention extraordinarily handsome! I think you make a great couple, don’t you? Can I ask you something?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Have you thought of staying on here when Amber gets back from Bali?’
‘Oh, I’m—’
‘Because I’ve been thinking about how I can supplement my income when the summer holiday season is over, and Giorgos’ dance class has reignited an idea I’ve been toying with for a while. I’ve done a couple of sketching classes this summer – short, introductory sessions, really – but I was thinking about organising a fewweek-longworkshops, for groups of friendsandsolo visitors, who want something more complex, such as painting with watercolours, or pastels, or in oils, or…’ Katerina paused to look Suzie directly in the eye. ‘Maybe something craft-based, like making jewellery. What do you say?’
‘I’m not sure, I… Is it okay if I think about it?’
‘Of course,’ said Katerina, taking a sip of her wine. ‘You know, I’m jealous.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, Christos spends his days sailing around the caldera on his boat, and the guys we met tonight are lucky enough to have rented a super-yacht for three weeks and are on a mission to visit all the inhabited islands in the Aegean Sea. I wishIcould do that; be free to sail wherever the mood takes me, stopping at any random bay, cove, or island that takes my fancy and staying there for as long as I want, eating at the restaurants, drinking at the bars, and dancing until sunrise!’
‘They’re on vacation. I’m sure they have jobs to go back to,’ said Suzie, taking a sip of her water. ‘Did they say where they’re from?’
‘According to the guy they called “Captain Ted” – the one with the red hair and freckles – they all work for a trendy PR and marketing firm in Wimbledon.’
