about you. You make me laugh. Most
women don’t.’
The evening was not turning out at all the
way Melanie expected. The moon looked as if it was moving swiftly
through the sky, the warm night air clung deliciously on her skin,
the man opposite her was undeniably the most desirable she had ever
known.
‘Life can be very unfair,’ she thought
wistfully.
Once seated at the elegantly laid intimate
dining table Melanie felt oddly vulnerable. Opposite her Nicos was
disturbingly close, the sexual aura he excluded almost a visible
thing. Her sandaled foot caught his under the table and she drew it
back quickly. Nicos gave her a small knowing smile, which
disconcerted her even more. He chatted inconsequentially to her as
their first course of locally caught lobster was served, switching
easily to Greek to converse with the dark jacketed elderly man
serving them.
Melanie was reminded of how when she had
first come to the island she had learned that what had seemed to
her his occasionally sharp and demanding manner with his staff hid
a deep and abiding concern for them and their welfare. Now she
asked, noting the old man’s stiff jointed movements, ‘Isn’t he too
old to be working and so late?
‘Andreas would be mortified if I sacked
him,’ explained Nicos. ‘He has been working at the villa since he
was a young man. He is too proud to accept a pension so his job is
to serve me when I am here which as you know is not all that often.
I pay him a yearly salary so we are both happy.’
‘That’s generous of you,’ Melanie felt bound
to remark. His eyes hardened ‘Oh, I can be very generous to those
who are loyal to me,’ His barb stabbed Melanie as he clearly
intended. Seeing his arrow had reached its target he gave a
satisfied smile. ‘So are the gloves are about to come off?’ Melanie
wondered. But Nicos continued to chat in a convivial fashion,
commenting on the deliciousness of the food and attentively filling
her wine glass like the perfect host. Only when Andreas had cleared
their plates away and left them alone did Melanie feel the
atmosphere between them subtly change.
Swirling his brandy round and round in its
balloon glass Nicos fell silent, his gaze fixed on the amber liquid
warming beneath his long fingered hands. Finally he said, ‘We need
to talk business.’
‘Oh, by all means let the board meeting
begin,’ snapped Melanie, not wanting him to see how he had unnerved
her. Ignoring her outburst he went on. ‘I am sure you think you
have a valid reason for your behavior but I don’t want to go into
that now.’
‘Well, I do,’ said Melanie, striving to keep
her voice even, hoping with all her heart that their discussion was
not going to descend to the level of their last ‘business’ meeting
when Nicos had refused outright to consider her pleas to look after
Electra.
‘I owe you an explanation for what I did and
I am determined you will listen to me,’ she persisted. Nicos’s
rejoinder confused her. ‘I don’t want explanations or apologies. I
just want you to stay.’
‘What do you mean?’ she faltered.
He looked up from his glass and met her
eyes. ‘What I say. Stay here on the island for the summer and be
with Electra.’
‘I can’t…..’
He interrupted her. ‘What do you mean you
can’t? It’s what you begged me for, isn’t it?’
Melanie glared at him. ‘If you would let me
finish, I intended to say that I can’t believe you have changed
your mind’ His savage words from her ill-fated interview with him
in England rose unbidden to her mind. ‘I seem to remember you
didn’t want a jailbird looking after your daughter.’ As soon as the
words were out of her mouth she wanted to bite her tongue off. Here
was Nicos inviting her to stay with Electra and she was dragging up
the very thing that might prevent it.
But Nicos looked sharply at her, ‘I believe
I have apologised for that. I would like an answer. Would you be
prepared to stay for the summer to look after
women don’t.’
The evening was not turning out at all the
way Melanie expected. The moon looked as if it was moving swiftly
through the sky, the warm night air clung deliciously on her skin,
the man opposite her was undeniably the most desirable she had ever
known.
‘Life can be very unfair,’ she thought
wistfully.
Once seated at the elegantly laid intimate
dining table Melanie felt oddly vulnerable. Opposite her Nicos was
disturbingly close, the sexual aura he excluded almost a visible
thing. Her sandaled foot caught his under the table and she drew it
back quickly. Nicos gave her a small knowing smile, which
disconcerted her even more. He chatted inconsequentially to her as
their first course of locally caught lobster was served, switching
easily to Greek to converse with the dark jacketed elderly man
serving them.
Melanie was reminded of how when she had
first come to the island she had learned that what had seemed to
her his occasionally sharp and demanding manner with his staff hid
a deep and abiding concern for them and their welfare. Now she
asked, noting the old man’s stiff jointed movements, ‘Isn’t he too
old to be working and so late?
‘Andreas would be mortified if I sacked
him,’ explained Nicos. ‘He has been working at the villa since he
was a young man. He is too proud to accept a pension so his job is
to serve me when I am here which as you know is not all that often.
I pay him a yearly salary so we are both happy.’
‘That’s generous of you,’ Melanie felt bound
to remark. His eyes hardened ‘Oh, I can be very generous to those
who are loyal to me,’ His barb stabbed Melanie as he clearly
intended. Seeing his arrow had reached its target he gave a
satisfied smile. ‘So are the gloves are about to come off?’ Melanie
wondered. But Nicos continued to chat in a convivial fashion,
commenting on the deliciousness of the food and attentively filling
her wine glass like the perfect host. Only when Andreas had cleared
their plates away and left them alone did Melanie feel the
atmosphere between them subtly change.
Swirling his brandy round and round in its
balloon glass Nicos fell silent, his gaze fixed on the amber liquid
warming beneath his long fingered hands. Finally he said, ‘We need
to talk business.’
‘Oh, by all means let the board meeting
begin,’ snapped Melanie, not wanting him to see how he had unnerved
her. Ignoring her outburst he went on. ‘I am sure you think you
have a valid reason for your behavior but I don’t want to go into
that now.’
‘Well, I do,’ said Melanie, striving to keep
her voice even, hoping with all her heart that their discussion was
not going to descend to the level of their last ‘business’ meeting
when Nicos had refused outright to consider her pleas to look after
Electra.
‘I owe you an explanation for what I did and
I am determined you will listen to me,’ she persisted. Nicos’s
rejoinder confused her. ‘I don’t want explanations or apologies. I
just want you to stay.’
‘What do you mean?’ she faltered.
He looked up from his glass and met her
eyes. ‘What I say. Stay here on the island for the summer and be
with Electra.’
‘I can’t…..’
He interrupted her. ‘What do you mean you
can’t? It’s what you begged me for, isn’t it?’
Melanie glared at him. ‘If you would let me
finish, I intended to say that I can’t believe you have changed
your mind’ His savage words from her ill-fated interview with him
in England rose unbidden to her mind. ‘I seem to remember you
didn’t want a jailbird looking after your daughter.’ As soon as the
words were out of her mouth she wanted to bite her tongue off. Here
was Nicos inviting her to stay with Electra and she was dragging up
the very thing that might prevent it.
But Nicos looked sharply at her, ‘I believe
I have apologised for that. I would like an answer. Would you be
prepared to stay for the summer to look after
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