My Big Fat Christmas Wedding (7 page)

‘The Sotiropoulos family think they above anyone else!’ he shouted, purple spots in his unshaven cheeks.

‘Yanis, stop!’ spluttered Mrs Manos, eyes wide, whilst I caught my breath.

Yanis took some deep breaths and then – oh no. I gasped. He lunged at me. Crouching on the pavement, I instinctively raised an arm to protect my head. Had he gone mad?

But Yanis never reached me, because – big mistake – he had no idea that six foot four of incandescent Dutch property developer was approaching.

‘Take that back,’ boomed Henrik. ‘The Sotiropoulos name clearly has ten times more integrity than yours!’ He swore loudly, strode past me and despite Mrs Manos’ pleas, grabbed Yanis by the collar.

Chapter Five

Dutchmen in shining armour (okay, Italian suits) certainly had their uses. With one arm, Henrik pinned Yanis against the shop’s doorframe, whilst stretching the other out behind him. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. Hopping, I reached Mrs Manos and did my best to tear the men apart. As much as I appreciated Henrik’s intervention, I could look after myself – with words, anyway.

‘Let go of him, Henrik,’ I said for the third time.

With a snarl my ex backed off.

‘And if you’ve any sense, Yanis,’ I continued, ‘you’ll keep away from Taxos Taverna – otherwise I’ll have you charged with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.’

The Greek’s brow furrowed as he rubbed his neck where Henrik had held the collar tight. ‘No understand.’

‘You were about to hit a woman – whilst she was on the ground,’ spat Henrik. ‘Coward!’

‘Not true!’ said Yanis and his fists curled. ‘
Never
would hit anyone. Was going to help Pippa up.’

‘Didn’t look like it to me,’ I said in a measured voice, heart racing, having glared at Henrik to keep quiet. ‘And I’ll be around tomorrow – if I can walk – to check on your mother. You’ve clearly got a temper. If you so much as…’

Mrs Manos mouthed “sorry” at me and, eyes glistening, shut the door after Yanis had shook his head and stormed back inside.

‘I hope it’s okay to leave her here,’ I muttered.

Breathing heavily, Henrik reached out and brushed strands of hair from my face. ‘Are you okay, Pips? He didn’t… I mean, before I got here…’ Henrik’s voice broke and his face went all squishy for a second. ‘Yanis hasn’t hurt you?’ He scoured every inch of my body.

I almost teared up. Despite everything, Henrik clearly still cared.

‘Only my pride,’ I said and forced a laugh. ‘No one has ever thrown my scones on the floor before.’

You’d think there was a lot more hurt than my pride, though, the way he insisted on carrying me home. Using his seafaring strength, Niko easily lifted me into his arms (usually to whisk me into the bedroom), whereas I was surprised executive Henrik could support my weight for so long. Gratefully I leant my head against his broad shoulders and breathed in the familiar citrus aftershave. It reminded me of so many things – dancing in clubs, strolling through Hyde Park, booking into a luxurious hotel with a king-size bed and… Urgh, not again! Enough with the nostalgia!

We chatted about the recession – the homeless from all sections of Greek society, now on the streets of Kos Town, reliant on soup kitchens and handouts. Once a fortnight, Niko and I volunteered there and donated fish and a batch of scones. People down on their luck would relish every mouthful, be they former road sweepers, office workers or entrepreneurs. The face of poverty had never before been so diverse. Cue a fascinating discussion about Greece’s position in Europe. What Henrik lacked in poetry, he made up for with statistics and figures.

As we approached Taxos Taverna, Niko arrived back from his morning’s sailing. Grandma pushed open the door to let us in. Henrik set me down at one of the mahogany tables and Sophia and Georgios appeared. Niko threw off his gloves and coat and rushed to my side and positioned a chair so that he could raise my foot onto it.

‘Pippa? Henrik? What is wrong?’ Niko knelt down by me and squeezed my hand. For some reason I started to shake.

‘Shock,’ muttered Grandma and disappeared.

In an annoyingly trembly voice, I explained what had happened. Honestly, I was fine. Mrs Manos was the person to worry about. It was just… Henrik carrying me home had made me forget the anger emanating from Yanis’ inky black eyes. Now the memory hit me full pelt. What if my ex hadn’t turned up? Greece’s economic unrest had, in recent times, let to many outbursts of uncharacteristic violence. I forced a smile as Grandma returned with a large glass of Georgios’ finest herby Metaxa brandy. Niko held it to my lips.

‘I’m all right,’ I mumbled and took the glass. ‘Just grateful Henrik saved the day.’

Niko got to his feet and stretched out a hand, whilst muttering something to Sophia who promptly headed for the bar.

‘We owe you, Henrik,’ Niko said. ‘And the Sotiropoulos family always pays its debts. So, if you ever need our help…’ His eyes narrowed into bullets. ‘And now I must visit Yanis myself and warn him never to treat a Sotiropoulos like that again.’

‘You follow me, son,’ said Georgios, bushy eyebrows knitted together, plump jaw clenched.

‘Niko, leave it, mate – and you, Georgios. Yanis is in no mood to talk.’ Henrik shrugged. ‘He’s not worth it and you’ll only upset his mother.’

Niko looked at his dad, then Henrik, and gave a sigh. Sophia returned with the bottle of Metaxa and filled glasses for everyone.

‘To our brave friend,’ said Georgios and raised his glass, before knocking back the brandy. Then he stretched out his arms. A bemused Henrik duly leant down for a hug.

‘You defend the Sotiropoulos name,’ said Georgios, ‘so always welcome in our house.’

‘And more importantly,’ added Sophia, ‘you kept dearest Pippitsa from harm.’

‘You could have got hurt, feisty Pippa,’ said Grandma, cinnamon eyes on fire, and shook a finger.

‘
Me
feisty?’ I said.

Everyone gave wry smiles. In my position we all knew Grandma would have said and done a lot more.

Georgios headed into the kitchen and prepared a mini feast. My ankle felt infinitely better after steaming lamb and feta stuffed peppers, followed by lemon cake with frozen yogurt ice cream. In fact I hardly noticed the dull ache whilst sipping a coffee afterwards. Georgios had left us, to wash up, whilst Sophia and Grandma served in the teashop.

Henrik looked at his watch and wiped his mouth with a napkin. ‘Time to go. Better not miss my plane.’ He leant over and kissed me on the cheek. Niko walked him to the front window where Henrik called out goodbye. Cue shuffling feet as Georgios, Sophia and Grandma hurried into the room. After several minutes of kisses and back-slaps, he shot me a grin, before opening the door.

‘By the way, what were you doing near the butcher’s?’ Niko asked him and shrugged.

Henrik tightened his designer scarf, as everyone else headed back to the kitchen.

‘I wanted to buy Olivia an ornament from Demetrios’ pottery, before flying back. She loves wildlife.’ He pulled on leather gloves. ‘I won’t have time now. If fact, I’m already running late.’ Henrik opened the door. Those slate eyes crinkled at the corners for a second as he gazed at me and then his expression became serious. ‘Perhaps you can bring one over if you come to our engagement party?’ He stared at me intently before striding out onto the street.

The door banged behind him. I cleared my throat and concentrated really hard on a piece of chewing gum walked into the floor – must remove that later.

‘Party?’ said Niko. He sat down on the chair opposite and lifted my foot off it and onto his knee.

Heat surged into my cheeks. ‘Yes. On Friday the twenty-second of December. For his and Olivia’s engagement.’

‘
This
December?’ said Niko and burst out laughing. ‘That’s not much notice.’ He relaxed back into the chair and with his thumb, massaged my ankle. ‘Why didn’t you mention it?’

‘There didn’t seem much point – I mean, there’s no way we can go, right?’ My voice sounded flat.

‘Pippa?’ Niko’s thumb stopped. ‘You can’t have seriously considered it? We have so much to do that weekend – Christmas preparations, wedding plans, and now market goods to get ready for the fair.’

‘But there are still three weeks to go.’ I sat up straight. ‘If we flew out on the Friday, and came back Saturday, we wouldn’t miss much time. Sophia and Grandma have already organised most things to do with our big day, down to the last detail,’ I rambled and leant forward to grab Niko’s hand. ‘It could be such fun! We aren’t going on honeymoon so—’

He shook his head. ‘Are you crazy? London will be busier than an ants’ nest at that time of year.’

‘In a good way.’ My grip tightened around his fingers. ‘Niko, you’ve never been there – I could give you a speed-tour. You’d love the Christmas lights down Oxford Street and the huge tree in Trafalgar Square. The London Eye looks so pretty at night and—’

‘Eye?’ he said,
his
eyes narrowing, for some reason.

‘It’s a big wheel, like one of those fairground rides. From the top you can see the whole of the London skyline.’ Okay, babbling more than ever now.

Niko slid out from under my leg and pulled away his hand. He stood up to clear our coffee cups. ‘No, Pippa. Why don’t we visit London in a year or two instead, when we can afford such a treat and—’

‘A year or two?’ I put my foot back on the floor. ‘And what’s all this, you saying “no, Pippa”? Is that what it’s going to be like when we’re married? Because I can tell you now—’

Niko put down the cups and with the speed of a tuna fish (they are super-fast, apparently), knelt by my side. ‘Pippa? We argue?’ He ran a thumb under my eye. ‘And how can you think that of me? If anything, you the boss!’

I managed a small smile.

‘But can’t you see? This idea is mad. Why you so keen?’

I bit my thumbnail. How could I explain? I just needed a break. A day or two in London.

Niko shrugged. ‘You know me. Everything I need is here in Taxos. Aunt Alexis offered to take me to Florida once but I didn’t want to miss the summer fun here with my friends – or with you.’

I gave another small smile. ‘Fair enough. But I’m not you.’

Niko’s mocha eyes warmed. ‘Okay. Let’s make a plan. Try to get out there next year. If business improves, as we expect.’

My shoulders sank.

‘It’s probably too late to book tickets anyway. That’ll be one of the busiest weekends of the year.’

‘Henrik has contacts in the airline business, due to all his travel. He said he could sort something out and there are my savings – surely you can’t object at using them to pay for me returning to my home, just for a couple of days?’

His face went rigid. ‘You know how I feel about that.’

I snorted and stood up, testing my foot. ‘Yes, and those feelings blind you from the real occasions when you should take help. Me paying for our flights doesn’t make you any less of a man.’

A muscle flinched in his cheek. ‘I never thought my manhood
was
in question. Yet your common sense is. We’re saving hard to move out of my parents’ home – you would rather fritter money away on a trivial trip, when one day we might need it for an emergency? These are precarious economic times. What if one of us falls ill? Or your parents do and you
have
to fly back to England?’

I lifted my arms in the air. ‘You’d never want me to touch my savings anyway, you’re so determined to manage off money from fishing and the teashop. That makes you almost as bad as stubborn Yanis, throwing me out for doing some washing up.’

‘Pippa!’ he hissed and my stomach twisted. All right – perhaps that was unfair but I was too far gone to stop now. All my recent feelings, the tiny twinges of boredom I’d been feeling, suddenly magnified.

‘I miss London. There, I’ve said it – you were right. The buzz of the city. Brainstorming finance meetings. The choice of restaurants. The cosmopolitan feel of the people living there.’ My voice broke. ‘I just want to go back for this party. Is that too much to ask? The last few months have been a huge lifestyle change for me, whereas you’ve just teetered on as usual.’

Niko’s jaw fell open. He stopped pacing around. ‘So, does this come back to me not being intelligent enough for you? That comment you made, earlier in the summer, when you pretended not to like me any more because you thought I was going to marry another girl?’

‘No! And I can’t believe you’ve mentioned that again. I explained those comments.’ My voice went all high and shaky. ‘How could you guilt-trip me about that?’

‘Because I saw how your eyes shone when you and Henrik discussed global marketisation on Saturday night, and hedge funds, whatever they are…’

‘Well, perhaps I do miss that mathematical stimulus. I’ve studied hard all my life – you can’t expect my desires and needs to change within a matter of months. It’s like having asked you to sit behind a desk for the autumn, instead of riding waves.’ My lips pursed. ‘And if I want to go to London for a couple of days, I bloody well will.’

‘Fine! I’m not stopping you. Pardon me for thinking we were a team.’

Grandma came in, wiping wet hands on her floral apron. ‘Children – what is going on?’ She looked at both of us. ‘Niko – go help your mother. She wants to move the tables around in the teashop to make room for a couple more. Trade today was not bad. The Christmas weeks should be a little busier.’

Niko’s mouth also set in a firm line and he folded his arms firmly across his chest. ‘No offence, Grandma, but this is between me and Pippa. We are grown adults now and—’

‘Grown-ups don’t argue like teenagers.’ She tutted. ‘Now do as your doting grandma says, otherwise the kindling of this argument will burst into flames. I have crushed some garlic into almond oil, to rub onto Pippa’s ankle.’

‘She might prefer the painkiller gel from the chemist upstairs,’ he muttered and left the room. Annoyingly, I couldn’t help thinking how his anger made him look super-hot.

Grandma shot him a fiery stare. It reminded me of the look she’d given us, years ago, when we’d dressed Apollo the cat up in a blue and white shirt outfit made out of a flag.

‘Sit,’ she said to me and all of a sudden I felt like a young girl again.