She moved, slightly, barely noticeable to even her, but enough to connect her thigh with Elias’s. Would he react? Would he edge back? There were no people wandering up and down now, no reason to be so close. She was barely breathing. Did she move her face forward too? Did she really want to kiss him? What about Petra? Far more attractive. Younger. More vibrant and exciting. Nice. Petra was nice. And she fancied Elias too. But then again, she seemed to fancy most men. And she had run away with one a second ago in pursuit of a cat.
Nothing ventured. Nothing gained. Becky prepared to close her eyes…
‘Would you like another beer?’
She felt the pressure of Elias’s body leave her and suddenly she felt so stupid. Eyes fully open now, she looked up to see he had stood. He was looking down at her, so tall, fit and obviously totally disinterested in her as a romantic distraction. All she could do was nod and try not to sound like a moron when she spoke.
‘Oh… yes… thank you.’ She smiled. ‘That would be nice.’ Anything to numb the humiliation. Where was Petra? ‘Let me get you some euros.’
‘Ochi. It is OK. I will pay.’ He stepped up onto the next stair and headed into the bar.
Moment gone. Moment not even there in the first place. She would definitely not be telling Hazel and Shelley about this. She would simply tell them she had met a nice guy on a plane and he had shown her all the best parts of Athens. She would not tell them she had briefly thought it might be a good idea to think about kissing him. Ridiculous.
She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone and it was then she saw she had three missed calls and a voicemail from an unknown number… It had to be Ms O’Neill. Bugger. For an unexpected evening in Greece’s capital that had started so wonderfully, it now had the potential to turn the shape of a pear.
Seventeen
Athens International Airport, Athens
‘I don’t think I should have eaten the third piece of bread.’ Petra let out a loud burp as they powered towards the gate they were boarding from, determined that nothing was going to make them miss it this time. ‘Oh… that’s better.’
Becky hadn’t eaten anything at breakfast. Embarrassment and terror were filling her gut in equal measure. Terror because Ms O’Neill had seemed really quite annoyed that she wasn’t yet at the house and had spent a long time ranting about security and solicitors and her husband being a control freak when they had eventually made phone contact. Then Ms O’Neill had carried on saying how Becky needed to get there to ensure no one tried to enter the house. For a second Becky wondered who exactly would be trying to enter the house because, as a woman on her own, looking for a quiet, idyllic Greek village, hearing someone might be trying to invade wasn’t exactly heartening. But when the missed flight scenario had been fully explained, the English woman had calmed down a little. The embarrassment bit was still from her half-attempting to kiss Elias.
‘Did you see Elias at breakfast?’ Petra asked, her comment coinciding nicely with Becky’s train of thought.
‘No,’ she answered. ‘Not that I was looking.’ She had been looking. She had been looking so she could avoid him. He was obviously going to be on this flight, but the less she saw of him now the better. She felt too awkward that she had misread things. Her signals weren’t up to speed and reading How to Find the Love of Your Life or Die Trying when she got beneath the Egyptian cotton had basically told her the same. She had broken one of the golden rules. She hadn’t waited the twenty seconds before moving in for the kiss. Apparently those twenty seconds were crucial. It gave both parties time to consider what happened next and the consequences of their actions. Except, Elias had no potential to be the love of her life. Perhaps she would have been better getting a copy of How to Find Anyone of the Opposite Sex Even if it’s Only for One Night or Die Trying. If such a book existed. Maybe she should make notes on all her faux-pas and write it…
‘He went a bit quiet when I brought Panos to join us on the steps last night. D’you think he was jealous? D’you think he really did think he could have us both later?’
‘No… well… not both of us, I don’t think. Maybe you. Maybe he thought he was in a chance with you until Panos came over.’
‘Panos was so hot though,’ Petra said, dragging her large backpack up her back. ‘And sweet. I could have seen us getting a little place together with Plato and living on olives and sweet white wine for the rest of our days.’
They had called the cat Plato. But Becky had suggested it was better not to take the cat on the metro back to their hotel. Panos had come however and he and Petra had disappeared up to her room without even a side glance from the receptionist on the way in. Maybe Becky didn’t need a relationship book at all. Perhaps she just needed to spend more time in Petra’s company learning from the obvious Mistress of Seduction. Elias had excused himself pretty quickly when they’d got back to the Sofitel. And there Becky had been, alone, being internally crucified by her own shame. She hadn’t even had the energy to look at the nursing home menu.
‘No chance of us missing the plane this time, we’re almost the first ones here,’ Petra remarked. There was a small group of people sat on the seats waiting in front of the big screen displaying their flight number including the older couple with their sticks and the family with the young children who had all seemed to be covered in coco-flakes at breakfast.
And there was Elias. Sat furthest away from everyone, his laptop on his knee. Becky swallowed and hoped Petra wouldn’t notice and suggest they went over to him.
*
Elias had seen them arrive at the gate but he had kept his head down. What had happened last night had literally scared him to death. That moment. A moment he thought he would never have again had ripped through him at a million miles an hour. Becky had laughed at the story of his birth and it had been so genuine. She had listened to him as if she was really interested. And such a carefree sound leaving her had suddenly and unexpectedly lightened everything inside of him. He had felt almost instantly weightless. Like the heavy worry he seemed to constantly carry around with him had been lifted for the first time in so long. He’d looked at her and an intense feeling had filled him up and he’d wanted nothing more than to cover her mouth with his and give in to the passion, the desire, the flush of a new connection. But when he looked at Becky again, thought about closing in, feeling her body against his, he had been flooded with memories of Hestia – the beautiful ones as well as the ugly. Disappointment, fear and regret had stalled him, broken into the perfect seconds and then the reverie had taken over. He’d backed off. He’d had to remove himself. And when he’d retreated, he’d been flooded with guilt as well. As nice and unexpected as it had been, he shouldn’t want something else. Not with someone like Becky. Someone who was worried about giving too much in case she got exploited. Someone who carried around a relationship handbook…
He looked up from his laptop now, chancing a glance at the passengers around the gate. Petra had her plaits pinned to the top of her head making it look like she was balancing chopsticks on her crown. Becky was… looking as fresh-faced and naturally beautiful as he remembered last night.