Winter Hearts

In Which Siana Greets the Guests

It was already dark, the sun long sinking below the watery horizon to the west.

She asked her cousins if they wanted to hang and have dinner. They all begged off, saying they were expected home by their families. She nodded, wishing their families well and promising to meet again soon.

She knew she would be seeing Panos regularly because he would be helping her with guests whenever they wanted tour logistics taken care of, like car rentals and day tour packages. At the hotel, he and his dad Stavros were the PR reps and would do on a larger scale what she would do on a tiny scale. Basically, when she couldn't handle a job, she would call in Panos for help.

She got on the bike after saying goodbye and cycled back the way she came. When she hit the esplanade she stopped by a small grill joint that made gyros and bought herself one, the Greek version of kebabs and shawarmas. The owner knew her dad and asked after her and welcomed her back. She took the tightly wrapped package and put it in her jacket pocket, and in no time she was cycling back home.

She was already cooling down, but drying sweat made her feel sticky and her hair, tied up during the game, was getting everywhere and slicking to her skin. She felt like she had ropes clinging to her neck as strands stuck to her. She approached the house, seeing a white minibus parked at the front. A man was unloading baggage from the back of it onto the pavement in front of their front door.

She thought her dad said they would be coming later that night.

They must have arrived early. Her dad would be handling it alone when he had expected to have her helping him.

She had no time to spare. She just parked the bike by the kerb and ran up to the door. The guy handling the baggage looked up and saw her in surprise. She smiled and said hello. He replied in english, so she asked him if they had all gone upstairs already. He nodded and pointed to the lobby.

She peered in to see her dad waiting with another man for the lift. They were talking, slowly in english, but from what she could hear her father was struggling with the man's accent.

She quickly approached them, checking her gyros was still in her pocket as she sauntered over.

Mikhalis looked up with obvious relief on his face.

"Siana, you might be able to understand better. They arrived early, and are very tired so they just want to rest. There's eight of them."

Siana's eyes widened.

"Eight? Is there enough space for you all in the penthouse?" She turned to look at the man with her dad. She immediately saw he was asian, although she couldn't say where from.

But there was something familiar about him, as if she had seen his type before.

Yeah, like every golf club member she ever saw when she used to visit the club with her grandmother back when they were living in Sabah.

The man seemed to peer at her closely, which she supposed would be normal, since she realised that to him, she looked like the one other asian he had seen here in this tiny port town full of greek people.

"There are four single beds and a double bed in the penthouse. Won't you need more space? We can arrange for extra beds or you may find it better to rent a separate smaller apartment. Anyway, where is everyone else?"

The man pointed at the lift. She could see it was engaged and on the way up.

"Lifteu too small."

She almost smiled. As they say, think of something often enough and it manifests. Her mind had been on Koreans all during her trip, and suddenly, here stood one in her building.