I awoke with a start the next day, stretching my aching muscles and revelling in the feeling of post-work out soreness. Since Jason didn’t work at the gym on the weekend, it suddenly left me at a loss for what to do. I’d promised my cousin to watch her performance on Sunday, so I had today for myself. I decided to keep up the good routine and went down to the beach for a morning swim, trying to exert my aching muscles. At the breakfast buffet I tried to eat a little less than normal, opting for one piece of toast instead of two and less butter and cheese. I couldn’t refrain from a sugary drink, so I ordered an iced tea as usual.

After that, I headed back to my room and did more research to prepare for my job. I studied architectural sites, churches, temples, and mosaics. I memorised restaurants and cafés, places to rent cars, mopeds, four-wheelers, bicycles and boats. There was a zoo to recommend, and two waterparks. Plenty of day trips to recommend to the Blue Lagoon, or diving excursions with our own rented-in company. I made a list of everything I thought I wouldn’t remember, and saved it as a note on my phone.

After that, I shut the laptop and peered out of the window. The sun was still high on the sky; it was just after noon. Too hot for suntanning or swimming, and I felt too restless to read any of the novels I’d brought with me.

Feeling a little mischievous, I decided to go for a walk by the garage. I didn’t know if Jason worked there on the weekends, but I still wanted to give it a shot, just in case. I wore a loose summer blouse over my turquoise bikini, matched with jean shorts. My flip flops smacked softly against the cobbled path. Anticipation filled me with every step. I had to remind myself to breathe easily.

There was one guy I knew there, a friend of my brother’s when he had used to work as a scuba instructor. After that my brother had moved to the other side of the island to work as a photographer. It had been almost a year since I’d last seen him, so I guess I missed him. I would probably be able to pay him a visit after watching my cousin’s dance show.

Dylan saw me approach and gave me a little wave. He was older than my brother; I pegged him to be somewhere in his early thirties, though he had a smallish build and a long face free from wrinkles. His tan was so deep it looked almost ruddy, and his dark dreadlocks were tied at the nape of his neck. He was washing a pile of hung up scuba diving suits with a water hose.

‘Hey there, Mithra! Been a while since I saw you. You on holiday?’

‘Until tomorrow,’ I replied, shuffling into the shade so I didn’t have to squint so hard. ‘Stelios offered me a job.’

‘Oh? As what?’

‘A receptionist.’

‘Well, look at that, it suits you.’

I smiled. I didn’t have the courage to ask him about his employee, so I settled for something else. ‘How’s business going?’

‘Going good,’ he replied. ‘The usual. Hasn’t been as fun since your brother left, though a new guy joined the team recently, so hopefully it’ll liven things up. How is your brother, anyway?’

I’d been kind of hoping to follow up with a question about the “new guy”, but only said, ‘He’s good. Last I heard he was doing photoshoots for a magazine.’

‘Big shot,’ Dylan said with a grin.

I shrugged. ‘I might see him tomorrow, I’ll be in Pafos then.’

‘Say hi from me—and tell him to visit!’

I left the garage after that, continuing my walk around the hotel, still hoping I’d see Jason lurking around. But he was nowhere to be found. Likely he was home on his day off. When I neared the bar I saw Blake by the pool table, playing by himself. He was focused on lining up his shot, so he didn’t notice me when I slid into a barstool and gave my order to Petros.

Blake must have recognised my voice, because he was looking at me when I turned around to watch him.

‘Hi,’ I called, easing a leisurely arm over the back of the stool. I didn’t take my eyes from him, wanting to see him execute his shot.

‘Hey.’ He hesitated for a moment, then lowered himself over the table and lined up his shot again. He squinted, pulling his cue slightly backward, then it darted forward in a straight line. The ball dashed from wall to wall and into its pocket. Blake straightened and let out a breath.

‘Good shot,’ I offered.

‘Thanks.’

I peered at his arms, wondering if his muscles were smarting like mine were. ‘How do you feel after yesterday?’

He shrugged. ‘Not too bad.’

Petros set my drink by my hand then. I thanked him, taping a sip of the sour lemonade while Petros began to wipe down the surfaces. There were only a few other patrons this early in the day, so there wasn’t much for him to do. I slid off my stool with my drink in hand and approached the pool table.

‘Mind if I join?’

Blake was chalking his cue, blue dust drifting past his black shorts. ‘Sure.’

I set my drink aside and started chalking a cue while he cleared the table. He plucked the triangle from beneath it and gathered the balls to their starting point. The white cue ball was on the opposite end. ‘Want to break?’ he offered.

‘No.’

His eyebrow hitched up a fraction, but he didn’t comment. He positioned himself at the head of the table. I watched quietly as he lifted the triangle and lined up his shot. When he broke, the balls scattered wildly, and two striped ones landed in a pocket, one after another.

I growled, crossing my arms over my chest. ‘That’s not fair.’

He lifted a shoulder. ‘You didn’t want to break.’

I rolled my eyes and took a sip from my drink while he lined up another shot. He didn’t miss.

‘Are you some kind of pro or something?’ I gasped, annoyed.

‘No.’ He seemed non-plussed. ‘Do you want to have a go?’

‘That’s not how the rules go.’

‘Doesn’t matter.’

‘I don’t want to cheat,’ I said resolutely. ‘So play.’

He lowered himself with a sigh. I could have sworn he missed his next shot on purpose. ‘Your turn.’

I pursed my lips at him but made no comment. I took some time choosing which ball to strike, seeing as I didn’t want to make an ass out of myself. I lined up the cue with the ball, a solid red one, and tried to position the cue properly in my hand before I aimed and struck. The red ball shot like a bullet toward the corner and disappeared into the pocket. I straightened, pleasantly surprised. But when I tried again, I missed. When it was Blake’s turn, he scored three balls in a row, and by the time I could get another one in, he’d scored his last. That left the black one, which he scored on his first try.

I sighed and lay the cue back in its holder. ‘That was fun,’ I muttered.

‘Sorry,’ Blake offered, putting the remaining balls back in the compartment beneath the table. ‘I’ll play worse next time.’ I could have sworn a joke hid somewhere in his words.

‘No, you won’t.’

The corner of his mouth twitched. ‘Fine, I won’t.’

I reached for my glass and played with the straw. ‘Are you hanging around here in the hopes that Jas will walk by?’

He didn’t react, though he blushed a little. ‘I like pool,’ he said evasively, lifting his arms. ‘One of the few activities that doesn’t crave a lot of hand and foot coordination.’

‘She doesn’t work on the weekends,’ I volunteered.

He only nodded in response.

‘Do you want to do something?’

He looked up. ‘With who?’

‘With me.’

‘Do something? Like what?’

I slapped my knee in exasperation. ‘I don’t know, like hang out?’

‘With you?’

‘Yes, with me.’

‘Doing what?’

I didn’t really know what I had in mind. I caught sight of a boxed card game by the bar and reached for it. ‘Do you like card games?’

‘Oh, sure.’

So we sat down by one of the tables and rifled through different two-player games to play. At last we settled on double solitaire. Blake ordered a light beer from the bar and sipped on it quietly while his long, slender fingers picked at the cards splayed in his hand. He would look at me just over the rim of his cards sometimes, like he couldn’t quite figure out what I was doing with him.

‘Can you tell me something about Jasmine?’ he asked at last, when we were nearing the end of the game.

‘Um, I guess it depends on what.’

‘Just…anything. What does she like to do?’

I mulled his words over. What did Jasmine like to do? She liked to hang out with her friends. She liked partying. Sometimes she exercised; she might go for a jog or a swim, but her body was slender and soft, with little muscle. She liked fashion and shopping and make-up. She would read magazines sometimes, or watch drama shows on Netflix.

I decided to disclose all of it, seeing nothing shameful or wrong with any of her interests. Blake listened in silence, nodding along slowly, though a crease seemed to have formed on his forehead by the time I finished.

‘So she’s not particularly ambitious or studious,’ he concluded at last.

‘No,’ I said. ‘She’s worked at the hotel since she finished school. She likes doing what she does.’

‘She likes being a waitress?’

I shrugged. ‘Sure. She likes to meet new people. She’s friends with all her coworkers. She gets to hang out by the beach when her shift ends and she parties it up with her other friends from school. It’s not a bad life.’ Even as I said it, I felt little appeal for the life she lived. I had always dreamt of some grandeur in my life, of being important to the world in some way. Maybe helping it become a better place, or just pursuing all the knowledge it had to offer. I knew I wanted to go to University someday, I just didn’t know what to study yet.

Blake looked down into his lap, seeming to be thinking everything over. I knew just from a glance at him that Blake wasn’t a simple person either. There was a NASA symbol on his t-shirt, and he had an elaborate wristwatch with math symbols on it.

‘Surely you aren’t pursuing Jasmine for her brains and intellect?’ I teased him, trying to bring a smile to his sombre face. He always looked so serious, like he was doing advanced math in his head.

He gave me an embarrassed glance before brushing his thumb over the glass of his wristwatch. ‘No, I guess I’m not.’

‘She really is fun to be around,’ I assured him, making my voice gentler. ‘She makes everyone feel welcome. She’s curious about things, even though she might not be concerned with the secret workings of the universe.’ Blake breathed through his nose, an amused noise, and the corner of his lip seemed to pull unwillingly. ‘She does like horoscopes though,’ I added.

He palmed his forehead, laughing to himself now. ‘I don’t know why I want her, to be honest.’

‘Because she’s gorgeous,’ I supplied, raising an eyebrow at him. ‘And charismatic, and friendly, and confident. It’s okay to like people like that, you know.’

He shot me an exasperated look. ‘I know that. It’s just that…I don’t know, I guess she isn’t really my type.’

‘And what is your type?’ I asked him, threading my hands beneath my chin. ‘Is there even such a thing?’

He frowned, fiddling with the lip of his bottle. ‘Well, it’s not so much about the looks, really. Just…you know, what’s inside.’ He looked a little uncomfortable admitting it, but I completely understood what he meant. I knew what it was like to feel attracted to certain inner qualities, like guys who were quick-minded and intelligent, who thought things over and wondered about the bigger picture. About what was out among the stars, or what of history lingered in our flesh and bone. That’s what I had tried to pursue in the past, after that fiasco of a first kiss. I’d just wanted someone who spoke to my inner self, who shared a similar thirst for knowledge and understanding, who was considerate and reflective. But no. Those kinds of guys had never seemed to want the same things in me.

‘I understand what you mean,’ I murmured at last, though I let the subject drop. For now, Blake and I were content to pursue something that wasn’t meant for us, to play a game on the other side of the court. Who knew where it would take us; probably it wouldn’t take us anywhere. But there was no hurt in trying. There was no harm in stepping out of your comfort zone and experiencing something new.

‘What do you do?’ he asked, peering into my face. ‘At home, I mean.’

I splayed my hands on the table, palm up. ‘I finished school with top grades, and it felt like I knew exactly what I wanted to do then. I studied some political science courses, and then my interest kind of just…dimmed. I don’t know why. I guess I started feeling a little weary of the world, like it was all too overwhelming to handle.’

‘And then?’

‘Started working at my dad’s company as an administrator. I studied some online courses, literature, environmental science, psychology…I feel like I’m interested in everything. Obviously, that didn’t make it any easier to choose.’

‘How come you’re here alone?’ he asked, glancing toward the pool and then up to the hotel, as if he expected my family to appear somewhere.

‘I decided to quit my job at my dad’s, and was kind of thirsting for sunshine and warmth after being in Sweden for so long. My parents will come in a month or so, though they’ll be staying in their vacationing home in Pafos. I was going to join them there when they come, but now that I’ve been offered a job…’ I explained a little more about the family situation, how my dad was Cypriot, and how we had lived in Pafos for seven years before finally settling back into the cold and effectiveness that was Sweden.

‘What about you?’ I asked at last, curious about his background.

‘Kind of a mixed family situation, like you,’ he said, lifting his hand to order another beer. ‘My dad is half-English, half-Belgian. We used to live in the UK, until…well, until my parents split.’

‘Oh,’ I said, not sure what to say to that. ‘I’m sorry.’

He waved a hand. ‘Don’t worry about it, it was ages ago. Anyway,’ he went on, ‘after that my mom moved back to Cyprus, and ever since I’ve been visiting her every summer. She wanted me to come live with her, but I wanted to stay in English school.’

‘Do you have any Greek?’ I asked.

‘None, I’m afraid.’ Blake rubbed the stubble on his cheek. ‘My dad was adamant about teaching me French and Dutch. My mom lived most of her life in England anyway, so she and I never spoke Greek with each other, though she knows it.’

‘Does she know Stelios?’ I wondered. Everyone seemed to know him.

‘Yep. That’s why I always stay here in the summer, he gives us a discount.’

I laughed. ‘Of course he does.’

We chatted some more about what it was like having multicultural parents, to feel like one didn’t truly belong anywhere, and I was surprised when Blake admitted that he wished he’d been more brave in his youth and lived in Cyprus for a while. His mother didn’t like to be apart from him, so she insisted on him spending his summers here, though sometimes she’d come to England over Christmas and spend it with him and his father. I shared a little what it had been like to experience the culture shock, moving to Cyprus at a young age and having to learn Greek all of a sudden, what it had been like to move back when I’d finally found a place I thought I belonged in. We clinked our glasses to multiculturalism and shared some more laughs, but the day was still young.

‘What should we do now?’ Blake asked, amusement dancing in his dark eyes.

‘I’m not sure…’ I said. ‘It’s barely time for dinner.’

He leaned back in his chair, stretching out his long legs. ‘What do other people do on a Saturday?’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Party, obviously.’

He wrinkled his nose. ‘Not really my thing,’ he said.

‘I don’t mind a good party,’ I contradicted him. ‘But I’m not fond of bar street, and that’s most likely where Jasmine will be with her friends tonight.’

Blake perked up at that. ‘Do you usually go with them?’

I shook my head. ‘I went once—then never went again.’

The dark eyes turned shrewd. ‘How come?’

I squirmed uncomfortably. ‘Let’s just say that they drink. A lot. It’s kinda hard to communicate with people that are that inebriated, especially when you don’t drink.’

‘I’m not a big drinker either,’ Blake admitted, sloshing the liquid in his beer bottle. ‘This is most of what I can handle.’ He tipped the bottle to his lips and emptied the contents. ‘Still,’ he said, wiping his mouth with his wrist, ‘that leaves us with nothing to do.’

‘Not quite…’ I began. ‘We could always go to the gym.’

‘The gym?’ he asked, startled. ‘On a Saturday?’

I shrugged. ‘Why not?’

‘But Jason isn’t with us.’

I snorted. ‘So what? I don’t want to be dependent on him for exercise. Do you?’

‘Definitely not.’ He studied me, apparently trying to see whether I was being serious. ‘So we go to the gym? Like, now?’

‘Now is as good a time as any. We’ll be back just in time for dinner.’

‘Alright then.’

‘We can meet in the reception in say, fifteen minutes?’

‘Sounds good.’

So we parted. Blake walked to the apartments to the right, and I veered toward the left. Back in my room, I pulled off the blouse and shorts and dragged on the same gym outfit I’d worn yesterday. It wouldn’t be super fresh, but it didn’t smell too bad. I put my gym shoes in the bag, along with the rest of my stuff, snagged my car keys from the bureau, and walked to the reception. Blake stood there already, also wearing the same outfit as yesterday. He gave me a nod, and we walked toward the car.

At the gym, we nervously blipped our cards. A woman stood at the reception, and she beamed at us with a “welcome!” before we sauntered into the changing rooms. I only went there to tie on my gym shoes and to stow the gym bag in a locker. When I came out, Blake was waiting for me.

‘What do we do?’ he asked. ‘Just machines?’

‘I suppose so. I better go back to the Torture machine again.’

Blake huffed and walked to the large glass windows, where the lifting weighs were. I was just about to step up on the band of the treadmill when I heard a voice call from behind me.

‘Mithra!’

I recognised his voice right away. In a panic, I remembered the hasty ponytail I’d set my hair up in, and straightened my top a little. Jason bounced to a stop beside me, looking sweaty but delighted. ‘Look at you,’ he said, eyeing me frankly. ‘Back already?’

I squirmed, managing to nudge my shoulders up in a “yes”. ‘I didn’t have anything else to do,’ I said, realising too late how awful that sounded. But then it occurred to me that Jason was here too—on his day off, no less.

‘Aren’t you free today?’ I asked, trying not to sound accusatory.

‘I am,’ he agreed, wiping his forehead with a towel. ‘But I still need to work out every day.’

I shuddered. ‘That’s depressing.’

He guffawed at that. ‘It’s none so bad,’ he countered. ‘Guess neither of us have anything exciting to do on a Saturday.’

‘Is this my future?’ I complained, gesturing around us. ‘I have to spend an hour here every day?’

‘You don’t,’ he assured me with a grin. ‘But you don’t have muscles to maintain.’ He flexed his chest for my benefit, visible through his drenched shirt.

I gave a shy laugh and turned forward, not sure how to conduct myself around him. He was being awfully familiar with me, and it was making excitement well up in my bones. I had to struggle to keep my cool.

‘Is Blake here too?’ he inquired, casting his eyes around the gym. When he located him, he gave a wave and a nod of his head. Blake only nodded in return. ‘You’re a power team,’ he said, his eyes glittering into mine.

‘Yep,’ I agreed. ‘Trouble and make it double, as they say.’ The words slipped out before I could stop them. I immediately felt idiotic.

But Jason only chuckled good-naturedly. ‘Do you want some self-defence lessons today?’

‘But…it’s your day off,’ I said, searching his eyes. Was he hoping to make more cash this way?

He shrugged. ‘I don’t need to be paid to teach you that stuff. It’s fun.’

‘Oh.’ I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, not knowing what to do. It felt mean to refuse him when he’d offered, even though I knew it had to be an inconvenience to him. ‘You really don’t have to…’ I murmured.

‘Oh, I like doing it.’ He tapped the screen of the treadmill. ‘How about this; do your usual run and then come find me in the fighting room.’

I swallowed and nodded. ‘Okay.’

I didn’t know what it was that was making me nervous, but I felt compelled to run for as long as possible—longer than I had yesterday, though I kept the same pacing. In the background I could hear the grunts and clinking of weighs accompanying Blake’s efforts. I found that I was feeling kind of proud over him. Here we were, two lost souls in a crowded gym, trying to improve ourselves for something as ridiculous and fleeting as the dream of a summer fling.

When my lungs were bursting from exertion, I finally lowered the speed on the treadmill and came gradually to a stop. I drank heavily from my water bottle while I walked over to Blake, who was rowing now. I tapped him on the shoulder.

‘Do you want to come along to the fighting room?’

He nodded, doing a last rep before he set the bar into its holder and rose himself to his full height. ‘Let’s go.’

Jason was waiting for us in the same room as yesterday, though he’d put some music on this time. Rap pulsed out of the speakers, though the volume was low enough for us to hear him speak.

‘Ah, there you are.’ He sauntered over to our sides and gave us both an encouraging grin. ‘Ready for some more basic lessons?’

We nodded in unison.

‘Alright, well, I thought Blake could practice some kicks today, and Mithra—I want you to learn a simple dodge this time, nothing complicated.’ I waited while he showed Blake over to the same punching bag as yesterday, watching as he demonstrated the move. He really was graceful, and very balanced. He showed Blake how to properly rotate his hips, at what angle to strike with the leg, a ninety-degree angle that was parallel with the floor. I felt kind of intrigued, eager to learn some of it as well, but decided it would be rude to interrupt his instructions. I could always learn some offensive fighting after I’d mastered self-defence. When Blake began practicing the manoeuvre, Jason jogged back to my side.

‘Ready?’ he asked me, grinning as usual.

I nodded.

He guided me toward the middle of the mats again, and demonstrated how to dodge a simple punch. He went at it slow, showing me how to grasp the side of the arm and use its momentum to veer aside. Then gradually he moved faster and faster, until I could react quickly enough in return. It was quite fun, actually. I saw Blake eyeing us from across the room when I requested a water break. He was breathing hard already, so Jason called for us to stop, deciding we’d done enough for today.

He shooed us off with hopes that we’d return tomorrow as well, though I only mumbled a vague response, knowing I’d probably not have time to squeeze in another gym session after the drive tomorrow.

On the ride back Blake would glance in my direction, apparently thinking he was being subtle.

I gave him a brief glance of exasperation. ‘Are you going to say what you’re clearly wanting to say?’

‘Sorry,’ he muttered, looking out of his side window.

‘No need to be sorry,’ I assured him. ‘Just spit it out.’

‘I just wanted to say thank you.’

This surprised me. ‘For what?’

He gestured between us. ‘For this. For taking the initiative. For driving us here.’

‘Oh.’ I found I was blushing. ‘No problem.’

We didn’t say anything more, though I felt like our friendship had grown just a tad stronger that day.

#

We were more at ease with each other when dinner rolled around. Blake told me that he was on his third year of studying physics, which of course prompted a million questions on what it was like to study such a heavy degree in an English university. Blake shrugged and said that it was quite boring, really. He was very focused on his studies, so he didn’t have a lot of friends. He had gradually grown tired of life in England.

‘I guess I just want to experience something new,’ he said as we started it on our dessert. ‘I’m starting on my last year now and kind of don’t have a plan for what I want to do afterward…’

‘Do you want to keep studying?’ I asked.

‘Yeah. I’ll go on to do a master’s degree, I suppose. I had my sights on studying in the US, actually, but I’m not sure I’ll enjoy the climate there.’

‘The climate?’ I wondered. ‘The socio-political climate, you mean.’

He nodded. ‘Maybe it’s silly to care about that,’ he admitted, though I didn’t find it silly at all. ‘It’s not like England is any better.’

‘Better,’ I said, ‘but not the best, no.’

‘I’m kind of jealous of you Scandinavians,’ he added, with a gleam in his eye. ‘Your countries just seem to have it so…together. What’s it like living there?’

‘Orderly,’ was the first word I could think of. ‘Organised. No obvious class differences, no political drama. At least in Sweden,’ I added. ‘I’ve no idea what the other Nordics are like.’

He played with his chocolate pudding. He’d barely finished half of it. ‘All I’ve heard is that Norway is expensive as hell. Denmark has the happiest people in the world, and Finns like saunas.’

I laughed. ‘More or less accurate, I suppose.’

‘And would you say that Sweden is the best out of the four?’

‘I would,’ I agreed. ‘But I’m biased, no?’

He chuckled. ‘I guess you are.’

I pursed my lips, studying the lowered eyes, the little shyness that always seemed to linger around his expression. ‘There are many good Swedish universities,’ I said. ‘And they’re big on research, science, all that.’

‘I know.’ He spun his glass on the silky white tablecloth. ‘And a lot of it is in English, I hear.’

‘Yep.’

‘Hmm.’ He pursed his lips, his gaze focused on the glass. ‘I’d do well to learn some Swedish then.’

I lifted an eyebrow at him. ‘Can’t see why not, you seem to have an affinity for languages.’

He smiled. ‘Maybe.’

‘Well,’ I said, dragging my chair back. ‘If you ever move to Sweden, at least you’ll have one friend there.’

The smile turned into something sweeter. ‘That’s nice.’