A Song Amongst the Orange Trees (The Greek Village Collection Book 13) Read Free Page A

vegetables.
    'Truth is, when you got sick, Andreas made me an offer. He needed to keep milking your win. You know this expression of the English, to milk?' Sakis nods. 'There was no one to take care of you. So we made a deal. If I came back to Athens with you, then he would open doors for me when you go to America. You've heard of the American magazine Urban Unchained , right?'
    Sakis looks up from dipping his spoon in his bowl. He knows Urban Unchained —who in the music world doesn't?
    'I intend to be a journalist for them. So if Andreas can open some of the doors to musicians, then I will make sure I write what Urban Unchained likes to print. Meanwhile, I am capitalising on spending this time with you.' He does not drink his soup quietly.
    Sakis had not expected such open honesty or steadfast ambitions from him. With his skin-and-bone frame holding up cheap, overwashed t-shirts and his not-very-recently cut hair, Sakis had sort of categorised him as—well, if he was honest, after he found he had spent the first night freeloading on his sofa, he had considered him a bit of a drifter despite working for such a solid European magazine. This new perspective makes much more sense about why they get on so well. They are as determined as each other.
    'By the way, there are still reporters camped outside on the pavement waiting for you, you know?' Jules continues, almost in the same breath. 'And a line of girls with banners and slogans addressed to you. They call your name and wear t-shirts with your picture on.' This is accompanied with a gentle laugh. 'I think you disappearing from the limelight so suddenly has increased everyone’s interest.' With this, he drains his bowl, forsaking his spoon.
    The phone rings. Jules offers to answer but Sakis feels bored with being ill so long, so he answers himself. It is Andreas.
    'Right, Sakis, don't speak, just listen.' Sakis puts the phone onto speaker so he can put it down on the bedside table. 'I have recycled the films of you being interviewed in the Ukraine. I am going to get some of them edited to make them look like they are new clips, and I’ve dug some of your older interviews up and I am getting several press releases out there. So far, I have kept the momentum going. I mean, when you hit America, you may be there for some time, so the Greek public will have to get used to just getting snippets of your life anyway. The American deal, I have managed to push back for a weeks. If you are not recovered enough to sing, which of course you will be by then, they may be able to push it back for a further week or maybe two, but I wouldn't count on it.'
    Sakis grunts in response.
    'Now, the doctor said to get you out of the pollution, so I have booked you and Jules a couple of hotel rooms out of Athens, away from it all. She seemed to think the air quality was an important factor. I found a hotel down near that village where I think you said your yiayia used to live?'
    'Near Saros?' Sakis asks, the surprise evident in his voice. It has been a long time since he was there. The last time was, well when was it? He must have been about eleven. No, he went back later. But he did not like the way people responded to him, what they called him. He was a nobody down there in the shadows of his baba.
    'Yes, that’s the one,' Andreas answers him. 'The hotel is between Saros and the village, a bit nearer the village, I think. It should be alright. They have hire cars; it's by the beach. Anyway, if you feel well enough to travel, I can send the car tomorrow. It's an hour and a half drive. What do you think? Can you manage that?'
    Sakis would like to refuse to go. He would like to bound out of his flat and just enjoy his win, make the most of it. The longer time passes, the more he will be forgotten. But his rasping throat, aching limbs, and overall weakness give him no option.
    'I guess.' Well, what else can he say?
    'Can you put Jules on?'
    'I am here,' Jules says.
    'Oh, okay, Jules. Keep spooning