Free My Big Fat Christmas Wedding by Samantha Tonge Page B

door’s dog barked. A breeze stronger than we’d had all week rattled the outdoor shutter. All the villagers said the simple life suited me; gave me colour; filled out my skinny frame. And sure enough, my executive trousers felt snug.
    My chest tightened. I’d just about fit back into my old clothes, but would I fit back into London life and the conversations about finance and the West End? I bit my lip. Well, who cared? Life was real here in Taxos, living amongst people who did things that mattered, like baking bread, rearing farm animals and catching fish. Most of my friends in England had jobs dealing with goods you never physically saw nor touched, like shares and savings plans. I glanced at my suitcase which carried none of my Taxos market clothes and something – again, that bizarre sense of disloyalty to my new life – shifted inside me.
    ‘Time to go!’ called up Niko. I grabbed my belongings and headed downstairs. I gaped. At half past seven in the morning, with the sun just yawning its way into another day, there was quite a leaving party. Demetrios, Cosmo, Pandora…all of them were waiting, with good wishes, hugs, and pleas to hear all the news when we returned.
    ‘How sweet of them to come to see us off,’ I said to Niko for the umpteenth time, as we unbuckled our seats on the aeroplane, to disembark. It was almost two o’clock in the afternoon, London time, which left several hours to check into the hotel and get ready, before the party kicked off at seven.
    ‘These days it is a big thing for one of us to leave the village.’
    I glanced sideways as passengers around us collected their belongings. ‘You make Taxos sound as if it is stuck in the fifties! Loads of people from the village have travelled abroad.’
    Niko pulled his jumper over his head. ‘Yes, Pandora has been to Italy several times,’ he said in a muffled voice. ‘Cosmo cycled around Europe with friends…’ His head reappeared and he pushed his arms into the pullover. ‘… and my parents visited Paris for their honeymoon. The villagers are seasoned travellers like anyone else but not for the last couple of years, due to the recession.’
    ‘What about you?’
    He shrugged and attempted to smooth down his unruly hair. ‘I’ve seen the Greek mainland. Plus I’ve visited family in Rhodes and Zakynthos with Mama and Papa. But apart from that…’
    ‘Niko! I knew you’d turned down a trip to Florida, but this is your first time abroad? Your first trip in an aeroplane?’
    ‘Like I always say, Taxos provides me with everything I need – family, friends, beautiful sights… Visiting other countries is an urge that has never prodded me. You and I had great summers together.’
    My chest glowed. ‘Remember the day trip we took to Nisyros, to see the volcano?’
    ‘We could feel the heat under our feet.’
    ‘And the dolphin cruise?’
    We looked at each other and chuckled. Mum and Dad had booked it as a treat, little knowing the boat would be full of a drunken 18–30 crowd, more interested in pulling the opposite sex than observing fish.
    ‘And you weren’t scared of flying today?’
    ‘No. The air holds no fear for me. I am more in awe of the sea that can roar and grow in size without warning. A few puffy clouds and rays of sunshine, pff!’ Niko shuffled back comfortably in his chair as we waited for the aisle to clear. We settled into silence for a few moments, him glancing through the in-flight magazine, me staring out of the window.
    However, my mind filled with imaginary pictures, not real ones of parked planes and baggage carts. Images, that is, of Henrik – and Olivia. They would meet us in a few minutes. He’d insisted on driving us to our budget hotel that was only a short way from the fancy party venue. I’d wanted to stay at Hamilton Lodge, where the event was to take place, but Niko had already searched online for the cheapest hotel he could find.
    And he was right. Spending money unnecessarily was senseless