Page 40 of Love Among the Ruins
CHAPTERTWELVE
ELENI
Her head was buzzing; the three cocktails she’d consumed might have had something to do with it.
Her friends had arrived last night, and it had been a late one. They’d had dinner then drinks, and more drinks, before hitting a nightclub and coming back to her hotel room at six in the morning. After waking up late in the afternoon, they lazed in bed and talked for a few more hours.
Later, they somehow summoned the energy to get dressed and went out again. This weekend was about celebrating her birthday with her friends, but as excited as she had been as soon as they’d arrived here, the energy started to seep out of her. By the time they’d had something to eat at one of the fancy booths upstairs, above the dancefloor, Eleni was ready to sleep. She didn’t want to hit the dance floor, unlike her friends.
The air electrified with laughter and chatter. Their table was littered with small plates of appetizers and empty cocktail glasses which a server hastily cleared away. Stefanos had done well to book a table at this new restaurant where bookings weren’t available until September. They’d only managed to get a table because of a last-minute cancellation, and it helped that Stefanos had flirted plenty with the guy on the phone, begging for a table. This wasn’t the ultra-chic and ultra-trendy, and ultra-pricey, restaurant in the VIP section, which was discreetly cordoned off from the dancefloor, but it was good enough.
“I like this one!” Phoebe shrieked, jumping up as a new track started. The new mother of a two-month-old seemed determined to make the most of her first weekend without a baby stuck to her breast. She started dancing on the spot. Servers rushing to and from tables were no obvious impediment to her moves. Angeliki jumped up and grabbed Eleni’s wrist. “Come on, we’re all going downstairs to dance before she headbutts a server.”
“One more!” cried Stefanos, as another tray of shots was delivered to their table. He handed out the shot glasses.
Phoebe clapped her hands together while still dancing.
Angeliki counted down.
They downed it at the same time. The burn of the liquid slid down Eleni’s throat and heated her insides. Her head was light, her body pumped with adrenaline. She felt happy. Filled with a heady buzz that only strong alcohol or pure love could give.
She grabbed Stefanos and the four of them bundled their way down the sleek spiral staircase—it was sheer luck that she didn’t trip on her six-inch heels and onto the dancefloor.
She lost herself in the music, in the thumping beat, the heavy bass, the energy fizzing in the air. She danced with abandon, feeling freer and happier than she had in a long, long time.
“Are you okay?” Stefanos’s voice in her ear sounded strange, like it was faraway. Suddenly, everything was funny, and she loved everyone. She started hugging and kissing her friends, telling them how happy she was that they were here with her.
“You’ve had too much to drink,” Stefanos shouted in her ear. She threw her arms around him. “I’m having so much fun. I love you,” she cried, before moving back into her own space to start dancing again. She blew a kiss to him, overcome with emotion and happiness. Stefanos cared. Her friends cared. They loved her. She wasn’t unwanted, and what her father had said didn’t matter.
It didn’t.
She slapped an errant hand away when it landed on her bottom; the second time since she’d started dancing. Then she turned around to throw a dirty look at the hand’s owner. Above them, women danced in little capsules accessible by steps and suspended about ten feet in the air above the heaving crowd.
A dancer vacated a capsule and Eleni quickly dove through the crowd, up the steps and to the capsules. She snagged the empty one. Here, alone with nothing but the music, she danced like a woman possessed.
* * *
DOMINIC
Goddamn typical.
Dominic got out of the car with Helen and moved towards the dark glass and silver building.
A tall server in a tux greeted them at the VIP entrance. “Please come with me. I will escort you to the VIP lounge.”
Dominic’s gut hardened to steel. He hated the place as soon as he heard the music.
“You said it was a business meeting,” Helen noted.
Dominic flexed a finger along his collar. At least he didn’t have to wear a tie or jacket. But he would rather have done that than come here. “With dinner.”
“But it’s so loud.”
“Beats me.” First Galatis and the ancient Greek relics, and now Thanos had gone and booked this of all places to meet. Why these people couldn’t stick to meetings in an office was beyond him.
“This is meant to be one of the hippest new places in Athens,” remarked Helen, sliding her fingers over the shiny silver and black panelling. “Consider yourself hip and trendy.”
“I just want a normal fucking meeting.”
