The English Lesson (The Greek Village Collection Book 11) (7 page)
Read The English Lesson (The Greek Village Collection Book 11) Online
Authors: Sara Alexi
Toula
The smell is all invasive. She felt her stomach turn over. The electrician has one arm over his nose and mouth, working hard with his free hand.
‘That’s a dead animal, that is,’ he tells her, struggling to get the lift open. ‘I’ll get that out for you and then when it has aired a bit, I can work on the electrics.’ And with these words, the doors swing outwards.
The electrician’s jaw drops open and his hand covers his nose and mouth. The flies come at them like angry hornets. His screwdriver clangs as it hits the lift’s metal floor. Half a step closer, one step away. Turning, he dry retches, eyes closed.
'Don't look.' He makes a gasp for breath. He steps between Toula and the lift, hands on her shoulders, turning her, pushing her. But it is too late, she has seen. Her fingers drop from her own nose.
An eye socket. One gaping, dark, empty eye socket. A dried, black stain beneath the backside. The legs twisted to fit the space. The head at a strange angle, tilted, against the wall. Skin drawn over bone. Epidermis slippage on the jawline. Indented cheeks. A cockroach wriggles, squeezes out between the swollen black tongue and the dark purple lips, scuttles over parched chin, down inside his shirt. The cat freezes in motion over the exposed ankle, chewing the remaining mouthful.
Toula squeals and her body turns but her head remains still. Her eyes will not stop staring. It isn't real. But it is. His suit, stained, gradating darker near the floor. It is getting dirty, lying in the pool of... The smell is so intense. Her hand returns to her nose. The electrician rushes outside, throws up. The cat, narrowing its eyes against the light, smelling the fresh air, rushes for freedom.
But still, Toula cannot look away. The remaining eye open, veiled opaque. Unreal. Glass, unfocused, lifeless. Fixed on his bone-protruding hand that rests on his chest. Fingers grasped, firmly clenched, on his open watch.
All that can be heard is the steady ticking of his repeater, but for Apostolis, there is no time left at all.
Juliet
Juliet gasps then reads aloud, ‘They found the body of Kyrios Apostolis Maraveyas.' She pauses to let this information sink in. 'The post mortem shows that he died of,' another pause as she translates the word into English in her head before speaking, 'dehydration, having been imprisoned, it appeared, in the lift for the entire two weeks his wife was away.'
'Oh how horrible!' Michelle comments.
Juliet shivers. It starts in her shoulders and descends the length of her spine before the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She had watched as Toula drove away in the taxi that day. How long after that was it before Apostolis was stuck in the lift? But didn't Toula say they would take the same train up to Athens? She did! Juliet shivers again.
And what was that with Toula listening at her door before leaving? Not talking, not answering, just listening.
'Does it say anything else?' Michelle asks. The men have attached one corner of the sign to the wall and now concentrate on getting it level.
'No.' Juliet looks at the date of the newspaper and then picks up a newer copy from the next table. It is the subsequent release. She turns the first and second page and folds the newspaper back on itself.
'This is this week’s newspaper.'
‘Kyrios Apostolis Maraveyas left his estate to his wife and his nephew, Emilianos Maraveyas, who is also a joint benefactor of his considerable life insurance.' She turns the page for more, but there isn't any.
'You reading about Kyria Maraveyas?' one of the ladies at the next table asks.
Juliet nods sadly.
'A terrible tragedy.' She nods her head sadly in response. 'She is selling the lot, you know.' Now it is her friend who nods, but in a matter of fact way, as if such a choice was the only logical next step. 'The house and all her belongings. She is moving to London.'
Juliet opens her mouth to say something, but no sound comes out.
'She has arranged to buy a small mews in South Kensington, to be near her daughter,' the talkative woman’s friend chimes in. 'But what is a 'mews,' I wonder.' A little knot of muscle forms between her eyes. The ladies pay and leave, wishing Juliet a good day. 'Did you understand all that?' Juliet asks Michelle, who seems content with however much she did grasp.
'I think it is a case of be careful of what you wish for. Didn't you say she was not totally happy and wanted to see more of her daughter?’ Michelle replies.
Juliet cannot shake the image of Toula listening through the door before getting into the taxi.
'Oh my God, I've got to go!' Michelle leaps up, catching the table with her knee, causing the hot chocolates to spill into their saucers.
'Wish me luck,' she shouts back at Juliet as she trots towards the station.
'Luck,' Juliet calls. In a few minutes, Michelle will be in Dino's arms. Their chests pressed against each other, their hearts synchronising and beating as one. They each will declare their undying love, and another partnership will be born.
How many years will it take for Michelle, or worse, Dino, to be listening at the door as the other cries for their freedom?
Juliet may have times when she is lonely, she may have times when it all feels a little pointless without someone to share all she does, but one thing she is absolutely certain of: she is not ready to risk having to pay such a high price. She is not that desperate. Not yet, anyway.
She mops at the hot chocolate with a paper napkin.
'You want me to help?' the waiter asks.
'No, thank you. I am fine.'
'Can I get you anything else?' he persists.
'No, really, I am okay.'
'Yes, fine,' the waiter says in broken English
Juliet is surprised to hear him speak to her in English and she looks up at him. He pulls out Michelle's chair and sits down. Juliet moves her knees slightly away from him.
'This the Juliet fine. I have been told.' With the flicker of a smile playing around his mouth, Juliet is not sure what to make of the exchange. 'And I believe her.' His accent is thick, his English not so good.
Juliet blinks as she tries to work out if she is meant to know who he is talking about.
'So, now she is gone, I can take her lesson period, yes? And money, it is not a problem.' He holds out his hand to Juliet. ‘Emilianos,’ he smiles, introducing himself.
She is not sure if it is the words he has spoken or the way he smiles as he looks in her eyes. She tries not to have this response, but it is almost as if she has no choice. Juliet shivers.
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Sara Alexi
About Sara Alexi
Sara Alexi divides her time between England and a small village in Greece. She is working on her next novel in the Greek Village Series, to be released soon!
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PUBLISHED BY:
Oneiro Press
The English Lesson
A Novella
Copyright © 2015 by Sara Alexi
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.