Sandy Barker - One Summer in Santorini

‘Yes,’ we said in unison.

‘Great.’ The second man, who I presumed was Duncan, leapt into action. He climbed out of the hatch, jumped off the boat and onto the pier, and grabbed both of our bags as though they weighed nothing. He climbed back onto the boat and said, ‘Come aboard! Oh, and shoes off please.’ Then he disappeared back below deck with our bags.

He was spry, I’d give him that. In fact, the whole exchange happened so quickly I caught myself standing and staring at the black hole where he had disappeared. ‘Well, I guess we found the right boat,’ Josh said to me quietly.

‘Absolutely,’ I replied. I slipped off my sandals and climbed over the railing onto the boat. It was a little trickier than I would have liked because I was wearing a short skirt. I hoped I wasn’t flashing my knickers to all and sundry. I noticed an amused smile on Josh’s face as he reached out to help. Was it smugness or chivalry? I took his hand, regardless. I didn’t want to fall into the water on my first day – or ever, for that matter.

Gary spoke up. ‘There’s actually two boats leaving from here tomorrow morning. That’s the other one, there.’ He pointed to the second boat Josh and I had seen from the end of the pier.

‘Oh, will we be sailing with them?’ I asked.

‘No, not really, but we’ll likely run into them from time to time. All women apparently.’ He laughed to himself. ‘I think our mix of people will be far better, hey Josh?’ He gave Josh what looked like a knowing grin.

What was this? The menfolk conspiring already? And how were Josh and I to know what the mix was? We had only met Gary and Duncan. Oh god, I hope I’m not the only woman! Josh, to his credit, answered Gary with a non-committal shrug.

I went below deck, and Josh followed. It was so dark I couldn’t see anything, and then I remembered I was wearing my sunglasses, so I flipped them on top of my head. I could see better, but only marginally. It was pretty dark below deck.

Duncan emerged from one of the cabins and soon after, two women appeared from two other cabins – I was not the only woman, then. Gary had also climbed down below, so there were six of us standing in the cramped dining nook, looking at each other.

‘Oh!’ said the man, breaking the awkward silence. ‘I didn’t introduce myself. Sorry. I’m Duncan. I’m your skipper.’ Australian – Queenslander.

I waved at him from two metres away. ‘And this is Hannah and Marie. And you’ve met Gary, Marie’s husband.’ So, the Harrison Ford guy was married. I wasn’t particularly disappointed, as he wasn’t really my type – a bit too blokeish – and besides, I wasn’t looking.

I smiled at the strangers I would be living with for the next ten days.

‘And these two are Josh and Sarah,’ added Duncan to finish the round of introductions.

‘I’m Sarah, he’s Josh,’ I added, in an attempt to break the ice, and thankfully everyone laughed.

Then the tiny space erupted into activity. Hannah came forward and said hello. ‘You’re sharing with me,’ she said. ‘In there,’ and she pointed to the left rear cabin. ‘Come on, I’ll show you.’ She sounded Canadian – Vancouver, I guessed.

I followed her the extremely short distance to our cabin, and she showed me the highlights. It was a tight space, but at least we had our own bathroom. There were two bunks, one very narrow and about a metre from the ceiling and the lower one, which took up the width of the cabin. Whoever slept on the top bunk would have to climb onto it from the bottom bunk. Some of Hannah’s things were on that bunk, so I guessed the lower one was mine.

We also had a hatch in the ceiling and a porthole for fresh air. The cabin was tiny but clean and it would be fine. I doubted I would be spending much time in there, anyway. It was really just for sleeping and showering, so who cared if it was compact?

‘Sarah, can I ask you a question?’

‘Sure,’ I said as I unzipped my backpack and started pulling stuff out.

‘How come you’re not sleeping with your boyfriend?’

‘What?’ I looked at her in surprise. What on earth was she talking about?

‘Josh. How come you two aren’t sharing a cabin?’

‘Oooh!’ I said, probably too loudly for the confined space of a boat. I’d seen Josh disappear into the cabin next door and realised he could be listening. I lowered my voice. ‘He’s not my boyfriend. I just met him, like, five minutes ago on the pier. We were on the same bus to the marina, that’s all. So, yeah …’ I finished, feebly.

‘Oh. I thought you guys were a couple.’

‘Nope. And believe me, if he was my boyfriend, I would want to sleep with him.’ Great. I sounded desperate, or sex-starved. Or both.

She gave me a funny look, confirming it was both. ‘I’m going to head up top. Duncan’s making another round of cocktails, and then he’s going over the trip information with us. I’ll see you up there.’

What the hell was the thing I’d said about wanting to sleep with Josh? I didn’t want to sleep with him. He was a baby. No, an infant . And I wasn’t going anywhere near him, even if he was cute. I wasn’t going near any men. At most, I might admire them – and only from afar. I had to get it together. I didn’t want Hannah thinking she was sharing a cabin with a nymphomaniac weirdo.

I spent the next few minutes nesting. Whenever I arrive somewhere new, I like to unpack the essentials and stash my luggage. Both tasks were a little awkward in the tiny cabin, but at least I found a nook in the bathroom for my toiletries. Out of necessity, I stuffed my backpack, still full of clothes, at the end of the lower bunk. It would have to do.

‘Hey,’ said a voice behind me as I gave my backpack a final shove. I looked over my shoulder. Wonderful. Josh was standing in the doorway and had an excellent view of my bum sticking up in the air.

I flipped over and scooched off the end of the bed, trying to keep my skirt from riding up my thighs. I was going to need to rethink my wardrobe for this trip. Of course, with the super tight quarters, as soon as I stood up, I was practically on top of the poor guy. He backed up a little. That was when I got a proper look at his eyes without the sunglasses.

They were incredible. Large, almond-shaped dark grey eyes with thick lashes – lashes any woman would kill to have. I wanted him to put his sunglasses back on. Those eyes were far too much power for one man to wield. He was talking, so I told myself to pay attention.

‘So, apparently I’m sharing with a woman called Patricia. She was here, but she went back into town to do something. Duncan says she’ll be back later.’

‘Oh. Are you okay with that, sharing with a woman?’

He shrugged. ‘Sure. It’ll be fine. Want to go up on deck?’

‘Okay.’ I put on my sunglasses and followed him up the ladder. Cute bum . Yeah, I was really going to have to stop that. Nowhere on the boat could be mistaken for ‘afar’.

Josh sat on one side of the boat, and I sat on the other, perhaps more than anything to show Hannah that he and I were definitely not a couple. It was only after I sat down that I realised there was another woman in the group – an incredibly beautiful woman. This must have been the elusive Patricia who Josh was sharing a cabin with.

‘Sarah, Josh, this is Geraldine – Gerry – my girlfriend.’ Wait. What? Our skipper had brought his girlfriend on the trip? Was he even allowed to do that? Before I could list all the reasons why it was a terrible idea, she turned to me with the biggest smile and said, ‘Sarah, so nice to meet you. Your hair is beautiful ! I love it!’ There was no sarcasm or cattiness in her voice. In a whisper of a moment, she had disarmed me, my reticence at her very existence on the boat vanishing in the glow of her compliment.