I first met Soula seven years ago whilst on my way to do archaeological fieldwork at Akrotiri on Santorini. I had caught the Blue Star ferry from Piraeus (Athens Port) via the Greek islands to Santorini.
The whole trip takes about 17 hours and goes via some beautiful islands - Parros, Naxos, & Ios - but takes so long there is not much to do. As the sun set and turned into a balmy, starlit evening, I began to grow restless, and started wandering the decks. I grabbed a beer from the bar and stood by the railing watching the sun slowly sink away.
after a while I strolled around to the aft-deck where there was a large concentration of people sitting, standing, and laying around, chatting, drinking, and eating - the little aft-deck cafe was selling freshly cooked gyros for which there was a long queue.
As I scanned the crowd out of boredom as much as anything, Soula immediately caught and kept my eye. Her golden brown Greek skin, and lustrous thick black curls that cascaded over her shoulders and midway down her back, contrasted dramatically with the pure white bikini and sarong that she wore on the deck that first time I had seen her.
I knew she had caught me staring at her curves, barely contained by the skimpy bikini as the were. Occasionally, she would deliberately just catch my gaze briefly, before turning away.
After a few moments I realised I was obviously staring, and half-pretended to turn away. I took a few sips of my beer before curiosity made me turn back towards her, but she was gone. I got myself another beer and headed back to my cabin.
The next time I saw her was the next day, as the ferry entered into the grand caldera of Santorini volcano, and slowed towards the small cluster of buildings at the base of steep cliffs that is the Santorini ferry port of Ormos Athinos.
I saw her several metres in front of me through the crowd as people milled about the car deck, waiting to get off as we neared the pier.
Now dressed more conservatively in walking boots, khaki shorts, a loose-fitting white long sleeve cotton shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and a straw sun hat, she had a simple medium sized backpack.
The crowd was too dense for me to get near her, and as we berthed I watched her clear the vessel, make her way across to a waiting car which departed quickly up the steep road to the left.
I was being picked up by a mini bus sent from the hotel in which I was staying, so took much longer to clear the port.
The weather was steaming hot and the mini bus ride was not altogether pleasant, but the sight of the hotel quickly cheered me up. It was located at the far end of the island from where I would be working at Akrotiri, at a small town called Oia. There was obvious earthquake damaged buildings everywhere, but for the most part it was charming old-world Greece, with white washed walls everywhere and blue roofs to compliment. I had been assured by the Archaeology department the hotel was well worth the commute, as it sat at the north-western tip of the caldera, and was situated perfectly to watch the sunset.
The hotel clung to the cliff-edges, and had an infinity pool that seemed to melt into the sea. I had the weekend to settle in before I started work, so I took a taxi to a scooter hire place to get myself a scooter, then grabbed a bite in the hotel restaurant before spending the afternoon in the pool. During the evening I rode up to Thira, the main town on the island and started exploring a bit. After grabbing a few beers in an amazing bar overlooking the caldera, I headed back to the hotel to catch some sleep.
By the second day, I had gone out onto the pool deck around the mid-morning following some breakfast.
There was Soula lounging on a sun bed by the pool. The same barely-there pure white bikini contrasting with her even deeper tan.
I tried smiling at her. Eventually she returned my smile with one of her own. I tried to figure out if she was accompanying anyone or not, but it didn't seem so.
I began to wonder if maybe she was interested, and realised I was standing by the pool staring at her like an idiot. I sat down on a lounger on the opposite corner of the pool. After about 10 minutes of sitting comfortably on the sun longer, she suddenly got up and walked towards me. Sitting down on the lounger next to me, she looked directly at me.
"The shy guy from the ferry huh?" She said.
"You saw me staring then?" I meekly relied.
She just gave me a bemused half-smile.
"So, I guess you're not the kind of alpha male that actually goes up to a girl he likes and hits on her, huh?"
"I , er..."
Her confrontation had taken me by surprise.
"It's okay. I quite like guys that need to be taken in hand and told what to do...", she said, flirtatiously.
"No, it's not like that, I was..."
"What? building dramatic tension?", she interrupted. "Because after two days of you staring at my tits and arse, I had an idea of what you were thinking.
I blushed and looked down.
Without realising it, she had already established a strange sort of dominance over me, and she knew it. We spent a few hours chatting together by the pool, getting to know each other a little better, before sharing lunch, and then in the blazing afternoon sun, sharing a couple of cooling cocktails.
She was single, Athenian, and was on the island unwinding after a long semester teaching Classical history at Athens University. I had told her I was a PhD Student in Archaeology, studying the exciting topic of Bronze Age art and alphabet. She had seemed genuinely interested in my research
With a few drinks under our skins, we got a bit more adventurous and flirty, and by that evening we had started to hit it off. After watching the most amazing sunset together, as the orange ball of the sun melted into the Aegean Sea, we shared one last drink and said goodnight to each other with a friendly but frustrating kiss on the cheek.
The next day I rode off to find my contact from the Ministry of Culture and got shown around the excavation site of Akrotiri. They took me to the archaeology museum in Thira, and provided me with a temporary desk where I could work for the next two weeks during my fieldwork. I got given a pass to come and go at the museum and excavation site as I pleased, and began my research viewing pottery, frescoes and examples of Linear A alphabet.
It was hard to concentrate on my research, as I sat staring out of the window at the magnificent view of the caldera and whitewashed walls of Thira, all I could think of was how Soula had smelled of an alluring mixture of wild flower scented oil...
Viewing various ceramic objects from the collections - skyphos, kraters and amphorae, their red and black figures all seemed to take my mind back to the figure of Soula by the pool in that skimpy white bikini, her ample curves barely contained...
As the end of the day neared I could barely get out fast enough. Stopping for a quick beer around the corner in an Irish-themed bar, I grabbed the Scooter, and rattled along back to the hotel.
Soula was sitting in a soft blue sarong-dress by the bar, casually sipping an ouzo as I walked in.
"Been thinking about me all day?" She asked, before I even had a chance to say hello.
"I, er..."
"Tell the truth!" she demanded sharply.
"I have to admit I have," I replied sheepishly.
"Good. Now sit down and buy me a drink..."
For the next few nights we chatted, joked, ate and drank, and enjoyed taking a few evening walks together just exploring different parts of the island that I would take her to on my scooter. As our Greek adventure progressed I felt a growing attraction to this intellectual Greek beauty.