It was time to leave for his other hotel. He and Aphroditi were holding a cocktail party for the guests at The Paradise Beach. Before they left, Aphroditi freshened up in the cloakroom of the now almost-finished hotel. She glanced around at the marbled walls and the sculpted stone shells that held the soap, and noticed with pride that the monogrammed towels were already in place. She applied a fresh coat of coral lipstick that matched the jewellery she had chosen for that day, and put a brush through her long, thick hair. She knew Savvas would be waiting in the car at the entrance. A few people looked up from their work and nodded as she crossed the floor of the reception. She acknowledged them with a smile. One hundred or more of them would be working until midnight, everyone focused on reaching the almost impossible deadline. The hotels were mostly positioned directly on the beach so that guests could walk straight on to the sand. As they drove along Kennedy Avenue, Aphroditi and Savvas caught brief glimpses of the sea in the narrow spaces between the buildings.
