CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 62 JUST LIKE THAT

*ALORA*

Caden and I spent the rest days of our honeymoon mostly sightseeing around Santorini.

We visited a lot of places and did a lot of activities but the highlights of them all to me was the cable car ride, and when we kayak around the caldera.

I found him so attractive as he paddled the kayak, he was so skillful with enchanting with it. He paddled past the famous Red and White beaches.

We snorkeled through sea caves, and we saw the stunning lava formations up close.

We also explored the ancient origins of Santorini

Akrotiri was one of the most powerful settlements in the Aegean before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption around 3600 years ago. When Akrotiri was unearthed in 1967, the frescoed buildings and their contents were amazingly well preserved under volcanic ash, just like at Pompeii.

Our licensed tour guide told us a lot about the history of this place.

It was fascinating.

We spend half a day exploring Akrotiri also included a visit to ancient Thira, a stunning site at the summit of a sheer mountain looming above Kamari Beach.

We also went tomatoes shopping, the cherry tomatoes of Santorini were renowned for their sweet intensity. Pre-tourism, these tiny flavour bombs were one of the island’s main exports along with wine.

We also learnt more about this native crop and how it was processed before electricity arrived on Santorini at the tomato industrial museum, the last of nine tomato canning factories that once operated on the island.

After touring the factory floor, we came by the vintage canning machine and picked up funky gifts in the design shop.

When we were done, we tried out the tomato fritters, an excellent fish taverna overlooking the Vlychada Marina.

We went swimming in search of Atlantis

I said it was just a myth but Caden kept insisting that people said this place was a likely inspiration for Plato’s lost kingdom of Atlantis.

It was fun swimming though, he was a better swimmer than me.

And no, we didn’t find the Atlantis.

But we went exploring the inland villages

While everyone was oohing and aahing over the views from the cliffside terraces, suites, and restaurants, I discovered life went quietly on in Santorini’s inland villages.

We wandered up to the pinnacle of Pyrgos, a tumble of whitewashed lanes clustered around a 16th-century castle, with views across the island.

We got lost in the fortified Byzantine citadel of Emporio and light a candle in one of the island’s oldest churches, Palia Panagia.

We stopped for home-style meze at the traditional kafenio in Megalochori, and stock up on ceramics from Earth and Water, the workshop of renowned potters, Andreas Makaris and Kristi Kapetanaki. The villages of Messaria, Exo Gonia, and Akrotiri also harbour plenty of easy-going local life.

Caden and I also did some local shopping.

Boutique in Oia was the place for breezy summer staples in linen and Greek cotton.

They also stock We Wear Young, Maria Sklavounou’s timeless leather and suede clutches, totes, and bucket bags in rainbow hues. For a more unusual memento, we picked up one of the traditional musical instruments designed by Yannis Pantazis at Symposion, a workshop/performance space, or "mythological botanical garden", in Megalochori village. Pantazis also ran workshops where we learnt how to make our own ancient Greek pan pipe.

Each evening at sunset, crowds, including Caden and flock to Oia’s high-flung castle, we stood shoulder-to-shoulder clapping the suns’ descent over the caldera’s black rim as if it was a performing seal.

For a far more serene way to watch the sun spread its last glittery golden-red rays over that world-famous caldera, Caden led me to Akrotiri’s 19th century lighthouse on the island’s isolated southerly tip where the views were just as spectacular, but with the added bonus that we mostly had them to ourselves.

There wasn’t much crowd or noise.

On the last day of our honeymoon, we sat on the balcony of our suite watching the sunset.

I was really going to miss watching the sunset in Santorini.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay here and a part of me didn’t want to go home.

I watched as the sun dipped below the horizon, bathed the sky in a vibrant array of colors, often transitioning from warm hues like orange, red, and yellow to cooler tones like purple and blue as night approached.

It evoked feelings of peace, serenity, and even melancholy, all at the same time.

I glanced at him.

“I’m curious about something. I know I shouldn’t be but I just want to know.”I began.”

He turned to face me.”What?”

“Why did you hide your identity as Ford Group’s CEO until now?”

He stared at me, as if contemplating whether to tell me or not.

“I wanted to build in secrecy.”He admitted.

I frowned.”What do you mean?”

“You do know I was in jail for three years, right?”

I nodded.”I found out recently.”

“You...you didn’t know before?”

I shook my head.

“So when I stopped coming to London, what did you think?”

“I just thought you have given up trying to win me back and had gone back to your playboy ways.”

“Oh.”He let out and I winced.

“My stepmother tried to kill me the day I got out of prison. My father had already disowned me before then, she probably thought I was going to become a threat to her son.”

I was surprised to hear that.

“Thankfully, I was with Mason at the time and he had his men close by so I didn’t lose my life but I was pissed off by her actions. My dad never came to see me in jail. When I was suddenly acquitted of the murder charges, and finding out Jacob didn’t die because of me, I was confused. I didn’t even know what to do with myself. I was still trying to process everything and she sent someone to get rid of me just like that.”