Page 74 of More Than Just Friends

We waited patiently, then eventually we seized our opportunity. Noah and I stood a comfortable distance away from our new friend Petros, then took a few snaps on our phones.

There was a woman standing nearby who I assumed was a guardian looking out for the national treasure. Although he seemed like a total pro and didn’t seem to mind being the local celebrity.

We wandered into the main part of Chora, devoured a chicken kebab for lunch, then continued exploring.

The town was beautiful. I didn’t know if it was just my imagination, but the streets seemed wider and less congested than in Oia.

I loved the paving stones, which all had a distinctive white border just like the ones at the hotel and the maze-like passageways were enchanting. Every time we wandered down one, I wondered where it would take us.

As I’d expected, the streets were lined with an endless array of tourist shops selling T-shirts, fridge magnets and also loads of keyrings, towels, jewellery and other items with the ‘Mati’ – the blue and white Greek evil eye design that apparently was a charm created to ward off and protect against negative energy.

Noah and I went into more shops than we needed to, considering a lot of the stuff they were selling was similar, but we couldn’t resist checking them out just in case we found some hidden gems.

As well as buying each other Mykonos postcards (of course), I bought half a dozen different magnets for my friends and family. Then whilst Noah was looking at some gifts for Colin and Shania, I quickly bought a T-shirt and mug that I saw Noah eyeing up. I wanted to buy him something nice as a small token of thanks.

‘Here.’ I handed him the bag.

‘What’s this?’ A smile crept onto his lips.

‘If you open it, you’ll see!’

‘Oh, wow!’ Noah held up the T-shirt. ‘“Mykonos Made Me Do It”, eh?’ He laughed at the slogan on the front of the white T-shirt. ‘What exactly did this island make me do?’

‘Not sure yet.’ I cocked my head playfully. ‘The day is young, so who knows what shenanigans you’ll get up to you…’

I pushed an illicit thought of exactly what I’d love Noah to do to me out of my mind.

‘Hmmm, now that I have this T-shirt I almost feel like I need to do something naughty just to live up to the expectations. Any ideas?’ He smirked.

My body wanted to scream, yes, I have many, many debaucherous ideas involving us in a bed together, naked, but I stopped myself from blurting that out just in time.

‘No shoplifting, running down the streets of Mykonos naked or anything that will get us locked up would be preferable,’ I joked.

‘Can’t promise on the streaking, but I’ll see what I can do about everything else,’ he chuckled. ‘Seriously though, thanks for the T-shirt and the mug. You didn’t have to. Just our postcard tradition is enough.’

‘I know, but I wanted to, so you’re welcome.’

Noah smiled at me and my stomach flipped right on cue.

My body was getting carried away at an alarming frequency every time Noah smiled or looked at me. In fact, I was convinced that he could just stand in front of me and say absolutely nothing, and it would start melting like ice cream over a warm chocolate brownie. I needed to get it back under control.

As a much-needed distraction, I suggested we continue our tour of the shops.

Whilst the souvenirs Noah bought for Colin, his wife and a few friends and family fit into a small bag, my haul wasn’t so easy to carry, and when Noah saw the plastic bag handles cutting into my hands he went and bought me a sturdy Mykonos tote bag, then insisted on carrying everything for me.

Such a gent.

By early evening, we stumbled on a very exclusive area with loads of designer stores and expensive-looking jewellery shops.

‘I’m not sure this part is for us,’ I said, staring at the gorgeous window displays.

‘No?’ Noah teased.

‘Nope. And after being dragged around posh shops in Oia and missing that sunset, I think every time I see a designer shop, I’ll break out in a cold sweat!’ The corner of my mouth twitched.

I was joking of course, but one thing was for sure: exploring Chora with Noah was light years apart from my experience with my muppet match.

Everything was balanced. We didn’t just look in the shops Noah wanted to see or vice versa. We both took an equal interest in each other’s needs.