The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop Read Free Book Online Page A

is just so
exaggerated
…’
    What the men saw was the whole, the vision, an overall impression. They saw a faultlessly beautiful woman, but knew not to disagree with their wives.
    Standing by Aphroditi’s side, waiting for exactly the right moment to begin the speeches, Savvas watched the guests surveying what he had created. What he wanted more than anything was to impress them with the quality of what they saw. He had worked every waking hour for several years to complete what they were viewing in a mere hour and could feel their amazement at what he had achieved. Finally, he began to relax.
    After the speeches had finished – Savvas, the Mayor and then a member of parliament – congratulations and exclamations flowed as generously as the champagne. When Savvas felt that everyone had had enough time to marvel at the overall impression, politicians, local worthies and potential guests were taken on personal tours. They saw the ballroom, the dining rooms and reaching it via the mirrored lift, the penthouse suite. Every facility was pointed out, the source of the marble tiles, even the thread count of the linen.
    Costas Frangos, the hotel manager, and his two assistant managers left guests in no doubt that the quality of everything at The Sunrise was in an entirely new league for the island. It was indisputable. Overburdened with facts and figures, they hastened back to the reception to have their glasses refilled. Beyond question, Famagusta seemed to have grown richer in front of their glinting eyes, and almost all of them saw a personal benefit for themselves.
    The wives of the men who owned the neighbouring hotels, however, were eager to find fault. First of all they criticised the food.
    ‘So hard to eat! Everything’s so fancy! So fiddly.’
    Then they turned their attention to the hotel’s decor.
    ‘That floor! And as for those dolphins …’ whispered one.
    ‘Do you think guests will actually
like
all that fringing … and those drapes? And why
have
they tiled the pool like that?’ breathed another, almost in earshot of the Papacostas.
    These women found their husbands unusually quiet, burdened by the knowledge that they would now be obliged to upgrade their own facilities. Whatever question marks hung over the taste with which The Sunrise had been decorated, the reality was that this new hotel was superior to all the rest. It was not a matter of opinion. It was bigger and grander and, if the canapés were anything to judge by, even the cuisine was going to put the other hotels to shame.
    Meanwhile, the government minister was fulsome in his praise. ‘Kyrie Papacosta, may I congratulate you on what you have achieved here.’ He adopted the tone of a person speaking for others as well as himself. ‘I firmly believe that The Sunrise will raise the status of the whole island.’
    He offered his hand to Savvas and the flash bulbs went off all around them. Aphroditi Papacosta, standing close to her husband, felt the heat of the lights and for a moment was blinded by their brightness. The photographers could already tell that it would be an image of her alone that would dominate the front of tomorrow’s paper. The editor would be more than happy to relegate the picture of the portly politician to an inside page. ‘The Sun Rises on Famagusta’ would be the headline on the front page.
    Like everyone in the room, Markos found his eyes continually drawn to Aphroditi. He was disconcerted to see that she was so much the centre of attention when it was Savvas Papacosta who was the proprietor and the man who had put this hotel together. He saw his boss almost fade away beside his wife.
    Markos constantly circulated during the reception, keeping his distance from both of them. The only thing Savvas required of him that night was to promote the nightclub.
    Markos could not be certain, but from the years he had spent behind the bar he could guess who was likely to form his clientele. They would be the ones who stayed up