Chapter 3 - Mytilene
They wandered without any real purpose for a bit until they stumbled upon the Olive Wood House; handcrafted items made from the wood of the olive tree. Both of them wondered about the depletion of the olive trees but, while they were browsing, they discovered that the trees were only cut down when they could no longer be harvested and that the majority of the raw material came from the trimmings that were necessary to keep the trees healthy.
Brittany was entranced by the sheer number of different things they made and was thrilled when they had the opportunity to watch the artisans at work in the store's workshop. Everything was made on the premises and Brittany was fascinated watching the process.
They ended up buying several souvenirs; salad bowls and gift sets for both their mothers that included face and body wash made with olive oil, sunblock and after sun care lotions, several picture frames, earrings and a necklace for Courtney, a travel backgammon/chess set for themselves, a key chain and a nutcracker for Pierce, and Brittany did her excited squeal-hop when she saw the carved mice and had to buy one each for Lord and Lady Tubbington.
Santana smiled broadly at Brittany's sheer joy. Once they had made their purchases, and dropped them back at the hotel, they headed back out into the city. They had spent three hours between the workshop and the store so they started looking for a place to eat.
They were passing by a small taverna when their ears were assaulted by the worst singer since Sugar auditioned for Glee.
"Why is someone strangling a cat?" Brittany wanted to know. She looked at the board outside the pub. "Oh. It's open mic night. Prize of three hundred Euros." She looked at Santana. "You should enter. I mean, seriously, listen to that, Santana."
Santana was just gaping at Brittany.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
"Britt … how did you know what that board said?"
"Oh … um … yeah … about that." Brittany looked a little embarrassed.
"Britt?"
"While I was at MIT they had a bunch of people tutoring me to sort of get me to where I should be?" She tried to explain, "In like, English and science and history and stuff because McKinley just didn't teach the way I learn. So the people at MIT taught me the way I needed to be taught. Um … turns out that, in addition to being some sort of math genius, I kinda have a thing for linguistics. Which, you know how talented my tongue is …"
It was Santana's turn to be embarrassed. "You do that on purpose."
Brittany grinned. "Anyway, I learned French, German, and Mandarin. We've been here for a full day and I've been hearing it and seeing it all over the place and we just spent three hours with the Greek family at the Olive Wood House and … well, I kinda have a feel for it; like, it's a lot like math only with letters, it's just a matter of recognizing the patterns. I'm not fluent in it … but I probably will be by the end of the week," she mumbled the last bit.
"My girl's a genius. Pure genius." Santana smiled proudly.
Brittany bit her bottom lip and ducked her head shyly. "So … you wanna?"
Santana shrugged. "Why not?"
xoxoxoxoxo
They walked in and looked around; it wasn't a big place but it had booths lining the walls, the bar was a u-shape in the middle, and there were several high-top tables along with regular tables. The place seated maybe a hundred or a hundred and twenty-five people and was about half full. Santana walked up to the bar to find out how to get into the open mic line up.
The bartender, a short man with a barrel chest, dark eyes, salt and pepper black hair that flowed to his shoulders, and laugh lines around his eyes and mouth, smiled as she approached. "How can I help you?" His English was heavily accented but still easily understood.
"I was wondering about the open mic night. Can I still register?"
"Of course. We allow people to sing until eleven pm. Winner is decided by eleven-thirty."
"Do I have to sing in Greek?"
"No, no. Of course not! All languages are welcome! Music is universal, no?"
Santana smiled. "It is."
"So, I put you down? You sing three songs."
"Yeah. Okay. My name is Santana."
"Good! I am Spyro. I own! You go talk to Sotiris." He pointed to a man seated by what was probably some sort of karaoke machine. "He will help you with songs."
Santana nodded and went to talk to Sotiris while Brittany got them a table just far enough away from the stage to keep them from losing their hearing in the event of another cat strangulation.
"Hi. You're Sotiris?"
"I am. How can I help?"
"I'm Santana. I just signed up for the competition and I need to pick three songs."
Sotiris nodded and handed Santana a songbook. "Choose from there. Let me know when you come up to sing."
Santana nodded and headed to the table.
They ordered their food and Santana pored over the book. She knew she wanted a Whitney song but wasn't sure which one. While she was looking for the Whitney song, she found her other two.
"So … what'd you decide on?" Brittany asked around a mouthful of potatoes.
"How Will I Know by Whitney, La Isla Bonita by Madonna, and … a surprise."
Brittany grinned at her.
They sat through four more performances; two weren't half bad, one was awful, one was actually pretty good.
"Not as good as you, honey."
Santana smiled at her. "You're a little biased, babe."
"No, you're just that amazing."
"Next is Santana!" Sotiris called out for her.
Santana took a deep breath and stood up, heading for the stage.
She handed Sotiris her selections then took the microphone and smiled at the audience as the strains of How Will I Know started up. She closed her eyes and started singing, her voice ringing out over the crowd. She smiled as the butterflies settled. She could do this; she was born to do this. She opened her eyes as her nerves settled and the patrons she could see were looking at her with rapt attention. Her smile, and her confidence, grew as she belted out:
Ooh, how will I know if she really loves me?
I say a prayer with every heartbeat
I fall in love whenever we meet
I'm asking you 'cause you know about these things
How will I know if she's thinking of me?
I try to phone but I'm too shy (can't speak)
Falling in love is so bittersweet
This love is strong, why do I feel weak?
She grinned as she finished the first song and the crowd erupted in applause. She bowed slightly and waved as the notes of La Isla Bonita started up. As she sang, she started to dance a bit as well; moving as the music moved her. Again, the crowd erupted into applause and it seemed louder somehow. Her smile grew as she took a bow.
"This last song is for someone special; my girlfriend, Brittany. I love you, Britt." She looked toward Brittany and saw the biggest grin on her girlfriend's face.
Well, here we are again
I guess it must be fate
We've tried it on our own
But deep inside we've known
We'd be back to set things straight
I still remember when your kiss was so brand new
Every memory repeats
Every step I take retreats
Every journey always brings me back to you
After all the stops and starts
We keep comin' back to these two hearts
Two angels who've been rescued from the fall
After all that we've been through
It all comes down to me and you
I guess it's meant to be, forever you and me, after all
When love is truly right
(This time it's truly right)
It lives from year to year
It changes as it goes
Oh, and on the way it grows
But it never disappears
After all the stops and starts
We keep comin' back to these two hearts
Two angels who've been rescued from the fall
After all that we've been through
It all comes down to me and you
I guess it's meant to be, forever you and me, after all
Always just beyond my touch
You know I needed you so much
After all, what else is livin' for?
After all the stops and starts
We keep comin' back to these two hearts
Two angels who've been rescued from the fall
After all that we've been through
It all comes down to me and you
I guess it's meant to be, forever you and me, after all
Santana finished and laughed as the crowd rose to their feet, applauding her loudly.
"Thank you!" She waved as she stepped off the stage and headed back to their table, smiling and accepting compliments from the well wishers who stopped her along the way.
When she got back to Brittany, Brittany looked at her with such love that she almost stopped breathing. She bent down and gave Britt a sweet kiss before retaking her seat. The restaurant had filled up while she was on stage.
"You were amazing! Oh my god," Brittany wiped a tear from her eye, "that last song … where did that even come from?"
"I saw it while I was flipping through the book. It's from a movie called 'Chances Are'; Cher sang it with Peter Cetara. It's supposed to be a duet but," Santana shrugged, "I thought I did okay."
"You were awesome! People started coming in after your first song. Look around, honey, all these people came in because they heard you singing."
"What? No." Santana shook her head.
Brittany nodded. "I'm serious. I heard some of them as they came in. They had to see who was singing. I'm so proud of you." Brittany leaned over and pressed a kiss to Santana's cheek.
Santana blushed as people came over to compliment her and ask her where she'd be performing next. She thanked them and told them that tonight was a happy fluke; they'd been passing by and seen the sign for the open mic night. People seemed genuinely disappointed.
At eleven-thirty, Spyro took to the stage to announce the winner.
"A lot of talented performers tonight! Good to see! We do have a clear winner tonight … Santana! Come on up! Maybe if we encourage her she'll sing one last song, eh?"
Santana grinned as she stood up and headed to the stage to collect her prize.
"Will you give us another song?" The crowd cheered and applauded to encourage her.
Santana nodded and shrugged. "Sure." She looked at Sotiris and whispered "Landslide?"
He nodded and cued it up for her as she slid the prize money into her pocket.
She looked toward Brittany and smiled softly as the music began to play. When she finished, the applause was thunderous. People whistled and cheered along with their clapping. Santana smiled brightly; dimples and eye crinkles on full display as she once again waved and stepped off the stage, heading back to Brittany.
Brittany kissed her cheek. "That was beautiful, Santana. You're amazing."
Spyro came over just then and asked if he could sit with them. They nodded and he took a chair looking at Santana.
"How long are you here for?"
"We leave Mytilene on Sunday to go to Molyvos."
"Excellent! I have a proposition for you."
Santana and Brittany eyed him warily.
"No, no!" He laughed, a full deep-throated belly laugh. "A business proposition. You come here, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; you do two sets of five songs each, I pay you one thousand euros per night. My brother manages The Olive Press hotel in Molyvos. I will call him. Maybe he can work out a deal with you for room and dinner and maybe some euros for you performing at either the lounge or their beach bar?"
Brittany looked at Santana who was gaping at Spyro. "You want to pay me to sing here?"
Spyro nodded. "Before you sang, we had empty tables. You sang, people outside heard and came in; now, there's not an empty seat to be had."
"Wow. Um … Britt?"
Brittany shrugged. "Why not? We can do our sight-seeing and whatever in the mornings and afternoons then come here around seven for dinner then you do your first set. Take a break, do your second set and then we can go out dancing." Brittany grinned. "Sounds like a win-win for everyone."
Santana nodded. "Okay, you've got a deal. A thousand euros for ten songs, so three thousand euros for the three nights."
Spyro nodded. "Excellent! Yes. I will also call my brother!"
Brittany laughs. "We're actually booked into The Olive Press so that makes it easier."
"Wonderful!" He stood up. "Enjoy your night. I will see you Thursday at seven." He walked away, shaking hands and greeting customers on his way back to the stage.
"Hello! I am Spyro! This is my Taverna. I have just engaged Santana to play here Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before she leaves for Molyvos! Be sure to stop by again!"
The crowd clapped enthusiastically at the news and several people smiled at Santana and told her they couldn't wait to see her again.
Santana just looked at Brittany. "Did that just happen? I mean. Three thousand euros? That's a lot of money, Britt. No way that's a normal pay. A hundred euros a song."
"Honey, it happened. You didn't see it because you were performing. You made him over three thousand euros tonight alone. He's going to rake it in after that announcement." Brittany appeared deep in thought.
"What are you thinking?"
"I have to remember to bring my video camera so I can film you, then I can upload it to the cloud and use my iPad to edit it. Then I can make an official Santana Lopez Facebook page, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter account." Brittany shrugged. "It worked for Mercedes, right?"
Santana laughed. "You're amazing." She stood up. "Let's go somewhere and get our dance on." She said, offering Brittany her hand.
It was almost midnight and a lot of people had seen Santana get handed three hundred euros so they grabbed a cab and asked the driver to take them to the nearest nightclub. They spent the evening dancing and drinking. Brittany discovered a love of ouzo but Santana stuck with tequila, not really caring for the licorice tasting liquor. Santana was more moderate, not wanting to let "weepy" Santana out, but Brittany was well on her way to "stripper" Brittany when Santana steered her out of the club and into a waiting taxi.
"I love you, Stana." Brittany slurred.
"I love you, too, Britt-Britt." Santana smiled and kissed the top of Brittany's head.
"Wanna make lady babies with you."
Santana shook her head. "You're nineteen and I'm still only eighteen, Britt. Let's wait a few years on that, huh?"
Brittany pouted. "Can we still practice?"
"Of course we can, Britt. All you want."
Brittany grinned and placed a sloppy kiss on Santana's cheek.
They got to the hotel and weren't in the room five minutes before Brittany was sound asleep on the bed.
Santana shook her head and changed into her nightclothes then helped Brittany get comfortable before succumbing to sleep herself.
Xoxoxoxoxo
Song credits:
How Will I Know – Whitney Houston
After All – Cher and Peter Cetera