Chapter30:

“Hey Nik, what’s new?”  I lay on my stomach on my bed with my arms resting on its edge, my laptop on the floor with the screen and camera pointed up at me so that I didn’t have to strain my neck. I took a bite of a carrot while I waited for my brother to connect up his ‘broken’ camera.  “Hey Cal. Finals, sister of mine, finals are what is new.”  His voice sounded as if he was speaking from inside a tunnel – the joys of cross-Atlantic communication.  “Ooh, ouch!” I sympathised, nibbling my carrot some more. Nik’s face flickered onto the screen, eyebrow raised in question. “What? I’m on diet.”  I knew I sounded defensive but I was rather embarrassed to be on diet in the first place. Greek girls don’t diet without a man being behind it all. “I didn’t say a thing.” Nik threw his hands up in the air as if blocking an imaginary physical attack. I laughed at his antics, and appreciated his ability to immediately make me feel at ease. I really did miss him. “I’ll be coming home for Christmas.”