Erek mechanically collected the plates and beer glasses and brushed the crumbs from the table onto the sandy floor with a dirty rag. Behind him, he could hear Jean’s usual elaborately amorous pick-up lines as he chatted up the latest arrivals on the sleepy island, two blonde-and-bronzed Australians in nearly identical cut off denim shorts and bright floral print bikini tops. On his way to the kitchen, he carefully stepped over their ragged backpacks dumped haphazardly in the aisle behind the bar stools, managing to avoid the many stray straps and loops that tried to jump out and trip him.
