Page 29 of Love Among the Ruins
He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Your mother worries me. She’s worse than Angeliki, except forty plus isn’t the age to be going wild.”
Eleni felt a touch of defensiveness. “She’s lonely, and she’s scared of getting older and not being attractive anymore.”
“But walking in and hearing that,” Stefanos wrinkled his face in disgust. “That there is already enough trauma to last you a lifetime.” The look he gave her was loaded with pity, with a side order of sympathy. “Maybe Athens will be a good break for you.”
Stefanos had seen her at her worst, during her darkest times. Those first few days after Jonas’ death had been the worst. She hadn’t been around to see him get hit. She’d only heard about it afterwards from their friends who were so traumatized they couldn’t help but spill the graphic details. They told her of the blood gushing from Jonas’ head, of his limp, lifeless body, of how he’d been laughing at a joke, and how he had died instantly.
“I hope so.”
“This is a good new start for you, Leni.”
“It’s only for the summer.”
“Being away from your mother can only be a good thing.”
It was. It was a very good thing. She and her mother had never been close, which, given that she’d only had one parent, was odd. With her birthday coming up, she was prepared for her mother’s mood swings. Her mother had had Eleni when she’d turned twenty-one, and she was prepared for her mother having a hard time coming to terms with Eleni turning twenty-one.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
She’d often wished she could be away from here, and now she had the chance to do just that.
* * *
It all happened so quickly. As if she’d blinked and all those secret yearnings to leave the island had suddenly come true.
A breath of fresh air, that’s what it felt like, moving away and settling in Athens. The hotel was clean and near to her place of work, and the staff seemed friendly enough. The only minor problem, as she lugged her suitcase up the stairs, was that there was no elevator. Having only three floors in the hotel, wasn’t too bad, but she was on the uppermost floor.
Eleni had wondered if Dominic might show her around on her first day at the office, but it was the nice receptionist, Miranda, who introduced her to Agnes and Isidora, the women with whom she would share an office.
She met Linus and a few other people who were on the third floor. The only person she didn’t see was Dominic.
Agnes and Isidora were much older than her, even older than her mother and she didn’t have much in common with them, but they smiled at her each time she looked at them. There wasn’t much conversation.
Two more days passed, and she still hadn’t seen Dominic. She only saw Miranda either when she was leaving or arriving at work, or when she visited the water cooler, and with no one to talk to, she soon started to feel off and out of place.
In her skirt, blouse and heels—an outfit she considered just right for an office job—she soon felt hot and sticky. The searing summer heat became too much whenever she went outside to buy her lunch. The sky-high cost of food prices made her blink, and she often returned to work with an apple and a banana and made do with water from the water cooler.
She missed Stefanos and their easy banter, she even missed the taverna and Adamos, and the customers. She longed for the busy long days during which time flew, and the little breaks she and Stefanos took, and the evenings when they’d sit on the beach, talking about life. Sometimes Phoebe, who used to work with them, would meet up, but only when she was boyfriend-less.
Oddly enough, she missed Spetses, and looked forward to returning home over the weekend.
It was on her next visit to the water cooler, that she heard Dominic’s voice, loud and clipped. He was barking orders to someone on the phone as he leaned against the high lecturn that made up part of Miranda’s reception desk.
She somehow made it to the water cooler and even managed to pour herself a cup of water without spilling it because her mind was focused on him in his business attire. Charcoal grey pants and a dazzling white shirt. She tried not to look at the expanse of his back, or the way his hips narrowed.
She moved past him again to return to her office, her heart kicking her chest.
“Goddamn idiot,” Dominic muttered, sliding the phone into his trouser pocket. He casually glanced over his shoulder, and she didn’t even need to look at him to know he was staring at her. “Did Miranda get you settled in okay?”
She pulled back, stopped and faced him. “Yes, she did. Thank you.” She nodded at Miranda whose face had turned red and who watched her with a curious expression behind Dominic’s back.
“That’s … good.” Dominic shuffled the pile of papers he had in his hand. He looked so different in his business clothes. She should have been used to it by now. That first time she’d seen him had been the biggest shock, and she was still having difficulty shaking that image out of her head. Dominic Steele seemed to set the gold standard when it came to wearing sharp-cutting suits with attitude. Who knew a man could make wearing a white shirt be a fashion statement?
Stefanos would have died on the spot to see Dominic the way she could.
“And the hotel?” he asked.
“The hotel?”
