Page 99 of Love Among the Ruins
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
ELENI
She had been enjoying the flurry of messages right up until Dominic had mentioned that he was going for drinks with Helen and a few others.
Reading that message helped cement Eleni’s decision to go home for the weekend.
For the past few days, she’d managed to keep her thoughts in check, but sitting in the hotel room and working from there, had driven her mad. Staring at the same old four walls, ordering take out and not seeing anyone, had been like a prison sentence.
What could she do but think about Dominic?
Solitary confinement with a laptop should have kept her mind off her boss, but as the days passed, her thoughts drifted to him.
Not being at work, and therefore not in the same building as Dominic, there was no possibility that she might run into him, and robbed of any chance of seeing him, her mind had filled in the gaps. She’d thought of him the entire time.
More so because she’d recently spent so much time with him. Sometimes, it seemed like a dream.
Miranda had come over yesterday evening and they’d ventured out for something to eat. Eleni had been grateful for the fresh air and long walk, and Miranda’s company made her feel better. Her friend had casually mentioned that Alexander was working in Dominic’s office for a few days.
Eleni wondered how that was playing out. She wondered about it a lot. Today she’d made it through lunchtime without doing anything about it, but a combination of boredom and curiosity eventually got the better of her.
So, naturally, she’d dropped Dominic a message. It seemed only right for her to want to know, given that she’d met his brother, and was aware of their relationship.
She hadn’t expected him to reply immediately. They exchanged a few messages, each giving her a dopamine hit, making her feel happy.
At least, shehad beenhappy until she found out that he was going for drinks with Helen.
She had returned to Spetses later that evening.
That’s what Dominic’s reply had done to her. She didn’t want to feel jealous, didn’t like feeling miserable, and yet she did. It wasn’t right for her to have an attraction for her boss, but, again, she did. She needed space,morespace. Because even though she’d not been in the same physical environment, thoughts of him still lurked everywhere in her mind.
Believing that a change of scenery would help, she’d gone home. Her mother, noting her ankle straightaway, started fussing over her. This was new, something Eleni wasn’t used to, and she accepted it, and enjoyed having her mother act like a mother. She cooked for her too, and Eleni was grateful for some home-cooked food after days of eating takeout.
Later the next evening, after Stefanos finished work, they found a quiet little corner of the beach and caught up, watching the sun setting.
Stefanos had a heap of questions about her job and how she was getting on, and he wanted to know how she’d hurt her ankle. She told him about meetings she accompanied Dominic on, the ones where she did nothing but sit in the car and wait for him. She told him how she’d tripped and fallen down a few stairs and sprained her ankle, but she told him no more than that. Then she hurriedly explained about the eccentric billionaire Hector Galatis, and the way he had Dominic traipsing around the Greek temples and ruins. And how Dominic usually came back from these meetings annoyed and frustrated.
“Why does Dominic put up with this?” Stefanos asked.
“He’s trying to show that he can put up with this game. Galatis really is crazy,” she told Stefanos. “In the heat of the midday sun, poor Dominic is out there, getting burned.”
“Poor Dominic?” Stefanos gaped at her.
Heat scampered up her cheeks, and she was glad the sun was setting, and that they were both facing the sea. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “I feel sorry for him. Dominic wants this deal so badly, and that man makes him run around all the time.”
“What’s he like to work for, this gorgeous billionaire hunk?”
“He’s …” She didn’t know how to answer that because so much had changed. She didn’t even see Dominic as a boss because of the way they’d met in the beginning, but then he’d mesmerized her when she’d seen him in a business suit that first time. If he had treated her like he did the others, she would feel differently, and she would be able to answer Stefanos’ questions. But it was all so very different. Dominic was nice to her.
“He’s okay,” she said, not wanting to divulge much because Stefanos could see right through her. He would notice the wobble in her voice, or the expression on her face. He would know that something was up. She’d never been able to hide anything from him. “But the money is the best part of it all.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded; her glee uncontainable. Her salary was the most she’d ever earned anywhere.
“You can go and climb that mountain now?” Stefanos asked. “You’ll be able to cross that off your list.”
“I guess I will.” Her mood turned pensive. She’d done this for the money, for the mountain climb, but she hadn’t even thought about the expedition much. Only now that Stefanos brought it up.
