Page 47 of Arrogant Arrival

“She doesn’t want a relationship with me. She’ll want to go back to having nothing to do with me once we leave here. We leave Greece, we leave the fantasy,” I tell Dex. We met up in the kitchen, both hungry after he finished a business call and I finished some calls for flights booked next week.

“So? Bianca was skeptical about me at first too. She called meMr. Moneybags.You didn’t lie to her about what you do, did you? Because I can tell you from firsthand experience thatthatdoes not end well. It did end well, actually, for me, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“No. I did at first—well, I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell her, but then she found out and that turned into her storming away. But fate has brought us back together. I know it. I can feel it. I just don’t know if she can see it.”

Dex pops a grape in his mouth and chews. After he swallows, he says, “Be honest. You have to be honest with her and yourself. Just tell her how you feel. Tell her you want a relationship with her and see where it goes from there.”

I pull a few grapes from the bowl and pop them in my mouth. Between chews I say, “Yeah, okay. But she didn’t even want a fakerelationship with me, so I seriously doubt her wanting a real one with a pilot, no less.”

“Exactly. No woman wants afakerelationship. Show her that you’re offering her something real, pilot or not.”

And with those words of wisdom, he walks out the door.

Jolene

Dear Journal,

Tomorrow we leave. Tomorrow this all ends. Will Jimmy and I keep in touch? Could we possibly even have a relationship? I get upset over people letting me down, but I’ve let myself down. I promised myself I wouldn’t fall for another cocky pilot—yet here I am. Maybe it’s just being in Greece. Maybe when I leave paradise, the magic surrounding us will clear and so will these silly ideas in my head. That’s it. It’s just because we’re in Greece and pretending to be in love. We can’t possibly be in love. I barely know him. This isn’t a love story, or one of those silly love songs. This is real life. Our whole relationship started with a lie, and it will end with a lie. I’ve fallen in love with a lie.

I go into the kitchen and find his mother and his grandmother working on preparing dinner.

“Can I help?” I hate how small my voice sounds, but I already know I’m not their favorite. I just really need something to do.

They both look at each other, and then Patty gives me a curt nod. Wordlessly, she hands me a long, thick cucumber and mumbles something in Greek. I look between the two ladies, and Martha says, “She’s not speaking about you in Greek to be sneaky. She doesn’t know English. But yes, she is talking about you. She said you probably know how to handle something like that.” Martha goes back to stirring whatever she has in the pot. Then, she looks back to me. “And she didn’t mean cooking.”

“Thanks. I got that.” Inhaling a deep breath, I pick up the cucumber. I smile at Patty and shake the cucumber while nodding. “Yes. Me know.” Then I take a knife and chop the tip off. I smile back at her with my maimed cucumber. Yia-Yia bursts out laughing and pats me on the back. Just like that, we go to work on supper in comfortable silence.

After dinner I sit out on my room balcony and watch the waves coming in. I still can’t believe some people get this view every day. I sit on my balcony back home and all I see is another concrete building. That thought depresses me.

“Hey, you.” I look over and Bianca has walked out to her balcony. “I was thinking. Maybe you could write something like a blog post and I could send it to my boss? Write about your trip here.”

“I don’t know–”

“You have time right now, and besides, look at your inspiration.” She points to the ocean. “Don’t settle, Jolene. If you don’t want to, fine, but if you’re wanting to do something else, now’s the time to do it.”

“It’s that easy, huh?”

“It’s that easy.”

“Shouldn’t I be packing? We leave tomorrow.”

“In Greece, the night is young.” She goes back to her room and I hear her balcony door sliding closed.

Of all the phrases she could’ve used.The night is young.I grab my phone and swipe the screen. I decide I’ll just play around with what I would sayifI did write a silly travel piece.Greece offers the best beaches. Greece offers amazing cuisine from family recipes passed down for generations. Greece offers…I look down to see Jimmy walking shirtless on the beach.Romance.

Instead of focusing on writing a good travel blog piece, I write something for me. My fingers can’t move fast enough as the words pour out of me. Greece offers everything a tourist could dream of, but it also offers more than that. It offered me an opportunity to find happiness and a chance of tasting not only the most amazing cuisine, but also love.

Before I can even read over it again or think better of it, I send an email to the address Bianca gave me. I refuse to even look back over what I’d written. The words were raw and probably revealed more than what I’d like to show. Either way, it was nice getting them out.

I look back down at the beach, but Jimmy’s not there any longer. My heart deflates a little until there’s a knock at my door and now my heart is in my throat. I turn around, and there’s Jimmy. My emotions are still too raw from what I’d written. I really don’t need to see him right now. But he doesn’t wait for an invitation. The door clicks when he shuts it, and then I hear the lock click into place. I stand and come inside from the balcony. I slide the door shut and also lock it. We meet each other in front of the bed. Jimmy begins unbuttoning my shirt. His blue-green eyes swirl with a cloud of emotion, but he doesn’t speak. He doesn’t have to. I can read all the same frustrations and uncertainties in his eyes that he can probably see in mine. This is our goodbye. Maybe it doesn’t have to be, but neither one of us is going to cave, that much is evident. So, we’ll let our bodies do the communicating.

I shiver as my shirt falls to the floor, and Jimmy’s warm lips touch my collarbone. I reach behind and unfasten my bra. It slides down my arms and joins my shirt on the floor. As Jimmy’s lips make their way down to my breasts, I unhook my khaki shorts. Then I unhook his. I sit on the bed and scoot toward the top. Jimmy crawls up after me like an animal in search of its prey. I’m all too eager to become his evening meal.

What starts out as slow sensual touches and kisses, soon turns into hunger and passion. His hands grip each part of me tightly as if I’ll disappear if he lets go. My hands greedily grab him everywhere and pull him closer. Even though our bodies are flushed together, I need him closer and deeper. Our movements are jerky, as if we can’t get enough and we know we’re running out of time. Each kiss and touch are precious moments we won’t get back, and yet we both want it all. All at once. I want him everywhere, except for the one place where he already is—my heart. He’s there but I’m not sure I can handle him leaving without a backwards glance.

Despite the bed squeaking and the headboard hitting the wall, I hear a rumble. Then glass crashing downstairs. I look up and the clock on the wall is shaking.

“Jimmy,” I pant. “I think there’s another earthquake.”

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