Page 99 of Love on the Rocks
“You have to go!” Dimitris slapped me on the back. “I’ll go too! Maybe she still needs a translator.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“What? There could be Greeks on holiday.”
“In England? Hate to break it to you, but it’s normally the other way around.”
The idea of seeing her filled me with hope . . . and then dread. As much as I scoffed at the notion of an island curse, I secretly believed it might be true. In my case at least, my agoraphobia was a curse. That trip to Athens was bad, wouldn’t London be worse? Even the thought of taking a plane made me break into a cold sweat.
Dimitris tapped me on the head. “See, doc? It’s like you said: ‘All good things come from the sea.’”
He was right. I stood and took his grubby cheeks between my hands and gave him a big kiss on the head. “You’re a genius, Dimitri!”
* * *
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?” asked Dimitris the next morning as I stepped onto the catamaran that would take me to Piraeus. “What if you get bored?”
“Trust me. I won’t get bored.” Once I reached Athens, I had over 3,000 kilometers, or thirty-three hours of driving, before I reached my destination. I’d have to haul ass if I was going to be there opening night.
“You’d better not convince her to come back here,” warned Teresa as she passed me the gift she’d made for Callie, some sort of anti-stress bath salts. “But you also better not break her heart. I hate to admit it, but she was happy with you before you went and screwed it up with your lies.”
“I won’t lie to her again,” I promised. “I just want to be there to support her.” This was too big to miss, but at the same time, I didn’t want to distract her.
That’s how I’d explained it to Olivia when I’d called her last night.
“Finally! I thought you’d never call!” Olivia had chastised me before helping me come up with a plan to get my agoraphobic ass to London in time for the grand opening.
The first leg of the trip was no problem. I hitched a ride on a medical boat to Athens. Once in Piraeus, the busy port in the heart of Athens, things got complicated. This was the site of my last panic attack, the one that made me swear off crowds and big cities for good.
Lucky for me, my cousin Orestis had parked his Volkswagen on the sidewalk, so all I had to do was duck in and close myeyes while he zigzagged through rush hour traffic. I hadn’t seen Orestis in years, but he’d agreed to drive me through the Balkans—Macedonia and Serbia—all the way to Slovenia where I was meeting up with Callie’s parents who were on the Tyrolian leg of their European tour.
When Olivia first suggested hitching a ride with Callie’s parents, I balked. As far as I was aware, Callie had never mentioned me in her conversations with them. And if she had, I’m not sure I would have come across as the most upstanding suitor.
“Don’t worry,” Olivia had assured me. “They’re the best. They’ll love you.”
Sure enough, they were delighted to see me and literally welcomed me with open arms. Callie’s dad, Bruce, was tall, chatty, and exuberantly Midwestern. A retired history teacher, he was delighted to learn about my translation project and kept up a steady stream of conversation about Greek history as we crossed the Italian border in their rented camper.
Judy, Callie’s mom, was petite and quiet, but very friendly. Like her husband, she was beyond proud of all that her daughter had accomplished. Neither of them found it odd that this random, lovestruck bastard was crossing half the European continent to be with her. On the contrary, they were thrilled—especially Judy, who kept taking pictures of us as we drove.
“For the family newsletter,” she explained. “Bruce’s sister Thelma’s always taking up so much space with her grandchildren. This edition will be for Callie. Thelma’s going to be so jealous when she sees you.” She squeezed my bicep for emphasis.
At first, I worried that this leg of my journey would take too long. Bruce liked to drive well below the speed limit and often got distracted by the stories he was telling. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to convince him to let me drive. He chuckledas I floored it and sped onto the highway. “Well, Nick, I wasn’t entirely convinced you were Greek, but now I see that you drive like an Athenian cab driver.”
Our next stop was Aviano Air Base where we picked up the famous bruiser, Levi. Olivia had warned me that he might not be so thrilled to see me. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, however. Levi was one of the most easy-going guys I’d ever met and I’m pretty sure he could charm the spots off a leopard, as they say. Judy, at any rate, was thoroughly enjoying herself in the backseat with him and tried to convince me to let Bruce drive again so she could sit between the two of us.
“For the newsletter,” she explained.
By the time we made it to Paris to collect Olivia and Jake, I was a bundle of nervous energy and hoped I was making the right decision. The last thing I wanted to do was to show up where I wasn’t wanted. I hadn’t been able to forget Callie, but maybe she wanted to forget about me.
All my doubts went flying out the window, however, when I saw Olivia practically hopping around in excitement as I pulled up outside their apartment.
“This is so exciting! I love surprises.” She hugged me tight. “Okay, Nikos, let’s go get your girl!”
Chapter 41
Angelos tried to go back to his normal life, but that week with Mia had changed everything. The light she had shone into the dark corners of his heart had left him exposed and vulnerable. He no longer craved the darkness; he wanted her light. He knew what he had to do. He would beg on his knees if he had to.
“Asteri mou, I’m coming for you.” he whispered into the night like a promise.
