Page 67 of Kiss Away Your Pain (Wounded Hearts 2)

“Oh. I don’t understand the terms you kids use today.” She stands. “Let me get us some waters. I’ll be right back. I should probably clean up my face a little before meeting her.”

Candi arrives while she’s gone and I pull over a chair for her.

“How did it go?” she asks.

I open my eyes wide and blow a puff of air, exhausted from all the emotion. “Good. Tough. But good.”

Mom comes out with a tray of bottled waters, immediately smiling. She sets the tray on the table and we stand up.

“Hello,” she says, reaching out her hand. “You must be Lorenzo’s girlfriend.”

Candi takes her hand, wrapping it in both of hers. “Yes, I am.”

“Mom, this is Candi. Candi, this is my mom, Despina.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Candi says with that warm smile of hers that makes everyone feel comfortable.

“And you.” My mom smiles with a hint of pride.

We spend the next hour telling Mom about our Gucci shoot and how we met and she tells us a little about her life here in Greece. She never remarried. I think she never stopped loving Dad.

“We’re gonna get going and let you get back to your day. I’m sure you didn’t plan on having your afternoon derailed.”

“I’m so happy you derailed it. This was truly wonderful.”

“We have each other’s numbers and email addresses. You can reach me anytime,” I say.

“Thank you, Lorenzo.” She hugs me, then steps back and takes my face in her hands. The biggest smile spreads across her face.

The weight that’s been lying on my chest, suffocating me for years, has been lifted. She didn’t reject me. She didn’t reject us. She thought she was saving us.

We say our goodbyes and Candi and I leave the café.

Candi slides her hand into mine and we walk toward the shops she found earlier.

“Girlfriend, huh?” she asks coyly.

“Yeah, sorry about that. That was all her.”

“It’s okay. I kinda like it,” she says, squeezing my hand.

I kinda like it too. “Where are we heading?”

“Do you want to talk about it at all?”

“Not right now. I want to sit with it a while.” I’m emotionally drained.

“That’s fine. I didn’t get to all the shops. How about we see if there are any we both want to check out.”

“Lead the way.”

We walk, hand-in-hand, down the street, looking in the windows of little shops. Buildings of stark white are adorned with brightly-colored shutters and doors. Many shops have their wares displayed on the sidewalks. Everything from handmade pottery and dishes in vibrant colors to paintings to clothes and food.

“This is the cute dress I got for dinner tonight.” She says, pointing to a mannequin wearing a body-hugging black dress that goes down below the knees. The top part starts under the arm on one side and the pieces of fabric tie together on the opposite shoulder, leaving the cleavage area asymmetrically exposed from under one breast up to the knot on the shoulder.

“That?” My mouth waters. “I’m ready for an early dinner.”

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