Twenty-Four Days

by Janet Albert

  "Uh, nothing."

  "You're a tough one, Miranda."

  "No offense, Jamie, but there are plenty of lesbians on board and I'm sure they'd be tripping over each other trying to be the one who got to spend the day with you. And if you're looking for action, you'd better look somewhere else. Someone like you shouldn't have any problem finding enough of that."

  Jamie stared in disbelief, stunned by the startling cruelty of Miranda's words. When she found her voice again, she said, "Wait...action? What's that supposed to mean? And what do you mean, someone like me? It was just a friendly invitation. I never suggested we do anything other than talk and get to know each other better."

  "Honestly, you're wasting your time on me. I've been called honey and sweetie by the best of them and I think...no, I know I've made it clear that I'm not interested."

  "You have made it abundantly clear." Jamie chewed on her bottom lip. "Apparently, I'm too stupid to get the message." She glanced around before she looked at Miranda again, her eyes cold and distant. "I'm sorry I bothered you, once again. I wanted to know you better and I thought we could be friends, but now I'm thinking you're not worth the trouble, so I give up, honey."

  "I wish you would, honey," Miranda said. "Give up, I mean."

  Jamie lifted both hands up in the air and pushed them toward Miranda in a dismissive gesture. "Who needs this?" she spouted, an instant before she spun around on her heels and hurried across the gym. Except for a brief stop to say something to one of the other trainers, she went directly to her office and closed the door behind her.

  MIRANDA COVERED HER face with a towel and shut her eyes. Jamie's anger had hurt to some degree, but the flash of pain that had sliced through Jamie's blue eyes had inflicted the deepest wound. Miranda feared the nastiest, darkest recesses of herself had taken over and she'd become as prickly as a boiled wool sweater. Because she needed to believe it, she convinced herself that Jamie would soon forget her harsh words and move on to someone else. That shouldn't be a problem for someone so attractive and desirable.

  As she got off the bicycle and gathered her things to leave, she reminded herself of the promises she'd made to herself after her breakup with Ellen. If she were to break them, it wouldn't be with someone she'd met on the cruise ships or with a woman who reminded her so much of Ellen. She'd never survive another woman like her.

  Later, when she got back to DC, she'd have plenty of time to meet women and find a girlfriend, when and if she felt it was the right person and the right time. Now was definitely not the right time. She was a ship's officer and she had an image to protect. She absolutely refused to be one of the central characters in any gossip about the sexy fitness trainer and her shipboard exploits.

  AN HOUR LATER, Jamie emerged from her office, calmer, but still smarting from the sting of Miranda's harsh rejection. She walked around the gym, stopping to chat with some of her clients but it did little to ease her pain. Any attempts she made to focus on something else proved futile. As she was about to retreat into her office again to wallow in her misery, she saw Alicia advancing toward her.

  "What's up Jamie? You look pissed. Did you talk to the good doctor?"

  "Unfortunately," Jamie spat. Miranda's words had left a bad taste in her mouth.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "I asked her to have dinner with me and got turned down and then I asked her to go to Athens with me and got turned down again, and not gently either."

  "That's too bad. I'm sorry. Maybe you should just give up on her."

  "Maybe so. I feel like a fool. I don't even know if she's a lesbian. Maybe she's not. Maybe she's straight or just plain fucked up, I don't know, but I do know one thing. She doesn't like me. I wish I knew why."

  "What did she say?"

  "She accused me of looking for some action. Can you believe it? Action? The worst part is, I didn't even think I was coming on to her. I thought I was just being friendly."

  "My guess would be she's nuts," Alicia said.

  "Because if she's straight she's mean and if she's a lesbian she's crazy to turn you down."

  "That's nice of you, but not everyone is enthralled with me, you know."

  "Well...practically everyone is. That's not bad, is it?"

  Jamie laughed a little, already feeling better. Touched by her friend's kindness, she wrapped her arm around Alicia's shoulders, leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks for making me laugh. You're a good friend."

  "It's the least I could do."

  Jamie took her arm away, faced Alicia and looked her straight in the eyes. "Now read my lips and I mean this, so help me God. I have learned my lesson. I won't be talking to her or asking her to do anything ever again. If I am forced to talk to her, it will be as her trainer and it will be strictly professional. Better yet, maybe I'll just hand her over to another trainer so I don't have to deal with her at all."

  "Now there's an even better idea."

  "Yeah?" Jamie punched Alicia in the arm. "How about you? You want her?"

  "Hell, no. She's too thorny for me--ouch."

  Jamie winced. "I've been stuck so many times, it's a miracle I haven't sprung a leak."

  Chapter Seven

  MIRANDA SCARCELY BELIEVED she was standing on Athens soil, a city with an ancient and glorious history. Standing in a burgeoning crowd of passengers from the ship, she waited while the rest of them made their way to the pick up point to board the shuttle buses that would transport them to the Acropolis. Having nothing better to do, she idly searched the faces in the crowd to see if she recognized anyone, and when she spotted Jamie Jeffries, standing no more than thirty feet away, her heart fell at her feet. Close by Jamie's side, a cute young woman gazed up at her, adoringly, as they both participated in an animated conversation with two other women.

  God, she's gorgeous. It didn't take her long to find someone else. The blond streaks in Jamie's hair shimmered in the Athens sun like golden threads spun by the gods, her hair color a perfect complement to her tanned skin. Without a doubt, no one who'd lived since the invention of denim had ever looked sexier in a pair of faded jeans. Miranda shuddered at such outrageous thoughts. She'd have to keep them to herself for she'd rather die than admit to another soul that her heart raced out of control and her stomach did somersaults whenever she looked at Jamie Jeffries. It didn't mean anything. After all, who wouldn't react the same way when faced with such a gorgeous creature? And, who in their right mind wouldn't have a little crush on her?

  Positioning herself in a way that kept her partially hidden from view, she continued to spy on Jamie, watching her as she interacted with her date and her friends. Occasionally, Jamie would reach out and hold the cute woman's arm or lean against her for a moment as if sharing something special meant only for the two of them.

  Much to Miranda's surprise, once the shuttle buses pulled up and began to load, all three of the women with Jamie hugged her, one by one, and walked away, leaving her there alone. The way Jamie stood there all alone, the way her shoulders sagged and the way she looked around, troubled Miranda. She knew she'd been unkind and unfair to Jamie, but had she also misjudged her? On impulse, before she changed her mind or let caution dictate her actions, she forged a path through the crowd.

  "Hi, Jamie," she said, her heart pounding, her hands cold, even in the warm sun.

  "So, it's you." Jamie looked down at the ground when she saw Miranda and kicked at some loose stones with the toe of her shoe. "Did you make the effort to come all the way over here for any particular reason, Doctor?"

  "I came to apologize." Miranda reached out and touched Jamie's forearm. "Please, Jamie. I'm so sorry. I wasn't very nice to you. I didn't mean what I said and I feel bad about it, really bad. Please forgive me."

  "Don't trouble your pretty little head over it." Jamie extracted her arm from Miranda's grasp and looked into Miranda's eyes for the first time. "I shouldn't have made such a nuisance of myself. I don't usually do that."

  Miranda could see the sa
dness in Jamie's eyes and it bothered her more than she cared to admit. "No, I don't suppose you do. And believe it or not, I don't usually treat people the way I treated you, either. I wish I knew how to explain myself, but I don't understand the way I behaved any more than you probably do. I don't know what got into me. You were just being friendly and it seems as though I've forgotten what that means. Can we just pretend it never happened?"

  "I was just being friendly and..." Jamie nodded. "Sure, why not? I can let it go if you can. I assure you I won't bother you anymore about doing things with me, though, you can count on that."

  "The thing is you weren't bothering me. I didn't...uh...I'm...look, what I'm trying to say is, if you're here alone, how about spending the day with me?"

  "I am alone, but I don't know, I..." Jamie hesitated and studied Miranda before she answered. "Well, okay, that would be nice."

  Miranda smiled and sighed audibly. "Good, very good. I don't really feel like seeing this great city all by myself. I should have said yes when you asked me. I wanted to, believe it or not, but..."

  "No need to explain or apologize any further. Let's just enjoy the day."

  MODERN ATHENS, THE spirited and forceful ode to concrete, faded away in the shadow of the Acropolis as they climbed behind their enthusiastic tour guide, a doctoral candidate in ancient history from the University of Athens. Miranda and Jamie gradually but steadily ascended the steep, slippery hillside to the Propylaea, the sacred gates guarding the sanctuary of Athena. It was here where the tour group would enter the Acropolis.

  "That was quite a climb," Jamie said, as soon as they reached the summit. "It's times like this when I'm grateful I'm in such great shape." Jamie wasn't even out of breath. For her, the climb had been nearly effortless, although most of the others in the tour group had to rest several times to catch their breath during the arduous ascent.

  "I guess I'm not...quite as fit...as you..." Miranda said, bending over, her hands planted on her lower thighs just above her knees until she caught her breath. "My thighs burn a little, but I didn't find it as hard as some of the others."

  "You did fine." Jamie glanced around at some of the people in their group. Many of them still struggled to reach the top and of those who had made it, some were noticeably short of breath and red in the face. "I guess now that we're up here, the rest won't be so bad." Jamie glanced up at the bluest sky she'd ever seen. "It's a magnificent day, isn't it? Not too hot, either, by Greek standards." Massive cloud formations floated by above them, propelled by a pleasant breeze. "At least those clouds will provide some relief from this relentless sun."

  "Thanks be to the gods." Miranda put her index finger against her closed lips and signaled Jamie to be quiet. "The tour's about to start," she whispered. She took Jamie's arm and weaved a path closer to the front of the group.

  "Built in the fifth century BC, the Acropolis was a place of worship," the tour guide began. "The Parthenon was built on the highest point as a tribute to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the protectoress of cities."

  "This is fascinating," Miranda whispered to Jamie after the guide delivered his narrative and moved the group to the next point of interest. Along the way, she took pictures with her digital camera. "I'm glad I came ashore today."

  "Me too. I mean, I'm glad I came ashore, too. This guy is great and he really knows his history. One of the other fitness trainers has taken this tour and she told me not to miss it."

  "She was right. I never knew that Athens had been continuously inhabited since the Neolithic age. Of course I knew it was ancient, but I never thought of it as the cradle of civilization or the birthplace of democracy. I guess I should have."

  "I never really thought about it either."

  After a brief tour of the Erechtheion Temple and the most sacred spot of the Acropolis, the Caryatid Porch, supported by columns of delicately carved maidens, the guide took them to the fringe of the Acropolis for a bird's eye view of two of Athens' most famous outdoor theaters followed by a short trip through the Acropolis Museum.

  For the final leg of the tour, the guide escorted them to the site of the ancient Agora or marketplace. Little remained in the Agora ruins except for a chunk of a column here and a piece of stone there, and to the uninformed eye, the mysteries of its ancient past remained concealed. But, as their guide enlightened them with fascinating stories of everyday life in ancient Greece, the area came alive with history.

  One last brief trip through another small museum and the tour guide announced the tour was officially over. After thanking him personally and slipping him a tip, Jamie and Miranda set off on their own to roam around Athens for the rest of the day.

  They were quiet as they descended the hill back into the city, but once they arrived at the bottom, Jamie paused and said, "What a difference it makes to see the sights with a guide. Without his stories, some of it would have looked like a bunch of rocks."

  "That's true." Miranda gazed directly into Jamie's eyes. "It was even nicer because we shared the experience together."

  "I'm glad you said it and not me," Jamie said, her eyes remaining fixed on Miranda's. "I wouldn't want to get into any more trouble by telling you how happy I am to be here with you."

  "Jamie, your eyes are the same color as the sky. They're beautiful."

  "Thanks." Jamie swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat.

  For a minute or two, they stood there looking at each other on the sidewalk as if they shared the same hypnotic state, until Jamie brought them back to reality. "I read up on what to do in Athens, so I have some suggestions about how we can spend the rest of our day. That is, if you don't object."

  "No, go ahead, show me the way."

  Jamie talked as she walked. "Okay. First, I'd like to go to the Plaka, the oldest section in Athens. We're on the fringes of it right now. How about if we walk around, look in the shops and have Greek food for lunch. How does that sound?"

  "Fantastic. I adore Greek food and I was hoping to find a few souvenirs and maybe get a gift for my sister, something actually made here. I heard they have exquisite jewelry and the price of gold is a lot less than in the States."

  "I read it's not the gold that's cheaper, it's the labor and I read about a famous jewelry store we can check out." When they stepped into the center of the Plaka, Jamie glanced up at the street signs. "Come on, I'll take you there. I think it's this way."

  "Wait." Miranda rested her hand on Jamie's forearm. "Would you mind terribly if we ate lunch first? Breakfast was a long time ago and my stomach's talking to me. It must be all that climbing and fresh air."

  "Not at all. I'm famished, myself."

  Miranda smiled, as if seeing Jamie in a new light. Jamie wasn't being flirtatious or smooth. She was genuinely nice, down to earth and cute as hell. "Jamie? I'm glad I ran into you today and I'm glad we decided to do this together. You seem different."

  "So do you. A lot different. Now, come on, let's look for a good place to eat." She took hold of Miranda's hand and pulled her along the street. "I don't want to stand and eat sovlaki from some street vendor, either. I want to sit outside at one of these lovely little tavernas and take our time. Is that okay with you?"

  "Absolutely. I'm dying to get off my feet and I'd love a cold drink. Look for a place filled with locals. They always know the best places to eat."

  "I already have one in mind. Ah, there it is." Jamie pointed to an inviting taverna with colorful awnings and plenty of outdoor seating. A quick study of the menu, mounted in a glass case on the outside of the building enticed them to enter. "It smells heavenly in here, doesn't it?"

  "Luscious," Miranda replied. The hostess greeted them and then led them to a shaded table under one of the awnings. The table's position provided them with a clear view of all the passers-by.

  "It's nice to be out of the sun for a while." Jamie fell into her seat and surveyed their surroundings. "This is a prime spot for people-watching and the street's closed to traffic so there's no noise or obnoxio
us fumes. You know what I enjoy the most about Athens, especially around this area?"

  "No, tell me." Miranda sat in the chair next to Jamie's on the same side of the table, so she too could look out at the view. God, she's delightful.

  "The mix of old and new. For example, here we are, sitting in a very modern, upscale section of the city, surrounded by ancient ruins."

  "I see what you mean. It's really unique, isn't it?" Miranda fanned herself with the menu. "It's unusually warm today. Is it me or do they have a hotter sun here than the one we have back home?"

  "Maybe they do." Jamie made a serious face, one with a smile layered underneath. "I don't know. I thought it was the same one, but I might be wrong. Maybe we're just closer to it or something." She let her smile show through.

  Miranda smiled back and for a few moments, they just looked at each other.

  When the waitress showed up, she suggested they try some ouzo. With the apathy of someone who'd recited the same instructions to thousands of tourists, she informed them that it was customary to drink ouzo in the afternoon and cautioned them to drink it slowly and eat something along with it.

  "Want to try some?" Jamie glanced at Miranda and raised her eyebrows. "You know what they say--when in Greece..."

  "I'm game if you are, as long as we're sitting down. I hear it's potent stuff."

  Jamie told the waitress to bring them some and asked for a few more minutes to look the menu over. Before the waitress ran off, Jamie asked her to take a picture of the two of them seated at the table. After she took two pictures, she left and Jamie turned to Miranda and said, "I don't see a lot of drunken Greeks around, so we should be all right if we just follow her advice."

  "They're drunk all right. Wait until they stand up and try to walk."

  Jamie laughed. "Maybe you're right. Maybe they can't even get up. Don't worry, if we get tipsy, we can sober up with some of the coffee frappe they drink all over Greece. Did you know that drinking coffee is a national pastime in Greece?"