by Holly Rayner
“I had no idea you were paying such close attention,” Eva said, awed.
He shrugged. “It’s second nature to me,” he said. “You also like simple things. Simple lines. Your clothing doesn’t have prints or patterns on it. You prefer solid colors.”
“Hey, you’re pretty good, you know that?” she said.
He grinned. “You like the ocean,” he said. “And you like to travel and see new places.”
She raised her brows. Her desire to travel was something she rarely spoke about. Why talk about seeing the world when she was so busy trying to pay rent and pay down her credit card debt? It didn’t seem practical. She was sure she’d never discussed her deep desire to see new places with Dimitris.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
He sipped his drink, making her wait for the answer. He was enjoying this, she could tell.
“I can read between the lines,” he said after a moment. “You were open to talking to me at the concert we met at. I have an accent… I was dressed differently than the American men… I am from somewhere else. And you were attracted to me—so I can learn from that. You have an open mind. You want to know about other cultures. When we went to dinner, you asked me questions about Athens… and I could see it in your eyes. A longing to see places you’ve never seen before.”
She felt her pulse quicken. Talking about her attraction to the idea of travel was one thing, but talking directly with Dimitris about the attraction that she felt for him was another. What else could he see in her eyes? Did he know how much she wanted to kiss him again? Could he read her desires that clearly?
She looked away from him before she revealed too much. She sipped her champagne as she looked around the kitchen. There were two dishrags in jewel tones, hanging from the oven’s door handle. The splash-wall behind the sink was made of aqua tiles. A little postcard, attached to the stainless-steel refrigerator, had a picture of a beach on it. There were two little figurine lighthouses on the countertop, and when she looked closer, she saw that they were salt and pepper shakers.
“I have to admit, they did a really good job,” she said. It was so believable that she and Dimitris lived in the apartment. She was almost beginning to believe it herself.
“Come on,” Dimitris said. “Let’s go see the sitting room. Anna said it had a good view of the city.”
Eva followed him to the living room. One wall was composed of a bank of windows, which looked out over a sea of buildings below. She could see that the brief respite in the rainy weather was over. The sun was hidden behind clouds again, and rain was once again falling.
A leather couch was positioned prominently in the room, with a view of the windows as well as a large-screen television.
“Ah…” Dimitris said as he flopped down on the couch. He put his feet up on the coffee table. “Home sweet home.”
Eva laughed. “The best part is, we don’t have any unpacking to do.” She walked over to the windows and looked out. The view was breathtaking.
“So, what do you think of our new place?” Dimitris asked, in a joking tone. “Are the views to your liking, Mrs. Atheos?”
She pretended to consider this, and then said, “I suppose so, darling,” in a tone that matched his.
She was halfway done with her glass of champagne, and a bubbly, light feeling buzzed in her head. She felt more relaxed than she had all day. Filling out paperwork at the courthouse must have been weighing on her more than she realized, because now that it was done, she felt as though a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.
She turned back toward Dimitris and spoke as she walked toward the couch. “Do you have a house, back in Greece?” she asked. She sat down on the far end of the couch.
He nodded. “Several,” he said.
“What did it feel like to move in?” she asked. “Was it exciting? You know, to unpack, and spend the first night there, and realize that it was all yours.”
He looked at her, as though slightly puzzled. “Exciting… hm. No. I don’t think that’s what I’d call it. Anna has picked out all of my houses, and I see them as investments. Nice places to stay, between travel, of course, but that’s it.”
“Not home,” Eva said with a nod of understanding. “I get that. My apartment now isn’t a home. I never even felt at home in the apartment I grew up in, back in Long Island. I always felt sort of like it was someone else’s place, and I was a guest. It was a strange feeling, almost…”
“Unsettling,” Dimitris murmured.
“Exactly,” Eva agreed. “So I’ve always fantasized about really having a home for the first time. I think I’ll be the kind of homeowner who geeks out on weird little projects, like painting bookshelves and perfecting the breakfast nook.”
Dimitris chuckled quietly. Then he looked over at her with a softness in his eyes that she hadn’t seen in him before. It was as though she was getting a glimpse at the man behind all the smooth charm and playful winks.
“What about you?” she asked. “Did you ever dream about making the perfect home when you were a kid?”
“I guess I did,” he said. “I haven’t thought about that in a long time. My parents weren’t around a lot. They fought a lot, so my mother spent most of her time at our summer house, on one side of the island. Dad lived on the other side, sometimes with other women. Officially, they were still married, but that was all for show. Us kids were shuttled between…” His voice drifted off, as though he was caught up in a memory for a moment.
Then he waved a hand dismissively. “Ah, it’s the same for everyone, hm? No use in complaining or dwelling on it. I remember, though, on one of those trips from the summer cottage to the main house, where my father was, I saw a little white house with blue shutters. There was a garden out front, and a whole family eating on the balcony. I thought—that house has a heart. I realized that’s what was missing for me—the heart. And I promised myself I’d have that one day.”
He looked out at the room and shrugged. When he spoke again, his tone had shifted slightly. “Little kids are like that, you know? So sentimental and foolish, sometimes.”
“I don’t think that’s foolish at all,” Eva said. She slipped off her shoes and tucked her legs up under her. “I love how little kids think. They’re so honest. Things get complicated when you become an adult.” She thought of her father, his criminal activity, and the way she’d had to disrupt her entire life just to escape from the mess he’d created.
He glanced at her with compassion in his eyes, as if sensing that she was dwelling on something painful. “Why did you feel like a guest when you were growing up in Long Island?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “Probably because my dad always looked sort of surprised to see me whenever I appeared. My mother left when I was very young, and after that, Dad acted like I was just an extra piece of baggage that my mother had left behind. I had a string of sitters who took care of me.”
“Ah yes, the sitters,” Dimitris said with a nod. “I counted once and realized I’d had over twenty of them. I like to think they all quit after just a few months because of my brothers, but maybe I had a little bit to do with it.” He held up two fingers, an inch apart.
Eva laughed. “No, I’m sure you were the perfect kid,” she teased.
She continued to laugh as he launched into a story of locking one of the nannies in a closet so that he could travel to a nearby market to buy soda, which wasn’t allowed in the house.
When Dimitris offered to refill her glass, an hour later, she agreed happily. While he was in the kitchen getting the champagne bottle, she noticed that the rain was coming down even heavier outside. I can’t leave now, she thought to herself. It’s pouring out. I’ll wait until the storm passes.
By the time she’d finished her second glass of champagne, the rain had tapered off, but Eva hardly noticed. She’d migrated toward the middle of the couch, as had Dimitris.
At some point, she nestled in closer to him, enjoying the feel of t
he heat from his body as he regaled her with stories about starting up his business. His hand rested on her leg. The gesture felt so natural, and so right. His thumb stroked her leg, just above her knee, gently as he talked, brushing a soft line against her skin, back and forth.
She enjoyed the gentleness of his touch, and the soothing tone of his voice. Just as they each finished their third glass of champagne, he wrapped up a story about deep-sea fishing. She set her empty glass on the coffee table, and her mind turned briefly toward calling a cab. The thought was disrupted by the sound of a soft tap, as Dimitris set down his glass as well.
For a minute, silence lingered between them. Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do, he reached out and ran a finger lightly along her jawline.
His thumb lingered beneath her chin as he tilted her head up. He leaned in to kiss her, and she felt herself completely surrender to his touch. She rested back into the couch and felt his weight press against her as their kiss turned more passionate. She was breathless when they parted.
Dimitris spoke first, his voice deep and slightly ragged with desire. “We haven’t finished the tour,” he said. “Should we go see the bedroom?”
She nodded, still trying to catch her breath. All thoughts of calling a cab or returning home before it got too late had evaporated into thin air. The story that they were weaving together, of happy newlyweds taking a tour of their beautiful new penthouse, took precedence in her mind. Dimitris took her hand and led her down a hallway, toward the master bedroom.
When they crossed the threshold to the beautiful, expansive master bedroom, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the plush, king-sized bed. She fell back against the satin covers and lost herself in the fantasy of being Mrs. Atheos.
Chapter 10
Eva
A buzzing sound pulled Eva from her dreams.
At first, she thought it must be her phone. She opened her eyes, expecting to see her ceiling, her nightstand, and her phone, positioned where it usually sat—between a glass of water and her bedside lamp.
Instead, she saw a ceiling much higher than her own, and wider, too. It seemed to stretch on and on forever. How big was the room she was in? Had her bedroom tripled in size overnight?
A warm, heavy limb rested across her torso, and she noted the faint sound of steady breathing in her ear. She rolled over, slowly and carefully, and saw Dimitris’s handsome features just a few inches in front of her. His arm, tan and muscular, curled over her bare rib cage, beneath the sheets. Her eyes grew wide.
The buzzing sounded again.
It was a phone, on vibrate, she was sure of that. Now, however, she wasn’t sure if it was her own phone or Dimitris’s.
He stirred in his sleep. His breathing faltered, and then he spoke, without opening his eyes. “You okay, babe?” His voice was thick with sleep.
“Uh, yeah… yeah… I’m okay,” she said. Just freaking out, she thought. But other than that, I’m totally fine.
“Good… good… I’m gonna keep sleeping. That call will go to voicemail.”
The phone buzzed again.
Eva shifted over in the bed, extracting herself carefully from under Dimitris’s arm. “I’m just going to go freshen up,” she whispered.
“Mmm…” he murmured.
She stood up and padded across the bedroom as silently as she could, noting as she moved the clothing that was strewn about. Stooping down, she picked up her white dress and clutched it to her as she scanned the various doors in the room, searching for the bathroom.
What was I thinking? she scolded herself as she finally spotted the bathroom and slipped inside. This is a business arrangement. I told myself I’d keep that in mind. Now, I’ve gone and slept with him!
A mild headache pounded in the back of her skull, and her throat was dry.
Darn that delicious champagne, she thought, as she moved to the sink and sipped water from her hands. Once she’d soothed her throat, she looked into the mirror. Her hair was a tangled mess. She could see the faintest trace of the red lipstick Nikki had talked her into wearing. Her bare shoulders and torso looked all too exposed.
This is bad, she thought to herself. Really, really bad.
She used the toilet, and then moved to the shower and twisted the chrome faucet.
I just got so caught up in the whole act. I lost touch with reality.
The water heated up under her fingertips. She adjusted it slightly, and then stepped under the steamy flow.
As she scrubbed her body, she felt reality continue to come back to her, with all of its harsh details.
Dimitris isn’t really my husband. He signed those papers so that he could become a US citizen, and that’s it.
She finished showering, all the while repeating these rational thoughts to herself.
We’re not in love
We’re not in a real relationship.
This is just a show.
He just needs citizenship. That’s all.
She dried off quickly and then slipped on the dress she’d worn the day before. The white fabric was wrinkled, and it struck her as being of poor quality, in contrast with the luxury and fine fabrics she was now surrounded with. Even the drapes in the bedroom seemed to be nicer than the dress she now wore.
And this was my wedding dress! she thought, with a mix of disbelief and embarrassment, as she hurried through the bedroom. Dimitris was still sleeping, sprawled out on the large bed as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Once she was in the kitchen, she began to look around for coffee. There was a coffee maker near the stove, so she assumed there must be some coffee in one of the cupboards.
She opened the cupboard nearest to the coffee maker and saw that it was empty. Further investigation revealed that all of the cabinets and shelves, aside from the one that contained glasses, plates, and bowls, were empty, too. It seemed as though Anna and the decorator hadn’t stocked the cupboards.
And why would they have? Eva thought to herself, as she abandoned her search for coffee and reached for a water glass from the shelf instead. The person who interviews Dimitris and I won’t poke around in the cupboards. This penthouse has one purpose, and that’s to fool the interviewer. It’s not a real home.
That thought rang in her mind as she filled her glass with tap water.
She sipped the water and rummaged through the gift basket from the realtor. There was a box of gourmet crackers amid the packages, and she pulled it out and opened it up. She and Dimitris hadn’t eaten dinner the night before, and she was starving.
As she nibbled on the crackers and sipped her water, her mind started playing over the evening before as if it was a movie. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about the intimacy that she and Dimitris had shared.
She was jolted from these thoughts when Dimitris appeared in the doorway. He was dressed in the clothes he’d worn before. He gave his face a dry scrub, and then shook his head.
“Man, I’ve got to wake up,” he said.
Eva eyed him. She didn’t know how to act around him. Would he walk up to her and kiss her good morning? She’d gone to great lengths to remind herself that they weren’t really a couple, but now that he stood before her, she found herself hoping that he would.
She waited.
He didn’t meet her eye. Instead, he walked over to the shelf of glasses and pulled off a water glass. “Good idea on the water,” he said. “I should have some too.”
He moved to the refrigerator. There was a little filter and ice machine built into the door. He pressed his glass against the water tap, and a thin stream of water shot out of a nozzle into his glass. “I hope you got the filtered water. I don’t know how good the tap stuff is,” he said.
That’s it? Eva thought to herself. We slept together last night, and now you want to talk about the quality of the water?
She felt annoyance flit through her body and tighten her chest, as if a hand was squeezing her heart. No kiss good morning? He won’t ev
en look me in the eye.
Dimitris didn’t seem to notice that she hadn’t responded. He gulped down the glass of water, and then set the glass in the sink.
“I have a meeting to get to,” he said, “and I’d better get back to my hotel room to change before then.” His focus turned to the crackers she was nibbling. “Is that your breakfast?” he asked.
“I couldn’t find any coffee,” she said softly. She was still in a daze. He was acting so detached, so different than he’d been the night before.
“You know,” he said, “Anna told me that there’s a really good coffee shop down around the block. She knows I like a certain kind of espresso, and she said they carried it. You should go there and pick up some real food. I’d go myself if I wasn’t in such a rush. Oh, before I forget.” He reached into the pocket of his rumpled pants and pulled out a key. “Here, this one’s for you, so that you can let yourself in before our interview, if we have one. Stavros, my lawyer—did I mention him?—he said he could arrange the interview and let us know when it will be held, but to expect to wait about a month before we know anything for certain. They have to run our paperwork first.”
Eva was speechless as she accepted the key. The metal felt cool in her palm.
Dimitris went on. “Let yourself out when you’re ready. I’ve got to run.”
He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. As they parted, he looked into her eyes, for just an instant. His look spoke of emotions that he wasn’t conveying with the words he spoke.
She sensed, suddenly, that he was just as confused about the night that they’d spent together as she was. He’s putting on a show, she thought to herself, because he doesn’t know what else to do.
He broke eye contact quickly, and she immediately began to doubt what she’d intuited from his gaze.
Maybe I just imagined that, she thought, as she watched Dimitris move to the kitchen’s exit.