by Cat Mann
****
Nearly a week into our trip, August sent me a text asking us to meet him for dinner at a beach resort called Delfino Blu. Ari and I arrived early and ordered drinks. We sat at an outside table at the beach bar and were mesmerized by the bright blue Mediterranean Sea as we waited for August.
“You’re sunburned,” he said softly, his lips pulling down in to a frown.
I patted my cheeks with my fingertips.
“Just a touch… it doesn’t hurt.”
I could feel Ari’s penetrating gaze on my cheeks. From the time I disappeared on a run and turned up broken, beaten, and burnt a week later, he had been consumed by worry for my safety and wellbeing. Sometimes when I wake from a nightmare, I find him sitting up, watching me sleep.
“Didn’t you wear sunscreen?”
I smiled at his fatherly tone.
“Yes, I put some on, but it must have worn off. I’m ok, Ari. It doesn’t hurt.”
Ari took my hand in his and slowly turned it over to inspect the pink, freshly healed scar on my wrist.
“I should have never let you out of my sight. I should have never let you leave me that day. I should have never let him get to you. I wish I had killed him myself.”
I shook my head slowly.
“You aren’t a murderer, Ari.”
“Neither are you, Ava.”
We sat silently for a long moment and watched the gulls over the sea dive into the water and come back up with dinner. We listened to their screeches and cries over the crashing waves.
“I could live here,” I said, mostly to myself.
“Could you?” Ari asked; his interest peeked.
“Yeah, I could.”
“We could, you know. Leave California and live here. Change our names and hide away. I could keep you safe here.”
I shook my head no.
“You could never leave your family, Ari, and I would never ask you to.”
“I would leave everything behind if it meant keeping you safe.”
“Damien Kakos is dead, Ari. He can’t hurt me.”
I closed my eyes and pushed back the threat of tears welling up inside me. I should tell him! I thought. I should tell him that I am not safe, that I am being hunted! But I couldn’t do it.
August showed up with his ex-boyfriend Claude, breaking us from our quiet conversation.
“Ugh,” I sighed, when I saw them walk together up the path, hand in hand.
“What?” Ari side whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “Who’s that?”
“His ex. We hung out in London. Nice guy, but he’s a cheat. I’ll tell you about it later.”
August and Claude stood at the table smiling down on us. As soon as I saw them, I knew it had been Claude I heard talking in the background of my call to August before the trip. I also knew instantly why August began speaking in English as soon as he heard my voice. Claude speaks very little English; August almost certainly didn’t want him to know about the plan to move to California. I gave August a knowing look when Claude’s back was turned. August shrugged his shoulders and mouthed, “What?”
“You know what,” I said in a sharp tone.
I introduced Ari to Claude as August’s friend, and then asked Claude what he was doing here in Greece. He explained that he had taken a few days to holiday here with August and was leaving for home on an evening plane. I then gave August another accusatory, unbelieving look.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like Claude. He was actually a pretty fun guy to hang around with. The three of us had a blast one night in London at an Amy Winehouse tribute party. Claude had arranged VIP passes for us and pressured me into dressing in character. He puffed my hair and tied it in a wrap, then did my eye makeup to look just like Amy’s. Truth was, I looked quite ridiculous while August and Claude ended up looking quite fabulous. August actually won one of the look-alike contests.
I tempered my usual impatience with Claude that night because, after all, he had brought us to the party... and because I ended up getting to meet Kate Nash and Lily Allen. But Claude, for the most part, treated August poorly, and one quality I cannot stand in a person is the failure to be faithful.
We moved our party into the resort’s restaurant for dinner and while waiting for our meal, the four of us shared recaps of what we had done so far in Greece. August noticed my pink, sunburned cheeks and Ari frowned again. I changed the subject to what we had planned for the upcoming days and I was thankful when Claude announced, at the end of dinner, that he had to be on his way. He got up to leave and we said our goodbyes. When he was out of earshot, I turned my attention to August.
“What was that all about?!”
“What on Earth do you mean, Ava?” August put his hand on his heart as if I had wounded him.
“Don’t play dumb with me, August. I know Claude was with you the other morning.”
“Oh? So what?” he said, trying to brush me off.
“So what? He cheated on you. How can you even think about settling for him? I thought you had moved on from this relationship.”
“I promise this is the last I will ever see of him,” August frowned.
“Ok, sure,” I said sarcastically.
Ari just stared at us the whole time, having no idea what we were going on about, or who Claude really was, so I filled him in on the details. He told me I should stay out of August’s relationships and just mind my own business. Part of me knew he was right, but I elbowed him in the ribs anyway as the three of us got up to head back to The Loft. August had shipped most of his things to Aggie a few days earlier; what he had left was in a backpack he carried on one shoulder.
Later, after Ari and I were settled, I went to check on August. I found him sitting on the bed, staring at the floor as though in a pit of utter despair. I sat down next to him and he put his head on my shoulder. I could tell he was upset about letting Claude go for the last time.
“It’s okay, Aug,” I wrapped my arm around him in a hug.
We sat like that for a while then he took a deep breath.
“OK, it’s over. You’re right, Claude is a complete jerk and I am over him.”
“It’s okay if you’re not,” I said petting his hair.
“Ok, good, because I’m not,” he choked out as tears slipped down his cheeks.
Ari came in and took one look at us. I could tell he wanted to turn around and leave but instead he took a seat on the other side of August and put his head on August’s shoulder. A small laugh escaped both August’s and my lips at Ari’s attempt to comfort him. Before long August dried his eyes, stood up and started to get a few things out of his bag.
“I can’t believe you’re going to be teaching again,” I said to him once he was calm. “I didn’t think you wanted to keep that up.”
“I don’t really, but I am ready to be back in California and DPI offered me good pay. I’ll be teaching French and history, so that should be easy enough. I will keep my eyes open for something else, but DPI will work for the time being.”
I smiled, happy to be getting August back to the U.S.
Ari, August and I spent the next couple of days being obnoxious tourists. We went to The National Archaeological Museum and The Parthenon. We saw the Theater of Herod Atticus, the Theater of Dionysius and the Ancient Agora and Kerameikos. August took pictures of absolutely everything. Every time August and I saw a statute of Adonis, we giggled. Then Ari would give us his best annoyed look, which made us laugh harder. Being in Greece with my husband and my best friend was more fun than I had anticipated. It helped me forget the fears that plagued me, if only temporarily.
On our last night, August made reservations for dinner and a tour on some boat. I was apprehensive about going and suggested that August and Ari go on without me. They looked at each other and then shook their heads no. Ari pulled me up off the bed and held me in his arms.
“Ava Baby, don’t worry, I’ll be with you the whole time. It’s not a boat, it’s a yacht; you won’t even know you
’re on the water.”
Ari was right about the yacht; it was huge. Nevertheless, I definitely knew we were surrounded by deep water. Between my uneasy feeling and a slight chill in the air, I had to cuddle up on Ari’s lap on a deck chair to keep from feeling sick.
We were all talking about how we weren’t looking forward to the long flight home the following day, and how we could stay here in Greece forever when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large rope tied around one of the rails. Rolling waves of nausea hit my stomach and I knew then what was coming and I attempted to brace myself for the horrible memories that were invading my mind. The images flashed before my eyes and I quickly got up and rounded the deck out of sight.
Pressing my forehead against the cold steel rail, I forced myself to inhale. I saw myself hanging from a rope. I felt the blood trickle down my torso, urine running down my leg. I could feel the wobble of the stool underneath me, my only lifeline. I heard voices sifting through the ceiling beams from the room above as No. 6 wrongfully predicted my suicide and a muffled voice responded from his speakerphone. That voice had given me my first hint that No. 6 was not the last of those determined to kill me.
The stream of images intensified. I felt the crack of my ribs as No. 6 kicked my limp, nearly lifeless body. I felt my lungs burn and scream for air. I felt the cold sharp blade as No. 6 sliced my wrist open and I watched the blood pool around me.
I pushed my forehead more firmly onto the cold steel of the yacht’s railing, grabbed my wrist and bit down on my lip to keep myself from screaming. When a warm, oddly familiar smell flooded my senses, my stomach gave up and I was sick over the rail.
“Ava, are you ok?” Ari asked, rushing towards me.
“Yeah, fine, just a little sea sick,” I moaned.
Hurt washed over his face and then was quickly replaced with anger.
“You’re lying. Do not ever lie to me, Ava.”
Oh, crap. I felt horrible and tears sprang to my eyes. He was right.
“I’m sorry,” I cried. “But I can’t get the words past my lips.” The images came back and I continued to be sick over the side of the yacht. My reaction to the rope was by far the worst of my flashbacks...but I finally felt as if there were no more holes missing from that week. I had at last been able to remember the whole ordeal.
Minutes passed, my shaking slowed and my breathing began to go back to normal. Ari helped me to my feet and he put my face in his hands and gave me a serious look.
“Ava, you don’t have to protect me. I understand if you don’t want to talk about these issues, but we are in this together. Don’t ever lie to me again. Ever. I mean it.” He handed me a bottle of water and kissed my eyelids.
“Ari,” I spoke quietly, “I do have something I need to tell you, but I am not ready to talk about it with you yet.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed, and thought about what I said for a second. I could tell he was seriously angry with me. I wanted so much to get the news of No. 7 out in the open, but my mouth stayed closed and no matter how much my brain screamed at my lips, they would not budge. Ari nodded and pulled me into a hug.
“Just promise me, Ava, that you will talk to me about everything as soon as you are able.”
“Promise,” I said, breathing his calming scent in, letting it wash over me.