by E. M. Irons
“I’m not rushing you, am I?” He looked troubled.
I tugged at his shirt, and he bent towards me.
“You are not. And I’d tell you if you were.” I kissed him softly.
“Good.” He hugged me close.
“Hey, tomorrow Mr. Stravos is supposed to pick me up so I can have lunch with him and his wife. Wanna join?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I'm really curious about them, you speak so well of your time in their house…”
“You know, you have Mrs. Angelina to thank for getting me drunk.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah, she gave me food for thought and I went to the bar because I was a little confused about everything.”
“It sounds like Mrs. Angelina deserves a very nice bottle of wine.”
“She sure does.”
Elliot took me back and kissed me goodnight on my doorstep, leaving and saying some nonsense about taking our time. When I finally fell asleep, I missed having his body and heat next to mine.
10
Mr. Stravos was waiting for me when I crossed the small plank to land. I waved at him and tugged at Elliot’s hand, rushing to hug the old man by the taxi. Carrying our luggage, Elliot was slower to reach us, but as soon as he could, he deposited everything down and shook the hand of the greek man, who was measuring him from head to toe.
“And who’s that, korítsi?” Mr. Stravos asked in his thick accent.
“This is Elliot Knight, he’s my…” I looked sideways at him.
“Boyfriend.” He supplied.
“Boyfriend, huh?” I wiggled my eyebrows.
Mr. Stravos cackled loudly, slapping Elliot on the back. “My Angelina will be happy to meet you, gígantas. Come on, let’s go."
We climbed on the old car and Mr. Stravos sped away, asking about the cruise, the islands and my favourite part of the trip. Once we got to his house, he honked twice, making Mrs. Angelina come out, scrubbing her hand on a dishcloth, and opening her arms to me.
“Agapitós, give me a hug! You look so pretty!”
I gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek and hugged her again.
“Angelina, this is korítsi boyfriend." Mr. Stravos spoke, pointing at Elliot. “Her new boyfriend.”
She looked over, her eyes sparkled, and she squinted at me.
“New boyfriend? Told you’d have an eventful trip, yes?”
Shaking my head, we went into the kitchen to sit and eat. Elliot, lovely Elliot, gave them a very fancy wine to accompany lunch, and was bombarded with questions which he took in stride, answering, laughing and praising Mrs. Angelina’s food. That man certainly knew how to win people over. After lunch and coffee, I helped wash the dishes while Elliot dried them. We kept watching the time, because our flight would leave on time, and not surprisingly at all, we were booked for the same flying company.
“We should leave soon, children. We don’t want to be stuck in traffic.” Mr. Stravos said.
We dried our hands and turned to the couple sitting at the table.
“You're sure you can take us, Mr. Stravos? We don’t want to bother you.” Elliot was questioning.
“Nonsense, gígantas. I can pick up a tourist there and come back."
“We appreciate it."
I was a little teary at saying goodbye to Mrs. Angelina. Who knew when I would see her again? She patted my cheek and kissed me on both of mine.
“Be happy, agapitós. Enjoy your life and write me a letter whenever you can. My door will always be open for you and your love.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Angelina. If you ever go to Britain, call me. I’ll be happy to have you and Mr. Stravos.”
“Bless your heart, child.” She hugged me tight and whispered in my ear. “That’s good love you have, little Olivia. Cherish it.”
She went on to hug Elliot and to warn him to take good care of me. Off we went to the airport, with Mr. Stravos Greek music playing on the radio, and the city passing us by, with all its colours and peculiarities. In the drop-off area, I said my goodbye to Mr. Stravos, crying a little again.
He patted me on the back and laughed. “And to think you arrived crying for a silly boy. Now you are leaving with a man. Now your heart is open, and you can enjoy yourself, yes?"
“Thanks for everything, Mr. Stravos. You are the best.” A tear escaped my eye.
“Be good, korítsi, and come back when you can."
Elliot shook his hand and nodded at his stern warning to be a good man for me.
“Safe travels for you two. Greece will be waiting for you.”
He waved and left to pick up another tourist.
Who knew I would fall in love in seven days with the perfect man for me? And that I would begin a new adventure going back home? Life is full of surprises, and I was happy to go with the flow and enjoy this crazy new found love.
Epilogue
Seven months later
It was over. Done. And I was ridiculously excited to start over.
I presented my final papers last week, receiving the highest grade, the British Museum hired me as an assistant to the restoration program, and I was moving back to London. To live with Elliot. Our relationship grew stronger as we shifted back and forth to see each other, and our plans for the future were looking great. My sister was a little worried about how fast things were moving between us, but every relationship has its own time, and ours was fast-paced.
The first time Elliot met my sister (and Jonathan, of course), she threatened to poison him if he ever made me cry, which made me laugh so hard that I actually cried. But after that it was roses and sunshine.
I was returning to my apartment, carrying paper boxes to pack everything, when I saw a familiar shape waiting outside. My face split in two and I ran straight to Elliot’s arms.
“What are you doing here?” I was practically climbing him.
“Helping. Ready to pack, roomie?” He laughed and joked about our future living situation.
“So ready! I called the moving company and they’ll be here tomorrow."
“Better start packing then.”
He got the boxes out of my arms and followed me inside.
“How was your meeting yesterday? Mr. Chapman decided what to do?”
The negotiations to acquire the cruise line were taking forever, and Mr. Chapman hired Elliot to keep up his analyses over the last semester. It appeared they were heading for a deal, but the business world was unpredictable.
“He's closing the deal next week. Which brings me to a proposal for you."
“Hummm… what about?" I circled my arms around his neck.
“How do you feel about another cruise through the greek islands over the summer?”
“Are you serious?” I leaned back, looking at him.
“To celebrate one year together and to do some business, of course."
“Of course.” I laughed.
"You can write one of your letters to let Mr. Stravos and Mrs. Angelina know that we will be visiting.”
“Oh my God, they’ll be so happy!” I was almost jumping up and down on the spot, with all the happiness bubbling inside.
“I hope so.” He laughed, kissing the tip of my nose.
“Are we having another Greek affair then?” I joked.
“Shorty, you’re my one and only Greek affair."
And then he kissed me.
Acknowledgement
Thank you for picking up this book to read! I know you have so many options out there, but I’m truly happy you gave A Greek Affair a chance.
To my family, I love you for your unwavering support, and for all the travelling we did.
Amy, you lovely, amazing, perfect human, thank you for the push, the advice and for loving romances as much as I do.
To my girlfriends, you all deserve someone like Elliot. Don't settle for less than your dream guy.
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