by Lina Ellina
He followed her to the stage of the impressive fully-restored Greco-Roman amphitheater with the panoramic view of the Mediterranean. Marina was now explaining how the amphitheater seats some two thousand spectators and how several cultural events still take place there today, but he stood still and Marina stopped talking. She turned and saw him leaning indolently against the wall – his weight on one foot.
“Do we have a problem, amore mio?”
He deliberately used the words of love he told her the night before, so that she knew exactly what he was heading at. Marina fixed her eyes on the restless waves wordlessly.
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Why are you avoiding me?”
Silence. For an articulate person, Marina had absolutely no idea how to go about expressing her feelings and thoughts.
“Have I done anything to offend you?” he tried again.
“No, everything’s fine.” That was a flat lie, and they both knew it.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought we had a spark last night,” he said carefully.
“You could say that,” Marina said still not looking at him.
“And if we hadn’t been interrupted, there might have been even more?”
“Perhaps. So?” She shrugged.
“So, you don’t turn people on, and then drive them away. Why are you so distant today?”
Marina tore her gaze away from the rough sea and looked into his Glaucous blue eyes. “What do you want from me, Lorenzo? You are leaving in a few hours.” She puckered her brows.
“Is that the only reason why you’re so distant?” So George had nothing to do with it? Lorenzo felt relief to see her shrug and nod, while Marina wondered what difference it made. It was an impossible love – period.
It was a silent drive back to the hotel. Lorenzo wondered what she might have told George that pacified him and made him leave but refrained from asking.
93 - 1468
Having waited in tense anticipation, Elena thought her heart would burst when Marin finally showed up at her doorstep several days later.
He took her by the hand and led her to the sofa. “Elena,” he looked at her searching for the right words.
She stared at him with her almond-shaped brown eyes, unable to control her curiosity. “Well? What did your uncle say? Has he given you his blessing?”
Marin’s jaw stiffened and Elena knew the news couldn’t be good.
“Not exactly,” he started carefully, and Elena’s eyebrows furrowed into an inquisitive look. “He’s not against it. He just thinks I should not rush into anything,” he added.
Elena could see that his uncle’s pharisaic olive branch was not more than a Trojan horse. Most likely he needed time for his plan to keep them apart.
“Exactly, how long does your uncle think it’s appropriate to wait?” she asked, trying to measure her words, knowing of the high esteem Marin had for his uncle
“He wasn’t that specific, but we should wait a while,” he said vaguely.
Elena took a deep breath and mastered all her patience, a rather difficult task with her upset pregnancy hormones.
“I’ll be having your child soon, Marin. Do you wish your son to be born outside of wedlock?”
“My son? How do you know it’s a boy?” Marin avoided the real question.
“Because my pregnancy is different this time. Do you wish your child to be born a bastard?” Elena insisted.
“Elena, what’s eating you? I’m not your grandfather or your father! I do want to marry you. I will marry you.”
“You do see that I’m the one in a vulnerable position here.”
“You do see that I’m the one risking everything here!” The words slipped out.
“Is this what I am for you, Marin? A risk?” Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Don’t go down that path, Elena. If I go against my uncle’s wishes, I lose everything.”
“Everything?” She folded her arms in front of her chest.
Marin put his hands on her shoulders.
“Listen! Listen to me! I never want to lose you again. If I had to choose, of course, I would choose you over my uncle. I just hope it won’t come to that. I know I’m asking for too much right now, but you will have to trust me. Let me deal with this. I think I may know how.”
Elena lost herself in those blue eyes. With her growing belly, she felt more vulnerable with each passing day. Even if he chose her over his uncle, would he not regret it, she wondered?
94 - 2011
“Would you like to come up to my room for a drink while I pack?” Lorenzo asked casually when they got back to the hotel.
“Uh... I think I better wait for you here,” Marina said quietly, avoiding his gaze.
“Sure.” The corners of his mouth twitched as he pushed the elevator button and watched her walk to the lobby.
Marina ordered a coffee and sat by the large French windows overlooking the patio with the charming wooden bridges over the little ponds, lost in her thoughts. She almost didn’t hear her cell phone ring.
“Hey, Katerina.”
“Someone’s carrying the world on her shoulders,” Katerina observed perceptively.
Marina sighed. “Nothing as tragic as that.”
“Okay, what’s wrong?”
“I’m in love and he’s packing,” Marina gave her the abridged version.
“The Italian client?”
Marina nodded. “The very same.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Nothing. What’s there to do? He’s a client. And he’s leaving.”
Katerina was silent for a moment, and then she asked, “Is this mutual?”
“I don’t know. For all I know, it’s just a holiday fling for him.”
“Want me to pass by?”
“No, it’s okay. I have to drive him to the airport anyway.”
“Hang in there, Marina mou. Call me when you get back.”
“Sure.” Marina hung up and took a sip of her coffee absent-mindedly.
95 - 1468
In the next few weeks, Andrea Cornaro arranged for Marin to attend one social event after another and on various pretexts, he required his presence in the capital. In an effort not to alarm Elena, Marin tried to conceal his frequent outings from her. To distract her attention, he even ordered a long, white, silk dress, with an embroidered rim that could even be used as a wedding dress.
“This is for you. It’s from Venice,” he said when he presented her with his gift when they next met.
“If I can fit into it,” Elena said, looking at the dress unenthusiastically.
Marin observed the there’s-something-wrong-but-I-won’t-tell-you-what expression on her face.
“Elena, is everything all right?”
“Yes! Lunch is ready,” she said and took to serving the honey-crusted roasted lamb with spinach, peeled almonds, and raisins.
“It’s delicious,” Marin said, hoping to lift her spirits, but Elena just offered him a faint smile.
“The baby could come any day now, Marin,” she said after a while.
Marin wasn’t sure he could read her eyes. “That’s terrific. I can’t wait.”
“And you still want to marry me?” she asked quietly.
“You know I do. You just have to be a bit more patient.”
Elena took her time looking him in the eye before she spoke again. “A Venetian gentleman paid me a visit this last week.”
“What gentleman?” Marin asked suspiciously. “What did he want?”
“He wanted to help me understand that if I really loved you, I should set you free. As if I ever owned you in any way! Apparently, I’m ruining your career prospects and your social status. I think his exact words were ‘I’m dragging you down to my abyss.’ He even offered me money if I were to leave Paphos and disappear from your life.”
Marin was trying to deduce what was going on. “What did you say?” he asked quietly, but his mind was racing.
“That the b
aby is due any day now and even if I wanted to, it is impossible to leave straightaway, and I asked him if his offer would still be valid until after I gave birth.” There! She said it. It was off her chest now.
“You mean you are thinking about it?” After he had called off the engagement to the Contarini girl for her? Marin’s eyebrows furrowed in an inquisitive look, and then he frowned in disbelief.
“I mean, I bought us, or me, time. He didn’t exactly threaten me in so many words, but the threat was in the air all right. If you want to marry me, as you say you do, now is the time. If you don’t, I still need to think about Ioanna and the new baby. I can’t allow anything to happen to me. Do you understand the gravity of my situation, Marin, while you are having fun at the balls your uncle sends you to?” she asked reproachfully.
Marin gnashed his teeth and clenched his fist irately. “Would you be in any position to travel if necessary?”
“If I have to travel, the sooner the better.” Elena wondered what was going on in his head, but it was impossible to tell.
They finished their lunch in silence. When Marin got ready to leave, he put his arms around her and said, “You’ll hear from me before Sunday. I need to clear out a few things. I’ll be back for you. All of you.”
Marin rode back to Episkopi, chasing the thought away that Elena was playing him against Andrea. He found it hard to stomach that his uncle would finagle his way into separating him from Elena. He was almost certain that the gentleman who had paid her a visit was Jacomo but thought it wiser not to confront him. If that were the case, he was only acting upon Andrea’s instructions.
Marin quickly assessed the situation. He had put aside enough to get them a house and make a fresh start. By now, he had established a network of associates and business acquaintances that might be useful in starting up his own business, preferably dealing with spices like he had done before he came to Cyprus - provided he wouldn’t ignite his uncle’s wrath.
96 - 2011
Lorenzo’s steps were unusually slow as he walked to the car. He placed his suitcase in the car boot and sat in the passenger seat.
“I was thinking I should follow that lead you gave me about the Orthodox Church,” he said when Marina shifted into reverse and pulled out of the parking lot.
“Perhaps you should,” she replied quietly and steered the car onto the coastal road.
“I’d like to come back for a longer vacation in the summer time - with Paola. I bet it’s more beautiful then.”
Marina looked at him sideways, wondering if he was just making polite conversation. “It’s definitely warmer.”
“How about you? Any plans of finally visiting Venice any time soon? I’d love to show you around.”
Marina wondered if he was looking for a pen friend or a long-distance relationship. She knew she was interested in neither. Those were merely alternatives to postponing the inevitable.
“One day. I’ll need to get a job first,” she said evasively.
Lorenzo scrutinized her guarded expression, and drawing upon his finest command of language, he remained silent.
97 - 1468
At the first streaks of dawn, Marin set off to Nicosia, but he found he had to wait a couple of hours before he was finally let into the office of the Auditor of the Kingdom, as Andrea had been caught up in a lengthy meeting with the king.
“Marin, I’m sorry I kept you waiting so long,” Andrea said with a smile on his face, but Marin could tell from the dark circles around his eyes that he must have had a sleepless night.
“It’s all right. I had the chance to collect my thoughts in the peace of the palace gardens.”
“That sounds serious.” Andrea concentrated his attention on the young man. He had the gift of focusing on a situation completely in spite of what else might be on his mind.
“Uncle, I know you are extremely busy and perhaps today is not the best of days to distract you from your work with my personal problems, but I will only take a few minutes of your time.”
“What seems to be the problem?” Andrea took off his spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“I hope you see how hard I have worked for you since the day I set foot on this island,” Marin said, seeking to establish common ground.
“You know I do,” Andrea encouraged him.
“I have always done what you asked of me.” Andrea nodded, and Marin went on. “Uncle, I’ve come for your blessing to marry Elena.”
The die had been cast.
Andrea folded his hands and said contemplatively, “I take it that no young lady has managed to steal your heart away.”
“I’m afraid not,” Marin replied steadfastly.
“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to have this conversation... Do you know that the widow is willing to walk away from you for the right price?” Andrea examined the young man’s face.
“So it is true! You did send someone.” Marin sounded disappointed and bitter. He was half hoping Elena’s story was fabricated.
“I have underestimated her,” Andrea said quietly. “She’s more devious than I thought. Beware of her, Marin,” he warned the young man. “Think! Why would she tell you? She wants to look like the victim here, but make no mistake, Marin. She was more than willing to take the money.” Andrea’s rebuking gaze bore into the young man’s eyes, but the latter didn’t flinch.
Marin had mentally prepared for anything. He had nothing to gain from a conflict with his uncle. “I have come for your blessing, uncle, like you promised,” he said, focusing on the crux of the matter and keeping his voice steady and low.
“Can’t you see it’s the money she’s after? Open your eyes, Marin! You have a future full of prospect ahead of you. Don’t waste it on an ignorant native!” Andrea said disdainfully.
Marin decided not to dignify that with an answer. “Am I to understand you will not give me your blessings as promised?”
Marin wouldn’t take the bait, and Andrea had no other cards to play. “I wish I could, my boy. Believe me. I wish I could.” Andrea suddenly looked much older.
“In that case, I must bid you farewell. I’m afraid our paths part here. It’s been an honor to serve you, but now I need to look after my family. I will always be at your service anyway I can.” One of the principles of human conduct his father had taught him was to avoid burning bridges whenever possible.
“You are leaving!” Andrea could hardly hide his astonishment and his defeat.
“I’m afraid so. I don’t see how I can stay without your blessing, and marry Elena I shall.” Marin rose to his feet.
“Where will you be going?” Andrea asked wearily.
“Famagusta. I have some money of my own. I could trade in spices. I know a few things about that. We’ll be all right.”
“Famagusta! Perhaps you should get in touch with Francisco da Lucca. I’ll send word.”
Andrea called his secretary into his office and whispered something in his ear. The young man left quietly only to return with a pouch a couple of minutes later. When he closed the door behind him, Andrea walked up to Marin and extended his arm with the pouch.
“Consider this as my wedding gift to you.”
The two men embraced and locked eyes in an eloquent gaze.
98 - 2011
The car came to a complete stop outside the departing flights area. Marina grabbed her bag, took out an ash grey box, and handed it to him. She mastered all her strength, put a smile on her face, and said, “This is for you.”
“Thank you!” Lorenzo untied the indigo ribbon and opened the box she offered him. “A silver pomegranate! Does it symbolize anything?”
“Cypriots believe it brings good luck. It was also one of Aphrodite’s symbols – a symbol of love.”
She cast her gaze to the pomegranate and refrained from explaining that it was also a symbol of the consummation of marriage and fertility.
Lorenzo searched her eyes. Was she saying she loved him? He planted a kiss on her forehead and thanked h
er for her gift. He had this vague feeling that he had to do or say something, but he wasn’t sure what.
Marina walked him to his counter, and Lorenzo checked his suitcase in and came to stand close to her. He looked at the clock on the wall, aware that these were their last minutes together. Their eyes locked in silence. He scratched the back of his head and cast his gaze down at his shoes.
“You know... I have a daughter and a business to go back to, but perhaps you…” He cast a glance around and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Marina held him in a quizzical look. “I... what?”
“I was just thinking that... perhaps you could... uh... could take a break after your defense to... uh...”
“To do what?” Marina searched his eyes.
He gave her an exaggerated grimace. “Oh, I don’t know. You might want to come and visit Venice - or me,” he finally said with a cheeky smirk.
“Exactly, what are you saying?” Marina dare not hope.
“We could give it a try - you and I. What do you say?” His Glaucous blue eyes sank into hers.
She looked at him through half-closed eyes, her heart beating like crazy. “We could, I guess,” she said quietly, trying to grasp what she was agreeing to.
“Yes?” he asked for confirmation.
“Yes,” she nodded and gave him a wide smile.
He took her in his arms, and for what seemed like an eternity, they lost themselves in an embrace, oblivious to the people around them.
“This is the final call for passenger Costas Constantinou on flight CY326 to London Heathrow. Please proceed to the boarding gate immediately,” a strict voice announced.
As if awoken from lethargy, they cut off their embrace. Lorenzo looked at her unable to resist the temptation after all.
“What did you tell George last night that made him walk away just like that?”