AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I heard.’ Roula nodded, though she did not turn her head—for who would turn away as the setting sun seemed to set the Parthenon on fire?
She wanted to turn her head, though. So much so her neck felt taut.
‘I woke up,’ Galen told her, ‘and I had never heard Athens so silent.’
‘Truly?’
‘I walked around in it for hours.’
She could feel his breath, and his thigh was against hers, and still Roula stared ahead. Because her neck ached to turn, but her mind told her she would ruin things. That he would laugh in her face if she moved in to kiss him, for she was surely misreading things?
It wasn’t even the fact that he was soon to be her boss that was the issue right now.
For even if he did not laugh in her face...even if he moved to kiss her back...she wouldn’t know what to do.
This new want, this genesis of desire, was too much and too soon. She wanted to want from a distance, not seated by his side.
‘I should get back,’ Roula said as the sky slipped into night. ‘I had a very early start today.’
‘Of course.’
He got a call on the way out, and it was good news.
‘Kristina is fine,’ he told her. ‘She has to have her blood pressure checked again, but the babymoon is on.’
‘I’m so pleased. You should call Nico.’
‘I’ll tell him when I get back to the office.’
The drive home was a silent one except for the drum of his fingers on the walnut trim as Galen pondered how it must feel for Roula to be in a new city, in a new workplace, and to know that any day now her life would become headline news.
And, while he chose not to get involved in the dramas of other people’s lives, he felt a reluctant yet definite responsibility.
She really was on her own.
‘Roula...’ As they neared the apartment he turned and saw the lights of the city flash on her pale cheeks. ‘We used to talk, yes?’
‘Yes.’
‘On Monday things change,’ Galen said. ‘As I said when I offered you the role, things are different at work, but that doesn’t mean...’Merda, he was bad at this. The car pulled in at the top of the lane. ‘I’ll walk you down.’
‘There’s no need.’
‘We’re not on Anapliró now.’
Tell me, Roula, Galen thought as they walked down the lane in tense silence.
‘Thank you for dinner,’ Roula said as they came to the steps. ‘And for meeting me this morning.’
She was getting out the keys, about to go in and face this alone.
‘Yolanda’s right,’ Galen said. ‘You give no indication as to what’s going on with you.’
Roula swallowed. ‘Perhaps its wiser not to.’
‘Tell me, Roula.’
‘I think it’s better I don’t.’
