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That's how love works,Karen once told me.You never know how much or how little you have time left with them. So if you can afford to stay with them, do it.
It took her husband three years to beat the Big C...while it took Karendoublethat time to remember how she used to be a fun-loving girl boss who had goals of her own outside helping her hubby overcome a life-threatening disease.
Suffice to say, she's my real-life hero, and while I know Karen can get sarcastic and snarky like I am, shenevermakes jokes when it comes to getting over trauma. So if she says'sex'is the answer to my problems, then maybe it is?
I'm still chewing over it when we finally get to the marina, which Nik co-owns with Kyrillos Gazis. In the past, the one major thing both Greek billionaires had in common was their workaholic lifestyle. But now that they were happily married, Nik and Kyr mostly bonded over sailing, fishing, and maintenance work for their respectivegigayachts.
And yes, there is such a thing, and since their gigayachts are apparently too big to dock just anywhere, Nik and Kyr decided to build their own "giga" marina instead. Boys and their toys, right?
Speaking of which...
I finally catch a glimpse ofLady Pandaas it soars into view, and while it looks stunning as ever, what's not so stunning is the horde of paps waiting at the end of the gangplank.
Sigh.
Their cameras click nonstop as Nik and I stride past, and I keep my head bowed until I hear someone call out,"Yoohoo!"
It's Daria, of course, and she's waving cheerfully at us from one ofLady Panda'sblack-and-white decks.
Nik's wife smothers me with a hug as soon as I'm aboard. "I missed you so much, Leah-boo!"
"I missed you, too," I grumble, "but can you please stop calling me that?"
Daria only laughs, and the sound is so infectious that natural-born grumps like Nik and me can't help but smile.
"Your usual suite is ready," Nik's wife says. "You can have a shower, freshen up, and then we'll have dinner around seven?"
Familiar faces from the staff on board say hi to me as I head to said suite, which comes with its own lovely small terrace overlooking Biscayne Bay.
Everything looks even lovelier than I remembered. Beige-colored walls offer an elegantly subtle backdrop for the big white bed at the center and the pastel-colored flower arrangement atop a floating bedside table.
A quick glance at the minibar shows that the staff has the suite stocked with my favorite drinks, and I also spy a lovely collection of bath bombs, lotions, and other toiletries inside the en-suite. Everything here is meant to make me relax and enjoy myself, but instead it does the opposite, and I find myself gripping my chest as it starts to tighten.
Life has been good lately.
Really,really good, and that's why I have this stupid fear the sky will fall on me at any second.
Hardship is all I've known my entire life. My parents died when I was young because of a botched robbery attempt, and the years that followed weren't any better. My sister struggled to make ends meet all the time, and I remembered hating myself for not being old or resourceful enough to help.
There were more downs than ups, but nothing was worse than when Io was diagnosed of cancer. That was the turning point in my life, and fourteen-year-old me had swallowed her pride just to pester a certain Greek billionaire to lend us a helping hand.
So many things have changed since then. All for the better, too, and that's what terrifies me.
Fear is like this invisible blood-sucking parasite inside of me, and it's cursed me with frequent nightmares of Io's cancer coming back to kill her. I dread going to sleep because of it, but I also find it impossible to think of anything else when I'm awake.
IknowI'm being silly. I know this is just me being so used to hardship, that all this sudden influx of positivity is making me feel antsy.
Logic tells me I should draw inspiration from Karen's own experiences, and if she's able to move on, then so can I. Logic insists that a week to get my shit together is doable, and all I need is something to spark my interest.
All I need is just one huge distraction to keep me from pointlessly stressing myself.
Just one thing...but can that something truly be sex?
