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My eyes tracked my younger self’s progress until I froze; I pulled out my phone hurriedly and opened the email Roseline had sent me with the attachment. With a deep inhale, I opened the picture I’d seen late at night, and I’d eventually looked at it two nights after she’d sent it. I’d barely even registered the photo.
Now, placing the two pictures side by side, I saw very many similarities between the two boys. The little boy on the phone had his mother’s green eyes, pale skin, and light freckles.Everythingelse looked like me, though. His bone structure, his furrowed brow, his hair, and even his ears. It was amazing. I brushed my fingers over the little boy’s face held captive in my phone screen. I almost couldn’t breathe.
I felt a strange sense of terror mixed with awe. Had I created this fantastic human being? Someone I hadn’t even met, but I was certain, with the mother he had, that he had become someone to contend with already.
I started writing Roseline an email that would reveal nothing about my current mental state. I wanted to get to know her and the boy in the photo, hoping to become a family. After all, I’d known I had feelings for Roseline for a long time.
My grandfather’s death reinforced in my mind that life is too short. It was pointless squandering time. I informed her that I had returned to Greece to see my family after my grandfather became ill. I told her I’d be back by the end of the week and promised we’d talk then. I figured telling her would hopefully alleviate her anxiety, which seemed to grow based on her emails.
I sighed and rubbed my temples as I pushed away from the table. Was it normal to be nervous about meeting my son and eventually taking his mother for what I should have done so long ago? My partner.
The thought made my heart skip a beat. I wouldn’t have to wrestle with this forbidden fruit logic any longer.
When I heard a voice calling to me in the living room, I got up and went to where the family was gathered. A man with a briefcase stood before them, and I hesitantly stood on the side of the small crowd until my cousin physically dragged me closer. After a brief moment of calm, the man opened his bag, and everything changed.
The weekend arrived, and I was back on a plane bound for the United States, my mind racing over the events of the previous two days. The highlight was how I had become an instant billionaire, combined with my own finances. I knew my grandfather was wealthy, but I had no idea how rich he was.
Everyone had received a large sum, and some of us had received property. I now had a small vacation home in Greece that I had no idea the family owned. I held up my phone, where a picture of me and the large group of people I called my extended family smiled at me.
I was supposed to bring my mother and brother back to visit my grandfather’s grave when they were ready. I brushed away my worry and focused on the fact that I would miss them. I’d miss the smell of the sea so close and being able to reach out and touch the fruit trees in the backyard every morning.
But I had somewhere to be, and two very important people were waiting for me. They just weren’t aware of it yet. I could always go back; I intended to. Greece was just as much my home as the United States, and now I had a place to return to.
As my plane took off, I fell into a deep sleep, dreamless this time, and even though I was leaving a place I’d come to love as much as my own home, perhaps even more, I felt utterly at peace with my decision.
Knowing what was waiting for me back at my true home, knowing what I had to do, filled my mind with a sense of calm.
Chapter 18
Roseline
Iawoketotheusual morning routine, beginning the day by watching the news on our old television while Ciro ate breakfast. However, the morning quickly turned sour when a terrible accident took center stage at the end of the report. “Last night, a plane from Greece was caught up in a violent storm with no way out. It went down in the ocean just outside of the safety of a landing strip nearby,” the newscaster reported.
Her voice was soothing, but my skin pricked with anxiety. Aldric’s email informed me that he was returning around the same time as that plane. I squeezed the remote in my hand tightly as my imagination ran wild. I let out a shaky exhale in an attempt to calm myself. I took out my phone and texted him, hoping against hope that he would respond, but something inside me writhed uncomfortably, telling me that he wouldn’t.
I was on my way to the campus, my stomach a bundle of nerves because I was right. Aldric wasn’t answering me, and the feeling of doom that invaded me was overwhelming. I worked through the day even though I felt sick to my stomach. I checked my emails whenever I could, hoping that Aldric had responded.
“What are you doing, dear?” Charlotte asked. “I heard that Dr. Haile was flying back today, but something on the news worried me. A plane coming back from Greece had gone down,” I explained, finally feeling a bit of stress leave my body as I vented my fears.
“Oh yes, I heard about that too. Poor people, but don’t worry, I heard from Aldric this morning. He will be returning to work tomorrow,” she clicked her tongue. “Though I told him he should take a break in case of jet lag.
”She’d heard from Aldric, but he hadn’t told me! I didn’t know what I was to him anymore. My emotions felt like they pounded back and forth between reasonable and crazy. I tapped the block eraser I’d been holding against my desk hard enough that it was almost bouncing out of my grip.
I knew we hadn’t done anything but fucked. I knew there were no real feelings between us, but I felt like something had been building, and as soon as I showed him Ciro, it was like he pulled back in a panic.
My phone rang, jolting me out of my reverie. When I saw it was a message from Aldric, my eyes lit up. The name stood out like neon lights to me. It was as if the universe had heard my cries for help. I forced myself not to open the message right away, willing myself to have some pride.
“Hello, Roseline, I am so sorry I’ve been out of touch. A lot of things have happened. I will be at the college later tonight to pick you up in hopes of talking to you. Please wait for me outside the front gate at 5:00 pm. Aldric”
I stared at his words, suppressing the urge to laugh in relief with a wide grin. I spent the rest of the day with a sliver of a smile, almost like I was about to go on a date. But that wasn’t the case. We were simply going to talk. Still, I felt giddy as I collected my things at the end of the day and walked toward the college entrance.
I stood on the pavement, holding my bag close to my side and tapping out a nonsensical rhythm as I thought about how I had been panicking over whether Aldric had been dead just this morning. I told the daycare I would be a bit late picking up Ciro, but I had an easy hour before their hours would be up—plenty of time to talk with the man who’d left me in the lurch.
When his jeep pulled up next to me, the passenger side window slid down, revealing a beaming Aldric. This smile warmed my heart, but I could tell Aldric was tired, and it wasn’t just any tiredness. Something had to have happened to him while he was in Greece. I expected him to throw a jab at me, but instead, he stared at me intently, as if taking in my presence, before motioning me to get in.
“C’mon, I’m gonna be holding up traffic soon enough,” his speech had dropped to the informal tone he used outside of work.
I returned his smile with a small one of my own; even if part of me was nervous and hesitant about what all this meant, I was happy to see him again. Still, I was careful to keep myself guarded; he could charm me if needed. I knew that all too well.
