Chapter 30
Chloe was chattering endlessly with Elise at breakfast, and Emilia listened quietly as she drank her coffee and bit on one of the freshly baked croissants from the bakery. Her mind soon drifted to Andreas and the special day ahead of her. Today, she was starting work in his garden, but instead of being excited about it she was feeling worried.
‘Hey! Why are you so quiet today?’ asked Elise, munching on a piece of toast lathered with butter and honey. Emilia couldn’t help but wonder once again where the girl put it all. She’d had two croissants already and probably still had space for more food in that thin, perfectly athletic frame of hers. Her mind boggled at how she could eat so much and stay that way. Good genes, I guess … she mused, causing Elise to lean closer as she sat beside her on a chair. ‘Hey! Heaven calling Emilia. Heaven calling Emilia.’
‘Hell, more like…’ whispered Emilia.
‘What?’ protested Chloe. ‘I thought you’d be excited this morning! You’ll be spending time daily with Andreas as of today until the work is done! Two whole hours daily! Aren’t you happy?’ She was holding her cup of hot chocolate close to her cherubic lips as she spoke, her flimsy strands fully animated in the soft breeze that came in through the window.
‘Yeah! Isn’t this cause for celebration, girl? What’s the matter?’ asked Elise with a soft jab of her elbow on Emilia’s arm.
Emilia shook her head. ‘Yes, yes. Of course…’ She forced a smile. ‘I only hope it won’t be a disaster, that’s all. I am worried I may turn back to my true form again while I’m there.’
‘No way! You sang the song just now. You’ll stay in your younger form for hours, don’t worry,’ said Elise with a flick of her wrist.
‘I agree. You’ll be fine,’ added Chloe.
‘And, sure, it’s unpredictable as to when you will turn back to your true form, but that’s what the CD player is for. Make sure to carry it in your backpack today and every day!’ said Elise.
‘And, just ask to go to the bathroom if you get dizzy!’ offered Chloe. ‘Play the song using your headphones and whisper the words as you sing so you can buy more time as Lia. It’ll be fine.’
Emilia listened to all that without interrupting them, and now they’d both grown quiet, looking expectant. They gazed at her intently, their eyes clear, like pure waters of Alpine mountain springs. Gosh! These girls had the most beautiful eyes, so much innocence in them. Even the eyes of babies didn’t look that way.
‘Emilia?’ asked Elise, looking concerned.
Emilia sighed. ‘I am worried, okay? Because on the day I did the interview I got dizzy as I spoke to Andreas. And it hadn’t even been two hours since I’d sung the song. You had to come and pick me up in that Jeep, remember?’ she told Elise.
Elise wrinkled her forehead and made a face, then said, ‘Nuh! That was a mystery. A one off thing. I wouldn’t worry about it.’
‘I hope you’re right. The last thing I need is to change right in front of him. He’ll see what a fraud I am and he’ll hate me.’
‘You’re not a fraud, Emilia! What you are is blessed !’ said Chloe, her face igniting with protest.
By then, Elise’s hands had gripped Emilia by the shoulders, her face inches from Emilia’s, her eyes two vast blue oceans. ‘Emilia, listen to me. Esmera gave you this special gift. Esmera , okay? I cannot tell you more, but believe me. What you received is not a device for fraud, of all things. It is a blessing . Just wait and see!’
Having said these words, she released her, and Emilia took a few moments to digest the obvious gravity they held. She couldn’t understand, she didn’t know, but she presumed Esmera wasn’t just anybody. And she wanted to believe this gift would grant her the happiness she said it could. ‘I guess I need to trust...’
‘There you go. You said the magic word,’ said Chloe with a sweet smile, and they all resumed eating.
###
‘Kalimera, Lia!’ Andreas said as he appeared at his front door after he buzzed her in through the garden gate.
He hurried down the steps to meet her, all smiles and bright eyes. They greeted each other amicably, and she declined the offer of coffee, saying she was fine and was going to start work straight away.
He nodded, then said, ‘The materials you asked for arrived yesterday midday. Stefan was here to receive it all and placed it by the gazebo on the back.’
‘It’s okay, I’ll find it, don’t mind me,’ she said with an open smile, expecting him to leave, but he lingered, hands on his waist, a benign smile playing on his lips.
‘Stefan is not here today. He is getting excited over Anja arriving in two days from Germany, so I sent him to go fishing and calm down a bit.’ He gave a hearty laugh, and added, ‘So, I am your man today if you need any heavy-lifting. The kitchen window on the back is open, so just give me a shout if you need me. I’ll come right out, okay?’
‘Sure thing, thanks!’ she said.
He gave a little wave and went back inside the house. Excited now, she strode to the back of the property to check the delivered materials.
###
Emilia had been working busily in the back garden for the first hour and a bit. The first thing she’d done was to open the sacks of soil and fertilizer and to inspect the plants, trees, herbs and flowers that had been delivered. Everything was in pristine condition and top quality. The decorative stones, the solar lights, and the terracotta figurines picked by father and son for the rock garden she was going to create were stunning. It was going to look the stuff of fairy tales once she was finished with it.
As she worked, pleased with it all, she sang to the Greek folk songs that played on her phone. The soil in the garden was soft and fluffy, easy to dig and mix with the fertilizer.
She heard a soft thrashing sound and turned to see Andreas emerging through the kitchen door, carrying a tray with an orange juice and some cookies. Having put it carefully on a round cement table nearby, he beckoned to her. ‘You must be thirsty. Come take a break.’
She approached him to take the glass and smiled widely. ‘Oh, thank you, that’s so kind.’ She raised the glass. ‘ Stin ygeia sas! Cheers!’
She had a few gulps of the cool refreshment, then he said, ‘Wow, Lia! You’ve made headway in such little time. And those colourful flowers look wonderful there!’
He pointed to the far wall where she’d been working. The small flower patch edged with decorative bleached rocks lay between a laurel and a rosemary bush. She’d just planted them all. Just an hour ago, that part of the garden seemed totally forlorn.
She smiled, satisfied with his comments. ‘Yes, I’ll admit, it does look great. And you picked a good store. The materials are top quality.’
‘I am glad.’ He shifted his weight from foot to foot for a few moments, tight-lipped, then added, ‘Say, how is your aunt Emilia today?’
‘She’s fine, thank you. You know, keeping busy...’
‘Yes, I bet… Well, please remind your aunt to come visit me at the taverna again when she finds the time. You’re more than welcome to come over too, of course. Coffee’s on me! Or some food. Anything you like, as long as my boy and I can cook it!’
He laughed then, and her heart blossomed, making her wish she could tell him she was Emilia. He kept asking after her, and it made her heart melt like an ice cone under the hammering summer sun.
She cleared her throat and said, ‘That’s nice, thank you. And yes, as a matter of fact, my aunt told me she’s planning to visit Trata tomorrow afternoon. If that suits?’
‘Of course! Any day, I am delighted! Please tell her I can’t wait.’ He scratched his head with a quick hand, then added, ‘I could call her, I guess, but I know she’s busy settling in her new home, and I don’t want to catch her at a bad time. But you tell her I am expecting her tomorrow, okay?’
Emilia giggled. ‘Will do, Boss!’
He chortled. It was a wonderful sound she could listen to all day. ‘Boss! Huh! I like that!’
She drained the glass and gave a luxurious sigh. ‘Oh, that hit the spot. Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. Try the cookies! The bakery around the corner is divine.’
‘Oh, I will. Trust me.’ She hooked her thumbs and pointed to her chest. ‘This girl needs no convincing for cookies.’
They laughed and then he looked at his watch. ‘You get off at ten a.m. That’s half an hour away. Do you need any help from me?’
She thought for a bit, then said, ‘Um… The sacks, being small, are easy to carry, and the trees delivered in this batch are small too, so I am okay, thank you. But, perhaps you can put away this stack of empty flower tubs over there? I’d like to plant there and they’re in the way. You have a shed to put them in?’
‘Yes, it’s on the side of the property. I’ll go put them in there now.’
He jogged to where the empty tubs lay, and she watched him stride on his sinewy legs, his shorts reaching down to just above his knees. His biceps were exposed in his partly unbuttoned, tight-fitting shirt, and when he bent over and lifted the stack of the tubs—easily a dozen—his muscles bulged delightfully on his back and his arms, causing her to stare. It didn’t help her infatuation that as he began to return toward her, the morning sun caught his eyes causing them to sparkle.
Trying to distract herself as he came closer, she looked down on the ground and noticed another empty tub lay close to her feet, left over from her planting flowers earlier.
She picked it up. ‘I placed the rest of the flower tubs I’ve used over there by the tree. I can put them all away in the shed or in the trash before I go. Just tell me where you want them.’
He put the stack of tubs he was carrying on the soft ground and gave her an irresistible grin. ‘Let me see. That looks like it can be used again. Pity to throw it away. It’s sturdy material, not one of those flimsy ones.’ He put out his hand and she handed him the tub. His fingertips felt warm against hers in the split second that they touched, and that single moment caused her heart to skip a beat. Instinctively, she looked up at him, but he was still inspecting the tub, none the wiser.
‘Ah, it’s a fine tub. I’ll put it in the shed with the others.’ He added it to the stack, then lifted the whole thing again, about to turn about face and go, but then he threw a look at her and his face dropped.
‘Lia? Are you okay?’
Emilia knew by then her worst nightmare had materialised again. The dizziness had come suddenly, just like before, but this time she didn’t waste a moment. Somehow, she managed to get to her backpack, which she’d left standing on the cement patio against the wall.
When she reached her bag she clutched it against her chest, as if the proximity to the CD alone could work its magic on her immediately. With great effort, her voice came out of her, echoing fragile in her own ears. ‘Can I go inside please? To use your bathroom? It’s the… anaemia. I have… um… medication with me that’ll fix me readily.’ She hoped he wouldn’t question this.
She didn’t know of a drug that fixed dizziness brought on by anaemia promptly, but she’d just had an orange juice. Hopefully, that would be enough for him to explain her miraculous recovery after she sang the song in privacy.
‘Oh no! Did you skip breakfast again?’ As she didn’t answer, he added, ‘Ah! Come with me, Lia! Let me help you…’ He put an arm around her waist, his other hand clutching her shoulder to keep her steady as he led her swiftly through the back door and into the bathroom.
All the way, he kept lamenting and apologising for not bringing her the orange juice sooner. She had fallen silent by then, paralysed by the fear she’d change at any moment, right in front of him.
Finally, as he opened the bathroom door for her, she rushed inside and managed to say, ‘It’s not your fault, Andreas. I am sorry, I have to close the door now.’
He let her go, looking anxious as she closed the door shut on his beautiful face, and it caused her guilt to rise to new heights. For that, and for all the lies. But she had no time to waste. The dizziness was too awful to handle.
Within a few seconds, she had turned the CD player on, the earbuds were in her ears, and she was running the tap to create some noise as she whispered the lyrics to herself. Standing before the sink, one hand holding the CD player, the other holding on to the sink’s edge as if it were her lifeline, she sang the words softly, and by the last word of the song she realized the dizziness had completely left her. Looking up, she saw her younger self smile back at her with relief.
Moments later, though, a dark shadow fell upon her face, and her brows knit together. She had a mystery on her hands. And now, she was panicking even more than before.
Once is a mystery but twice is a certainty, surely… This is the second time he touches me when I am Lia and I get dizzy. It cannot be a coincidence, can it? Though, when I met him here for the interview I didn’t get dizzy when we shook hands. But I did later, as I was leaving… When he was cuddling the dog. He tried to hand it over to me and our hands touched, just like now, and I began to change back to the real me… Why is this happening? And what does it mean?