Chapter 19
Emilia expected the girls to make sounds about leaving when they reached her garden gate, but they said nothing. She opened the gate and let them in. Perhaps, they weren’t finished with her for the day.
Emilia closed the front door behind her and turned to the others to say, ‘Right! I’ll let you girls shower first. Would you like to stay for lunch? I could rustle up a pasta meal, if you like.’
The girls responded excitedly, then Chloe, on her way to the shower, piped up, ‘I can’t remember the last time I had a homemade meal!’
That sounded extremely odd to Emilia. How can a little girl not have homemade meals? Don’t her parents or guardians cook in her home? On her way to the bedroom to get bathroom towels for everyone, her mind tried to find a logical explanation but couldn’t.
Elise took the towels from her to put them in the bathroom, inviting Chloe to shower first, and Emilia began to rummage through the cupboards and the fridge for the essentials. Everything except for fresh vegetables was available. But, she’d found dried onion and dried garlic containers in the spice rack. They’d work just fine.
Turning on a tiny portable radio that sat on the window ledge, carefree Greek pop music filled the room. As she put a small pan on the stove to make the sauce, Elise came to stand beside her. ‘Thank you for your kind hospitality, Emilia. Esmera told us you have a kind heart, but I still am quite amazed.’
‘Why? I haven’t done anything special for you, guys. And this is just a tomato sauce...’
Elise shook her head. ‘I am not talking about the offering of food. Rather, I am referring to your trust, Emilia. We have arrived on your doorstep out of nowhere, and you took us in on the basis of the reference you have of us from a gypsy woman. Think about that for a minute. You accepted to swim with us, and now you took us back in, offering food. Your trust is amazing.’
Emilia gave a little laugh. ‘Are you calling me gullible?’
‘No, what I meant was, your heart is pure. You trust we will help you.’
‘And will you?’
‘Oh, you wouldn’t believe what we can do for you!’
‘Like, what?’
‘Oh… let’s see… I could help you with your gift, for example. To make sure there are no mishaps. And I will stand in the way of anyone threatening to throw the course of your destiny off kilter. As for Chloe, she can charm her way into anyone’s heart to win you favours. Anything you need, we can provide.’
‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Shoot.’
‘What did Chloe mean earlier on the beach when she told the guy to knock on our door here to visit us? Why us ?’
‘Well, there is no other way. We need to stay here with you, Emilia. How else are we going to make sure things go smoothly all the way? Because, believe me, nothing can go more wrong with this particular gift, than if it expires at the wrong time.’
‘I know. This is the only reason why I am reluctant to use it again… because I cannot control the moment I’ll revert to my true form.’
‘But you mustn’t be reluctant, Emilia! We are here now. We’ll supervise everything! Besides, a gift is to be embraced. You can’t just take the CD and never listen to it!’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Actually, I’d love to see it in action!’
‘When?’
‘Tonight! You can switch back to your twenties and we can have a girls’ night out!’
Emilia shook her head. ‘So soon? No…uh-uh… not sure.’
‘Why? What’s the problem?’ Her eyes lit up, then she added, ‘Oh… I see. Andreas!’
‘Yes… I really like him. A lot. I want to see him again soon. And I’ve missed the puppy too, to be honest.’
‘Oh, don’t you worry! Believe me when I say it’ll all work out, Emilia. I know, okay? Just hold him off for a day or two. You can see him again when you switch back to your forties.’
Emilia took a few moments in silence to mull things over. The sauce was boiling now, and the woody fragrance of dried oregano tickled her nostrils. Elise was towering over her, being a lot taller, and she was looking at her with large blue eyes. She was a rare benevolent force, the exact quality of which she didn’t understand, but she felt it, oddly enough, and it was perfectly safe to accept it into her life.
She gave a firm nod. ‘Okay. We’ll try the gift tonight.’
Elise gave a whoop and pumped the air with one hand. ‘All right! Girls night out! Yeah!’
###
After their delicious lunch, Elise and Chloe accompanied Emilia back to the hotel so she could check out. The house was ready to move into, and the sofa bed at the far end of the living room was wide enough to accommodate Emilia’s visitors.
Emilia thought it very strange when she asked the girls if she could help them move their belongings into the house too, and they both responded with tuts and dismissive waves. According to them, they had permanent residence somewhere nearby, and they could get their stuff sometime later.
Emilia couldn’t believe it when they entered the bedroom in the late afternoon, ready for their night out. Both were dressed beautifully with garments and fashion jewellery they couldn’t have possibly nipped out to bring into the house at any point.
Elise wore a stylish, long paisley dress with purple and pink hues. It was edged with a black trim and so were the short sleeves and the rather low neckline. As for Chloe, she had a cute, white short skirt on and a frilly pink shirt patterned with flowers and butterflies. Emilia had picked for the occasion aquamarine slacks and a black silk top.
The three of them stood before Aunt Irini’s dresser with its tarnished old mirror, admiring their reflections. Elise seemed to be the most appreciative, turning this way and that to admire her—admittedly—perfect, top-model figure from all angles. Her platinum blonde hair sparkled under the strong overhead light, her elegantly made-up eyes radiant.
‘Well, where’s the CD? I am dying to see!’ she piped up all of a sudden. Beside her, Chloe nodded fervently, clapping her hands.
Emilia opened her back pack to get her portable CD player out. ‘Auntie doesn’t have a CD player so this will have to do. I can only play it with my headphones, so you won’t be able to hear the song.’
‘It doesn’t matter. As long as you hear it, girl. I am gagging to see the transformation!’ replied Elise.
‘Ok then…’ said Emilia, suddenly feeling self-conscious for some strange reason. ‘Back away… Give me some space…’
Chloe tilted her head. ‘What for?’
Elise tittered and gently pulled Chloe back two steps. ‘She thinks she’ll self-combust this time…’ she joked, putting up a hand before her mouth in a mock-hushed tone.
Emilia smiled at the jest, relaxing. ‘Okay, here goes!’ She pushed the play button and eyed herself in the mirror with determination, her peripheral vision allowing her to see the other two that now stood a little further away from her side. She could also sense them holding their breaths. The familiar dizzy spell came as soon as she sang the first few verses of the song that echoed in her ears. She held on to the edge of the dresser with both hands as she continued to sing along, all the way to the last verse.
Poof! And just like that, the world stopped spinning again, and she realized she had brought a hand before her eyes. Lowering her hand, she looked in the mirror and, sure enough, there it was again! Her reflection was bathed in the splendour of her old, coveted youth.
‘Whoaaa! Oh, my goodness!’ she heard from beside her and turned to find her new friends gazing into her face, agog with excitement.
Elise ran a finger down Emilia’s cheek, then brushed her arm as if flicking a piece of lint away. ‘Wow, young skin. So radiant! It’s as if you’ve just applied the world’s best cosmetic cream by the buckets.’
Emilia gave a nervous little laugh. ‘Thanks, it is truly amazing. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this transformation myself.’
Chloe smiled to her ears and said, ‘Because of us, you won’t have to. Because we will do our best to help you decide soon, so you won’t have to change back and forth for long. That’s a promise.’
Emilia looked at her silently for a while, amazed once more by the little girl’s eloquence. She had the maturity of an adult, and once again she wondered how. But she didn’t feel justified to ask these two any personal questions. Not yet, anyway.
An urgent voice brought her back to the present. ‘Emilia, this is for you!’ she heard and saw Elise fishing something from her small shoulder bag before handing it to her.
It was a tiny plastic box. Emilia opened it to find it contained a pair of contact lenses. ‘I don’t understand…’
Elise squeezed her shoulder. ‘Please wear these, Emilia. They will turn your eye colour from brown to green. They are necessary so you can have distinctive differences from your real looks whenever you switch. In this small community, you’re bound to bump into the same people both as young Emilia and as old Emilia…’ she did air quotes and added, ‘…you’re not old per se, but you know what I mean.’
‘Oh… yes, I think I understand. You want me to look as different as possible.’
‘Not just look . You have to be . Esmera said you called yourself Lia when you were younger. So, this is going to be your name whenever you use the gift. Like, now. Agreed?’
Elise looked from Emilia to Chloe and back, an encouraging look in her eyes. She still had her hand on Emilia’s shoulder, and now, she squeezed it again.
Her touch was warm and oddly comforting to Emilia. ‘Agreed,’ she replied.
‘Great! Do you need help putting them in your eyes?’ Elise pointed to the lenses and Emilia nodded, allowing the former to lead her to the bathroom.
A minute later, they joined Chloe by the front door, Emilia so pleased with her new green-eyed look she was smiling to her ears.
Elise said, ‘Right, let’s go then. I’m starving!’
‘Not so fast! I haven’t given her my gift yet!’ said Chloe.
‘Oh, I am sorry, Chloe. Of course. I forgot,’ said Elise with a kindly smile.
Emilia turned to Chloe, curious. The child held out her hand and opened it to reveal a white scrunchie. She handed it to Emilia and said, ‘Lia must always have her hair in a ponytail. Using this.’
‘A scrunchie? Okay, if you say so… Thank you,’ said Emilia, mystified, taking the gift from her hand.
The girls tittered. ‘It’s not your average scrunchie,’ said Chloe, and they both led her to a small mirror hung on the wall near the entrance.
‘Put it on and see!’ said Elise.
Mystified, Emilia did as she was asked. The moment she put it on, adjusting it in place, the scrunchie changed colour. Now, it had the exact aquamarine shade of her slacks. ‘Oh my! What just happened?’
The girls laughed again, both tapping her playfully on her back as they stood either side of her. ‘It’s a cool trick, isn’t it? Just something fun. It’ll always match the fabric and the colour of something you wear, whatever’s bigger on you,’ said Chloe.
‘And let us not forget that it serves to offer a different look on you, whenever you’re younger. Lia must always have her hair worn in a ponytail,’ said Elise.
‘And her eyes must be green. Got it!’ said Emilia, excited.
The three opened the door, and walked down the cement path to the garden gate, giggling. In those moments, Emilia began to feel oddly elated, and… safe. She didn’t know why, but somehow, she felt like way more had just happened than her receiving two strange gifts from two even stranger people. But, she was so curious and so excited as to where it should all lead that she failed to find the slightest thing to worry about.
They came out, into the warm summer evening, into the semi-darkness, the soft breeze cooling their cheeks. The air was fragrant from jasmine and basil growing in the yards. When they passed by Mrs Popi’s house, the magic of the moment died suddenly.
Mrs Popi stood tiredly from her wicker armchair on her veranda and walked to the railing, shouting out, ‘Hey, girls! Kalispera !’
All three turned to look at her, Emilia cringing as soon as she realized she must be looking very strange to her.
‘Emilia? Is that you?’ You look very different…’ said Mrs Popi, squinting her eyes and stepping down from the veranda to stand behind her tall and closed garden gate.
Emilia felt glued to her spot, thankful, at least, that there was no street light shining right above them. With a bit of luck, the shadows cast upon them by the tall pillars and the overgrown trellis by the gate would hide her young looks from the old woman’s scrutinizing gaze.
Mrs Popi remained silent for a few more agonizing moments, and so did they, as her eyes bore holes into Emilia’s face, causing the latter’s throat to constrict.
Mrs Popi opened her gate, causing Emilia to panic, and Elise gave a little laugh then, lunging forward. Half-concealing Emilia from Mrs Popi, Elise offered the latter her hand. ‘Hi, there! Emilia told me all about you. You are Mrs Popi, right?’
Mrs Popi nodded, the edges of her mouth twisting downwards. ‘Yes,’ she grunted. ‘And you are?’
Elise palmed her chest. ‘Oh, sorry. How rude of me! My name is Elise.’ She turned to the others and added, ‘This is Chloe, and… actually… this is not Emilia. She is a friend of mine from Athens. Her name is Lia, would you believe? Isn’t it uncanny a resemblance she has with our darling girl, Emilia? I thought so!’
‘Oh… right…’ muttered Mrs Popi, looking confused.
Elise seemed to ignore her and carried on with a flick of her wrist, ‘Anyhoo! The three of us took the boat from Piraeus Port of Athens this morning to help Emilia move. We thought it would lift her spirits to have friends around at this difficult time. Emilia didn’t know Lia until today, you see. And when she saw her she was just as amazed as you are by their resemblance. We thought she’d find it amusing and, well, she did…’
Elise was obviously blathering on purpose, since bombarding a confused person with information was bound to confuse them even more. Indeed, the old woman seemed baffled by now. Job well done!
‘And your name is Lia, you said?’ Mrs Popi asked Emilia.
Emilia stepped out numbly from behind Elise to offer her hand and confirm the name. As she did so, she thanked her lucky stars she never wore jewellery. Surely, a familiar pendant or a ring from the old days would have given her away.
Mrs Popi’s eyes widened as she peered at Emilia up close, causing the latter to swallow hard. The lights of Mrs Popi’s veranda were strong enough to reach where she stood now with Emilia, close to the gate, allowing her to see her clearly. ‘Oh, your eyes are green… Very pretty. And you’re definitely younger. So, where’s Emilia?’ she asked, causing Emilia to stare at her mutely.
‘She’s at home...’ said Chloe.
Elise gave a huff. ‘Yes! It’s a pity, but we had to leave her in there. You see, we spent the day cleaning and helping her move in. So, we planned to go out tonight and celebrate her move, but she contracted a bad migraine in the afternoon…’
‘Yes!’ said Emilia, cutting in, seeing it as her duty to do her bit and help things. ‘And it’s such a pity, because we organized the night out just for her, to take her mind off the loss of her beloved aunt, but… she was adamant we should go out without her, bless her. So, we did…’
‘Is she okay? Maybe, I should go and check on her!’ said Mrs Popi.
‘Noooo!’ shouted all three in unison.
‘Erm… I mean…’ said Emilia with a croaky voice, ‘Please don’t. She took a strong pill earlier and went out like a light. It would be awful to wake her up when she’s so peaceful now, sleeping.’
Mrs Popi seemed undecided for a few moments. Her mouth twisting, she looked toward Emilia’s veranda, where the light had been left on for their return.
Elise leaned closer and put a hand on Mrs Popi’s upper arm to say gently, ‘I can assure you, Mrs Popi… Emilia is safe and peaceful in her bed right now. Please don’t disturb her. You can visit her tomorrow, if you like.’
Mrs Popi smiled and raised her hand to wave. ‘Okay, girls. I won’t disturb her. I’ll visit tomorrow to wish her well for the move. Kalinichta, ke kali diaskedasi! Goodnight, and have fun!’