"Thank you everyone, welcome to Santorini Greece. Have a great trip and please fly with Delta again" the pilot's voice projected through the plane. Finally…I was getting off this Godforsaken plane. I stood up getting anxious as everyone slowly rose and began shuffling around to get their overhead bags. I hated this part of the flight process. Everyone always takes their time, whereas I am screaming at them in my mind to get a move on. After I got off the plane, I went to go get my baggage from the claim area. As I stepped outside, I breathed in the whiff of fresh air which instantly calmed my whole body.
I was beginning to like this trip already. Apparently to get to Santorini you have to take a ferry over and then…take a ride on a mule. That's going to be quite interesting, I thought to myself. I did a check of my items and made sure my two medium sized suitcases were with me, my small tote and my handbag.
Not too bad for a girl spending the whole summer in Greece.
I took a cab to the ferry I needed to be on, paid and hopped on.
The sun was beaming down and reflecting on the beautiful, blue water. I rummaged through my purse and pulled out my black, Gucci sunglasses to shield my eyes from the piercing sun. I made the splurge purchase for this trip and wanted to take advantage as soon as possible.
As the ferry docked, I dragged my items with me and saw a frenzy of people in front of me with dozens of mules. I approached a man who looked like he was in charge of this service, paid and waited for this animal to take me to my destination. That man ordered an older gentleman to begin hauling my luggage on one of the mules.
I looked over at it. Will this animal be able to carry all of that up? I guess so, if all these other guests are getting to their hotels the same way.
"Okay miss, ready?" the man asked.
Apparently I was going to get on the mule without my luggage and the other one was following.
"Um, yes?" I was asking more than stating.
I stood there, unsure how to get on and quite frankly a little nervous of going up miles of steep earth, with a mule underneath me. My infamous clumsiness would surely follow me to any continent I may wish to visit.
"Go, go on girl, he not scary, he won't hurt you", the older gentleman said in a thick, Greek accent while smiling gently.
Just get on the damn mule Bella, I thought to myself.
I just frowned and stepped up. As I put my foot on the saddle and pushed myself up, I felt the mule move slightly. It startled me, but I threw the other side of my body across the animal. I was clutching the top of the saddle so tightly I thought my fingers were going to bleed. I heard the older man chuckling softly behind me, but I didn't dare turn around to give him the annoyed look I wanted to. It must have been quite a sight; an obvious foreigner practically lying on top of the mule, holding on for dear life.
It wasn't that I was worried about the animal jumping up and tossing me, rather than the path spiraling up. When looking down, it looked as if we were going to tip over because the curve of the dirt path and the scattered, beautiful buildings appearing smaller.
Gulp.
I then looked up to the beautiful, rich blue sky instead of focusing down. (Mind you, I was moving my eyes and didn't dare sit up.) Not one cloud above. Hopefully this was a sign of things getting better, a symbol of a new beginning…but of course the anxiety began flooding into my head, opposing my optimistic thoughts.
Stop. No.
I wasn't going to let myself think about him or any of it. I came here to enjoy my time, relax, sight see…and most importantly to let myself heal. That starts with not thinking negatively. Of course I knew I would have to deal with all of it eventually, but just not now, I think I deserved that much.
The older man guiding me interrupted my thoughts.
"Here American girl! This is the address on paper."
As the mule came to a gentle stop, I slowly lifted my body up in a sitting position. I looked at the charming, beautiful hotel in front of me. Although it was quite large, it looked so homey and comforting, like a family lived here. The whole building was a soft eggshell color, with royal blue shutters all around and vines growing out from the sides and creeping up to the front.
A loud, obnoxious voice snapped my focus away from the building.
"Hallo! Velcome! I am Harry the manager of Aepoyolis".
I smiled politely, and noticed on another path to my left, another mule with a middle-aged couple on, coming up to the hotel. The front of the hotel was busy with several other guests waiting to unload their luggage. Before I forgot, I reached into my pocket and handed a tip to the older man who led me to the hotel with the mule.
"Oh, Tank you, tank you, so generous!" he exclaimed.
"You're welcome, thanks for helping me up here." I smiled.
Just then, the same annoying voice yelled out, "BOYS!" After that, the manager began to spew out what sounded like commands in Greek.
I heard a bunch of grunts and mumbled words while four men hurried outside one by one. The first one who jogged out was a large, muscular, strikingly handsome man in a white sleeveless shirt and navy shorts that came up to his knees. He was panting as if he had been in the middle of a strenuous task and wiped sweat off of his forehead. He approached the couple that had arrived at the same time as me. I couldn't help looking at him, as he was…well hot. He caught me looking and winked.
Of course I blushed and looked back to the door where two others jogged out in identical clothing.
Must be their uniform. One ran down the path and I saw a glimpse of the other employee with blonde, curly hair. He looked up at me, quickly looked away, than began assisting other guests.
I realized I was still sitting on this mule and my bottom was starting to get numb. Very carefully, I pried my hands off the saddle in front of me and lifted my leg off the side of the mule, bringing my leg across and on top of the mule's head in order to bring it to the other side. The mule began to move up and forward, apparently spooked by my action. I felt myself slipping sideways and I gasped and shut my eyes for the oncoming impact for my face to connect to the ground since I didn't have anything to hold on to, in order to stop my fall.
Instead, what I felt was a hard object envelope underneath my body and break my fall. I was confused until I opened my eyes and realized that someone caught me. My instinct from the past five years triggered fear and panic. But instead, when I opened my eyes, and looked up to two piercing, vibrant emerald eyes on my own. I took in his face…full, pouty rose colored lips, a beautiful nose, not too feminine, still having that masculine quality. Lastly, I looked up to a messy head of beautifully colored bronze hair. Snap. Back to his eyes. He was staring at me in concern and…shock?
I coughed, trying to find my voice.
"Sorr..yy" I mumbled like a fool.
He began to speak quickly in Greek and that velvety voice paired with that language was one of the sweetest things I've ever heard…really.
Wait, Bella, get a hold of yourself you almost fell flat on your face and this gorgeous stranger is taking pity on you, trying to help your clumsy, sorry ass and you're getting giddy for no reason.
After staring at him like an imbecile and not responding, he a) realized I'm a moron, b) I don't speak Greek, or c) I'm a moron.
"Are you alright?" he asked sweetly in that velvety smooth voice, with a slight Greek accent, not quite as heavy as the hotel manager's.
"Yes…I think…um, Thank you." I mumbled. I mean what else do you say to a beautiful stranger who was the reason you didn't have any broken bones or a bloody nose?
He didn't say anything. We just continued to gaze at each other and my heartbeat quickened as I also realized he was holding me bridal style, and my arms were embarrassingly wrapped tightly around his neck. I guess he realized this at the same time did and slowly lowered me to my feet as I unlocked my grasp on him. He bent down to retrieve my sunglasses that had flown off of my face and handed them to me. I took them, and looked up, my eyes lingering a little too long on his hypnotizing gaze and just then he opened his mouth to say something-
"EDWARDDD!" roared the voice of the manager.
He snapped his mouth shut. Damn that manager, he's getting on my nerves.
He-apparently Edward-quickly yelled back in Greek while treading backwards, in a hurry, his eyes locked with mine. He flashed me a swoon-worthy smile, I attempted to smile back because I was still in a semi-shock.
Pull yourself together Bella.
I saw the manager approaching me. "Go in miss ve vill bring your bags up".
I nodded at him and went inside. After checking in, I made my way up to the second floor of this cozy hotel. When I turned the key to my room 211, I was not expecting this breathtaking room before me. The walls were painted a light, sky blue with black and white pictures hung all around. There was a huge queen sized bed, with a fluffy, crisp white comforter and plush, white pillows. There was also a white canopy above the bed, making it look almost dream-like. To the right, a huge mirror and dresser were against the wall, covered in intricate designs.
But the best part of the room was the two huge French-looking doors covered with see-through white drapes. I walked over and opened the doors to find a balcony overlooking an amazing view of Santorini, Greece. As I looked at the stunning view in front of me, I thought that this was definitely the kind of space that wouldn't make me feel paranoid. For just a moment, I was finally feeling at peace and not frightened.
As always, my solitary, rare moments of mental peace are interrupted with random flashbacks.
Glass breaking; I could still hear the awful sounds of it with my breathless cries mixed, in my head.
'It's almost too good to be true, he'll find you', one part of me said.
'Stop! You have to start living your life again!' the other side of me argued.
My frustrating, internal struggles were silenced by a knocking at the door. Snapping back to the present, I sighed and walked over to the door. Upon opening it, I found the Greek God (literally) who saved my face.
"Hello Miss", his sweet voice rang in my ears.
"Hi." Was all I could muster out. I stood there staring at him like a complete fool with my baggage behind him.
"Oh, sorry, bring it right in!" I exclaimed suddenly, too loudly.
He just smiled and walked in unloading my suitcases. This is when I noticed his body was as amazing as his face. He was built perfectly. Tall, nicely built biceps, muscular back and legs; he looked athletic, but not quite as large as that other muscular guy in the front when I arrived. He also looked slightly sun-kissed, which made his skin look like such a delicious color…
"Is right here okay?" he asked politely interrupting my ogling.
"Absolutely, thank you." I said as I walked over to my purse to pull out tip. My back was to him as I said, "And thank you earlier too, that would have been a bad fall." I half laughed.
As I turned around, he was leaning on the dresser, simply looking at me. I approached him and handed him the tip for bringing up my luggage and took two large steps back; I suddenly felt intimidated as old insecurities began creeping up on me.
He took a few steps forward until he was standing right in front of me, staring at me dead in the eyes. Such a simple action, eye contact, but the intensity was unreal. He brought his hand out, pushed my fingers open to put the money back in my palm and closed it. Upon that slight touch, I felt goose bumps on my arm that traveled over my whole body, as cliché as that sounds.
"It was no problem." He said in his lovely voice and adorable accent.
I responded by a blush that spread over by face and neck.
An adorable crooked smile appeared on his face, as he definitely noticed. The green of his eyes was piercing into my own brown ones and I felt my heart beating faster, but for once in a long time it wasn't from my usual anxiety and fear, but…butterflies.
I had not felt this nervous excitement since the beginning of college and it felt so new. After a moment he turned and while walking out the door said "Enjoy your stay Miss Swan."
I heart skipped a beat as I realized he knew my name. I don't know why I was reacting this way simply because the man is polite.
Edward was Adonis himself. Greece is the perfect setting for this Greek God.
Oh boy, I need to get a hold of myself.