The warm Greek summer sun beat down on the grassy knoll. A swift cool breeze fought off the heat of the sun. The grass swayed with the breath of nature, as it sighed in relief. The clouds slowly moved across the clear blue sky. The salty smell of the sea lingered in the air, even at the distance from the hill as it was, from the beach that was barely visible.
Did the goddess Gaia wish to bless them with this beautiful day? Were the gods and goddesses in as much peace as the rest of Greece was on this day? Was today a day of leisure for the higher powers, posing an equally leisure day for that of the Greeks that mingled in this wondrous weather? These were all questions that hung in the air as a small sigh was given out from a small female that stretched across the field of green, a small white kitten with black ears curled up on her stomach. The girl's arms outstretched taking handfuls of the green earth that the goddess Gaia had surely blessed them with. Her long, dark eyelashes rested on her high cheekbones that lay exposed to the sun. Her deep brown bangs fell out of her face exposing a lovely freckle under her right eye, the hair joining the rest of the lovely long dark hair. Her pouty lips opened barely to take in another slow deep breath, as to give thanks to Aura for the wondrously cool breeze.
Her long light gray skirt shifted with the wind, could this be a sign from the Aurai saying 'You're welcome?' She smiled lightly at the thought, moving her arm to pet the sleeping kitten that lay on her bare stomach, the sleeves of her white mid-drift blouse that sat on her shoulders moved to its respected position on her arms. She dared not to open her eyes as she relished the quiet mid-morning, not wanting the peace to ever end. She lied her hand back down and sighed. Could everyday be like this, she wondered grabbing a handful of the soft green grass again. If only it could, then she would be at peace forever.
She slowly let her mind drift, focusing only on breathing and the cool breeze that gave her a break from the heat of Helios, even for a few minutes. Everything was co-mingling; Aura and Helios giving each other a fair share of helping Gaia move on, the soft sound of the waves crashing in the distance could be heard after every sigh of breath from the wind. Her mind slowly was swallowed by the darkness from Erebos as she drifted to sleep, allowing her subconscious to wander farther. It engulfed her, cool and splashing over her skin, as though she was slowly sinking into water, she enjoyed this feeling. The ever so slow descend into sleep, it was comfortable. A silky voice entered that sub-consciousness drift calling out to her, trying to bring her back.
"-rora!" the voice called, practically a whisper…. She furrowed her brow slightly trying to focus on the beautiful voice to understand what it had said. "Aurora!" the silk had whispered, wrapping around her consciousness and pulling her back to the real world.
She forced her eyes to open slowly, fighting against the sleep that tried to pull her back down. She peeked open her forest green eyes; sleepily blinking as she lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Dark brown hair caught her eyes as she lazily rolled her head to the side to see the owner of this beautiful voice that was like silk. She gazed at the long brown hair that had fallen past small shoulders of the girl hovering over her, big eyes peering at her from the obscuring hair. She blinked again, was she still dreaming, is this a mirror? The lightly sun-kissed skin that was hidden with the shade of the dark brown hair, the cheekbone length bangs that parted to the left, the small faded freckle under the right eye, and the eyes, oh Zeus the eyes… the deep forest green that you could get lost in. She reached up a hand and held the identical face and blinked softly.
"Pandora?" she whispered softly, her voice cracking with sleep. The girl that hovered over her smiled and nodded. "Is it really you?" the tender smile broke into a grin and laughed with that silky voice.
"Of course!" the girl spoke in heavy Greek, she giggled again. "I just went to town to get the mail and groceries, Aurora. Where do you think I went?" Aurora blinked again and thought on the question, but Pandora rustled her hair and sat down looking at the scenery of the Greek valley. Aurora rose slowly, the kitten meowing in complaint at the movement as Aurora sat next to Pandora looking out at the view.
"Speaking of mail…. You got some mail from some place." Pandora said lazily reaching into a tiny bag that clung to her waist. "Dunno who it is from, don't really understand the language it is in, but it IS for you." she went on pulling out an envelope, the westernized characters scrawled across the cover of the envelope and a stamp declaring its origin. Aurora thought deeply to clarify which country the flag stamped across the sticker of an eagle, the stars in the corner of a blue square and the white and red strips took some time to recognize as American. Aurora squinted at the words, slowly reading out the words.
"Uh…..T-taro…" she started, struggling to read the words, "I-in… inst..itu…te. Institute." She furrowed her brow at the name. "Taro Institute, I think I applied for a job here, but I dunno." She said as she transcribed the name of the obviously high-end school. Pandora looked at her with surprise, and raised an eyebrow.
"In America?" Pandora countered laying out on her back holding the kitten that left Aurora's lap to sleep on her. All Aurora could do was shrug and tear at the envelope to read the contents.
Pandora waited with baited breath as Aurora stared at the sheet of paper for what seemed like eternity, but sighed as she reached the end. A smile breaking onto her face, looking at the letter she just received from the prestigious private college; her slender hand trembled when she looked at the slip of off white paper. The English words scrawled across the fated sheet of paper that had just forever changed her life. Her forest green eyes read the sheet over and over, trying to make sure of what was just read.
Pandora peeked over Aurora's shoulder to see what was on the sheet, but furrowed her brow further to see that it was in the alien language again. She poked at her sister's face to get her to tell her as of what the letter said.
Pandora set a white porcelain tea cup across the wood table towards Aurora as she held her temples and looked at the sheet of paper. Pandora had questioned her several times as of what the letter had said on their way up to the house, but Aurora never responded, just simply staring at the sheet as though she saw a ghost. Pandora, thus, prepared a cup of chamomile tea for her in shock sister, as to get her to relax and explain what the foreign college had to say. She waited patiently, sitting across the small dining room table from her, and sipped on her own cup of tea as her twin stared off.
Pandora, too, felt her eyes begin to wander, looking around the painted brick tan kitchen with grey backsplash tiles above the oven and stove, glancing at the tall white fridge and icebox that sat in the corner of the large kitchen next to the entrance to the kitchen. She looked at the dark brown wood cabinets that lined the wall, and the updated appliances that matched the fridge. She looked at the paintings that were hung in different areas of the kitchen, a glass of wine besides grapes and bread painted on a small canvas sat by doorway of the second entrance to the kitchen/dining room. A photograph of herself and Aurora with a dark haired chubby female with deep wrinkles and dark brown eyes, which differed from their forest green. The dark brown hair had heavy highlights of gray that streaked through the thick hair, smile on her lips as she looked at the camera hugging them close, Pandora and Aurora on either side of the woman, they were all smiling happily. It hung in a frame that connected to twine so it could hang from the side of the fridge.
Even more photos of nature and paintings of object were placed around the room. A single photo sat on the granite countertop, a photo of the chubby female with deep set wrinkles. Her dark hair was pulled back into a braid and held back securely with a tan bandana, it was of her side so her deep chocolate eyes were not visible from the angle, and she was dressed in a short sleeve white dress and wore a baby blue apron. The woman was rolling out dough of sorts. Pandora stared at the photo longingly but then adverted her attention out the window at the large willow tree that sat in front of the large house, the long lithe branches swaying in the wind, occasionally scraping the window. The sun shone through the slim branches illuminating the kitchen with its warmth.
Aurora cleared her throat, breaking Pandora's thoughts and focusing on her sister. She tilted her head to the side, setting her cup down and setting her head in the palms of her hands. She sighed and waited for her sister to speak, giving her time without pressuring. These things took time, especially if it was something important.
"De…ar Miss Aurora Vύχτα…." She spoke slowly as she read off of the paper. Her voice cracking as she read the words. "We…. are pro…ud to say, that after a th-thorough ex-examin…ation," she struggled on, forcing herself to concentrate on the words, "of your re-…resume and sample photos submitted, we have ac…cepted your app-appli…cation to be a model at our in… institute." She took a deep breath reading on as Pandora stared at the letter that lay in her sister's hands.
"An all ex-expense paid plane ticket to our gr-grounds, will be sent after co-confirm…ation of your receiving this letter. We do hope to meet you soon at our school. Sincerely, Dean of Administrations: Roma." she finished, setting the sheet of paper down, sighing and pinching her temples.
"This is good news!" Pandora ushered. Her eyes sparkling, her smile broke to a grin as she leaned over the table, her hand resting on Aurora's arm. Aurora looked up, giving her sister a weak smile. Her sister gave her a look that just told her that she didn't believe the forced smile. "What is the matter? You should be happy! You got a job, in America none the less!" she scooted her chair closer to her sister. She looked into the identical eyes and tried to comfort her.
"I know…. I should be happy, I applied for that job two months ago, but that was when things were fine for me to leave to America… but, but now really isn't good. Especially after…" she was cut off by her sister putting her hand up to Aurora's mouth silencing her. She looked at Pandora and saw disbelieving look that she was making: her eyebrows raised a small frown, and most of all, the burning look in her eyes.
"Don't give me that…. Mαμά died and it was called for sadness then, but not now." She scolded quietly, almost a whisper. Aurora looked down at the table focusing on the dark hole in the wood. She looked back up at her sister, who waited with expecting eyes.
"That isn't the only reason I'm weary about accepting the offer….." her sister gave her a confused look, and she continued. "I'm also worried about leaving you here… We have no one else, and with me gone, what will you do?" her uncertain eyes looked at her sister sorrowfully. Pandora then understood, but smiled and patted her arm, assuring her.
"I'm going to continue my art, silly! Painting all the beauties here, in our motherland." She smiled and looked out the window. "Besides you won't be gone too long, will you?" she turned back and looked at her sister. Aurora shook her head, and understood that they both felt the same. They both felt the pain of being separate after having such a tragedy strike early in the month. She smiled and then nodded, "Then it is settled, after lunch we will go and send that confirmation thingy and you will get packed." She smiled eagerly, rising from her spot and busying herself in the kitchen to prepare the lunch.
"There, it's sent!" Pandora sighed in relief after pressing the send button on the confirmation email. She turned in the dark swivel chair to look at her sister, who stretched out on the deep jade couch that sat in the large office.
"Let's just hope that the translator thing-ma-jig is correct so there is no misunderstanding between us and the college." Aurora yawned as she rolled her head lazily to her sister. She blinked and then slowly rolled onto her stomach. Pandora wheeled the chair across the room to Aurora and rested her elbows on her knees and propping her head up as she looked down at her sister. "I guess that means I need to pack now… huh?" she sighed looking up at Pandora who nodded slowly.
Neither of the girls made a move to get up they just sat there staring at each other, as though a silent conversation were going on over who was to make the first move to go get Aurora's stuff prepared for the big move. A soft ding rung through the room, signaling that they had mail. Pandora lulled her head over to the side glancing over at the laptop screen. It flashed, highlighting the email they had just received. She squinted at the email title and stared at the distant screen for a little bit. She couldn't quite make out the letters of the email she pushed her foot off the edge of the couch, wheeling herself towards the Apple laptop. She stared at the sender address for a time before clicking the email.
"Who's it from?" Aurora questioned pushing herself up to a semi-sitting position. Pandora didn't respond though, she just continued to have the never-ending staring contest with the computer screen. Aurora groaned in complaint, and pushed her body up, and walking across the wood floors to where her sister sat. She latched onto her sister's shoulders, leaning over her and propping her chin on Pandora's shoulder. She glanced at the email. "A response message from Taro Institute?" she questioned. Her sister nodded and looked at her.
"What does it say?" she questioned looking at Aurora. Pandora had no clear comprehension of the English language, only small words that her sister had to constantly correct her on. The address of the email was hard enough for her to read but as the email address was the same as the one she had just sent the confirmation email to, it was easy enough to sum it down to who it was from.
"Well one thing is for sure…" Pandora looked up at her sister, blinking lazily. But she didn't receive the rest of the sentence.
"Which would be?" she questioned. Aurora looked at her and grinned happily.
"The translator was right!" she winked at her sister and stuck out her tongue, laughing all the while. "And I'm leaving for America in 3 days." Pandora's jaw dropped slightly and then smirked at her sister.
"I guess that means you should really be getting packed then, huh?" she teased. Aurora pouted, putting out her bottom lip and then groaning at the reminder of the chore that was at hand.
"Don't remind me…." She sighed. They both laughed and smiled at each other, filling the large empty house with the joyous sound of their laughter.
Leaving the airport to go through the check in line was the hardest thing to do. Not only for Aurora but Pandora as well, and the separation brought the younger twin to tears. Pandora clung to Aurora's arm and sobbed hard into her shoulder. Aurora turned and tried to free her arm from the grasp of the younger to pull her into a hug. Aurora was fighting to hold back tears, but convinced herself that she must stay strong for the sake of her sister. She rubbed her hand on her back clinging to her tightly. Secretly longing for the plane to never arrive or to be delayed, in order to prolong her time left with her sister.
Pandora sniffled as she pulled away, her green eyes bright against her pink puffy cheeks. For the past several days Pandora had put on a brave face, but she finally broke, going into fits of tears refusing to even let go of Aurora's pinky for fear of her being taken from her. Aurora just held her and scanned her sister's pained face, checking to see if the tears had ceased to fall. Pandora sniveled again, confirming that the tears were done for now. Aurora pulled out a few tissues and whipped Pandora's face as though she were a child. Pandora looked at Aurora whose calm demeanor was comforting her to calm down herself. She breathed in slowly to stop from crying again.
"Panda…" Aurora comforted her, addressing her with her nickname. She placed her hand on Pandora's cheek, staring into her eyes deciding how to word it. No words came to her rescue, to help her comfort her hurting other half. Drawing up blanks, she placed a kiss on her temple and held her again, enjoying the warmth of her twin sister.
"Panda…" she pulled away from the embrace and looking her in the eyes. "I know my leaving is going to be hard, on the both of us, but you have to keep strong here. I will do the same and I will email you every day. If possible I will get on skype with you when I can, because of the time zone difference." She comforted cradling Pandora's hands in her own, cupping them and kissing her knuckles occasionally. Pandora sniffed and looked at her with solemn eyes, begging her not to go.
"I have to go…." She whispered in reply to those sad eyes. They squeezed shut as Aurora let go of her hands and kissed her forehead again. She picked up her carry-on bag and stepped up to the security clearance line. Placing out all of her metal belongings, making sure they took note of her laptop, cell phone, and other various things that didn't need to come into contact with the large electronic x-ray machine, and taking care to slip off her shoes. She stepped through the metal detector and turned, blowing a kiss to Pandora who stood pressed up against the restriction rope as much as it would allow her to go.
She caught it with her finger and pressed it to her lips then her heart, holding her sister's parting gift close to her. She touched her lips again and blew a kiss back, her sister mimicking her actions, grabbing her possessions and unwillingly disappeared from Pandora's sight behind the opaque wall that divided the people boarding the plane from the visitors seeing off their loved ones. The international airports could be so cruel to the visitors that were in the departure section of the airport, not allowing them to see the passengers after a certain point. The visitors at the arrival section could instantly see their loved ones coming off the plane through the beautiful glass windows that was the only obstacle. Pandora glared loathingly at the thick wall that was a huge barrier between them, the airport was going to receive an angry letter from her later because of this.
Aurora was suffering as well, staring at the empty white wall that offered no comfort to her and practically laughed at her due to the futile attempts to see her sister one more time. Yet, it was hopeless. "Ο Δίας σας βρίζουν πάντα." She mumbled under her breath as she turned to the dull and uncomfortable chairs that were in neat rows across the waiting dock. She glanced at the big name fast food restaurants that were scattered throughout the place, offering refuge for many of the American suitors that were there for business or the tourist attractions. Tourists…. They were among the easiest people to spot, even from a distance Aurora could point out twenty of them without thinking twice.
They all looked practically identical, fanny packs that hung around their waists (varying in colour and size), visors to protect their faces from the sun, pasty complexions, and the ugly white sandals that looked like they belonged to a nurse in the hospital or the nursing home. Many of them were sun burnt from the endless hours willing away following the tour guide around the ruins of Ancient Greece and the history that revolved around it. They were the more obvious to spot in the MacDonald's and the Burger King that sat side by side to each other in the "food court" followed by other smaller named companies. The other more obvious tourists were the anorexic women that think that they need to get dressed up to sit on a plane for over 22 hours, stiletto heels coming in pinks and reds, skirts that didn't cover anything that was past the middle of their thighs, and too tight t-shirts that cut off at their rib cages with the collar dipping down low enough to see their entire bra. It was likely that their make-up alone weighed twenty pounds, with the amount that they had caked on, puckering up their lips as they checked to be sure that their faces looked pretty. The jewelry must have weighed another thirty pounds, the clunky bracelets, the oversized rings that was on practically every square inch of their fingers possible and to top it off the large hoop earrings that touched from the ear to the shoulder. These girls sat in the Burger King huddled close together, most likely having come together in the large group that giggled their high-pitched, nasal laugh, and not touching the salads that sat expectantly in front of them begging to be eaten. They were obviously not from Greece, not even their hair spoke Greek, the platinum blonde hair and the dyed blonde hair held back in slutty ponytails. Girls from Greece wouldn't be orange from an artificial tan, because they are naturally tan. They don't have to dye their hair, because they don't see why they should. They don't starve themselves, because they know it isn't attractive. They cover themselves, unless it is the beach. They are more reserved and quiet, because they don't beg for attention.
A Starbucks was preoccupied by many of the business men that huddled together still in their suits, their ties loosened around their necks and the top three buttons of the white button up shirt undone, their jackets laying across the back of the stiff metal chairs the large clunky computer bags that were much too obvious of their contents compared to her tiny sling bag that hung on her right shoulder holding her small Apple laptop which she named 'Shota', her cell phone, and her other miscellaneous things such as her passport and her credit cards. She dared another look at the group men, over-weight, stuffy old men, some were much younger but they had the maturity of a ten year old as they swallowed down their coffee in between the cat calls to the preps in the Burger King that only dared a sip from their small soda every ten minutes. Aurora took her seat closest to the door and pulled at the ticket that was comfortably in the tiny bag that clung to her hip.
First Class: seat 9 was her destined seat knowing she would be one of the first few on the plane. She sighed at the large amount of money, which she didn't have, that it would have taken for her to even think about getting this kind of ticket. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of all the snobby rich people that will be at the college, maybe she should have thought this over, the snotty men and women that think they are much better than everyone else because they have a substantial amount of money that they are using just to get rid of idle time by attending the upper-class college. She furrowed her brow and stuffed the ticket back into her tiny hip clinging bag, and pulled out a medium sized book but the cover was half the story, even with thin pages in the hardback book it was thicker than the average book, the dark navy cover decorated with the gold flecks in an intricate design that flowed onto the spine and the back of the book. She let her hand brush over the cover, thumbing the pages delicately. She glanced at the clock that hung above the door, she had half an hour till her plane boarded… with time on her hands she cracked open Homer's "The Odyssey" flipping through the pages until she found the tiny bookmark her sister had made her when they were younger. It was one of her own photographs that she taken of the sea that their home overlooked, the waves coming down on the shore gently, the brilliant blue that stood out from the sandy shore, the sun slowly dropping below the horizon tossing out hues of pinks, oranges, and purples. Pandora had written on the back of it wishing her a happy birthday, the writing was sloppy, due to their seven year old age, but it went across the faded pencil lines that their mother likely drew to help her keep her writing from slanting. It was likely that their mother had to do most of it, such as printing out the photo small enough to work as a book mark, cutting off the extra pieces with an exacto-knife, and the final lamination of the narrow creation, but it is the thought that counts, right?
She read the chapter "Sweet Nymph and Open Sea" which was mainly involving Athena and Kalypso. She was practically eating up the words that the book spoke, reading page after page, until the fifteen paged chapter was finished and she was starting the next chapter "The Princess at the River." The Greek letters flowed into one another. Her stomach grumbled in complaint as she read, holding her hand over the noisy organ she sat there, her fingers holding her page. She glanced up at the clock, as if asking if it knew the time, and the clock answered reluctantly. She had fifteen minutes until she was called to board the plane, and the seemingly empty holding pin wasn't proving to be an obstacle to obtain some food. She sighed in complaint to her groaning stomach as she slipped the bookmark into her place, and gingerly slid it into her bag before she rose to look at the possible vendors.
She steered clear of the MacDonald's that held all the horridly obvious tourists that jabbered on with one another about where they went with their tour guide, what sights they saw (though horribly pronouncing the name of the historical places), what things they ate without knowing the exact name, and what gifts they got from the gift shops (otherwise known as tourist traps). They bragged about what they learned that was different from the other groups, like they knew more than the other and trying to make their tour guides seem like saints, for teaching them the simplest things. As she pushed past the tables that sat in front of the restaurant she got 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the tourist as they complimented her 'copy' of the Greek style. She rolled her eyes and she pushed her hands down the ankle length purple skirt, the vivid colour and the different patterns that were incorporated into the lovely clothing article. She held her arms around her waist hugging herself as she felt the chilling glare of the girls that horded into the tables in front of the Burger King.
She progressed past them, not walking through but around, glancing at the poor cashier that was on shift this day. He wore the paper hat with the Burger King logo printed on both sides of the ragged paper hat, tuffs of sandy blond hair peeked out from under the ugly hat, the usual smock/apron that was blue and red with the Burger King logo in the dead center of the tacky apron. He sent a pitiful look at her with large brown eyes, and shook his head after his eyes darted to the preppy girls that snickered while she walked. She walked casually to the Starbucks, knowing that it had the object of her addiction. She glanced back at the Burger King cashier, putting her right fist over her heart and running it in a circle, saying 'I'm sorry.' He accepted her apology by placing his fingers on his chin and then held them to out her, saying 'Thank you.' She smiled then stepped up to the cashier of the Starbucks.
The male was plain and boring, with a green smock and matching green hat, that luckily wasn't paper. The green material clashed horridly with his emerald green eyes that stood out among dirty blonde hair, the lighter highlights obvious in his brownish hair that was much longer than the Burger King guy's hair. He glanced at her nonchalantly, probably thinking she was as much of a tourist as the rest of the people in the airport waiting galley. Aurora was just as laid back about this as he was, slowly scanning to be sure they had the drink she desired, allowing her eyes to glance over to the businessmen that were surely looking in her direction from their sudden silence. She noticed that most of them were drinking plain black coffee that they dare not touch until it cooled down from the ice cubes due to the intense heat of Greece, and some others were drinking a frozen cappuccino of sorts, sucking down the cold drink like it was candy. She looked slowly back to the cashier that had followed her eyes to the group of businessmen, noting the silence in the group as well, he rolled his eyes and looked back her finally when he saw the men begin to fan themselves with bundled up napkins.
"Pitiful isn't it?" He muttered, groaning in Greek. He nodded his head to the business men that had begun to loosen their ties more, some taking them off completely, and returned to typing away on their computers. She smiled and nodded at him. A grin breaking out in on the bored cashiers face finally finding someone to talk to.
"They remind me of pigs, the way they sweat." She countered, and the cashier dared a look at the sweating men again and imaged the group of men as the swine that Aurora compared them to. He laughed heartily and nodded seeing the similarities.
"What'll it be?" he questioned leaning over the counter to talk with her. She smiled and thought lazily as her eyes scanned the list again. Finding her destined obsession and sighing in relief.
"Chamomile tea, hot, Grande." She replied slowly and glanced back over to the male. He was a decent amount taller than the 5'2' girl, probably about 6' she estimated. He had several piercings in his ears and a nose piercing, a masculine jaw line, and a lean frame. Cute? Yes… but hot? No… His smile was boy-ish and kind of killed the masculine look he had going on, which he should really work on the cute boy side not the bad boy with a boy-ish smile. He smiled and scribbled it down on the cup in sharpie then busied himself with her order.
She sat at the chair closest to the cashier, trying her hardest to avoid the flock of men that were farther out from the coffee shop. She twisted a strand of hair around her fingers and then let go of it letting it unravel from its twisted hold and falling out into its natural wave. The dark strands waving so delicately like the breeze or the water in the ocean. She breathed in, only to smell the foul smell of coffee grinds, she didn't care too much for coffee but will have it when all else fails. She drummed her fingers on the table top listening intently to the conversations of the American businessmen. They muttered on about business deals with other companies saying complicated words she didn't understand, bragged about their children or wives that were due anytime and with how many. Some of the older men were showing pictures of their grand kids and their sons who they were so proud of, or the daughters who they just recently walked down the aisle. But only one was complaining about the guy his daughter had started dating, calling him reckless and several other foul words that Aurora tried hard to think of what they meant but found no avail, expecting this as payback for never being there for her while she grew up because of business trips. The other men were offering words of sympathy to the male, trying to rest his fears of it being directed toward him, and saying it was just a stage. In truth, it most likely was a stage, where she was trying to get his attention to see if he cares enough to try and spend more time with her. He listened to their kind words of wisdom and promised himself that he would spend more time with his daughter, to fix the possibly fractured relationship.
She heard the cashier at the Starbucks call her back over cause her tea was done, the drink steaming hot and perfectly. She didn't normally order tea from restaurants, because of the way the place makes it, but on the rare occasion that she does, she tries to get it from Starbucks. She inhaled the relaxing aroma of the tea, placing her cash on the counter and winking goodbye to the cashier. She sipped the warm tea before grabbing a few packages of sugar and setting back down, stirring in the sweet goodness into her addiction. She felt the many eyes of the businessmen on her and the gall to drink the hot tea in the middle of summer, in Greece. She glanced over, spying a few of the younger looking ones and the occasional middle-aged male gaze up at her to see what she was doing, but she was doing the same thing, listening trying to pick up on words that she didn't understand. She looked at the clock that was some distance away and squinted, not bothering to put in her contacts that she wore on occasions.
One of the businessmen that was closest to her saw her attempts and answered her unspoken question for her. "We have 5 minutes until we board, sweetheart." His words were quick and flowed easily, but there was an accent hidden deeply in the words, Turkish perhaps? Her brow furrowed at that, she wasn't particularly fond of Turks, but she can be accepting when the man is nice and kind. He was a fairly older man, one of the few that spoke of his grandchildren in the country that he was going to see in America. She glanced at him, processing what he said, but failing horribly.
"H-how… much l-onger?" she asked in broken English. His eyes widened and laughed, understanding her situation. He repeated what he said much slower for her, giving her a large grin. She thanked him quietly sipping on her tea and looking at him again.
"You are from here, yes?" he asked slowly making sure she caught the words. She nodded and looked at his friends that had begun to look at the two talking. Their eyes lit up in excitement, as they begun to ask questions about why she was leaving Greece to go to America. She answered simply that it was due to work, and they all nodded understandingly.
"I… have to leave… my sister here though…" she said quietly, the men listened closely to hear the words but some of them patted her back, telling her that they would be back together, and she would be doing what they were doing soon, heading back home. She nodded in agreement and was about to speak more when the intercom came on asking for the first class passengers to board the plane. She bid the males a goodbye and waved goodbye to the Burger King cashier as she went to board the plane.
She strolled past the flight attendant and gave her the ticket, her beautiful soft blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun; her gentle blue eyes were focused and attentive. She scanned the ticket under an electronic machine that registered it and she gave it back to Aurora with a tender smile and gestured her to go through the doorway to the interior of the plane. It was chilly in the long path to the plane, it was narrow and straight, she looked ahead at the next flight attendant that awaited her to help her to her seat. This lady was just as pretty as the other woman from earlier. Her rosy cheeks lighter than her red hair that was pulled back in an identical bun as the first lady's, her green eyes sparkled and her freckles lightly graced her features. She showed the lady her ticket and she gestured to the left of where she was standing, likely towards the front of the plane. She walked past her, thanking her quietly and turning to the wide aisle that lay in front of her. The curtains were pulled back and the large chairs, that could possible fit three people, were lusciously plush, covered in black velvet like upholstery. The chairs were like an egg that got cut at an awkward angle, in a complete circle with a gap at the bottom for your feet. Aurora looked at the numbers above her head trying to match the numbers to the one on her ticket. She passed several chairs until she finally reached hers, she glanced at the lines matching them up to be perfectly certain this was her seat, she sighed finally and looked for help from someone. A slim male with longer brown hair to his jaw, almost to his shoulder, who had boarded after her, was watching her. He was in the other aisle on the other side of the plane, but he was moving to seat in the chair next to the seat she assumed was seat 9.
"What… seat are you?" she asked slowly and carefully, leaning over to the male. His forest green eyes turned to look at her, watching her with curiosity that was much like a cat. He cocked his head to the side and blinked slowly.
"Seat ten." Was his slow and casual reply, he blinked again, watching her actions as she sighed in relief and plopped into the chair besides him, putting the sling bag at her feet. She pulled at her hair pulling it to the side and breathing in deeply.
She felt the stare of the male besides her, as he watched her like a cat would someone unknown, her eyes looked to the side to see the male turned toward her surveying her. She had often been told she does that as well from time to time, but to have it done to her was completely foreign. She watched him as well, looking at his wavy hair, two curls on the top of his head that just wouldn't lay down stuck up at the top of his head, his face like that of a male that was just in his 20's, the graceful perfect jaw line that wasn't to angular and square like most men's but it wasn't rounded and undefined. He had a nice frame from what she could see, a muscular chest and a lean build. He was dressed in a white shirt with a beige jacket draped on top of his shoulders and a matching beige cargo pants. A book placed in his lap, the Iliad possible? There was a tape on her shoulder that brought her away from her thoughts to the redheaded flight attendant from earlier. She was gesturing to the bag at her feet, saying something but she couldn't quite understand what was said. It was obvious that she was confused as of what was said because the flight attendant said it slower and repeated it several times. Aurora still didn't understand, until the male besides her translated.
"She wants you to put your bag in the cubby overhead, until the announcement says otherwise." He practically whispered in Greek to her. She whipped her head around to him shocked that he knew she spoke Greek. He nodded to her bag and she picked it up immediately, shoving it away into the cubby above her and apologizing to the flight attendant, who assured her that all was well. The little red head when to assist another passenger in the first class section, who was having trouble putting up his bag into the tiny overhead cubby.
Aurora turned to the male that sat beside her and stared at him for what seemed like forever, trying to figure out what to say. "Thank you." Was all she could really think of when she replied to him, "I don't speak much English and it is difficult when everyone practically speaks it in an airport," Aurora explained, folding her hands over in her lap. He nodded in understanding, it seemed like everyone understood that some people had problems with English, and held up a hand, when she tried to thank him again.
"No thanks are needed. I used to have the same problem, and someone helped me out by doing the same thing. I'm just returning the favor by helping out another." He smiled reaching over and patting her shoulder. He looked at her and sighed. "Besides, we have a long trip ahead of us until we get to America, so we might as well help each other out since we sit next to each other." He said slowly as he turned back to his seat. The first class seats were filled up with their destined occupants and the rest of the plane was being filled with the economy class passengers. She nodded in agreement to him.
"Yeah…" she said after a while of thinking and turning to face forward, but still felt his eyes on her. "What is your name?" she asked boldly, from the corner of her eyes she saw him smirk a small smirk, one that wouldn't have been noticed by most people.
"Hercules… and you?" he asked sincerely. She smiled at the name, so her parents weren't the only ones that liked Greek mythological stories. She smiled thinking of her sister sitting back at home, who would squeal at the thought of her sister having a cute guy sitting next to her for the next twenty-two hours.
"Aurora." She smiled sweetly.
-^.^-
Oh my gawd! This has taken me several weeks! :C BUT I'm finally done with the first chapter! It was originally going to be longer but I decided to cut it into two chapters. "Leaving Greece" and "Arrival in America"
This is a story that is from another character's point of view to this mini-series that myself and my friend HibariLover are starting. It is one of many that we will hopefully get to within the next few weeks. :D I love this story so much! :)
Curious as of what was said? Here are the translations in order:
(Greek) Gaia – personification of Mother Earth
(Greek) Aurai – nymphsof the breezes
(Greek) Zeus – king of gods and god of sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and fate
(Greek) Helios – Titan of the sun and guardian of oaths
(Greek) Erebos – god of darkness and shadow
(Italian)Aurora – Dawn or goddess of Dawn
(Greek) Pandora – All gifts or the mortal woman "Pandora" within Greek Mythology
(Greek) Vύχτα – night
(Greek) Mαμά – mum
(Greek) Ο Δίας σας βρίζουν πάντα – Jupiter (Zeus) curse you forever
(Greek) Hercules –the greatest of all the Greek heroes who was famed for the completion of the Twelve Labours
Favorite, Alert, Review… three things that only takes 5 minutes. You already spent time reading this so why not just add 5 more to it.