Chapter Two: A Diamond in the Rough

The wood was a little too weak in places for carving; brittle in areas she had to be careful with her knife. The horse figurine was almost finished. Lexa looked up and scanned the area around her. Her sister Anya was still trying to sell flowers to the passers-by as well as a few of Lexa's carvings, some of the more quality ones that she had been willing to part with – a handsome horse's head, an ashtray lined with an iron bowl, a stretching cat, a sitting dog. They made for great toys and were popular with children, Anya was sure to sell at least a few of them. Lexa had always been good with her hands, not just with her carvings but with anything. She hardly felt the heat, she could run her hands under the hottest water, she could carry a hot tray from the oven, and it never left a mark.

"Lexa! Come and help me with this, will you?" Anya's voice pulled Lexa away fromher carving. Setting the horse aside, Lexa smiled as she saw the problem. Well, it wasn't a problem at all. It was a little girl with grey eyes and a firm pout. Anya's daughter Echo. She had the dog figurine in her hand and she was in a battle of wills against her mother.

"Auntie said I could have it!"

"No, little miss, this one's for selling. I'm making you a better one." Lexa gently removed the dog from her hands and placed it back on the stall. Anya breathed a sigh of relief as the tantrum was averted.

Echo's bottom lip wobbled a little and Lexa reached back and showed her the horse she was carving. Echo reached for it and inspected it closely.

"What is it?"

"It's a horse, Echo, see?" Lexa took her niece's hand and brushed it over where she was carving the horse's mane.

"Like the ones Tia used to look after?"

Lexa sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of Costia's name. "Yeah, that's right."

Anya noticed the pain stricken look on her sister's face and called out to Echo. "Echo! You go back inside now, Mama and Auntie are very busy, see?" She gestured to the stall and the flowers, even though there were presently no customers.

Echo nodded. "Bye, Mama. Bye Auntie." She waved as she disappeared back inside the house.

Anya rubbed her eyes. "Lord in heaven that girl will be the death of me. Flowers! Fresh cut flowers!"

Lexa chuckled and went back to carving the horse figurine, paying close attention to the horse's face. Echo mentioning Costia had been unexpected and Lexa had been unprepared. She had lost her so long ago, but it still felt so fresh.

What a love affair it had been. All her life Lexa had been told her way of loving was a sin. Her mother had disapproved greatly when Lexa had been caught kissing a girl from church on the lips. Lexa still remembered the beating she got for that. Her sister Anya had inherited her mother's way of thinking and was always trying to find suitable boys for Lexa, especially when she was dating Gus. Gus would bring a friend along when he visited Anya, and Anya would always point him in Lexa's direction. However, Anya also fell out of favour when she fell pregnant and Gus was nowhere to be found, despite Anya insisting that he had promised to come back and marry her once she told him the news. Her mother had told them of her disappointment in them on her deathbed and left both sisters with nothing but the house. Lexa had been the only one to help Anya survive the hardships of being a new mother, and a mother without a husband in a cruel and prejudiced society. Their bond had been strengthened year by year until Anya worked up the courage to tell Lexa that she could love whomever she chose and that she would face no judgement from Anya.

Looking for work had always been somewhat easy for Lexa. Despite her gender, she was strong and nimble, attributed to her lithe, athletic figure. She always put herself into the task at hand, and had worked in many different industries. It was the day she went to a stable to see if they had any jobs going. The owner had asked her to assist him in checking the horse's shoes and helping the stable hands with repair work on the stable doors. It was there that she laid eyes on the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Hazel brown eyes with long, long lashes on a tanned face with impossibly defined cheekbones, and a laugh that made everyone around her laugh as she tossed her thick, black hair around her shoulders before rearranging it into a plait. It was one of the stable hands. Lexa learnt that her name was Costia; her father had come to England from Greece, and worked with her two brothers in a factory. Lexa would always remember the first time Costia spoke to her, and smiled at the memory.

She had been tidying the equestrian equipment shack, putting newly oiled bridles and saddles in their rightful place. She hadn't heard the tall beauty also enter the shack behind her, with the bridle and saddle she'd been using that day.

"Got a saddle and a bridle here. Oh! Hey there, I'm Costia. What do they call you?"

"Well, for goodness sake! I've just finished putting them away! Give them here so I can finish up. It's Lexa."

"Well, damn! Here, here. Someone wants to finish early today."

"Maybe I do. It's my niece's birth-" Lexa turned to take the saddle and realized who she was talking to "-day…"

Costia raised an eyebrow. "Well, don't let me keep you."

Lexa gulped and quickly took the saddle from her, putting it away. Thinking she had left, Lexa had sighed in frustration, hitting the wall, hissing in pain when her knuckles struck a stray nail.

"Ow! Stupid bloody nail! Stupid bloody pretty Greek girl!"

"Excuse me?"

Lexa had frozen, disbelief washing over her oh please god above me no. She had turned painfully slowly to see Costia still stood there, eyebrow raised even higher.

"Oh, you're still here."

"I'm still here. I fail to see how it is my fault that the nail hurt your hand. Thanks for calling me pretty though."

Lexa could feel herself sweating. "Right. About that-"

"Oh! You're bleeding!"

Lexa blinked, confused, then remembered her hand. There was some blood trickling from where she'd hit the nail. She inspected her hand briefly but didn't feel it needed immediate attention.

"It's fine. Anyway, about earlier-"

"You're bleeding a lot!"

Lexa frowned "This really is nothing, it's just a scrape. What? You don't like blood?"

Costia had taken down a rag from the shack wall, and slowly walked towards Lexa, wrapping it around her hand. Lexa had suddenly found it rather difficult to breathe, and could hear her own heartbeat in her ears. She quickly looked down at the floor, fearing her apparently expressive green eyes would give her away. Instead she chose to watch her hand as Costia stopped the blood from going everywhere.

"No, I've seen blood before."

"Oh I see. It was getting on the floor. I'm sorry, I'll clean it up."

"It's just a floor."

The blood had stopped, leaving an angry red graze across Lexa's knuckles. Costia gently took the rag away, lifting Lexa's face so their eyes met. Lexa was sure now that she had stopped breathing.

"A-Alright. See, it's just a little cut." She'd laughed nervously and cursed herself for being so tongue-tied.

Lexa felt Costia's thumb brush against her cheek and it felt like every cell in her body was reacting to it.

"Cut or no cut, I don't like seeing such a beautiful girl get hurt." Costia had ghosted her lips over Lexa's in the gentlest kiss, as if a butterfly's wings had just fluttered across her lips.

"See you around…Lexa." She'd pulled away, smiled seductively and exited the shack, striding with confidence towards the stables.

Lexa had nearly fainted.