(Check end for notes)

"Well, goodnight then."

Carol walked towards the elevator and right before she stepped in she turned to look at the girl and held her gaze perhaps a little too long. Her room was located on the third floor while Therese's was on the second. When they checked in together the receptionist had casually asked if they'd be sharing a room but Therese clarified she'd already made her booking online, then internally cursed herself.

Right when Therese entered her room for the next week her phone started buzzing. Richard. She'd rather pretend she couldn't hear it but she owed it to him to at least let him know she was okay.

"Hello?"

"Terry! I've been calling forever. Did you arrive safely?" Therese wondered if he even knew about the seven hour difference between the two countries.

"Just checked into the hotel." She replied nonchalantly while sitting on the edge of the bed to push off her shoes.

"How was the flight? I bet it must have been so boring. How long was it like 15 hours?"

Therese thought of Carol and how those 15 hours had been the most wonderful hours of her entire life. What was it about the stranger that fascinated her so much she wondered? It was as if an invisible magnetic force was pulling her towards Carol constantly.

"Well?" Richard said impatient.

"Oh, yeah extremely boring." She lied. Third lie in two days. "Um, Richard I'm going to hang up I'm really tired." Fourth lie.

"G'night Terry, I love you."

"Goodnight."

It was almost three hours past midnight but jet lag was bound to keep her up all night. She swirled and twirled under the cool blankets but sleep never came so she decided to take a walk by the sea, maybe the sound of the waves would help soothe her. She grabbed her camera too, instinctively. She was supposed to picture historical sites for the magazine but she wanted to take more pictures for herself as well. As she walked by the sea, with her feet sinking into the warm summer sand she noticed a figure sitting on one of the sun beds.

"Carol?" she whispered as she approached the figure. Carol lifted her head up and met Therese's eyes that were shining under the moonlight. It was as if the girl had actually descended from the moon.

"Damned jet lag is keeping me up; I'm guessing the same counts for you?"

"Yep." Therese sat down on the sun bed next to Carol's. She watched as the woman laid her back down and closed her eyes.

"Isn't the sound of the waves the most soothing sound to fall asleep to?" she said with a husky voice and eyes still closed. Therese leaned back onto her own sun bed, closed her eyes and hummed in agreement.

When Therese woke up the sun was already decorating the blue sky. The beach was starting to fill up with people and it wasn't even 8am yet. She watched Carol peacefully sleep and debated whether to let her sleep or wake her up. When a ray of sun made its way under the umbrella and illuminated Carol's face she wished she could reach out and brush the woman's skin with her fingers; instead she decided to let Carol sleep.

She grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at a table in the corner of the dining room. She'd barely made it for breakfast as it closed at 9am. She started reading the book she'd brought with her when a pull of the chair in front of her interrupted. She hoped that when she'd look up she'd find Carol but it was only a small child who was asking if she could take the chair. She scanned the room and wondered if Carol why Carol hadn't come. She felt silly for making such a big deal out of it; Carol probably just wanted to be alone. She came here to escape anyway. She wondered what from.

Therese decided to start her day by visiting a UNESCO world heritage site called "Tombs of the Kings" who, as she'd read online, weren't actually buried there; the name came from the magnificence of the tombs. She spent the entire morning trying to capture the enormity of the tombs and when she was finally glad with her shots she decided to head back to the hotel to cool off since she wasn't used to the insufferable heat of the Mediterranean.

When she got back it was around lunch time. She went to check at the reception if lunch was included in the booking she'd made and when the receptionist recognized her name she told her a woman named Carol Aird had asked to see her. Her room was number 623.

As Therese made her way up the stairs she pondered on Carol's last name. Aird must be her husband's name; thinking of that made her clench her fists subconsciously. She stood in front of the door for what felt like forever and then decided to knock a second time. When she was met with silence she turned around to leave, but just as she made her first step she heard the door unlock. She wasn't expecting what she saw.

Carol's eyes were red and puffy, as if she'd been crying all day. She wore a silk pajama and her hair was tied in a low messy bun. The curtains were drawn closed so the room was almost completely dark. Therese's heart broke at the sight. She stepped into the room that smelled entirely like Carol and turned around to find fresh tears making their way down Carol's cheeks.

"Oh, Carol" Therese wanted to wrap Carol into her arms and soothe her cries but she was too afraid the woman would push her away.

Carol wished Therese would wrap her into her arms and whisper to her that everything was going to be alright.

Instead Therese continued.

"Carol, what…what happened?"

"He's going to take her from me. He…suddenly he wants full custody. Says I'm not capable of being a mother if I need to get away" she made the quotation sign with her fingers. "Does he even realize I'm trying to get away from him and not my daughter?" Carol's voice trembled at the last word.

Therese was taken aback by the revelation that the woman had a child. A child that was being torn away from her.

"You…you have a daughter?" Therese said trying to choose her words wisely.

"Yes." A smile appeared on her lips. "My little Rindy, she's almost 6. Not so little anymore." And the smile faded away. She pulled out her phone and showed Therese a picture of Rindy and herself she had as her screensaver. The girl looked exactly like her mother which made Therese smile.

"Can he really do that?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't know. The ruling was that we'd have shared custody, I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Well, whatever it is I'm sure you'll figure it out Carol. Rindy seems to love you dearly, any judge could see that." Carol's eyes found Therese's and lingered for a moment. What had made her spill all this out to a stranger?

The silence that surrounded them was a comforting one but Therese broke it after she noticed Carol's mood darken.

"So, um why did you want to see me?" she asked sheepishly, avoiding Carol's grey eyes.

"Oh, I woke up and you were gone. I'd been looking for you but couldn't find you and got a little worried."

Worried? About her? She'd been looking for her?

"Oh. I…I didn't want to wake you up, you seemed very peaceful. I just had some coffee and ventured out for a while."

Carol sat beside her on the bed, crossed her legs and looked expectantly towards Therese but when the girl failed to notice her awaiting gaze she asked.

"Where did you go?"

"To this UNESCO site called Tombs of the Kings? I took some pictures if you'd like to see."

Carol's eyes flickered.

"I'd love to!"

Therese was silent as Carol flipped through the photos on her camera. She watched the beautiful hands that had held her so tightly on the flight and wished she could reach out and hold them.

"Therese, these pictures are wonderful."

They stayed in Carol's room for what felt hours and minutes at the same time. Carol talked about Harge and Rindy and the furniture shop she owned with her best friend Abby back in New York and Therese talked about her love for photography and Richard and how she wasn't sure she ever even loved him. Carol had told her she needed to be honest with the boy but most importantly she needed to be honest with herself.

When Therese's tummy started making sounds indicating she was hungry Carol said apologetically.

"I've kept you too long."

"Not at all." She offered Carol a heartwarming smile which was instantly returned by the older woman. "But I am getting kind of hungry. My friend, Dannie told me there's a restaurant with traditional Cypriot cuisine right down the road. Apparently it overlooks the sea"

"That sounds lovely, darling. Would you mind if I came along? Kind of starved, myself."

Darling? Would she mind? Therese felt her heart flutter inside her chest.

"I'd love your company, Carol." she finally said after regaining her breath.

Carol had overdone it a bit with the wine and Therese had to wrap an arm around the woman's waist to steady her as they walked back to the hotel. They struggled getting into the elevator without causing a bit of a hammock. Once Therese had opened Carol's door with the key she'd pulled out of the woman's bag she led her to the bed and Carol instantly fell onto it. Therese gently removed the woman's shoes and turned on the air-conditioning as the temperature was still insufferable even at that time of the night. Carol was wearing a very elegant knee length, curve hugging white dress. She looked like an angel in it, Therese thought. She covered the woman's legs with the thin linen sheet and lingered for a moment before turning to leave.

"Therese?" Carol half opened her eyes and grabbed Therese's arm which made her turn back, now only a foot away from the bed.

"Mhm?"

Carol pulled her down and pressed a drunken kiss to her lips. Therese's breath caught in her throat but she slowly breathed out and cupped Carol's cheeks in her hands as she responded soberly. Carol pulled back after a few seconds and fell into oblivious slumber.

Therese stood beside the bed touching her own lips with her fingers, not believing what had just happened. She could feel the heartbeat in her lower abdomen and she smiled as she watched Carol's chest go up and down peacefully.

She laid awake in bed forever. She thought of the first time Carol had squeezed her hand two days ago and how she instantly knew she felt a connection with her. She had been wondering if it was admiration she felt for the woman or love but after tonight, after that kiss, she knew.

She was falling in love with Carol and there was no denying it.

Carol awoke the next morning with the worst headache and no recollection of what had happened the previous night.

(Notes)If you wanna know more about the tombs, google is your friend. Thank you so much for your comments on the first chapter, i'm really excited to continue this. This update was soon-ish since i'd already written it but next update will be in about a week (i'm drowning in exams), so bear with me:)