Thanks to my Beta Reader Americanchick, I could not do it without her help.

I do not own almost nothing here, and I do this only for fun.

It all started in Greece

Chapter 4

They devoted the day to make an excursion to Cape Sounion to see the temple of Poseidon. It was seen that the god of the seas was marking the course of their journey, in all ways. They could not get rid of it, nor did they want to. They rented a car so they could go quietly to the coast near Athens. Stella liked all of her home country, the landscape, the light, all the Attica region... and the Aegean Sea always present.

They arrived at lunch time, so before boarding the promontory on which stands the temple they went to a small restaurant on the beach. It was not yet full summer season and it was not crowded, so they did not have to wait. A nice young waitress attended them. Stella enjoyed the Greek practice, and felt her skills improve every day, getting used to hearing the sound of the language and improving their pronunciation and fluency. She suddenly remembered a lot of vocabulary, and had no problem communicating. Mac loved to listen to her. He did not understand anything about anything, but her voice sounded in a lower tone, with other music. The food was very good and both indicated the girl to congratulate the chef. She laughed, explaining that it was not a chef but a cook, her own grandmother, to be exact. She went back into the kitchen and soon an old woman appeared in the restaurant, wearing a very clean white apron and her white hair pulled back in a neat bun. She wanted to personally receive the congratulations, now that there were no more customers to serve. Without thinking twice she sat at the table with Stella and Mac to have coffee with them, since she had finished eating too. She liked Stella at first sight, but with Mac... she fell in love. She passed a hand across his cheek, while with the forefinger of the other hand warned him

"Before you go anywhere, you have to cover this face very well with a good sunscreen... And put on too layers on all the skin that was under the sun, if you go to the beach. My son, though the sun is not as strong as in summer, with a skin like this... And she turned to Stella "God... This man of yours is as pale as Paros marble statues...!" Mac wanted to know what she had said, but Stella did not translate it, only laughed. The loving gaze of the lady reminded him that it was nothing bad.

She asked them where they came from and Stella told her that she was born in Greece but it was the first time she had visited after moving to America at two years old. Before talking again, the lady took the cup of coffee that Stella was done with and placed it face down.

"Now I will tell you the rest..." said in a mysterious voice.

She turned the cup to her and studied the coffee grounds. Mac and Stella looked fun.

"Moraki mou, you came to this land with a big fight on your psyche ... Expecting to find your past... but more than the past, what you will find here is your future. Everything that you want most you already have got, though perhaps you did not yet know, or at least do not know everything, but it is with you, and inside you... Finally you'll have what you deserve, and I can see that you never, never will be alone" Stella had her eyes moistening. She felt a bit silly thought, because probably this really nice lady used to tell everyone what they wanted to hear... but she still treasured those words in her memory, hoping that they were real, true.

The woman then took Mac's cup, which had also previously upside down. She smiled as she looked the picture of the grounds at the bottom.

"Oh, my pale face man has also suffered and lost... And he is so stubborn that it cost him years to recognize that what he wants and deserves is at the other side of a glass, and he only has to open the door... The happiness he had to reach cost him a long journey. But travels are good if someone is waiting for us at the arrival to meet us, to embrace us... Is not it?". The lady continued, this time looking Mac fixedly. "And do not fear to love for the fear of losing love again. This time you just will win" Stella was translating the words to Mac. He was surprised. What had Stella told her in so few words to her knowing all that? As if reading his mind, the lady turned again to him.

"You only have to read the grounds... The past and the destination are written" She laughed a hearty laugh, giving little pats on Mac's cheek as if he was a child. "And you do not have to worry... green is her colour" Now Mac's eyes widened. Stella asked what happened, what the woman meant with that words and why he had been so shocked. Mac gave a nod to the lady as she said goodbye, but she pulled him into a hug that nearly drowns him, and planted two resounding kisses on both his cheeks.

The first thing they did was buy some sunscreen in a little shop next to the restaurant. They also bought a swimsuit for Mac and a bikini for Stella (Mac thought it was too small...) thinking about a swim at the beach after visiting the temple. Stella spread sunscreen on Mac's face until not even a pore was uncovered, despite his protests. They climbed the hill, holding hands, enjoying the hike, the sun and sea breeze. The temple was impressive with its soaring columns, and its location was even more incredible.

"Look Mac, this is considered the best vantage point to watch the ships on their way to Athens. According to legend, from here the King Aegeus threw himself into the sea, in despair at the thought that his son Theseus had failed in his expedition to Crete, and so that sea took his name"

"Theseus, that guy of the the Minotaur's labyrinth?"

"Yes, the same, I see that you are learning... It's a tremendous story. The Athenians, to prevent the King Minos of Crete swept the city as revenge for the death of his son in Athens, had to agree to pay a terrible tribute: At nine-year intervals, fourteen young people, seven boys and seven girls, who would be offered as a sacrifice to the Minotaur, a monster with a bull's head and man's body who lived in the labyrinth of Knossos, a place where no one could escape alive. Each new moon, the monster devoured a young person and this way his anger calmed down. Theseus, son of King Aegeus of Athens, volunteered to go and defeat the monster. The sad expedition parted to Crete with black sails in mourning for the tragic fate that awaited them. Young Theseus agreed with his father that if he could defeat the Minotaur, they will return with white sails hoisted.

In Crete, Theseus met Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos. Ariadne fell in love with him and decided to help him kill the monster in the labyrinth. She gave him a magic sword and a ball of string to be tied in the entrance and unwind on the way to find the exit. Theseus succeeded in his aim, killed the Minotaur and following the thread got out the labyrinth. King Minos consented that the young Athenians returned to their homeland. Ariadne and her sister Phaedra went with them, but a storm drove them to an island where Ariadne was lost. They had to leave, once the the storm has passed, without finding her. Theseus was so mad that he forgot to change the sails and hoist the white ones, as he had agreed with his father for knowing from far that his son and the others came back unharmed.

When king Aegeus spotted his son's ship with the black sails, believed he had died and decided to throw himself into the sea from the cliff right here... Since then, this is named Aegean Sea"

When Stella finished the story, sitting with Mac on the temple steps facing the sea, a dozen people had gathered around them listening her, fascinated.

"Excuse me" said a young man "but we could not help to listen... What a pretty story. Thank you very much" The others were also grateful to Stella, who was very flattered. She beamed. Mac could not look away from her. She was in her element, she looked happy.

They descended to the beach. Mac had his hand on her shoulder, protective and possessive at once. They changed on the sand, trying do not show much, even though it was difficult because they had not even a towel. Mac did not like the bikini. As he had thought, it was too small. Stella found out, funny, a jealous side that he never thought Mac had. She spread the sunscreen on his back and shoulders, face and neck again. Mac also did it on Stella's back, but let the rest for her, because he feared losing control... and that would not be very good in a public place.

They played like children in the water, checking that the high salinity of the Aegean greatly favoured the bodies float. Almost effortlessly, the body rose into the water and kept floating, lazy and motionless.

They walked along the edge of water, all along the beach to the headland of the temple at one end of the sandpit, while drying your swimsuit by the sun and the breeze. I was five and they had an hour or more of the return journey, so they headed to the car and took the road to the capital.

Thy parked outside the hotel, next to the shop Made-in-Greece, that they had visited on the previous evening. Stella went to the shop window and called Mac.

"Oh Mac, look ... Remember that green nice dress that was yesterday in the window? It must have been sold, it is no longer in the window..." Mac did the clueless.

"A dress? A green dress?"

"Yes, it was beautiful... You insisted I tried it, you do not remember?" Mac did as he was thinking... "Men!"

In the room, Mac went quickly to the bathroom. First, to take a shower to get rid of all the sunscreen he was wearing, and second to have time to ask for Stella's new dress while she took her bath.

When Stella went into the bathroom and he dressed, he called the bellhop, who immediately brought the new dress perfectly ironed, in a transparent plastic cover. Mac put it on the bed, and took the necklace and earrings and arranged everything together to give her the surprise of her life. She had complained a while ago that the clothing he had was not enough elegant for dinner at a restaurant in the category of the Roof Garden, the wonderful rooftop restaurant of the hotel with its exotic plants and its view of the Acropolis and over the whole city.

Mac was nervous. On one hand, he did not want to lose her face when Stella saw the dress, but otherwise he wanted to let her get dressed comfortably without witness, preferring to see her with all together, so he decided to leave. He leaned over the bathroom. Stella was still relaxing in the foam. He went over and kissed her.

"I'm waiting in the lobby, at the bar. We can take a drink there and then up to the terrace. Do not hurry, take the opportunity to rest"

"What do you mean, that I must rest now to get tired at night? Stella laughed mischievously.

"Well, now that you mention it... But remember that tomorrow morning we are going to the cruise, and we must pick up everything and prepare the luggage. At 10 we should be in Piraeus... so we will have to get some sleep and get up early to prepare all" He kissed her again. "I'm... I'm leaving because I feel that if I do not go I'm going to fall down in the tub..." And he left, taking a last look at the dress on the bed. He longed to see her in it, though... it would surely be too low neckline. He slapped himself for the thinking, gosh, the neckline of Stella had always taken his view, but now... it began to bother him that it took them also the view to all the men who watched her...

When Stella finished her bath she dried her hair and did a discreet makeup on her face, bronzed by the sun. Then, adjusting her robe, she went into the bedroom, determined to dress... Before reaching the closet, her eyes stopped on her bed, attached to the Mac's one. It could not be possible... But... How had he brought here the dress? How had he done to not be seen? Her eyes were full of tears, but se refrained herself. She did not want to start over with makeup. It took a great effort, but she achieved to regain the control. She could not, should not, get used to being treated this way, with Mac providing her the slightest whim, her every desire. This was not normal, real life can not be lived like this... Her other side was shouting: Enjoy! He loves you and finally he is showing it! Was not what you were waiting for nearly a decade?

Mac waited impatiently. He had spent almost an hour since he left the room, with his dark suit and clear tie that by chance he put in the luggage in case he had to attend a formal event. Since he had found Stella in Greece, this was the longest period of time that they had spent separated. Every time the elevator doors opened and its soft bell sounded, Mac looked hoping to see the woman of his life. And this time, there she was.

Not only Mac looked at and admired. Everyone who was in the luxurious lobby, and in the English bar at one side, looked at Stella and smiled. It was impossible to combine more beauty in a woman. Her hair was tied high, revealing the slender neck adorned by the beautiful and colourful necklace matching the dangle earrings. Her green eyes sparkled with the exact colour of the dress with plunging neckline that suited to every curve of her body, her chest, her hips... She was spectacular, nobody could look away from her. He wore high sandals so her stature was also impressive, and indeed when Mac came along he felt dwarfed by that goddess...

"So you did not know what green dress...?" Stella began. Mac silenced her with a kiss on the lips, sweet and long. People smiled watching the beautiful couple. It was... like in a movie. They were so beautiful, so in love ... That was something obvious.

When they finally parted, Mac asked Stella

"You like?"

"Are you doubting if I like? It is the most beautiful dress I have had in my life. And the first thing since I'm an adult that I do not buy myself... Mac I..." she did not want to mourn, but it was costing her a lot of effort "I love you". Despite what had happened the previous night she had not yet told him. Mac kissed her again, holding her beautiful face in his hands.

"I love you too, now and always"

More than one photo of this couple was taken by the people in the lobby of the Grande Bretagne. They looked like movie stars, that was not something you see every day. The hotel manager invited them to a drink at the bar, their presence there a little more time was something to give further prestige and glamour to the establishment.

By the time he returned to the room, after a perfect dinner and a little romantic dance under the moonlight, Mac had in mind just to strip the beautiful Stella dress, and put off the serious suit he wore. He wanted to feel her skin next to him, kissing and worshiping every inch, making her feel loved, desired, full of life... And so was feeling Stella.

Almost asleep, hugging the man she loved, she remembered word by word and with her eyes moist with emotion that the lady in the Cape Sounion restaurant had said:

"Everything that you want most you already have got, though perhaps you did not yet know, or at least do not know everything, but it is with you, and inside you... Finally you'll have what you deserve, and I can see that you never, never will be alone" The hand of a sleeping Mac rested on her belly, and she put hers up too, with a sensation both sweet and strange.

"It is with you and inside you" was her last thought before falling asleep.

To be continued...