Chapter 4: Sightseeing

So I'm holding on

I'm holding on

I'm holding on

I'm barely holding on to you

Mac turns around, "Stella?"

The hotel manager's gaze goes from him to her. "Do you know this man? He was looking for you, and I was about to call the police," he says in Greek.

She replies, "Yes, he's a friend. There's no need to call the police. I'm sorry about this."

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I wasn't sure whether he was being honest, and I didn't want you to get hurt."

"It's fine. You can never be too careful," she smiles.

Mac looks back and forth between the two. "Would someone like to tell me what's going on?"

"I'm so sorry for accusing you of being… a creep. I take back everything I said before. You are more than welcome to stay here if you'd like," the manager apologizes to Mac.

Mac glances at his partner before replying. "I understand your actions. And… I would like a room for at least one night."

The manager goes back behind the desk and searches on a computer for available rooms. "There is nothing currently open near her room, but the person in the room next door is leaving later today. You can have that room after we have cleaned it if that's okay." He looks at the couple.

"Sure."

"You can put your stuff in my room for now, Mac," Stella offers.

"I'll give you the key as soon as it's ready."

"Thanks," he follows Stella to the elevator.

Once the doors close, she repeats her question. "What are you doing here?"

"I followed you here."

"Mac, I can take care of myself. I don't need you to be here."

"I want to be here, Stel. These men are dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Maybe I didn't come here to hunt them down. I'm not stupid enough to go after them by myself."

He places his hand on her shoulder, "Then what did you come here for?"

"I really don't know. It was just… the first idea that popped in my head after I left your office."

After watching her for a moment, he decides that she is telling the truth. "Well, since we're here, we might as well do some digging for information."

"I'm on suspension, and you're asking me to help with the case? The defense is going to definitely going to like this case."

"Maybe I'm just asking for your help as… someone who speaks the language so we can communicate with these people. Besides, I'm not on the clock. I called in sick for a few days; I knew Sinclair would never approve of spending money on me coming here, even if it will help the case."

She looks at him curiously, "If Sinclair finds out you called in sick to follow me to Greece, you're going to be fired too."

"Maybe you've had a bad influence on me," Mac smiles.

She opens the door to her room, and he wheels his suitcase inside. "So… are you hungry?"

"Starving. But can I take a quick shower and change first?"

"You better be quick because all I've eaten in the past twenty-four hours is airplane food."

Ten minutes later he comes out of the bathroom, buttoning up his blue shirt. "So what were your plans for today?"

"I was going to do some sightseeing. But if you have to get back to New York, we can do some investigating today, and I'll vacation later."

"No, sightseeing is fine. Besides, I'm not leaving here unless you're coming with me."

"I wasn't planning on leaving for a while so it looks like we're both going to be searching for a new job."

"So what exactly do you want to see?"

"This morning we can go to the Temple of Zeus, the Parliament building, the stadium, the Acropolis, and the Acropolis museum. And this afternoon, we can walk that hill," she points out the window, "eat dinner, and come back down."

"What else is there left to do then?" he dares to ask.

"Tomorrow I figure we'll start the archeological museum and go from there. Then in the evening we'll go to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and see the show there."

"Are you sure you were not planning on coming here?"

"Well, I've looked into it a couple times, but I just haven't gotten around to actually coming."

"Is there anything else you'd like to do while you're here?"

"I'd like to go up to Delphi. And to Cape Sounion. And there's always the islands and the beaches, but on such a tight schedule I guess I can live without seeing them."

"We've got a pretty busy day ahead of us. We'd better get going," Mac offers her a hand and leads her out the door.

A/N: I couldn't make Stella mad at him after the other guy threatening to call the police. Plus, I'm sure she knew he'd come after her eventually. Anyway... I have to work on my research paper for English. Please keep reviewing and I will update sometime on Friday.