a a gust of wind
DESCRIPTION
SHORT STORYTRANSCRIPT
A GUST OF WIND
by Parina Douzina Stiakaki
She first laid eyes on him in her Uncle's timber yard where she'd come to
work. He was looking through stacks of planks carefully in order to choose
the best quality for his order. He looked serious and completely absorbed in
what he was doing. But something about him caught her eye. There was
something compelling about him, something distinctive she couldn't quite
explain. Not his looks. He was stocky and short, nearing middle age, though
his hair remained very black and his eyebrows very bushy.
"That guy's bad news..." Her Uncle muttered with a disapproving shake of
the head.
"Bad debts?" She inquired automatically leafing through the ledger.
"No!" He laughed. "Oh no. Ted Gratsos always pays on time. No. It's not
that."
"Then what is it?" She asked, sounding very intrigued. Her Uncle looked at
her and smiled.
"Oh..." He evaded. "You don't want to know." and left the office to go out
into the yard and tend to his customer's needs.
This could only help spike her curiosity even more. She looked out
over the yard from the glass paneled office perched on a mezzanine floor
above. Her Uncle seemed to be trying to interest him in something but he
shook his head gravely. When they seemed to have finally done their deal,
her Uncle motioned over to the fork lift operator and Ted Gratsos, as if
suddenly stung, shot a sharp look up in her direction at the office. Their eyes
met. She felt a shock shoot through her body, as though she had actually had
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the force to magnetize him somehow, as though he'd caught her look of
intrigued curiosity and had responded instinctively. Their eyes remained
locked for a moment, one all the more powerful for its brevity. She felt hot,
then embarrassed, then looked away almost as soon as he did.
"Make out all the necessary papers for the Gratsos shipment." Her Uncle
ordered in a professional tone, but then asked her less formally, "You sure
you know what to do?" She'd only been working for him for a short while
now and he still felt unsure of her ability.
"Oh yes." She asserted with confidence. "Have I failed you yet?" and he
smiled at her with relief.
She felt bad about living with her Uncle and Aunt. They'd put her up when
she'd first come into the country, but now she was earning her living, she felt
she was imposing. Yet every time she broached the subject of finding a place
of her own, her Aunt would only laugh.
"What nonsense, Maria! Why?" She protested as they pottered about in the
kitchen together preparing dinner.
"You've been so kind. Both of you. But I don't want to be a burden on you!
I'm making my own money now and..."
"And you want to throw it away, eh?" Her Aunt accused jocularly as she set
the kitchen table.
"No! But..."
"You keep your money, Maria!" Her Aunt laughed. "Save up for a good
dowry."
Now it was Maria's turn to laugh. A dowry? That had been one of her
main reasons for wanting to leave Greece in the first place! All this business of
dowries and marriages arranged by the family and all that.
"But seriously, Aunt. I don't want to be a lot of trouble for you. You're
doing so much for me. I feel terrible..."
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"Now listen to me." She said firmly, turning all her attention on her niece,
leaving the table she was setting. "I don't want any more of this nonsense. You
hear? You're like a daughter to me Maria, and not just because you're my
poor late sister's girl." She said crossing herself reverently as she mumbled,
"May God forgive her soul." and then went on sternly, addressing Maria
again. "Now my own Pete is away, I don't have anyone else to look after, do
I?"
"But..."
"No buts!" She asserted. "I never had a daughter of my own, and it makes a
difference having you here now. You'll stay here with us and no more
nonsense about going to live on your own. A mere girl in a dangerous city
like this!" She tut tutted. Then she looked at her and smiled. "You'll only leave
this house as a bride." She declared.
"Oh, Aunt!" Maria felt self conscious. "That's the last thing on my mind!"
She protested.
"Why? You're a young woman, a clever girl... You should be thinking about
it."
"No... I..."
"Well, okay. Not yet, perhaps. But in time. We have some very good boys
out here." She said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Aunt... I'm not... I don't..." She felt flustered, but her aunt only laughed and
hugged her in a tight maternal embrace.
"Of course you do! We all do." She added, then assured, "Just leave it to
me." Which couldn't help sounding decidedly suspicious.
She was touched by her Aunt's affection. She knew it was genuine. Yet
she couldn't help chafing. She wanted to get out, make her way on her own.
That's why she'd come here. But she felt confined, restricted, not as free as
she'd imagined she'd be. Not that they actively confined her in any way. She
was perfectly free to do as she pleased and go where she liked. But as often as
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not they offered to take her where she wanted to go, or take her out with
them where they went. She really had no friends of her own yet.
"In time." Her Aunt had comforted stroking her hair. "In time you'll meet
people and make friends. But you must be careful. This is a foreign country.
Don't trust people. You must be very very cautious." Well of course, she
understood that. Which was one reason she was happy to comply with the
community priest's request that she help out at the school. It was entirely
voluntary and consisted of teaching the young children Greek for a couple of
hours every Sunday after the Church service. She got to know people and
enjoyed being in a very Greek environment once a week which somehow
helped to assuage her homesickness.
And then she saw him again. One Sunday morning. On her way into
the school. They almost bumped into each other. She felt it was him even
before she looked up into his face. A nervous shudder rippled through her
whole body as she gaped at him, unable to speak, since her throat felt
paralyzed. He shot his dark eyes into hers, then suddenly away from them as
if he'd felt an electric shock sting him. He mumbled something incoherent
without looking at her again, and shuffled off as awkward and as troubled by
this chance encounter as she was.
She felt hot and restless. Something suddenly came to the boil inside
her. It was quite extraordinary. She'd never felt anything like this before, and
though it troubled her, even scared her, she couldn't help feeling exhilarated
too, as if something delightful had begun to stir inside her. But who was this
Ted Gratsos? Her Uncle had always avoided the subject whenever she'd tried
to bring it up. And what was he doing here, at the Community School on a
Sunday morning? She was burning with curiosity, but she didn't want to give
herself away by making her interest in him too obvious.
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"I don't know..." She hedged when asked why she was asking. "It's just
that... Well, I think I've seen him somewhere before..." She tried to sound
indifferent.
"He comes here sometimes..." One of the other volunteer Greek teachers
said taking a sip of her coffee. The morning's work was over and they were
socializing.
"No, I..." She said again in a little while since the other woman hadn't
elaborated. "No, I don't think I've seen him here before..."
"Maybe at your Uncle's." Someone else offered and Maria shivered
inadvertently as though she'd been caught out. "He has a woodwork
business." She went on to explain.
"Oh... Yes... Maybe. Maybe you're right."
And then someone else shook her head in disapproval and sighed.
Though they'd been reluctant to talk about him at first, once they'd got going,
with a little discreet probing by Maria, it all came out. There was an air of evil
and mystery about him which the gossip did more to enhance than to dispel
since nothing very concrete emerged. Except one thing. That he'd committed
a murder. She recoiled, almost in shock, but then found herself springing back
into the conversation which had begun to heat up. It had been in self defense.
That was what the court had ruled. He'd served his term and had been
released earlier for good behavior.
"Yes, but... was it really self defense?" One of the women questioned darkly,
conveying the distinct impression that she knew better. But if the court did
decide that... On the basis of the evidence... and...
"Ah yes. But don't forget. The man he killed was black." She said
significantly and an ominous hush fell over them.
Maria couldn't help feeling more and more confused. Why should that
make a difference to the verdict as the other women obviously felt that it
would? She wanted to ask, but then didn't want to ask. She took a nervous
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gulp from her steaming coffee cup and scorched her lips. An awkward flutter
rippled through her chest. The victim had been his partner or at any rate,
either working with him or for him. No one quite knew what happened. It
had occurred in the workshop one evening when no one else was there.
Gratsos claimed he'd been attacked. When there were no witnesses how could
this be proved or disproved? No doubt the court had decided to give him the
benefit of the doubt. There'd been a hassle over money. Gratsos claimed his
partner had been embezzling him, putting his hand in the till to pay for his
fix. Perhaps that too, the mention of a 'fix', had helped influence the court in
its judgment. And when Gratsos had caught him red handed, his partner had
turned on him in a vicious murderous attack. In his effort to defend himself,
he'd killed him instead.
"Well, if it was like that..." Maria said, wanting to acquit him almost as
much as the jury seemed to have wanted to.
"Oh but it wasn't." Someone else said darkly. "Not quite."
"Oh?" She turned to her, so intrigued by now she forgot to hide her
curiosity.
"No." The woman said shaking her head.
"Oh, but how can you know? It's just gossip..." One of the teachers
protested.
"Ted Gratsos is no good." She declared. "He's wild and he's vicious!" Then
she finished her coffee. "Believe me." She said emphatically. "I know."
On the saint's day her Uncle was named after, they had a party. Maria was
delighted to be of help in the bustle and minor panic of preparations. Lots and
lots of mezedes with wine and sweets and brandy. Her Aunt kept fussing that
she shouldn't tire herself, but she was pleased with the help and declared the
stuff Maria made was excellent.
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"Now go!" She ordered, shooing her away like some mother hen. "Go and
make yourself pretty!" She smiled broadly, giving Maria a distinct feeling she
had some ulterior motive in mind.
It was a rowdy party. A very Greek party, she couldn't help feeling. A
lot of noise, a lot of singing and a lot of eating and drinking. Everyone praised
the food. At some point in the evening her Uncle began to sing her praises,
prompted by a question from one of the guests as to how she was doing.
"Maria? Oh Maria's a born accountant!" He declared emphatically, raising
his glass to drink to her health. "A very clever girl and very capable too. I'm
lucky she came!"
"And pretty too." One of the women smiled approvingly at her.
"Oh yes!" Her Aunt agreed, putting her hands affectionately on her niece's
shoulders. "And very efficient in the home too. I have to argue with her to
stop doing the housework and get some rest!"
Murmurs of approval went round. Smiles and nods. Maria began
feeling extremely awkward and exposed in the face of all the attention and
praise being lavished on her. It was good to know she was appreciated, but
she hated being made the center of attention like that. She blushed with
embarrassment. But then amid the remarks of approval and general chatter
about her, her Uncle let out a big sigh and said,
"And she makes the best baklava I've ever tasted!" provoking laughter all
round the room with his manner.
Amid all this merriment with her at its epicenter, she suddenly caught
the eye of a young man she'd not paid much attention to before. He was
looking at her and smiling. His expression conveyed sympathy for her ordeal.
She smiled back at him and when her praises had finally been sung and the
guests had started singing another song together round the lavishly laden
table, she slipped away and he followed her to the kitchen.
"Lembessis." He introduced himself. "I'm John Lembessis."
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"Oh, yes..." She said hesitantly, but then remembered. "Your parents are
friends of my Uncle and Aunt, aren't they?" And he nodded holding on to his
glass of wine. "Can I get you anything?" She offered as the polite hostess.
"Relax." He smiled at her. "You can relax with me. I know what it's like!" He
commiserated and she nodded with a deep sigh.
"I felt so foolish." She confided.
"Yes." He looked at her. "I realized. But they're just like that. They do mean
well."
"Oh yes. I know. But sometimes... Well, I can't help feeling out of my depth
and totally exposed!"
"How long have you been here, Maria?"
"Not long."
He nodded gravely as though that meant something.
"Perhaps we could get together some time and I could show you around?"
He offered, his eyes conveying his warmth.
"Well, I..." She hesitated, but he laughed.
"Don't worry! We'll do it properly and get your Uncle's permission first!"
"Oh no!" She blushed hotly at what he'd inferred. "Oh, I didn't mean that!"
"It's okay. I know things are different back home."
"Well actually," She smiled at him. "They're not that different. Not any
more."
Her Aunt was delighted. The next day she just couldn't stop singing
Lembessis' praises, just as she'd done her niece's the night before.
"Such a nice boy that John. And educated too. He has a college degree.
Works in a large important firm and is doing very well. Excellent prospects.
And such a worthy family."
"Is that why you wanted me to make myself pretty last night?" She asked
with a slight tone of accusation in her voice, but her Aunt only laughed.
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"You don't need to make yourself pretty, Maraki! You just are!" She
declared, then added. "And I think young John noticed that too..." with a sly
innuendo sparkling in her mischievous eyes.
She looked out for him on Sundays, but discreetly so. Sometimes, but not
often, she caught sight of him in Church, but he always managed to slip out of
sight and blend with the shadows. He always stood apart, alone, talking to no
one, keeping himself to himself.
"A misunderstood man." The priest said of him once, gravely shaking his
head as his eyes followed Maria's and alighted on Ted Gratsos, pottering
around with a pew that needed mending. She gave a start, decidedly
uncomfortable that the priest had noticed whom she'd been looking at. But he
was more concerned with Gratsos himself, however, than with what might
have been playing on the girl's mind. She turned and looked at him, that heat
rising dangerously up in her cheeks, but compelled to ask anyway.
"Why do you say that, Father?"
He turned and smiled at her.
"God may forgive the penitent." He said. "But people rarely do." and then
changed the subject to ask her how the children in her class were doing.
The more she thought of him, the more something greater than mere
curiosity burned inside her. He had a deep hunted look that haunted her at
night. He seemed gruff and rugged and was avoided and disdained by
everyone. But he remained aloof too, disdaining everyone in his turn. Yet she
could sense he was just as much aware of her and her interest in him, as she
was aroused and troubled by his presence whenever he happened to be close.
But every time she'd tried to approach him, he'd retreated, every time she'd
addressed a formal greeting to him he'd only answered with a curt,
monosyllabic acknowledgement and lowered eyes. He never looked into her
eyes when he was on his guard. It was all too deliberate to be mere chance or
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even indifference. By his very manner, by the very way he needed to avoid
her, by the way he couldn't look her simply in the eye, she could tell he was
by no means indifferent to her either.
An air of danger, an air of evil about him. Gossip abounded. About his
vicious streak.
"That poor woman. What she suffered at his hands!"
"What woman?" Maria asked, something undefined whipping her up
unpleasantly inside.
"His wife..."
"Wife?" She almost stuttered in alarm. "He has a wife?" She asked clearing
her throat as her voice sounded nervously hoarse.
"No. Not any more. She divorced him after the murder."
"And left town..." A friend of her Aunt's added gravely shaking her head.
"He'd only have killed her too once he was out."
Maria's jaw dropped as she listened to this. So wild and so vicious?
"Hey, don't scare the girl with all this talk about that no good Gratsos!" Her
Aunt suddenly intervened, noticing how her niece had paled and how the
conversation had troubled her, and totally misinterpreting her reaction.
"No, no... I'm not scared." She said quickly, swallowing down her saliva. "It
just seemed a bit strange..."
"Strange!" Her Aunt's friend laughed sarcastically. "You can say that again!"
Then she turned conspiratorially to Maria and said in a low tone of voice. "He
was a brute. That man was a brute. That poor woman... He beat her so often,
it's a miracle she escaped with her life!"
"That's enough now..." Her Aunt scolded. She didn't like the impression all
this was making on her young niece. Nevertheless, that evening when they
were alone in the kitchen preparing the evening meal, Maria pressed her. She
was adamant, despite her Aunt's reluctance to talk about that wretch who
gave us all a bad name. But in the end she managed to piece it all together. Or
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at any rate, to get as many sides of the story as she needed to fully and utterly
confuse the whole picture.
He'd been a jealous man, a bad husband. Though rumor did have it
that his wife had played around. But no one knew for sure. Some said he'd
argued with his partner over money and then killed him in the fight by
accident. Others, that the fight had been nothing to do with money at all. No.
It had been over the woman. Ted's wife. She'd been having an affair with
Ted's partner. That's why he killed him. For having dared touch his wife.
"But I don't believe she was involved with him." Her Aunt said. "I don't
believe that of her for a moment. It was all in his evil mind. He was always so
jealous of her!"
"But you do think he killed him out of jealousy, regardless of whether she
had in fact been unfaithful or not?" Maria felt the need to push it as far as it
would go.
"Who knows?" Her Aunt shrugged. "What matters is he killed a man."
"But what if it was self defense after all?" Maria insisted.
"Well, I don't know my dear, but mark my words, self defense is really just
an invention of the courts, you know. A man won't kill unless he's got it in
him. That Gratsos is dangerous. Heaven help any woman who has the
misfortune to get close to him again." She sighed, and Maria felt a strange
quiver of apprehension in her belly.
She hadn't wanted to go out with John Lembessis, but he'd gone and done the
proper thing and asked her Uncle and her Aunt first, and they'd been
delighted with the invitation. Such a nice boy. Such a good family. She could
hardly do anything other than swallow her reluctance and give in to all the
forces pushing her in John Lembessis' way. There was more to this than their
desire for her to meet young people here and go out and enjoy herself as they
kept insisting she should. They meant well, she knew. But she also knew there
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must be something else in the back of their mind. After all, Lembessis was an
eligible young man, and one her Aunt so obviously approved of. Which was
the main reason why she'd been so reluctant to go out with him in the first
place. She didn't want to get tied up with him or anyone else and find herself
getting committed by default as she was afraid might well happen. After all,
his mother and her Aunt would hardly have tried so hard and been so keen
on their meeting and going out alone together like that if they didn't have
something up their sleeve. And arranged marriages and the like were one of
the things she'd wanted to get away from in coming here, and not smack right
back into as she seemed to be doing.
But at least John turned out to be all right. He had a sense of humor.
She found that they could talk about all these machinations of the older
women and laugh outright. Nevertheless, he was attracted to her, despite his
amusement over his mother's urgings, and the realization unnerved Maria.
She only wanted a friend in him. But it was obvious that he wanted
something more. Yet he was kind. He was different. He'd been born here and
tended to scoff at his mother's traditional values and make fun of them. It
helped Maria feel more relaxed as his jokes reduced the tension that
invariably built up inside her when they were alone together. But under the
surface he did desire her, and very much so too, something she could hardly
miss. She felt foolish and vulnerable since she had no idea how best to handle
the situation. And all along, her Aunt smiling and pushing her and helping
her chose smart clothes and urging her, against all expectations, to put on a
touch more make up and not to be afraid of wearing a lower cleavage and
giving her hips a swivel. A suggestion which utterly scandalized Maria
coming from her Aunt as it did. But John, she kept being reminded, was a
good boy, an honorable boy.
"There now!" She admired her niece as the doorbell rang indicating John
had come to pick her up, right on time as always. "And don't forget..." She'd
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added in an urgent whisper as Maria was about to go out. "Men like a girl to
be playful."
"Aunt!" She feigned indignation, more amused, however, than irritated by
the remark.
"But not too playful..." She warned, though unable to suppress a
mischievous little grin as she said this. "Now go on." She shooed her to the
door with a maternal spank of encouragement on her bottom.
It troubled her when he got amorous. She didn't like to play the prude, and
furthermore she did realize she couldn't go on keeping him at arm's length
any longer. She could simply stop seeing him, of course. But what would she
tell her Aunt? How could she wriggle out of this painlessly? On the other
hand, why should she choose to stop seeing him? There was nothing wrong
with him. He could be charming and entertaining and above all he seemed
very warm hearted. And he was the only person around her age she knew
here and she really got on with him and laughed with him a lot. Only when
he got amorous, it troubled her. He slipped his arm round her waist as they
walked along. He did do this kind of thing whenever he could. It was natural
that he should. But she tended to go rigid every time he touched her more
intimately, though she never protested outright, since she'd feel like too much
of a prim old maid if she did. Yet she never encouraged him either. Far from
it. But he tended to interpret this as shyness, virginal modesty perhaps, and it
in no way seemed to deter him.
That evening he was in raptures. They'd been dancing and the close
physical contact with her had obviously aroused him.
"You look so beautiful.." He murmured, his eyes half glazed as he stroked
her hair gently back away from her face.
"It's dark." She tried to joke it away. "You can hardly see me. That's why..."
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"No, stop." He said quickly bringing his finger to her lips to silence her.
"Please." He said earnestly. "Don't joke. I mean it."
"Look John, I..." She wanted to be truthful, but if only she could know for
herself what the truth was. What was it? She liked John. She liked him very
much. Then why the hell couldn't she let herself go with him? Why couldn't
she let herself sink into his arms as he ached for her to do and forget herself in
his loving embrace? Why? Why not? All for some stupid mirage that just
wouldn't let her go? It was all so strange, all so mysterious. She didn't want to
hurt him. He'd been so kind and affectionate. Yet she felt she'd be unable not
to, as though some strange forces beyond her control had her entirely in their
thrall.
"What is it dearest?" He asked, calling her 'dearest' for the first time. It
startled her. She looked at him in surprise. But he just smiled, put his arms
round her, and kissed her. Properly, on the lips, in the mouth, he kissed her
with a passion all the more powerful for having been pent up and suppressed
for so long. It took her aback. He'd kissed her before, but never like this, in the
mouth. It had been affectionate pecks on the cheek, or careful goodnight
kisses bestowed fleetingly upon the lips. Nothing like this before. She found
herself recoiling after the first flowing gush of his desire for her had given
vent to itself.
"John, please, I..." She stuttered in a fluster as she pulled herself abruptly
free from his embrace. His face fell. A look of deep pain clouded his eyes.
"Maria?" He said hoarsely. "Please don't tell me I'm going too fast!" He
protested, then spoke more quietly as he said, "I've been holding myself back
for so long..." sounding anguished.
A sharp feeling of remorse jabbed her in the chest.
"Oh John, please try to understand." She begged, though wondered what it
was she wanted him to understand when she could hardly understand any of
this herself. He looked at her and nodded quietly.
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"Yes. I keep forgetting. Things are different back home. Girls don't feel
comfortable with a man. I was told to behave with restraint." He admitted
with a sheepish grin as he inadvertently divulged he had been talking about
how best to woo her with his mother, after all. "Girls back home don't feel free
with a man."
"Oh no!" She couldn't help blurting out. "It's not like that. Not any more. We
don't behave like nuns, you know! Things are as free back home, today, as
they are here, if not freer." She asserted.
"Then?" He looked puzzled. "I don't understand. What is it Maria?"
"It's just... I... It's me. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just can't..."
"There's nothing wrong with you!" He found himself warmly reassuring
her, she seemed so stressed up and vulnerable. "You probably just need a little
more time." He suggested, lightly caressing her cheek in comfort.
"Perhaps." She said, feeling suffocated. "Perhaps I do, John. I don't know. I
really don't know!" She almost wailed in anguish and to her horror found
herself bursting into tears.
"Hey!" It took him by surprise. "Don't cry! For God's sake, Maria, please
don't cry!" He sounded extremely distressed by all this. "Look..." He said,
running his fingers nervously through his hair. "I can wait." He said quietly.
"My intentions are honorable, Maria, I assure you." He felt the need to
emphasize.
She shot her look up into his face.
"Oh no... No, John..." She said reaching hesitantly up to touch his shoulder.
"I never doubted your intentions for a moment! All this... well... Oh God! I
don't know what the hell's got into me, John, but I do know it's got nothing at
all to do with honor, neither yours nor mine!"
"It's okay." He reassured. "Take your time." He said, looking into her eyes.
"I won't rush you." He tried to sound calm, but he was obviously very
disturbed himself by all this. She looked up into his eyes apologetically, but
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said nothing. What could she say? The nicer he was about all this mess, the
worse it made her feel.
It was a hectic day at work. Several shipments of orders coming in and
customers milling around to view the merchandise. Her Uncle's staff were
overstretched trying to keep everything under control. Maria was left to man
the main office single handedly. Her Uncle had some reservations about
leaving her completely on her own, but she assured him she could manage.
She knew what to do. She'd been working with him long enough now to have
picked up all she needed to know. He nodded reluctantly and left her. After
all, his presence was much more necessary down at the warehouse to receive
the incoming shipments. Though she'd assured her Uncle she could manage
perfectly well on her own, it was not without a little nervousness she set
about the day's work. But as the day wore on and she saw she really could
handle all she was called on to do, her confidence began to build up. By
afternoon the hectic pace had slowed down, she'd done all the necessary
paperwork and her Uncle phoned up to her to ask if everything was all right
and tell her he was taking some of the shippers out for a beer now and would
be back in a while if she was sure she didn't need him.
"I told you I could manage!" She was proud to be able to boast and then
went off to make herself a coffee to relax over till he got back and they set
about making the final entries for the day before closing.
When she came back to the office, he was the last person she expected
to see. She couldn't restrain herself from gasping aloud. Her hand shook
abruptly and she very nearly spilt her cup of steamy coffee as her jaw
dropped. Ted Gratsos was standing about awkwardly in the main office. He
looked equally agitated when she walked in and he turned to her, obviously
expecting her Uncle and not her. His eyes flashed into hers, but he just looked
at her like that, intently, unable to speak. She managed to rest her cup on the
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desk spilling only a little despite the sudden quivering that had gripped her
whole body on coming across him so unexpectedly like that.
"Mr. Gratsos..." She managed to say, but her voice came out very hoarsely
and she had to clear her throat before carrying on. "Can I help you?" She
managed to ask in her politest professional way.
He lowered his eyes and scratched his thick neck nervously before
mumbling,
"Well, no, I... I want to see the boss." and seemed about to shuffle off out of
the office, but she was still standing between the door and himself and this
seemed to inhibit him utterly. He cleared his own throat in a nervous reaction
that thrilled her deeply, uncontrollably, for the unmistakable evidence that he
too was affected by her. She felt a shudder in her limbs, but managed willfully
to take control of the situation.
"Ah, well, please. Do take a seat. He'll be back any minute now." She found
herself saying even though she knew very well her Uncle wouldn't be back
before a half hour at best. She blushed almost as soon as she'd said this. How
could she be behaving so brazenly and with a man with a reputation like that
of Ted Gratsos? He shot his piercing suspicious look up into her eyes again.
Her face flushed, her eyes were wild with her inner excitement, her heart
pounded inside her. She needed to swallow her saliva down hard. This time it
was she who felt compelled to avert her eyes from his.
"Would you like a coffee?" She offered politely, though her voice couldn't
help wavering as she did so.
"No. I..." He began, but then cut himself short abruptly and said, "Yes.
Okay. Get me one." before sitting himself heavily in one of the visitor's
armchairs of her Uncle's office.
This was extraordinary. So extraordinary it began to scare her. She
found herself drawing several deep breaths to steady herself before making
his coffee. Her whole body reacted to his presence alone. She began to shake
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -18 -
and perspire and her guts tightened up, simply when she saw him. She'd
never felt like that ever before. She didn't feel anything like that even with
John, even when he touched her and kissed her as he'd begun doing more and
more frequently when they went out now. Even when he occasionally got
carried away by his desire for her and embraced her more passionately. She
tried to concentrate on John and his physical embrace as an antidote to this
insanity. She tried to conjure up in her mind feeling affected by his kissing,
but it didn't work. Nothing worked. It was all as insubstantial and as tasteless
as a passing adolescent dream. She drew her deep breaths again and went
back into the office where Ted Gratsos had crossed his legs comfortably and
was leafing through a woodwork magazine.
He didn't look up at her when she brought his coffee and set it down
carefully on the coffee table beside him. He merely grunted incoherent
acknowledgement of its arrival which she would have felt as being extremely
rude had it been anyone other than Ted Gratsos at that moment. She retreated
quietly to behind the desk where she sat down and began to fidget nervously
with the paperwork, though her mind was in no condition to concentrate on
work. A slight quivering continued to flutter in her chest as she heard him
rustle the pages of his magazine and slurp his coffee in loud relish. She could
see her hands trembling as she handled the sheets of paper and again she was
caught by a sense of panic at the effect this strange dark man could have on
her. And then she realized he was looking at her. She didn't look up from her
desk, but she felt his eyes on her in a powerful, yet silent gaze. She heard him
shuffle his feet and put down the magazine. And then he spoke to her.
"New here, aren't you?" He asked.
She darted her eyes up into his.
"Yes. I... uh..." She cleared her throat nervously again and repeated a limp,
weak sounding, "Yes." which made her boil over with frustration at herself for
being so utterly inept.
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -19 -
He stood up, looking as though he needed to stretch his legs and took a
few paces.
"Where did you come from?" He asked conversationally, looking out of the
window behind her and not at her, however. "Greece, or another part of the
country?" He didn't sound as if he were at all interested but she answered him
anyway.
"Greece." She said quietly and he turned on her quite suddenly, his eyes
flashing into hers.
"What did you come to this God forsaken country for, girl?" He sounded
angry. She gaped at him, thoroughly startled by the unexpectedness of his
remark and the vehemence with which it had been made. She opened her
mouth but found she was unable to make herself speak. "It's a filthy place."
He muttered turning back to look out of the window again. "Filthy..." He said
and shook his head.
He was standing at an angle behind her, looking darkly out into the
grey road outside. Her blood began racing round her body in a blind panic.
His proximity disturbed her so much she found her breath had quickened
nervously and she tried hard to concentrate on her work in order to recover
her cool.
"What did you come for?" He asked again, coming round to perch himself
up on the desk in an over familiar way, his leg dangling in the air, and looked
down at her. "To get yourself a husband?" He asked sarcastically as he pulled
a set of worry beads out of his pocket and began flipping them lazily over his
fingers. His look was insolent and derisive as he asked. Perhaps even
provocative. A welter of conflicting emotions exploded inside her. She felt
insulted, annoyed, even humiliated by the manner of his asking. Yet his very
question showed he was looking at her as a woman, a woman in search of a
mate, and this flustered her.
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -20 -
"No." She said truthfully enough. "Though..." She began, but cut herself
short.
"Though..?" He coaxed slyly and she looked up into his eyes again and to
her horror heard herself saying,
"It wasn't why I came. But if I do find a man, I won't run away from him."
"Women..." He derided getting up from the desk and looking out of the
window again. "You're all the same."
A feeling of burning indignation flared up inside her.
"Oh yes?" She challenged, sounding suddenly combative. Her tone of voice
surprised him and he swung round to look at her again. There seemed to be a
flicker of amusement in his eyes, something she'd never seen in them before.
A wry little half smile appeared on his lips, and then he said,
"Come for a drink with me."
She looked at him in absolute silence. Her blood receded from her
cheeks and a slight buzzing of dizziness in her ears made her thankful she
was already sitting down.
"I... I... I can't..." She stuttered foolishly, then cleared her throat.
"Oh?" He taunted with a provocative little half smile curving his lips. "I
thought you said you wouldn't run away."
"No!" She reacted furiously. "But I can't leave now. I have a job to do here."
"Okay." He said quietly, looking straight at her as though he were sizing
her up. Then with the same smile that conveyed insolence rather than
anything else, he asked, "Later, then?" making it sound far more like a
dangerous challenge he didn't expect her to take up, than a social invitation.
"Yes." She shot out defiantly in answer, reacting instinctively rather than
thinking.
He looked at her, a slight flicker of surprise in his eyes which turned
into a momentary flash of smug satisfaction. He looked at his watch.
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -21 -
"Okay." He said contriving to sound almost indifferent about it. "I'll be
waiting for you on the corner when you knock off." He stated, casually
indicating the corner he had in mind from the office window, with a jerk of
his head.
She quivered and a spate of emotions and reactions set her body afire.
She gulped down her feelings and nodded silently in acceptance, unable to
say anything at that moment.
"Good." He murmured sitting down to wait again, then added, sounding
conspiratorial about it. "Be discreet. I don't want your boss to see us together.
Understood?" and then picked up the magazine to flick idly through it again
till her Uncle finally breezed in through the door, slightly flushed from the
beer, but happy at the pace of his business that day.
It was a cold, chilly evening. A slight drizzle of freezing drops indicative of
snow to follow froze the bitter night air even more. Maria's pulse was racing.
She felt she must be going out of her mind, but something so powerful was
propelling her along, headlong into the cold sleet and dark chill evening to
wait for him on the corner. It was a compulsion. Her whole body was
shaking, but not with the cold. Her face was flushed, but not from the chill
evening air. She must have come early because there was no sign of him. She
paced up and down to cover her agitation rather than to keep warm. She
didn't need that. She was already burning inside. All she could think of was
his face. Those dark piercing eyes that radiated danger. The kind of danger
she just longed to hurl herself straight into. A dark mysterious man who
could electrify her by his mere presence. His sharp glance flashing in her
direction positively blew her up into flames, like leaking gas coming into
contact with a lighted match. She felt dizzy. Her temples throbbed with the
excitement of anticipation. She had no idea what might happen with Ted
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -22 -
Gratsos that evening, but she hoped, indeed found herself longing, for the
worst. A gust of freezing wind blew into her face, momentarily clearing her
mind. A moment of panic gripped her. What was she doing? Was she
completely out of her mind? Waiting for a man like Ted Gratsos on a dark
corner to be taken God only knew where by him? Yet she couldn't, she
wouldn't, resist. But time ticked on and still there was no sign of him. Instead
of filling her with relief, the feeling that he might not show up after all, threw
her into a new panic.
She kept glancing at her watch nervously, pulling back her thick
sheepskin glove to do so. Five, ten, fifteen minutes went by and still no sign of
him. Her anguish was so great she didn't even realize her feet and face were
beginning to feel the cold. He couldn't, he wouldn't, surely he wouldn't stand
her up. He wanted her too. She knew that. She'd felt it in her guts. His dark
eyes on her in the office. His sarcastic, provocative little half smile and the
slow lazy way he'd flicked his worry beads over his fingers while sizing her
up. He wouldn't have asked her to come for a drink with him if he hadn't
desired her. It was that kind of an invitation, after all. There'd been nothing
social or friendly about it, still less did it have anything to do with business. It
had been a clear, undisguised call of desire. It had flickered in his eyes. In the
way he'd looked at her. It had lingered on his lips the way he'd smiled when
she'd so unexpectedly responded to his call and accepted his invitation.
There was no mistaking that Ted Gratsos wanted her just as much as
she wanted him. A raw primitive longing. An attraction so strong it turned
her guts and made her body tremble at the mere thought that soon, very soon,
she'd be with him, alone with him, completely and utterly exposed to his
burning desire. Her heart pounded and the blood raced crazily round her
body. Soon, very soon, he'd be touching her, holding her, fondling her. The
mere thought of the heat of his hands on her body made her head spin. What
kind of a man was this? What made her cry out for him so? The extent of his
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -23 -
power over her filled her with awe. She knew she'd do anything, anything he
asked of her, anything at all, even go away with him, disappear from the face
of the earth with him. A whirl of emotions and feelings of longing and
eagerness shook her. Go away with him? But he wouldn't want that of her.
Just a night. Perhaps a few days at the most. Whatever. She'd do it. Whatever
he wanted of her, she knew, she'd do it. Only God! He was nowhere in sight
and it was already well over an hour after the time they'd arranged to meet.
"Hey, Maraki!" Her Aunt seemed worried when she let herself in. "Where
have you been? It's so late!"
"Oh, I bumped into some friends from the school and we did a little
window shopping..." She managed to say, even though her body was
trembling and her teeth were chattering.
Her Aunt shook her head in disapproval.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" She uttered then took hold of her niece's hands. "You're
freezing." She said. "And you look so pale. Really Maria. This was no night to
go window shopping! Now go take a hot shower quickly and come for a cup
of hot tea. You need to warm up."
Maria nodded quickly, pleased to be able to get away and remain on
her own just then because she knew, in a moment, she'd burst into tears. Hot
burning tears of pain and frustration that mingled with the water from the
shower pelting down over her head that she'd turned on full force.
Her Uncle and Aunt were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of
tea together. He seemed to be elated and was excitedly telling her about the
good day he'd had at his timber yard. Maria felt better after her shower, but
her body was still shaky inside. She sat down at the table with them quietly
taking the cup her Aunt had prepared for her. Her Uncle was talking about
his day at work. Maria sipped her hot tea carefully. Her head was still
buzzing from her long cold wait in the drizzly night which had turned out to
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -24 -
be for nothing. She wasn't really listening, more lost in her own thoughts and
the smarting pain, indeed anguish, of having been stood up like that, against
all expectations.
"But you should have seen Ted Gratsos' face when I told him Maria was my
niece!" He declared and started laughing over how funny it had looked.
A bolt of electricity shot through her body at the mention of his name.
She looked up at her Uncle, unable to hide the sudden flame in her eyes, but
he was still laughing and didn't really notice her expression.
"But why?" Her Aunt was confused. "Why did it surprise him so much?"
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Her Uncle declared, turning to her and making
her feel positively uneasy over what it was he felt was so obvious. Her cheeks
burned with agitation. But her Uncle patted her fondly and proudly on the
shoulder. "She's so good at her work! Really. Got such a sharp mind..." He
grinned his praise at her.
"Sharp minds run in our family!" Her Aunt was quick to declare and her
Uncle laughed again. "But I still don't get it. Why should that have surprised
him?"
"Because if you've got family working for you, people think it's because
you're only doing them a favor. They don't expect them to be smart. But me..."
He beamed like a child. "I'm smarter! I've not only got family working for me,
but she also happens to be the best there is!" He said patting her heartily on
the shoulder again.
"Oh, Uncle, please..." She said looking down and muttering into her tea. She
felt she was going to be sick.
"But you should have seen his face!" and laughter echoing through a hollow
room. Laughter. "His face!" A dark drizzly night. A figure in the mist, a figure
that vanishes as she tries to approach it and laughter, more laughter. Battling
against a gale force wind. There's no stopping her. She has to get there. She
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -25 -
will get there. The wind blowing her hair back, blowing harshly into her face.
The more she feels it blowing her back, the more determined she becomes to
fight against it. It stings her face, blows her hair backwards, and all the time,
in the distance, the shadow of a figure in the mist, an elusive figure that seems
to recede as she tries to approach it. In the struggle to press forward, her coat
gets blown off, her coat, then her scarf, then garment by garment all of her
clothes till she's naked, completely naked, battling hard against the wind.
Then her breath stops short and her jaw drops. The figure coming towards
her becomes Ted Gratsos. A flicker of sarcasm in his eye that flares up into a
flame of desire as he sees her before him, her clothes blown off her body by
the raging wind. She reaches out to touch him in desperation, but though she
sees him, her hand feels nothing. He isn’t there. The face shimmers and
crumbles away. She begins running, running desperately against the wind,
running after a shadow, an elusive, insubstantial shadow and she feels cold,
cold and shivery, naked as she is in an icy north wind blowing her back, back
despite her efforts, the dark featureless figure going further and further away
till it disappears completely in the distance and she shouts after it at the top of
her voice, she shouts at it to stop, stop and wait in a panic that makes her
break out into a cold sweat despite the iciness of the wind in her face and all
over her body. In a sudden start she found herself sitting up bolt upright and
screaming, though her scream came out more in a gurgle than in a shout. The
light snapped on and before she could recover from the stark confusion or
even realize just quite where she was or what had happened, her Aunt was
beside her, touching her forehead and face, stroking her ruffled hair back and
embracing her in affectionate comfort.
"Settle down, settle down." She urged sounding extremely anxious,
however. "It must have been a dream. Only a dream."
"A dream..?" Maria asked in a daze, still trying hard to recover, her brow
covered in perspiration.
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -26 -
"My child, you're burning!" Her Aunt exclaimed in alarm, touching her face
and her neck. "You must be in a fever."
"No, no. It's all right. I'm all right." She tried to reassure.
"No, but you're burning all over!" She insisted. "I'll make you some tea and
bring you some aspirin."
"No, it's all right... I'm not..."
"Hush!" She ordered with maternal authority, helping her lie back in bed
again and covering her up well. "Settle down now and do as you're told." She
sounded severe but her hand on her forehead conveyed great affection in her
gentle caress. "This was no night to go window shopping, Maria, really! This
isn't Greece, you know. The weather isn't gentle here. On nights like this it can
be quite lethal!"
She played along with her Aunt's conviction that she'd fallen victim to a virus
attack, not only because she didn't have the strength to argue with her, but
because it gave her a good excuse to stay home in the evenings and not go out
with John Lembessis. His repeated calls were mostly answered by her Aunt
anyway who delighted in giving him a detailed health report on her. But she
did put her foot down about going to work. She was well enough to do that,
she insisted. And it was not just that she didn't have the heart to abandon her
Uncle in the midst of the mini business boom he was enjoying, it was also that
the office was the only place Ted Gratsos knew for certain where to find her.
He may have had very good reasons for standing her up, not remotely
connected to the shocking discovery that she was actually the boss's niece and
she needed to give him every chance to look her up or phone her at the very
least to make amends or renew his invitation.
But he didn't. He neither showed up nor called nor endeavored to
indicate in any other way that he did want to renew any kind of contact with
her. Quite the contrary, in fact. She knew she ought to be relieved and half the
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -27 -
time she convinced herself that she was relieved because she knew she'd be
unable to resist the sheer madness of rushing headlong into his evil and
dangerous embrace which would only lead to grief in the end, if only he
wanted her to. But the rest of the time it stung her and pained her and filled
her with anguish that he obviously didn't want her to. After all, all he'd have
to do would be snap his fingers and she'd come running. She knew that. And
he knew it too. And it was no consolation to her that his motives for backing
down might have stemmed from some warped sense of honor rather than
from any loss of interest, still less desire for her. If anything, that only made it
feel worse.
"Won't you come with us?" Her Aunt urged yet again as she got herself
ready. They were going to spend Sunday with friends just out of town.
"No thanks." She said quietly, sipping at her coffee at the kitchen table. "I
really don't feel up to it."
Her Aunt touched her throat with the back of her hand, then her cheek
in concern. Maria smiled.
"I'm not in a fever." She reassured. "Just need to get my strength back." and
her Aunt nodded.
"Well, okay..." She began but the door bell rang and she went to answer it.
She came back beaming and behind her John Lembessis walked in holding a
large bunch of flowers. It startled Maria since she'd not even thought about
him and had avoided talking to him on the phone throughout the whole
week. Feeling stunned and surprised she didn't take the flowers he offered
her, but her Aunt was quick enough to take them herself, ostensibly to put
them in water.
"Sit down, sit down my boy." She urged kindly. "You don't mind we're in
the kitchen." She smiled, then added mischievously, "I don't need to be formal
with you, after all. We consider you almost one of the family!" and turned to
tend to the flowers.
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -28 -
It embarrassed him almost as much as it did Maria. He looked at her
apologetically, as though this were all his fault and his face colored with his
feelings.
"No... no thanks..." He stuttered. "I came to ask Maria if she'd like to come
for a drive out in the country." He said, careful to address her Aunt, then
looked out of the window. "It's a nice day."
"Why yes. That's a wonderful idea. I'm sure it will do her the world of
good! She needs the fresh air."
But John looked at her inquiringly for her own answer. His expression
conveyed the awkward uncertainty he was feeling at that moment.
"Thanks very much." She said quietly looking him straight in the eye. "But I
couldn't. I'm really not feeling up to it."
The young man hung his head in disappointment.
"Oh come on, Maria..." Her Aunt tried to push her again.
"No. Really. I told you before I'm not feeling myself yet." She said in a tone
that brooked no more arguments. John nodded, heaved a sigh, then said,
"Well, all right. I'd best be on my way then..." Sounding deeply
disappointed but resigned to rejection.
"Sit down!" Her Aunt ordered. "Have a coffee at least before you go! Maria,
can you get it? Your Uncle will be furious if I make him wait a moment
longer!"
Maria couldn't help smiling at the sheer transparency of the pretext,
nevertheless she got up.
"Run along Aunt." She said. "Of course I'll look after John. Don't worry!"
She laughed and added, "Have a good day!" as her Aunt hurried out of the
kitchen.
John looked at her in silence. His eyes were on her in tacit confusion all
the time she set about getting some coffee for him.
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -29 -
"Are you sure you don't mind my staying?" He asked after the front door
had slammed shut indicating they'd finally been left alone. She looked at him
curiously as she brought his coffee and sat down again at the table with him.
"Why should I mind?" She asked.
He looked at her, took a nervous sip from his cup, scorched his lips and
then came out with it.
"Oh hell, Maria! I've gone about this all wrong, haven't I?" He finally
blurted out looking into her eyes pleadingly. She frowned in
incomprehension. "It's just that... It's just..." he began. It had obviously been
choking him up for quite a while. He finally let it all out in a stream of
emotion. "To be honest with you, Maria, to be quite honest, when my mother
first started talking to me about you and telling me what a good match it
would be and all that rubbish, I just treated the whole business as a joke. I
only came along to your Uncle's party to put a stop to her grumbling and to
be able to tell her I just wasn't attracted to you and end this wretched match
making once and for all!" He declared and Maria couldn't help laughing with
him over it too. He noticed the renewed sparkle in her eye and took courage
as he went on.
"But then..." He said quietly, looking warmly into her eyes. "I found I
couldn't say that truthfully because I was attracted to you. Very much so.
From the first moment I saw you." He sounded very intense and it disturbed
her. She averted her eyes and looked down into her coffee cup. "And that's
when the confusion began, I suppose. I didn't know how best to go about it. I
was damned if I was going to comply with my mother's idea of a proper
courtship!" He declared. "But then, somehow, it was difficult to get into the
usual routine of dating with you. I don't know why. I felt I just couldn't get
close to you. Every time I tried to, I only seemed able to achieve a greater
distance between us instead! Then I tried to play it more traditionally, taking
you out formally on the tacit assumption this was leading to marriage, but
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -30 -
somehow that didn't work either!" He sounded pained at his failure, not
accusing. "I just made a God awful mess of things Maria, and I'm sorry. But..."
He said, then admitted softly. "I've never been so in love before in my life."
Sounding anguished.
His admission took her totally by surprise and caught her in the guts.
She looked into his face feeling apologetic herself.
"But it's not your fault, John! You didn't do anything wrong! God forbid..."
She felt the need to reassure him. "It's just..." She began. "It was just that..." She
fumbled over quite what to say to explain the inexplicable.
"There was someone back home." He concluded dejectedly.
"What?" She looked at him in confusion. He looked up in a sudden burst of
renewed hope, but felt the need to ask,
"Wasn't there someone else back home? Someone you loved?"
Maria laughed outright at that.
"No! Of course not!" Then she looked earnestly into his uncertain eyes.
"Would I have left if there had been?"
"Then..." He couldn't help smiling as his spirits picked up spontaneously.
"But... Oh damn this Maria! What went wrong?" He sounded desperate, his
cheeks flushed with his emotion. She looked at him then leaned back in her
chair.
"I think I felt I was being pushed." She began slowly. "My Aunt was so
eager!"
"Don't I know?" He laughed.
"And the last thing I wanted was a traditional arranged marriage!" She
declared.
"Yes. I can understand that. That was what I wanted to kick against myself,
too..." He agreed eagerly.
"But... There was something else too." She said with difficulty, swallowing
down her saliva and paling slightly with the effort.
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -31 -
"Yes?" He urged quietly, losing his nerve at what she might say. She looked
at him, smiled bitterly, but then said,
"A dream..." She cleared her throat, and then elaborated. "A dream of
passion." He frowned in utter incomprehension. He didn't know what to say.
"Perhaps all young women have crazy dreams of wild passion. Perhaps it's
part of maturing. Perhaps..."
"But I don't understand. What was this dream? How did it affect our
relationship?"
“Well, I…” She faltered, really at a total loss as to how to go about
explaining all this, but his brow darkened in pain as he concluded,
“And you couldn’t feel it for me.” She looked at him and he elaborated.
“Passion. You found you didn’t feel that for me.” He said again sounding
distinctly dejected.
“I…” She began but her jaw dropped and she fell silent. He drank some
more of his coffee awkwardly and she stood up abruptly to take a drink of
water. When she came back to the table she stood behind him and put her
hands on his shoulders. “I think I was afraid.” She said in an attempt to fudge
the issue which she now deeply regretted having even brought up.
“Afraid?” He asked turning to look up at her. “Afraid of feeling passion
even though you wanted it?”
“Well, I…” She fumbled for words that could convey some kind of meaning
at that moment. She looked into his eyes. He was kind, he was loving, and he
was desperate for her, despite the way she had consistently held herself back
from him. At that moment she realized just how much pain she had been
causing him. For no reason. And the last thing she wanted to do was hurt
him. The whole thing couldn't help moving her. As she stood behind him
holding his shoulders, she squeezed them in a gesture half way between
affection and nervousness. Then, looking away from his eyes and over his
head, she said,
A GUST OF WIND/STIAKAKI/PAGE -32 -
“Lets go to bed…” in a hoarse, nervous whisper, thoroughly astounding
him.
“What?” He exclaimed jumping up from his seat at the kitchen table and
turning towards her.
“I… I said…” She stuttered with difficulty. It had not been an easy thing for
her to say to him.
“I know what you said! But… Do you mean it?” He needed to ask, but she
just looked up into his eyes quivering slightly as she swallowed down
nervously. His grip tightened round her arms he’d taken hold of and his
breath grew quicker. A few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and then
he asked in a whisper, “Now?” and she assented with her eyes. “Here?” That
seemed to disturb him, but she just shrugged that her Aunt and Uncle had left
for the day. Nevertheless, he still needed to ask, “And you’re not afraid any
more?”, which evoked an awkward titter of a laugh from her in her acute
inner agitation at that moment and he burst out laughing too, in loud nervous
relief.
Though it was bright and sunny outside, the room was quite dark inside since
they’d pulled the blinds shut. John was asleep in her arms and she felt a little
drowsy too. Instinctively she caressed his ruffled hair gently and kissed his
brow softly. She felt strange, but serene, in fact happy even, in her body and
her soul as a quiet sigh of inner satisfaction escaped her lips. In the end
perhaps it had been nothing more than a strange elusive dream which meant
nothing to her, she hoped, any more.
.............................ENDS.