The Fates (Book II)

10.3 - The Moment

Let's hop over to modern-day Greece and see what fate may have in store ;) ...

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Scene 3: The Moment

A.D. 2015

The sun had just begun to set as they entered the bar and went to sit at one of its inviting outdoor tables, on a balcony that overlooked a lower-level terrace situated on the Santorini seacliffs, swept by a gentle breeze that carried no hint of what was about to happen.

Cloe and Eldor had two social engagements scheduled back-to-back at the same bar this evening - as it turned out, for everyone involved, this time and place was most convenient. They would first meet Cloe's former professor and his fiancée, and then Eldor's veteran friend and his wife.

Trevor and Miss Primor turned up promptly; Eldor smiled in surprise as they arrived, upon seeing a face that he had not expected to recognize.

"Charliese!" he greeted the platinum-haired beauty.

Cloe arched her brows. "You two know each other?" Well, this was certainly some evidence in support of her theory that Charliese had hired Eldor to walk into Cloe's life and claim her fictional character's name... Then again, further experimentation had seemed to suggest that this crazy destiny-decreeing power was, somehow or other, an actual thing.

Charliese leant in for hugs with each of them. "Why, yes; Eldor and I first met ages ago," she cooed as she withdrew.

"Back when I was a child in the foster system," Eldor added. "Charliese, um... promised to provide safety for someone dear to me."

At the uncomfortably obscure explanation, Cloe and Trevor both blinked in confusion. "Oh," they uttered in incidental unison.

That was only the beginning of the avalanche of awkwardness set to ensue this evening.

"So, this is Trevor," Cloe smiled and patted his shoulder as she introduced him to Eldor. "The nerdiest and best professor ever."

Trevor extended his hand to shake in greeting. Based on what this guy had said about the foster system, he figured that Eldor was the friend of Atria's whom he and Charliese had been trying to contact, that night when the poor girl had been unconscious on their sofa. But Trevor hadn't known, then, what this fellow's name was. "And did I hear that right - your name's Eldor? As in the epic prince?"

Eldor nodded with a good-humored grin. "I know, it sounds like a name from a fantasy series or something..."

"No, I mean Cloe's. Her trilogy," Trevor stated simply, turning toward his favorite former student. "Surely that's just your nickname for him - though I have no clue why you called him that, too, honey-" he briefly addressed Charliese, then turned back to Cloe, "-but I mean, come on; he's a spitting image, with those 'ebon eyes' and everything, just as your book describes. It's not as if you met a real-life incarnation of your fictional creation..."

At that, Eldor was visibly perplexed. Cloe tried to hide her panic, and to come up with a way to quickly change the subject.

Charliese saved the day by knocking over Eldor's wineglass, in such a way that some of its dark contents splashed straight onto Trevor's shirt, her movement elegant enough to look as if it'd been a blameless accident.

"Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry," she effused to Eldor, summoning a busboy over to the table, ordering another glass of wine on her and also asking for some tonic water, then reaching for a stack of napkins and turning toward Trevor. "Here, love - let's get you cleaned up."