Using white cotton trousers and t-shirt, it is hard to imagine her on high heels. In her naval blue sneakers, she seems to leap joyfully instead of walking. She wears no make-up either - whatever traces of the past inhabit her heart, she has completely erased them from her looks.
"I came to Greece on summer vacations." She continues, sitting again at my side. She has fetched two cushions, once the hood is rather hot. "But I had to flee the touristy towns, since I kept bumping into my fellow countrymen now and then. This village -" She indicates the Mediterranean paradise below us, "did it for me, though. I was so happy here for ten days that I decided I wanted to be happy like that for the rest of my life..."
She falls silent when an eagle cries above us. We turn our heads just in time to observe it take flight, leaving the boulders behind us. So effortlessly majestic, or majestically effortless, the eagle seems to take my soul in its wings, liberating me from my heartache.
I have promised myself to stay away from women during the length of my stay in Greece. When I see them looking at my muscles on the beach, and when they flirt with me, it is a sweet revenge to know I won't respond to their appeal. I'll leave them alone with their longings. I'll help them grow insecure, when I reject them. Their self-esteem shall only decrease, when I ignore them. I won't go as low as Mireille to cheat on them - simply because I won't get involved. The strength coming from having kept my promise so far arrives to the realization that I could transgress it at any moment - if it were for Daniela.
"Are you?" I ask her, when the eagle, having raised high, vanishes absorbed by the splendid light emanating from the sun.
"Happy? I am. Though sometimes I have to remind myself of it. For it doesn't come naturally, does it? For anyone? I think it is the Dalai Lama who has said happiness is a state of mind, and that we have to cultivate it. Whenever I see this view, I go back to that day when I first saw it from the bus, and my heart melted with joy. This view reminds me why I moved to Greece, and what for." She sighs. "I'm glad I chose today,of all days, to go shopping. I do it once or twice a month, when it's high season and my restaurant is open. But it is not the case today, of course."
I am surprised and grow a little tense when Daniela leans her head on my shoulder, but I force myself to relax - and trust her. Not all women are scurvy like Mireille, nor deserve to be punished with my despise.
"I want to thank you, darling. I haven't appreciated this view so thoroughly in a long while. And it is the first time I am sharing it with someone. I'm glad you've chosen to climb the mountain today, of all days."
"I almost didn't make it to the crest." I mouth. And before Daniela thinks I am mentioning her colliding with me, or the two cars I don't want to recall either, I amend, "The bus won't run for some weird reason today, of all days."
"Oh, that silly driver!" She giggles. "He stayed in town, today!"
"Do you know why?"
"Because men are silly, and crazy." She pats my thigh. "But not you, darling."
"Oh, but I am." I nod, to confirm my flagrant foolishness. "Crazy, and silly! Climbing this mountain today, of all days, when I could have waited until tomorrow... Silly me, and crazy!"
"You're right!" She laughs. "But you shall be rewarded for your perseverance."
Her prediction sounds mysterious. But she must know better about the village she has chosen as her hometown - that seems interdicted to me only. Or weren't the other two drivers headed there, the village where the road ends?
"Do you think so? I actually fear the opposite." I ponder, thinking of all the warnings I have received, including the men who have shooed and chased me away. "Don't ask me why, but I expect to meet trouble down there."
Where the road ends | Part 2
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