In Disguise

Scene 27

A few days later it was our last evening in Santorini.

Reflecting back on the holiday as our time away was about to come to an end, I came to the pleasant realisation that it had brought us closer together.

I felt a closer connection to him, perhaps partly from the extended time we had spent alone together, but also from it being the first joint thing we had experienced together. The holiday was our own and we had created shared memories for each of us.

Beautiful and romantic, an outdoor waterside restaurant was stretched out around us that evening, the perfect location for our final dinner, the individual tables each with their own neatly arranged display of flowers and candles, and accompanied by the gentle background music of the sea lapping on the nearby wall.

A row of quaint, picturesque buildings lined the opposite side of the cobbles to the water, each illuminated by the soft glow which floated out onto the street from their insides.

"Give me a kiss," he murmured, as we took our seats at a table, "you're looking lovely."

Brushing his lips to mine in the ghost of a kiss, like a snapshot of the kind of kiss he was capable of giving, he then proceeded to pull my chair out for me and tuck it in again after I had taken a seat.

Then one of the smartly dressed waiters came to take our food and drink orders, and after he had done so, neatly scribbling everything down on his pad of paper, and left, I sat back and properly observed our surroundings. The proximity of the restaurant to the water cast a relaxing atmosphere over the cobbled street where it was located.

The sea swayed softly back and forth, the colour a darker hue than normal due to its reflecting of the setting sun, which had now dyed the sky a dark shade of rich purple. It was stretched out above us like an expansive roof covering the bright blue sky which had been on display earlier in the day.

I admired with a smile to myself how perfect he looked amongst the beauty of the scenery. His black shirt only accentuated his handsome features and made his persona appear more formal and polished, with a stronger impact than his usual tracksuit.

His skin was lightly tinted with a tan from our recent exposure to the warm sun, which only added to the attractiveness which he already possessed, and his expression was relaxed and content. Leaning back in his chair, resting an elbow on the arm rest, he trained his eyes on me with an expression which I knew so well. It was his signature seductive look.

"What?" I raised my eyebrows at him amusedly.

He shook his head. "Nothing."

His fingers skimmed his chin in a thoughtful motion as his eyes briefly scanned the scenery before they landed back on mine.

"All you need is a diamond ring on your finger," he commented casually, with a wink of one of those blue eyes.

The happiness which flooded my body warmed my insides and overflowed my heart with gratitude. Automatically, my lips spread into the widest smile that they could have possibly achieved.

"I really love you, you know."

He nodded knowingly and grinned. "And I love you baby."

The kindness and sincerity in his baby blue eyes was like a physical hug around me.

"Before you, I wasn't lonely," I continued, "but I didn't have anybody."

It was true: I had never had anyone like him before, someone who made me feel appreciated, worthy, loved. He was my complete polar opposite and I had never before thought the one for me would come in the form of him, with his lavish lifestyle, luxurious taste, expensive price tags and famous career.

It was a world away from my life before him, but somehow, he made complete sense to me. We were like opposite ends of magnets which were attracted together. We were perfect.

"Your heart's still broken from the past but I'm going to fix that," he said thoughtfully.

In that moment, the contemplative expression which had control of his features physically melted my heart into a pool of emotionally euphoric liquid.

"You make me feel close to home," he murmured, "and home is where the heart is, so I'm staying right here."

That was it.

He emotionally pushed me over the edge and tears pearled in the corners of my eyes, before a single teardrop rolled down my cheek.

I had never had anyone say to me the things that he did. I had never been that person and I had never experienced the type of love that he showed me, and yet suddenly, he said everything to me that I never knew I had always wanted to hear.

When I still hadn't responded to him a few moments later, his smile grew impossibly more and he reached for my hand across the table, intertwining his fingers with mine whilst his skin soothingly grazed my hand. Sniffling, I blinked several times in an attempt to stop any more tears escaping from my eyes.

Eventually, when I finally looked into his blue eyes once again and noticed his strong gaze intently focused on me as if I was the only person who existed to him in the whole entire world, I was flooded with a simultaneous wave of gratitude and contentment.

"I think we need some more drinks," he chuckled.

His lightheartedness made me laugh, and he got the attention of one of the waiters.

As the evening matured, we spent the rest of our time engrossed in giddy conversations and in each other's somewhat tipsy company, which was partly a result of the numerous drinks which we had consumed between us throughout the evening, but also, equally, we were drunk on the happiness of the moment.

The sky had faded to an inky black and become dotted with sparkling stars like jumbled fairy lights, as if the twinkling strings of lights that encircled the restaurant had been extended up and scattered around the sky.

Some music had started playing which beautifully filled the space and mingled with the noise of the ocean to create a relaxing soundtrack, and some people had got up from their seats and were dancing on the cobbles.

"Shall we dance?" I raised my eyebrows hopefully at him and he chuckled.

Before he had even had the chance to respond, I stood up from my seat and walked around the small table to where he was sitting, reaching for his hands and pulling him reluctantly up to my level.

"I think you've had a bit too much to drink," he teased with a laugh.

"Just come and dance with me."

"Okay, okay," he chuckled. "I'm coming."

Then he took control and led me to the part of the cobbles where everyone else was dancing, and we proceeded to dance the rest of the night away, finally leaving the restaurant when the first colours of the sunrise began to streak across the sky.