Modern Cleopatra: A Summer Love Story [COMPLETE] 📔

THIS SUMMER | CHAPTER V : The Right Thing

Theo exhaled, melancholy. "You deserve more than that. You deserve everything. But once I tell you," he explained, shaking his head at her. "Once I tell you, we may never be able to go back."

They were both quiet, and the island wind whistled through the fullness of the silence that hung in the night air between them.

"Only one way to find out." Cleo said.

And then she waited.

He began.

"After you left," Theo started, propelling himself forward with every fibre of his being. It was now or never. "After you left, I went to a dark place. It was... I had not prepared for it. My heart was sick. Broken. I didn't expect to feel that way. We weren't even together for very long, but..." Theo trailed off, matching her gaze. "I was sad when you left, very sad, and I had not felt that way about anyone in... in a long time."

Cleo's eyes dropped to her shoes.

"I was sad to leave." She mumbled.

I was sad to leave you. That's what she really wanted to say.

"Yes, well," He continued, his accent slurring his words. "I did something stupid, very stupid. I know much better. But... I was just trying to fix the pain."

Cleo waited for more. She wasn't sure where he was going, but she knew it couldn't be somewhere good.

"I met a girl." Theo told her.

Cleo's stomach dropped.

"We met very soon after you left. She was from London, from Portugal really, but she lived in London and was here for holidays. Just for a week, not even; maybe five days. I met her through my work, with my friend, you remember? We took her group out for the day, kayaking by the rocks, and... she liked me."

Cleo was progressively and exponentially wishing she had never dragged an explanation out of him in the first place. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"We were together one night, her last night here. It was just... a distraction. And we - you and me," Theo clarified. "We didn't make it clear to one another, about what we were going to do. And I didn't expect you to wait for me. We didn't even... I mean, I wanted to, but..."

His voice trailed off. She knew what he meant by it. Aleksandar. The attack. The trauma of it all. After everything, they had never even slept together. They were going to; in fact, Cleo wanted to, and had planned for it her second to last night in Naxos. But the Universe had other plans, it seemed, and as a result, their relationship had been left incomplete, open-ended, so unfinished. Despite the fact that she had done what she felt was right at the time, Cleo had always somehow regretted her final nights in Naxos last year, and had always wondered what being with Theo might really be like. She assumed, like with all things regarding him, the reality would be even better than her dreams.

"It wasn't the right time for us, and I knew that." Theo continued. "But that doesn't matter, Cleomou," He said to her sweetly, taking a step closer to her, determined to show her that the lack in their physical relationship hadn't been to blame for his actions or come between them in the slightest. "I don't care about that. I mean I do, of course I do," He caught himself, shaking his head. "You know I do." He told her, looking deeply into her eyes. "But when you left I thought... We had the whole ocean between us. I knew if we would see each other again, for more time, for longer, then it would come natural, and we would see at that time... where we were. I was sure we would be together again, no matter what happened during the year for us. And then when I got your message, all your messages in September, I can't tell you..."