Modern Cleopatra: A Summer Love Story [COMPLETE] 📔

THIS SUMMER | CHAPTER VI : Two Lovers

The two lovers stayed amidst the villa's orchard for what seemed like hours, refusing to let one another go. When they finally came up for air, Theo couldn't wait any longer.

Come home with me, he had told her that night, gazing into her eyes as he spoke, his broad, rough hand stroking her cheek.

I can't, she had said to him, laying a hand on his perfect chest and pushing him away from her firmly but delicately still. I can't, Theo.

But why? There was a look of confusion in his eye that had made Cleo's heart sink right then and there.

Cleopatra, I don't understand.

Of course he didn't understand. This time, he was the one in the dark.

Cleo's aunt had saved her that night, for in that moment she had come out of the house to pick a few lemons for the cocktails she and her friends were making in the villa's backyard. Before Cleo could explain anything further, Thia Maria had stalked over to them, badgering Theo about keeping her niece out so late and ushering Cleopatra into the house. She didn't even get to kiss Theo goodbye, though they had done enough kissing, that much was certain. He had wanted more - she had wanted more - but she knew she couldn't ultimately cross that line. It wouldn't be fair to Gabriel, after all.

Cleo kicked herself. After so many months of imagining what she and Theo would be like together, she found herself smack dab in the middle of the ultimate catch-22. If she slept with Theo like she'd been dreaming about since she met him, she'd be unfaithful to Gabriel, but if she didn't, she would most likely regret letting the moment pass her by forever. There was no winning it seemed, and no matter how hard Cleopatra thought it out, and through, and over and back again, there was no evident solution to her problem. She would simply have to tell him the truth, just as he had with her that night, and hope he could forgive her in his own way. She had already kissed him after promising herself to Gab back home, and that was bad enough. Cleo could feel the pangs of guilt like knives in her stomach, twisting and turning with every thought of her boyfriend waiting for her back in the city. Gabriel was supportive, wealthy, generous, likeable and incredibly, undeniably sharp. Her family liked him, her friends liked him. Heck, even her dog liked him. So what was she doing? Was she really going to throw away her entire potential future for some guy who didn't even live on her side of the ocean and who, even more than that, had ignored her for months on end?

The fact of the matter was that regardless of how many times he said he thought of her, Cleo was still dubious; Theo Dimitriou had never picked up the phone to call. He had never even sent her a text. If he had been so compelled by the memory of her, wouldn't he have given into temptation at least once over the course of all those months? Didn't he want to know how she was doing? Was it really that easy for him to just set her aside? And the scariest question, one Cleo barely let herself entertain at all:

Was Theo Dimitriou someone worth risking it all for?

Cleo allowed herself to contemplate the pessimistic perspective that perhaps, just maybe, Theo had returned home after a pretty hard time, saw her in the square a few nights back, and simply decided to act in his own best interest. After all, why not squeeze a little fun out of the young American girl here for yet another quickie summer stay? She'd be gone again soon, halfway round the world, and Theo could very well go back to ignoring her again for whatever reason he found justifiable this time around.

That's how these guys are, Cleomou. She heard her mother's voice ringing in her ears. They promise you the world, and then they're gone.

No. That was unacceptable. Cleopatra Callas would not be ignored again. Unfortunately the only move she had left was the inevitable leap of faith; trusting God or the Universe to steer her right, and just hoping she wouldn't get screwed over in the process. But Cleo was bad at that kind of thing; Gab had called her out on it within hours of their meeting. She wasn't one to trust easily, and she had learned not to from experience, but there was always the hope - the sheer, blind hope - that maybe, just maybe, things would be different this time.

If only she could decide how to move forward for good.