THEA
"Thea.." I heard someone called my name. "Thea, wake up."
I groaned. "Go away."
Whoever that person was can go away and let me have my precious sleep.
The person chuckled. "You need to wake up, darling. We have so many things to do today."
My subconscious instantly recognized who it was. I opened an eye and saw Arthur standing by the bed, holding a tray of foods. The view was so beautiful, it hurt.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" I asked, sitting on the bed.
"First attempt of my grovel journey starts now," he put a tray of foods on the bed. "Hope this is a good start."
I chuckled, I wasn't sure if he really meant it but otherwise I enjoyed this service. "Why, thank you. This is such a nice way to start the day."
I picked a piece of bagel and spread some cream cheese onto it and some ham. Arthur took a ripe banana instead.
"So what are our plans for today?"
He put his coffee aside. "We're going to Imerovigli, I rented a motorbike for us."
"You can ride a motorbike?"
"Of course. You think just because Felix always drives me everywhere, I can't ride a motorbike or drive a car?"
I chuckled. "Fair point. What time are we leaving?"
"Whenever you are ready."
"Okay, I'll get ready once I'm done eating."
We continued eating until Arthur announced he was going to use the bathroom first. I rested my back on the headboard as I was already full from eating. I took my phone on the bedside table to receive a few texts from my friends saying happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME??
Oh my God it was my birthday today, I just turned 23!
I replied to each of them thanking them for the wishes. I wondered if Arthur knew it was my birthday today, probably not. We never really spoke about ourselves, I didn't even know when his birthday was.
"It's your turn." He walked out of the bathroom after a while, a towel wrapped around his waist. Nothing covered his bare chest.
I blushed as I saw his perfectly ripped chest and those abs, wondering how it feels to touch them. He had an amazing body, he must had been going to the gym often.
He must have caught me looking at him, because he smirked as he grabbed a shirt. "Take pictures, it will last long."
I quickly looked away. "I was not looking at you! I-I was looking at the closet behind you. It's.. it has an amazing design! Well.. I'd better use the bathroom."
It was a lame excuse, really, I was embarrassed at how suck I was at evasive.
I sprinted to the bathroom but not before hearing him chuckled behind me.
Great. I just embarrassed myself in front of my husband.
*
"Arthur, are you sure it's safe?" I asked once we were ready to go.
The white motorbike was already parked in front of the hotel lobby when we got outside.
Arthur handed me my helmet. "Positive."
I took the helmet and put it on. "I've never ride a motorbike in my life."
"You don't? It's pretty fun." he put his helmet on and hopped onto the motorbike. I didn't move a bit, and he realized it after a while. "What's wrong?"
I looked at the motorbike then at him. "Promise you won't get us killed?"
He chuckled. "I will ride it slowly, we will be okay. Promise."
I looked at him unsure, but just nodded anyway. I hopped on behind him and wore my sunglasses.
He looked over. "Ready?"
"Yeah."
He pressed the ignition then started riding. I was not sure if I should wrap my hands around him so I put my hands on my thighs for a support. The wind brushed my face as we left, it was nice. It was sunny but not too hot this morning. I never got tired of exploring this city. It was just beautiful and the views were amazing as well.
Suddenly Arthur stopped abruptly, causing me to bump onto his back.
"Oww, what's wrong?" I asked and moved back a bit.
"Sorry, there's a cat." he pointed to the cat that just passed the road, then he started again.
Not even a minute later, Arthur suddenly added the pace, making me lean backward a bit.
"Arthur, slow down! I almost fell!" I hissed and hit his back.
He didn't say anything, instead his left hand reached for my hand behind him and wrap it around his waist, then he did to my other hand, so my hands wrapped around him.
I glanced at the rearview mirror and found him smirking at himself.
Bastard.
"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" I accused.
He glanced at me at the rearview mirror, the smirk was still plastered on his face. "Maybe."
I rolled my eyes but never let go off my hands anyway. In fact I liked it, it felt nice to be this close to him. It wasn't until we finally reached to our destination. I got off the motorbike, took off my helmet and hung it around the rearview mirror, Arthur did too.
We were here in Imerovigli, it was basically a small village with beautiful buildings. We parked the motorbike and walked around, admiring the buildings. Sometimes we took pictures together or just walked in silence. It was what we did during this trip.
My self a month ago would had never thought that Arthur and I would finally build a genuine friendship, started here in Santorini. It was crazy to remember those horrible 6 months just started to turn good now. I was grateful for the change.
"Wait here, okay?"
"Where are you going?"
"I need to take care of something, I won't be long."
"Okay."
He left to take care God knows what. I stood by the fence and looked out the ocean. I let out a sigh. My parents would have loved to be here. If only they were still alive, they would have been here too with me and Arthur.
It was nearly 3 years since they passed away, sometimes I still couldn't believe that they were really gone. I was still grieving, but it was not as bad as 2 years ago. Some days, I woke up feeling happy. Some days, I woke up feeling sad that I had lost my parents.
But that was what grief was.
I felt a presence behind me. "Happy birthday, Thea."
When I turned around, Arthur was holding a bucket of blue Aegean flowers in his hand. I smiled so big, he actually knew my birthday.
I took the flowers from him and took a sniff. "These are so beautiful. Thank you so much!"
He leaned in and gave me a kiss of my forehead. "You're welcome. I hope you like it."
I smiled at him. "I love it. I wasn't sure you knew it's my birthday today."
"I didn't. It was my mum who told me on the phone, and I felt like an asshole for not knowing. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, honestly. I really appreciate that you gave me these beautiful flowers."
He smiled. "I want to kiss you, Thea."
My heart just raced as he said that. I wanted to kiss him too, hell I had been wanting to kiss him as well. He looked at me like he asked a permission. I nodded in response.
So he did.
He pulled my waist then captured his lips on mine. It was a gentle kiss, like he wanted to enjoy his time feeling my lips on him. He tasted like heat and spice, it was addicting. I ran a hand over his head, while my other hand still held the flowers.
Eventually we broke the kiss but he rested his forehead onto mine. "Happy birthday again."
I smiled. "You already said that."
"And I will say it again. You deserve a good celebration for your birthday, I have arranged something for us tonight."
"Ohh that's exciting. I can't wait."
We returned to our hotel an hour after that. It was 5 in the afternoon and I needed to get ready for tonight. Arthur had arranged a dinner date to celebrate my birthday. He didn't say where but I didn't need to ask him, I would go anywhere as long as it was with him.
We reached our hotel room, I dropped the souvenir bag onto the floor next to my luggage. We stopped by a local souvenir market to buy souvenirs to take home. As I started to look for dresses to wear for tonight, Arthur opened the glass door.
"Wanna go for a swim? It doesn't need to be long."
I was a bit tired after our travel today but I wouldn't miss the opportunity to swim with him, so I nodded and told him I would be out after I changed my cloths into my bikini.
After I was done, I joined him in the pool. He stood by the edge of the pool, looking out the orange sky, it was nearly sunset. I swam until I reached beside him. He grabbed my waist and pulled me closer. We stared out the sky, enjoying the view.
"I'm so glad this trip happened." I broke the silence.
"Me too."
He slowly turned me over until we were facing other others. I wrapped my arms around his neck, smiling at him. I found it hard now not to smile at him, when he was being so nice to me the past few days. We watched as the sun got drowned, and the darkness took over the sky.
We got out of the pool and got ready for our dinner date. It would be our first ever real date and I was looking forward to it. I decided to go for a red wine dress for tonight. I put a bit of my make up on and brushed my hair, I let my hair fall on my shoulder.
I looked at my self in the mirror and smiled. I looked beautiful and happy, it was so surreal.
Arthur was ready by time I finished my make up, he wore a black suit. He looked so gorgeous, I couldn't believe I married him.
He looked at me and my dress. "You look beautiful, Thea."
I smiled. "Thank you. You look great too, Arthur."
"Thank you. You ready?" He asked which I nodded in response. "Let's go then."
We left the hotel using an Audi car Arthur just rented for tonight. We were going to this restaurant called Ambrosia which was one of the best and most famous restaurants in Oia, Santorini. We didn't talk much in the car as Arthur was on the phone with his friend. Apparently we were invited to a dinner next time we were back in England.
By the time we arrived in the restaurant, it was already crowded with people outside the restaurant. Arthur handed the key car to the valet guy then he took my hand as he lead us in.
A woman in blue dress smiled at us we reached inside the restaurant. "Hello, Mr. & Mrs. Williams, welcome to Ambrosia Restaurant," she politely greeted with a warm smile. "Your table is ready, will you please follow me."
She lead us to use the lift, apparently our table was on the top floor. Once the lift opened, my eyes widen. The view from up here was incredibly breathtaking. There was a single table with candle lights waiting for us. And no one was here to dine with us, the whole rooftop was ours for tonight.
"The whole rooftop was booked for us," Arthur said as he looked at me. "Do you like it?"
I smiled. "I love it. This is so beautiful."
We sat down on our table and Arthur ordered the foods for us whilst I admired the views in front of me. He really wanted to make my birthday special and I was really happy that he arranged this date. I had never had someone to treat me like this, to arrange something special for me. I had never had a boyfriend before it was a whole new experience for me.
"They serve the best food in this place." Arthur said, once the waiter left.
"You've been here before?"
He nodded. "Only twice. I came here 5 years ago with my parents, and the second time was 2 years ago for a business trip."
"I would love to come back here one day."
"We will come back one day." He sipped his red wine. "Let's play 20 questions."
"Sure."
"Okay. Do you have a middle name?"
I chuckled. "Really? That's your first question?"
"I'm curious if you had one. I feel like you do."
I smiled. "I do. It's Meridian. Althea Meridian Evans, well apparently I'm now a Williams."
"Williams fit you well," he grinned. "Althea Meridian Williams, that's a very good name."
I shook my head. "You have a very big ego, huh?"
He smirked. "I do. Next, favorite color?"
"Hey slow down, Mr. Whose-Name-Is-So-Fit. It's my turn to ask," I slap his hand playfully. He rolled his eyes. "What's your middle name? If you had one."
"It's Joseph. Arthur Joseph Williams." he said. That was a good name too. "Now, favorite color?"
"Brown. Yours?"
"Black. Favorite pets?"
"Dog. Favorite food?"
"Any japannese foods. Yours?"
My eyes lit up. "Same. Birthday?"
"August 4th. Favorite movie?"
"Anything that has Jason Statham and Chris Evans in it. Yours?"
"James Bond. I like Jason Statham as well. The man is great."
I nodded enthusiastically. "Very!"
We continued playing 20 questions until the waiter finally brought our foods. We stopped our game and enjoyed our delicious dinner. We ate in silence first until Arthur broke it with his terrible jokes, but I did laugh because he tried so hard to make it funny and ended up embarrassing himself. I enjoyed talking to this side of him, I didn't know he could be this carefree and fun to be around.
We finished eating and just talked some other things. I got to know him even more, he told me what he likes and what he dislikes, I told him mine as well. We did really have that talk that was supposed to happen before we even got married. And I was glad that we finally had that talk to get to know each others more.
His phone suddenly rang just as we talked. He pulled out his phone and looked at the I.D caller. "Sorry, I have to take this. It's from work." he then excused himself as he answered the phone call.
I took this chance to take a closer look to the sea view. I stood up from my seat and went to the edge of rooftop. The sky was beautiful with its stars around it. It was quite chilly tonight but it felt so nice. I couldn't help but smiled at the thought of today. Never in my life had I thought my husband, who used to dislike me, would celebrate my birthday with a nice date. I never thought I would see the day when we finally made up after those horrible 6 months.
I shivered a bit as the wind brushed my skin. I could have sworn I prepared my sweater when I got ready, maybe I forgot to take it with me when we left. Then I felt something wrapped around my shoulder, it was Arthur's suit. He was now only in his white shirt, he had his sleeves rolled up around his forearms.
"Arthur, what are you doing?"
"You are shivering. You need it more than I do."
"Thank you."
Arthur stood next to me, together we looked out the beautiful views in silence. But it was a comfortable silence. I was really happy to be here, watching the beautiful view in Santorini, with my husband.
"Arthur" "Thea" we said in unison.
We burst into laugh.
"You go first." Arthur chuckled.
I smiled. "I just want to thank you, not only for today but also for the very first day we arrived here. I honestly have so much fun being here with you."
He smiled. "You are very welcome. I promised you I will make it up to you, so I try to make this trip memorable, for you and for me as well."
"That's very nice of you, Arthur. And you already made this trip memorable, I love this trip already." I told him honestly. "So, what do you want to say?"
He looked down for a while like he was in a deep thought, like he was debating to say what was on his mind. I waited for him to talk.
He finally looked up. "Thea, I-I want to give this marriage a try."
It took me a while to register what he just said. And when I did, my lips parted. "What?"
His eyes never left mine. "I want to give this marriage a try. I have been thinking about it the whole trip. I was done being angry at you, at this marriage. I want to save this marriage. I want to like you, and quite possibly try to love you. I want to be the husband you deserve to have, Thea."
I was stunned I didn't even know what to say. Hearing that he finally wanted to give this marriage a try was a big decision for him, a big commitment. Of course I was happy that he finally agreed to it, I wanted to save this marriage too.
"Thea? Say something please." he looked worried as he brought a hand to my left cheek.
I teared up. "I have been waiting for 7 months for you to say that. I don't want to give up on us, on our marriage, because after all I care about you, Arthur. So yes, I want to give this marriage a try too. Let's save our marriage together."
He smiled then wiped a tear that fell from my eyes. "I care about you too, Thea. I promise I will make this marriage work. I mean it when I say I wanted to give this marriage a try. Let's take baby steps first, for now let's just be friends."
I agreed with him. We couldn't just jump into a big step just because we agreed to give this marriage a try. We needed to take baby steps first. To get to know each others more. To get comfortable around each others.
I smiled so big, it hurt my cheek. "Okay, let's be friends first. We need to get comfortable with each others first before stepping to the next step."
He nodded. "Agreed. Well.. let's start then. Hello, I'm Arthur. What's your name?"
I laughed at his attempt but went along with him. "Hi, Arthur. I'm Thea."
He shook my hand. "Ah beautiful name you got there. Can we be friends?"
I shook my head. "No, Arthur, that's not how it should be. You can't just ask someone to be your friend after you asked them their name."
He sighed. "I suck at this thing."
I giggled. "But because you are being so nice to me today, I agreed to be your friend, Arthur."
We looked at each others and burst into laugh at how weird and ridiculous we sounded. It was awkward at first but eventually we grew on each others. We continued the rest of our date taking a stroll on the city, hand in hand, like the world was ours.
As we continued admiring the views, I looked up the sky, hoping my parents were watching over me.
I did it Ma, Dad.
*****