CHAPTER 13
Nick
Day 10 of 10 in Greece
The drive to the airport is completely silent. It’s a time for reflecting, sorrow, but also thankfulness.
I’m grateful for everything that has happened between us the last ten days, but I’m hopeful for what can happen between us in the future. I’m not talking about yearly visits to enjoy island holidays. I refuse to not take chances in life when they matter as much as this. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Greek literature it’s that I’m tired of tragic endings. Hollywood movies may be corny and predictable, but they’re happy and audiences prefer them for a reason. After ten days with this amazing young woman from the West Coast of the United States I’ve become a convert. I don’t want more tragedies. I want a happy ending of my own.
I pull over just a few kilometers from the airport. There’s a grassy patch where you can watch the planes come and go. I used to come here as a child and lie on my back and watch with binoculars. This time I hope I don’t have to watch that plane go…her plane.
I open my door and go around to the other side to help her out.
“What are we doing?” she asks.
“Please, sit with me for one second.”
I grab a blanket from the back and spread it out on the grass. We sit down and my eyes immediately go toward those departing airplanes, but my thoughts are still here with her…with us.
“You know how much you mean to me,” I say as I turn and face her taking her hands in mine.
“And you to me,” she says.
“Yes, it is true. We have made magic these ten days, and I cannot imagine not spending ten more days together, and then ten after that, and after that, and after that.”
She smiles and I see her eyes are starting to water up a little.
“As a man who is older I know there are many choices in life…many paths. There are a few decisions in life that change the course of our destiny forever. Today is one of those days, but that’s not entirely true. It’s because my destiny does not change today, it changed ten days ago when I first laid eyes on you. And now that I’ve come to know you and experience everything about you I don’t want to ever take my eyes off of you again. I want you to stay here in Greece with me. I will get you the proper papers where you can live here officially and be my partner in both business and in life. This is my wish for us, and I know it is Sophia’s wish as well. I spoke with her yesterday and she wants this very much.”
“Nick,” she says. She buries her face in my chest. She’s sobbing uncontrollably now. She pulls back. “I want to stay, but I have to go back. I have my family back there and they’re already expecting me. Once I get there we can work something out where I can come back.”
“Okay,” I say. “I understand.” But I leave off the part that what I really understand is that this means it’s the end. I don’t doubt she will try. I know she will. But once she gets back and her friends explain to her how the idea is crazy, and she gets back into her routine what we have will be lost. I hate to think tragically, but it’s a reality that I’m old enough to recognize and accept…even though I don’t want to accept this fate between us at all. I hate to think that this has just become nothing more than a holiday romance. But as bad as that sounds I know it’s not. I know it’s so much more, but unfortunately it can never be the ultimate thing in life.
This is just another Greek tragedy with the same ending. I should have stuck with what I know and not expected something more. I tried not to get my hopes up but it was impossible. This isn’t logic we’re talking about, this is a matter of the heart…and now mine is broken.
“Thank you for these wonderful days,” I say. “I will never forget you.”
“And I will never forget you,” she says.
“And when your plane takes off you can look here to this patch of grass. Look for my car and then look for the tiny ant next to it. That ant will be me, waving up to you wishing you a safe journey, but secretly calling you back to me.”
“Okay,” she says, in-between sobs and a little laughter.
“And just remember, if you change your mind before that plane departs you know where you can find me.”
“Okay,” she says. But I know it’s too late. I know I’ve lost her and because of this I’ve lost a part of myself.
“Shall we go?”
“Okay,” she says again.
I want to tease her about her use of the word okay three times in a row, but I know this isn’t the moment. This is hard for her too, maybe harder. She is the one who has to leave. Maybe she feels like she’s abandoning me. I really don’t know.
All I know is that in two hours my life starts over again…without her.