Aimee sat in a chair, watching Tressa and Damien. The sun was shining and the little toddler was intent on exercising his new-found ability to hide. Tressa was playing the dutiful grandmother and laughing and teasing him while making sure he didn’t come to any harm.
Kassi had taken off an hour earlier after speaking to Alexi to run an errand with a promise of returning soon so that she and Aimee could take Damien into town. Aimee had been thinking about Kassi’s suggestion and was planning on taking her camera with her and getting some candid shots of the landscape and even some of the buildings. She’d done some research online and while most photographers seemed to focus on either people or inanimate objects, Aimee found herself wanting to do a bit of both.
She bit her bottom lip as she remembered checking her bank account balance earlier this morning. It was starting to show a lack of funds coming in. She made a concerted effort to stave off the worry threatening to consume her thinking. Thankfully she didn’t have to worry about her rent for the next three months. Gemma had insisted on covering the entire cost up front, so Aimee could come to Greece and relax. Knowing she had a place to live once her vacation was over should have eased her mind, but that was not the case today.
She’d taken a leave of absence from her dead-end job as a personal assistant to a lobbyist in Washington D.C., but the thought of going back made her cringe. She was tired of fighting off unwanted advances from wealthy men who needed a politician in their pocket. The constant repetition of her job was killing her. Day after day brought another cause, another group of wealthy patrons wanting to be catered to in exchange for their financial support.
She didn’t realize how much she’d come to hate her job before coming to Greece. She felt alive here and capable of doing anything she set her mind to. There was no way she could go back to the way things had been before. She’d changed. She wanted more from her life now. She wanted a life that didn’t include politics or constantly worrying about who might be watching or listening!
She smiled as Damien tried to hide behind a butterfly bush, barely wide enough to conceal his small torso, and not even coming close to covering his head. Damien had his eyes closed tightly, as if shutting out the world around him made him invisible to his grandmother. Tressa did an excellent job of playing along.
Unable to resist, Aimee picked up her camera and snapped a couple of shots, smiling even more when she realized how much she enjoyed being able to do just that. No one was telling her what to shoot, or worried if it was going to be their best angle. She wasn’t worried about how her pictures would be interpreted because she was taking them for herself. Gemma and Leo would be very appreciative of these candid moments they had missed, and she had a sudden desire to watch their faces as they looked at the pictures. Seeing joy on their faces would put joy into her heart.
“What are you thinking about so hard over here?” Tressa joined her, Damien held in her arms with his head on her shoulder. It seemed the morning’s activities had finally worn him out.
“Just thinking. Someone’s ready for a nap.” She nodded at Damien. At the word, he picked up his head and then held his arms out for her. She took him, settling him on her lap and cuddling him as he nestled against her chest.
Tressa seated herself in a nearby chair. “Your thoughts seemed to bring you happiness.”
“Yeah, I guess they did...” Aimee’s voice trailed off for a moment. “I was thinking about what I want to do next. I can’t see myself going back to my old job, even though it’s waiting for me. I realized after coming here just how much I hated going to work each day.”
“Ah! That must be very hard. Have you considered other options?” Tressa asked, taking on the role of counselor.
To her amazement, Aimee found she didn’t mind at all. She’d been on her own for so many years, making all of her own choices and living with the consequences. She’d become somewhat jaded to the idea of seeking advice from anyone other than herself. She was naturally independent and her job had forced her to become even more so. Asking someone else’s opinion had been seen as a weakness amongst her fellow co-workers and outside of Gemma, it had been a long time since Aimee had sought anyone else’s advice. On anything.
She didn’t want to rely on others. Being weak was one step away from being a failure. Aimee wanted to maintain control of her life. She’d seen too many instances where people showed signs of weakness and fell prey to all sorts of attacks. The press was always lurking, their misinterpretations of events and situations designed to sell papers, not to reveal the truth. In her experience, humans lived for themselves and most didn’t care who got trampled in the process of them climbing the ladder of success. Gaining the upper hand on someone with knowledge was one of the worst abuses she could imagine. She’d rather consult the Internet than a live person. There was less risk of having a perceived weakness used against you.
Living her life like that had taught her many things, but had also left her lying in bed at night, wondering if she was making the right choices. Not that she would admit to doing so. Yet another perceived weakness she wasn’t about to claim.
“I really hadn’t had time to think about it until Gemma came here and invited me for the wedding. Life in Washington D.C. moves fast and I guess I allowed myself to get carried along with it.” She smiled at Tressa. “Being here has shown me that there is more to life than jumping hoops for a job I truly have come to detest. I just need to find where I fit into the world now.”
Tressa nodded at the camera. “Kassi said your pictures were very good. I would love to see them sometime. I’ve been telling Vasil for a while now that we need to have some family pictures taken, before…” She broke off as tears filled her eyes, and then pulled herself together. “We need to have some pictures taken while everyone is here. I realized after Alexi’s accident that I didn’t have any recent pictures of him or of the family together. It nearly broke my heart.”
Aimee touched her arm. “Alexi’s back now and Leo and Gemma will be back tomorrow. I would be happy to take a few pictures of you all together. I don’t promise they will be any good, but at least you would have something to look at until a professional photographer could be scheduled.” She wasn’t sure what made her offer such a thing, but the smile that lit up Tressa’s face was more than reason enough for her.
“Aimee! That would be…wonderful. Sorry, my English skills are still a bit rusty, but having you and Gemma here is forcing me to sharpen them.”
Aimee laughed. “No worries. So far, the only Greek words I seem to have mastered are ‘Good morning’, ‘Thank you’, ‘I’m sorry’, and ‘Yes’. I’m thinking I should probably figure out how to say ‘No’ as well.”
Tressa laughed with her. “Learning how to say ‘No’ and being able to say the word are entirely different things. But I am happy to help and you may use the word how and whenever you like. Okhi.”
“Okhi. That seems easy enough. Great! Now I can say five things.” Damien stirred on her lap and she looked down at him. “Ready to go inside, little boy?” Damien nodded his head and stuck his thumb in his mouth. “I guess that’s my answer.” She stood up with Damien in her arms, her camera hanging from her neck. “I’m going to go put him down for a nap. Thank you for this morning.”
“You are very welcome. We will see you this afternoon?”
“I’m not sure. Kassi is taking us into town when she gets back.”
“Have a lovely time. I would offer to keep this little one but I have a meeting with the Art Council for lunch and I’m afraid those ladies would not appreciate Damien’s presence.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m going to take my camera and see if I can get some pictures of those magnificent buildings in town. I’ve never done much landscape work, but I thought it might be fun to play around with some images.”
“I’m sure they’ll be magnificent. Damien, be a good boy and take a nice long nap for Aimee.” Tressa touched his shoulder and then Aimee headed for the entrance that would take her up to the rooms she’d been using since her arrival. Putting Damien down for a nap took little time and soon she found herself at a loose end once more.
Without giving it too much forethought, she found herself looking at photography schools in the local area. She finally selected one that allowed the user to choose the language the pages were displayed in, relieved that she wasn’t going to have to seek someone else out to interpret things for her. The school she chose seemed to be an excellent one, with classes starting in six-weeks’ time, and as she scrolled through the website, she kept eyeing the registration button. I can do this. It will be the first step down the path of my new career.
She’d need to find a place to live, and some sort of temporary job, but the schooling was only eight months long and then she’d have enough training to think about making a career change.
There were links to several past students’ work and she scrolled through the images, frowning at how poor some of the pictures were. The lighting was off and the angles seemed wrong in several of the photographs. And yet, these people were being paid to take pictures! There was a link to a local freelance website and she clicked on it, wondering what kind of money a photographer could make.
“Geez! I take better pictures than that. I can’t believe these people are getting paid several hundred dollars for an hour’s worth of photography. I barely make that pounding the pavement and making phone calls ten hours a day.” The red button in the bottom right hand corner drew her eye and she bit her lip. “I don’t have any formal training, but I could do this. I could put myself out there and take pictures of people for money. I certainly couldn’t do any worse than these other people.”
She tapped her fingers on the edge of the computer for a moment. “Why not? The worst that could happen is people don’t like my pictures and I’m out a little bit of my time. But if they like my work…” Without giving herself time to think of reasons not to do this, she clicked the button and started submitting her information. Thirty minutes later she was finished and received a congratulatory message saying her services would be up and ready for the viewing public within the next hour.
Her hands were shaking slightly when she realized what a big step she’d just taken. She started to close out the various screens on her Internet browser, and then she came to the page advertising the photography school. If I’m going to do this right, I should get some sort of formal training. I might learn a thing or two.
She clicked on the button to submit an application, filled in the pertinent information, and then clicked submit. A new page opened, outlining the next steps for becoming part of the school, including an entire page devoted to the fees and tuition.
Aimee read the numbers several times. “There is no way I can come up with that kind of money in the next six-weeks!” Six thousand dollars probably wasn’t a lot of money for this type of specialized education, but it was six thousand dollars she didn’t have. Disheartened, she closed her computer down and then turned to check on Damien. He was still sleeping soundly and she grabbed the bedside monitor and carried it with her out of the room.
Each suite of rooms on the second floor of the large estate had a private entrance to a large balcony that extended the length of each side of the structure. Large columns supported the balcony from below, and Aimee found herself opening the doors and stepping out into the sun. She walked to the railing and closed her eyes, trying to dispel the sadness that wanted to crush her excitement of the last half hour.
“It figures. Just when I finally decide to step out on a limb, it breaks and I’m left dangling in mid-air.”
“That sounds very dangerous, indeed,” a rough masculine voice said from the shadows to her left.
Aimee spun around and squinted in the glare from the sun. “Alexi?” He was the only other person living on this side of the house with access to the balcony.
“Nai.”
Aimee moved towards his voice. “What are you doing out here? Kassi said you went into work…”
“I came home, as you can plainly see.” There was a slight edge to his voice.
Aimee felt her hackles rise. She turned without a word.
Before she’d taken two steps back towards her own door, his voice stopped her. “Lígo machití, do not go away mad. I’m sorry. Stay and talk with me.”
She stopped immediately, angry when she realized what she’d done. The new Aimee doesn’t let any man tell her what to do! Aimee took a deep breath and then turned around. “Fine.” She returned to where he was still sitting in the shadows. “Why are you hiding there? You should come sit in the sunshine.”
“Okhi.”
“Hey! I know that word now. Your mother taught it to me not very long ago.” She stepped closer to him. “Do you not like the sun?”
“Not when my head feels as if it’s going to split into a million pieces.”
“Oh! You have another headache.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Did you take anything for it?”
“I do not like feeling drugged up.”
“I’ll take that as a negative. Maybe you should go lie down and try to sleep. That might help.”
“I am not tired, just tired of hurting. You could help.”
“I could?” She stopped right beside his chair and squatted down so that she could see his face. “How?”
“That thing you did with my hands…it really did help.”
“I just used the pressure points in your palm to help relieve some of the pressure on the nerves in your head.”
Without a word, Alexi extended his hand to her.
She reached for it, losing her balance in the process and falling against his thighs. Breaking her fall with her free hand, she found it placed precariously close to his groin. Her heart was beating so quickly, she wondered if he could hear it.
She stammered out an apology—“Sygnómi”—and tried to move away from him, but he refused to let go of her.
“What are you sorry for?” He took the hand placed so close to his groin and moved it up to the middle of his chest.
Aimee’s legs cramped beneath her and she pushed away from him. “I need a chair…”
“Come.” Alexi rose to his feet, still keeping hold of her hand. He pulled her towards the other balcony door.
Belatedly, Aimee dug her heels in. “Damien’s asleep in my room…”
Alexi nodded once and then changed direction, pulling her towards the doors she’d exited only moments before. He went straight to the couch and then pulled her down next to him, relaxing back into the cushions and closing his eyes.
Aimee opened her mouth to tell him how much she resented his high-handed ways, but her anger dissipated as she settled next to him, compassion for him moving her to offer him whatever comfort she could. There were deep creases in his forehead, a visible sign that his head was hurting. His skin had a gray pallor to it, and his hands were slightly clammy. “You really are hurting, aren’t you?” she murmured softly, reaching up to smooth a hand across his brow, unable to stop herself.
Her libido kicked in, urging her to smooth her hand over the rest of his body. She bit her lip and chided herself mentally. He’s a hurting man and you’re thinking about sex. Get a hold of yourself, Aimee. Geez, he’s so out of your league to start with, what are you thinking! He’s a wealthy guy who has already shown you he likes to call the shots. He might make your panties damp, but he represents everything you’re trying to get away from. You’re calling the shots now. Don’t forget that.
She began to massage his hand, searching for the pressure points she knew would offer him some relief from the building pressure behind his temples. She could help ease his headache and then send him on his way. “Just relax.”