Nek and I stop at a restaurant that makes traditional Greek meals, “this looks very promising” I say smiling as we take our seats. Nek nods, “as long as it’s good, it always looks promising to you” he says in a teasing manner.“True” I say, smiling. The waiter hands both of us the menu, “what would you like to have?”. My eyes wander across the pages of the menu; each meal is on a singular page.“I’ll have the moussaka” I say, careful with the pronunciation. The moussaka looks nice, it’s a dish made with layers of eggplant, potatoes, and ground beef, all topped with a creamy bechamel sauce.“Do you want to know something fun about this dish?” The waiter asks, his eyes sparking as he waits for a response. I nod my head, “okay, I’ll tell you”“One of the legends surrounding this dish is that it was created by a Greek chef who was trying to impress a Turkish sultan. The chef used the best ingredients he could find, including eggplant, which was a favorite of the sultan.”“The sultan was s
We walk through the castle's narrow passageways, marveling at the intricate stonework and the ancient artifacts that were on display. We see suits of armor, old weapons, and other relics of the castle's long history.As we explored the castle, I almost felt like we were stepping back in time. “This makes me imagine what it would have been like here in the past. The halls coming alive as it’s filled with people” I say, smiling.“I can imagine” Nek says as his eyes wander across the room as he tries to picture it. “Let’s head out” I say, taking one last look at the castle before we make our way out.“Do we still get to see Byzantine castle ruins?” I ask, knowing that it’s getting late. “Sure, let’s head there now, it’s getting late,” he says.He hails a taxi that drops us off at the castle ruins. As we make our way up the winding path that leads to the castle, I could feel the history and mystery of the place all around them.“The castle was built in the 15th century” the tour guide say
Two days have gone by since our trip to Oia castle and the Byzantine castle ruins. Since that time, Nek and I have carefully succeeded in avoiding each other.How we were able to do that sharing one room is what beats me. Before I wake up Nek’s gone, nowhere to be seen and I don’t bother looking for him, afterall i'm also avoiding him.I’ve been pretty much exploring the island on my own, which isn’t so bad but it’ll be better if I was exploring it with Nek, but we are supposed to be keeping a distance, so this is for the best, though it practically sucks.On all my trips alone, I half expected to run into Nek, but I never do. The only time is see him is in the evening, and he’s either in a meeting or on a call, and i'm preparing for bed.It’s not a fun experience but I guess that’s just how it has to be. I'm sure it has been pretty lonely for the both of us, since we only know each other. There’s no one to talk to or hang out with.To be honest when he asked me to give our marriage a
"I feel like I've learned so much today," I say as the boat returns to the harbor. "Thank you for showing me the caldera and sharing your knowledge with me."Nikos smiles. "It was my pleasure, Taina. I'm always happy to share the wonders of Santorini with visitors like you."“Thanks once again” I say as I leave the boat, we say goodbye and I walk back to the harbor on my own. It was nice to have someone to talk to during the trip, the more I think about it the more I feel like Nek should have been here, he would have really enjoyed it.“Oh well, he isn’t here” I mutter as I walk to the ticketing booth. As I approach the booth, I see someone who looks just like Nek, but from where I’m standing I can’t really tell.The closer I get, the clearer I can see him but I’m still stuck with his side view. The person turns and I realize that it’s actually Nek, I immediately want to hide from him, but he’s already seen me and there’s no need to hide seeing I didn’t do anything wrong.I slowly wa
“I have so many questions for you” I say chuckling as Nek and I walk into our rooms. He smiles, “I know you do but they’ll just have to wait till tomorrow. It’s quite late”“When did we ever start sleeping early?” I say, making a face at him. “I always sleep on time, when I’m not swamped with work” he states, “and to be honest, I’ve always been worried about your sleeping patterns but I was never in the position to speak, but now I am”I make an exaggerated sigh, “is it too late to change my mind” I say in a teasing manner. He chuckles and gently pulls me into his laps, softly placing a kiss on cheeks, “you’re mine now, it’s too late for you to change your mind”My cheeks redden as I listen to him, “what do we do about the contract?” I ask, he shakes his head, “I don’t know, what do you suggest we do with it”. I smile, “we’ll think about it when we get home”, he nods his head in agreement.I get up from his laps and hug him tightly before leaving him behind in the living room. I walk
“This is really nice” he says, pointing to the food, “the yogurt is divine”. I chuckle at his comment, “So what did you want to talk about?” Nek asks as he takes another bite of his food. “Everything” I answer, smiling, “but let’s wait till we finish our meal, so we can have a better conversation” I say, he nods in response.We eat the rest of our meal in silence and I notice him constantly stealing glances at me. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?” I say in a teasing manner.He shakes his head, “nothing, apart from the fact that I’m grateful for you for giving us a chance”. I smile at him, “I’m grateful too”.I look down at our plates, we’ve both finished our food, “let’s go to the sofa” I say, as I make a gesture of pulling him up. “Okay” he chuckles, “i guess we’re getting straight into it”We sit on the sofa, facing each other, “why don’t you come closer” he says, stretching out his hands towards me. I gently refuse his offer, “I’m fine here and I’m trying to be serious”
He makes space on the sofa as I lay beside him, one of his arms is around my waist. My head is laid against his chest and his chin is gently rested on my head.“I like love” I say, he intertwines his free hand with mine, “that’s fine, so we can call each other love”. I nod, “but wasn’t that our previous pet names for each other”“Well now, the difference is that we mean it”, I nod, “yeah that’s true”. “We don’t have to worry about genotype and blood group, since we are a match” he says, I smile as I listen to him speak.“When do you want to have children, I know we have established that we want children, but when?” He asks, looking down at me, with a smile etched on his face.“Are you ready for children?” I ask. I know my answer to the question he asked but I need to know he’s head is at currently.He nods his head, “I really want a mini you that I can carry around and teach a lot of things” he says, “but” I say.He smiles, “but I want to enjoy some alone time with you, before we star
“Now I don’t feel sleepy anymore” I mumble while I rub my eyes. He kisses my forehead, “that’s good, now we can go out and do something fun. What do you think of that?”“What do you have in mind?” I ask, sitting up. He shrugs, “I don’t have a particular place in mind but what I do know is that we haven’t explored the entire island yet”I nod my head, “that’s true, hand me the flier, let’s both choose a nice place to visit and we can pick a restaurant to eat when we’re done exploring”He grabs the flier in the center table and hands it to me. I go through the flier one by one, one flier catches my eyes. “What about this one” I say, handing the flier to him.He goes through the flier, page by page, a smile appears on his lips, “Sunset cruise, this looks very promising”.I nod, “we get to sail around the caldera”, he smiles, “you mean the famous volcanic crater?”. I nod my head, “we also get to swim in hot springs and maybe have dinner on a yacht” I say, giddy with excitement at the pros
“Taina” Nek says softly, waking me up. “Yeah” I say, sleepily rubbing my eyes.“We have arrived at our parents' place” he says. “Oh” I say, sitting up, taking into view my environment. “It’s been a while since I was here” I say, coming down from the car.He smiles, “don’t worry, we’ll see them more often” he says, holding my hands with Taek on his other side.The maid opens the door, at the sound of the doorbell. A huge smile on her face at the sight of us, “they are at the lounging room” she says, before stepping away from the door.“Thank you” we say, walking past her and towards the lounging room. “Hi everyone” I say, waving as I walk into the room. I take time to respectfully greet my parents and Nek’s parents before returning to Nek’s side.Everyone has an enthusiastic look on their face as their eyes rover on me, I’m guessing they haven’t heard the reason why they’re there.“Who are the parents of this cute little boy” mom says, as she takes Taek from Nek.I smile, “it’s ours”
The months that went by were fun, full of love and laughter. Nek showed up everyday without missing a single day, bearing flowers and gifts each time he came.He was always with Taek, almost as if he was trying to make up for lost time, which is completely understandable.Taek’s clocked one and Nek threw a massive birthday party for him, inviting my friends in Yuhic. I had wished that my family and friends in Yula would be able to make it but Nek explained that it wouldn't be a nice way to reveal the existence of our child, they’d be happy for us but also hurt and confused. So we decided to wait until we returned to Yula.Nek proposed to me at the end of the party, signifying that it’s a new start in our marriage and I gladly accepted as he’s the only man I want to be married to.Three months later“Are we going straight to your parents' place?” I ask, with Taek in my arms as we alight the plane. Nek takes Taek from me, noticing that I look uneasy, “are you okay?” He asks.I nod, “I’m
I smile, “I love you too but you have to work for it. I forgiven you but I need to know that I can trust you. I need to know that the situation with Juris will never repeat itself again whether with Juris or with any other lady”.He nods, “I understand and I promise to put in the work”I smile, “you have to”. He nods, “can I ask a question?” He asks, looking a bit uneasy. I nod, “you can ask me anything”. He smiles, “who’s the guy that I met at the Excellence, is he your boyfriend?”I chuckle, “you mean David. David isn’t my boyfriend, he’s just a very good friend and besides, I wouldn’t let you kiss me if I had a boyfriend that’ll be cheating. And in the same manner, I can’t have a boyfriend if I’m married to you, if I do so, that’d be cheating”A look of relief washes over his face, “wait.. so that means… that means” he says, gently holding me by the shoulders.“What?” I ask, looking into his eyes. “Does that mean the child is mine, the little boy I greeted is our son” he asks, a s
After a while, he stands to his feet and walks to his desk, pulling out a pile of tissue from its box. He gently dabs his eyes and blows his nose into the tissue, backing away from me so I can’t see him.The room remains silent, only the sound of his sobs filling the room. My heart goes out to him as I watch him cry, I want to walk over to him and embrace him in a hug telling him it’s okay and that I’ve forgiven him, but my legs don’t move as I remain fixed to my seat while I watch him dab his eyes.“I’m sorry” he chuckles, returning to the seat, “I guess it’s just pent up emotions for the past one year”. I smile, “it’s fine”.He shakes his head, “no it’s not, I chose my ex over our marriage, our relationship, our family. I literally embarrassed you in front of the staff and others by not upholding your honour”.He sniffles, “for the past nine months, I’ve been planning to see you. I wanted to apologise for my mistakes”“Two months with Juris revealed who she truly is, she is a gold d
I walk into The Excellence, taking the first stairs, turning right; my heels clicking behind me. How I knew his office was not really a big deal, to others maybe, but to me no.I had taken a chance, The Excellence in Yuhic is built almost exactly like the one in Yula with few structural changes to fit in with the culture in Yuhic.I based off my judgment on that information, the worst that could go wrong is that I got lost and if that happened, I’d just call for help.My actions bring my movements to a halt as I stop at a door, there’s no plaque specifying what the room is, just like the one in Yula. Unlike the others which have a Plaque attached to this door, this one doesn’t. Nek didn’t want people to know he had an office here or that he was around, he said it caused too many unnecessary visits. And to be honest, I completely agree with the concept.I take a deep breath, pulling myself together before knocking on the door.“Please come in” I hear a voice on the other side of the r
“Dear Taina BellosTrust this email meets you well. I’m writing to you, because I need to see you and sort out some facts that tie me to my past. I’d personally go over to your home, but we are not as close as we used to and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t like that. I’d love it if we could meet at the Excellence hotel, in my office this evening at 4pm. My secretary will guide you at my arrival.P.S. I know it’s old fashioned to send you an email, but I don’t have your new number and I figured you’d still be using your old email.Warm RegardsNek Bellos”My heart flutters as I read the email. I've read the message over four times but every time I see the name Bellos attached to my name, I just can’t help but feel butterflies.The first thing I did after receiving the email, was to save it to my computer; just in case he rethinks his actions and retracts the mail.“Dear Taina Bellos” I mutter under my breath, reading the email once again. The feeling of giddiness overwhelming me as I re
Taina’s POVI’ve been a nervous wreck for the past few days, I’ve anxiously been waiting for Nek’s call or from his secretary. Not that I wanted to receive a call, I assumed he’d want to know if the child is his, after all Taek bears a striking resemblance to Nek.I haven't had a single call, not even a text message. My heart feels less constricted and I can finally stop thinking about my next line of defence. I feel relieved but deep down in my heart, I’m a little anxious and worried that Nek could ask about Taek in the future. But I can’t live my life in worry, so I’ve decided to let things pan out; but one thing is sure, I’m not returning to The Excellence, especially not with Taek.“Good morning Taina” Isabella says, walking into the kitchen. “Good morning Isabella, how was your weekend?” I ask, a smile on my face as I embrace her in a hug.She smiles, “it was good, but I wish I didn’t miss the dinner at the Excellence with you all”. I nod, “well luckily, we’ll be doing it again
Nek’s POV“Good evening sir” Clinton says, walking into my office, who is the manager of The Excellence located in Yuhic.“Good evening Clinton, how may I help you?” I ask, closing my laptop, and focusing my full attention on him. “Sorry to disturb you sir, but I wanted to inform you that your wife, Mrs Taina Bellos is currently at the restaurant”.My eyes instantly light up, “wife?” I ask, standing to my feet. He nods, “yes, your wife. She actually came some time ago”.I slowly nod, “and how do you know this person is actually my wife?” I ask, resting against my desk. “I’ve seen pictures of her in newspapers and in tabloids, so I could tell straight away that she was Mrs Bellos” he says.I smile, “alright, thank you for informing me. I’ll be downstairs in some minutes time” I say, fully believing that he knows Taina. He nods, “you’re welcome sir, I’ll be going now” he says, walking out of the office.My mind races as I think of Taina, my wife; the one that holds my heart. I slump int
I gently shut the door to my room, with Taek sleeping soundly inside. “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting for so long” I say, walking into the lounge room.David smiles, “I don’t mind, is he sleeping now?” He asks. I nod, “he’s sleeping soundly, the crying in the car must have worn him out”.He nods, “to be honest I’ve never seen Taek cry like that, he’s usually a quiet baby so I was shocked to see him cry so loudly”. I nod, thinking the same thing; could it be that being separated from his father upset him.“He probably was just tired, making him extra cranky. And the broccoli situation didn’t help matters” I chuckle, in an attempt to calm the mood.He smiles, “maybe”.“So what do you want to know, you can ask me anything?” I say, sitting on the sofa. David nods, he looks deep in thought, almost like he is carefully constructing his questions.“Is Nek really your husband?” He asks, breaking the silence. I nod, “he is, he has no reason to lie about that. Nek is my husband and he’s Taek