Page 1 of Claimed Gem

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“Drinks are up.”

Stephanie nodded at the bartender and picked up the next tray of drinks, weaving her way through the lively crowd of locals and tourists. Stephanie couldn’t understand the allure of liquor but serving it paid well and right now that was all that mattered. She lifted the tray above her shoulder reflexively as she made way through the unruly crowd. Her reflexes had definitely improved over the last few months of her living in Greece.

If, a few years ago, anyone would have told her she would be waiting tables at a bar, dressed like an exotic dancer, and constantly fighting off men’s advances, she would have laughed rapturously. All her life she had been the nerd no man had found attractive. Now she couldn’t get away from guys, always complimenting her and trying to feel her up.

She reached her first table and smiled warmly at the two older couples seated. So far, this was her easiest table this evening and she took her time serving them.

“Oryse opiote,”she murmured as she set the drinks down in front of the correct person.

“What did she say, George?” one of the women whispered loud enough for Stephanie to hear.

Stephanie’s smile grew and she answered before the man. “I was just telling you, here are your drinks. You speak English?”

The woman smiled back, “We are visiting from the UK. We’re celebrating our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Both of us,” the woman reached over and patted the hand of the other woman. “We got married together and we’ve celebrated our anniversary together every year since.”

Stephanie tried not to let her envy show. She had dreamed of a husband and making a family but romance just didn’t seem to be her thing. Maybe she had been dating the wrong kind of men. Either way, dating and love just didn’t seem to be in the cards for her and she needed to stop feeling sorry for herself. “Congratulations,” she told them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another customer wave at her impatiently and she sighed. “Got to get back to work. Enjoy your time here in Greece.”

“Thank you. We will.”

Stephanie put the tray down by her side and headed for the man watching her lecherously. She resisted the urge to reach up and try to pull down the skimpy bikini top that served as the top half of her uniform. The small boy shorts that completed her uniform weren’t much better. She was the last person in the world to be wearing such a revealing outfit. Her breasts were too small and, in her opinion, her ass was a bit on the big side – a fact the skimpy shorts did nothing to hide. On morethan one occasion, Stephanie had wanted nothing more than to take the napkins that were offered with the drinks and spread them across her body. Truthfully, they would have done a better job of covering her body than her uniform.

“About time, sweet cheeks. Bring us another round and something for yourself.”

“That’s very kind,” Stephanie told him, pasting a fake smile on her face as he reached out to rub his hand up and down her arm. She moved to the side on the pretense of checking with the other occupants of the table about their drink requests. Anything to avoid being pawed by this cocky, rich kid who thought he was a gift to the female race. He wasn’t a local and she could tell he was wealthy by his expensive clothes and watch. He was handsome enough but his cocky attitude was a complete turn off for Stephanie.

He’s not really seeing me, just this skimpy outfit I’m wearing.

She’d seen more than her fair share of spoiled rich kids and other nefarious characters while working at the bar. She had a degree in Art History, and no one cared about her roving mind. She hadn’t been able to use her degree to get a good job back in the States. It was almost as if no one valued intelligence and culture anymore. They only cared about her barely-there bikini and flirtatious banter with the customers. She stepped back when the man’s hands reached for her backside. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she told them, not even bothering to say it in Greek. The proprietor of the bar liked his waitresses to do their best to get along with the clientele, many of whom were tourists. The little seaside town of Stavros was sixty-five kilometers from Thessaloniki and was a popular resort destination for tourists wanting to get away from the city.

Stephanie had ended up here literally by accident when her sightseeing tour bus flipped over and she didn’t know how to get back to her hostel in Thessaloniki. She’d stumbled into the small bar that same afternoon, hoping to find someone she could communicate with, and had ended up getting a job and a ride back to the hostel to retrieve her belongings.

Stephanie had first come to Greece on a cruise ship, as a member of the crew. She’d fallen in love with the country and had vowed that she would return and build a new life for herself here. She’d left the United States to find herself after she has spent years barely scraping by. Her new lifestyle didn’t have much job security – but it had plenty of tips and new experiences. Her attitude in Greece was a complete departure of who she had been several years ago. It had taken her eight months to save up enough money to afford a one-way ticket and have a small nest egg to live on until she found a place to work. She’d been in Greece for only three days when she’d visited Stavros to explore its pristine white sand beaches. She boarded the bus, not knowing her life was about to change.

She’d started work at the bar that same evening, and while she hated being seen as a sex-object, without a job she had no ability to remain in the country. She’d applied for half a dozen jobs in her first few days in Greece but was turned down because of her inability to speak Greek. She’d been willing to learn but that took time. She did not want to go back home because it would have meant giving up on her dreams; moreover she had been unable to find a good paying job there too. At least here, she had gorgeous beaches, brilliant turquoise sea, and a variety of culturalopportunities to explore during her free time.

She continued to mindlessly go through the evening, choosing which patrons were safe to flirt with for the chance of a bigger tip, and which patrons were dangerous and needed to be kept at an arms’ length. She ignored the appreciative looks the male clientele sent her way, having never truly seen herself as a beautiful woman. She’d barely dated in high school or college, never seeing it as a priority.

Walking around in nothing but the skimpy bikini had been a very hard adjustment for Stephanie. Several weeks later, she had managed to acknowledge that she did look all right in the bikini, and while she would never see herself as a fashionista or sex goddess, the male patrons seemed to enjoy having her serve them their drinks.

She nodded as two men sat down at a table in the middle of her section. The older gentleman didn’t really draw her attention. The younger man was very handsome but had a dark aura about him. He looked dangerous and attractive at once – a combination that disturbed Stephanie. She wasn’t normally attracted to dangerous men. She stayed far away from them.

Have I seen him somewhere before?

“Hey, girl. Did you see that group in the back corner? Man, the guy is like a chick magnet. It’s like watching a sultan with his harem,” Terri whispered in her ear, laughing at her own cleverness.

Stephanie glanced towards the back corner seeing a bevy of women and feeling relief she didn’t have to service that table. Stephanie had met Terri at the bar and she was one of the only people Stephanie could count as a friend. Terri was from Jamaica and had worked all over the world as a waitress. Her exceptional people skills enabled her to move from one coastal town to another.

Terri shared with Stephanie that all she wanted out of life was to see the world. Since her parents hadn’t provided her with a trust fund, she’d made her own plan for realizing her dreams. She would find a place that would provide her with work and the financial means to live. In her off hours, she would explore and play tourist. When Terri felt she’d seen everything in that location she wanted to see, she’d simply pick up her duffel bag and head for the next port and next adventure.

Stephanie had been amazed at some of the stories Terri told her but she also recognized that Terri exuded street smarts and was more than an expert at reading people. Stephanie, while having raised herself from the age of fifteen, wasn’t nearly as prepared for the bullshit that people tried to pull on one another. Terri had been her lifesaver and in her hands, Stephanie had learned so much about herself and others. She’d also had a really good time in the process. Terri was a firecracker and the life of the party.

“Hey, Steph. You gonna deliver these drinks today, or next year?” Tomas called to her, bringing her back to the present. Tomas was the bartender and part owner of the establishment as it was a family business. His English had been learned by watching movies and she hid a smile at the way he butchered the New York accent he’d been trying to emulate. Tomas’s favorite movie wasThe Godfatherbut his accent was deplorable.

“Sorry,” Stephanie loaded up the drinks, ignoring the questioning look Tomas sent her way. Shedelivered the drinks, once again evading reaching hands and ignoring the taps on her butt she couldn’t even see coming. An empty table drew her attention and she took her time loading up the dirty glassware and wiping down the table.

The two men she’d seen earlier were sitting close by and she took a closer look at them. One was very obviously Greek. Straight nose, dark hair, dark eyes, and the longer she watched, the more she got a weird vibe from the man. He was dangerous, and yet, he’d done nothing to make her feel that way.