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Cecily

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Three weeks later

“Why does it look like there are ants inside your clothes? They’re just people, Cici. Don’t get so agitated,” Elina says when she sees me wringing my hands in my lap.

“I don’t belong here, Elina. Besides, I don’t think Mr. Kostanidis will like seeing me here. He was dying to get rid of me, and when you made me that job offer, it ruined his plans.”

“Don’t belong here? That’s nonsense. You are beautiful and you are more polite than most of the people I live with. What is the real problem?”

“Insecurity about doing something inappropriate today.”

“That’s bullshit. You are well-dressed, and the new haircut makes you look sophisticated. Women will be jealous of you.”

Elina can only be an angel that God placed in my way. She is not just a boss but a friend. She took me shopping and to the beauty salon, and she refused to deduct both the new clothes and the new look from my salary. Now I no longer feel like I stand out from the rest of the New York population.

I also have a place to live: a studio apartment that she told me belongs to her and was vacant, so I can walk to work.

“As for Dionysus, he offered you a job too. He won’t be upset seeing you here.”

“Yes, he offered, but not before you did, and I’m pretty sure it was only because he must be competitive and doesn’t like to be left behind.”

She laughs and doesn’t disagree.

“He thinks I’m crazy for crossing the street without looking,” I say, feeling guilty for hiding the truth from her. However, even though she is very kind, Elina is related to the Kostanidou by marriage, as her husband, Odin, is their cousin.

“You say that because he didn’t want to give you the job as Joseph’s nanny?”

I nod my head in agreement.

“Don’t take the fact that Dionysus didn’t hire you to take care of his little son personally, Cici. Joseph is his world.”

“Where is the boy’s mother?” I ask, feeling fake for having to pretend I don’t know Sue is dead.

Elina’s beautiful face closes in disgust. “She died in a car accident.”

“You didn’t like her?” I ask, because it’s obvious she didn’t, and I want to know why. I know why I hated the woman, but I thought she got along well with Dionysus’s family.

“We shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but just because she died doesn’t mean she became a saint, right? I’m not going to go into that because I think that girl’s soul needs peace, but let’s say that ‘didn’t like her’ barely sums up how much I despised her.”

I shouldn’t push, but I can’t resist. “Why?”

She shakes her head from side to side, and for a moment I think she’s not going to answer me, but suddenly she says, “There is no single explanation. The whole thing, I think. I felt a bad vibe from her. Like when you’re in front of someone who is putting on a show all the time, you know? And as you may have noticed, I tend to like people.”

I’m amazed at how intuitive Elina is, because if there’s one thing you can say about Sue, it’s that she was a liar.

“Were they . . . um . . . she and Mr. Dionysus, in love?”

My boss looks at me for a moment, as if she is thinking before responding, and finally she says, “Don’t be upset about what I’m going to say, but I would feel like a horrible human being if I didn’t give you a warning: don’t fall in love with Dionysus, Cici. He’s a great father, but like the other members of the family, with the exception of Zeus, Odin, and Christos, he doesn’t want commitment. In the end, you will leave with your young heart broken.”

My face feels like it’s on fire, and I would like to say that my question was just about a morbid interest in Sue’s relationship with the Greek, but that’s not true and it makes me feel very embarrassed. “I don’t—" I start, but she raises her hand, interrupting me.

“You’re an adult, and I’m the last person who should be telling you who you can get involved with, since as I told you the other day, Odin and my father were mortal enemies and yet we fell madly in love, but neither the Kostanidou nor the Lykaioses are one-woman men, until they find the one who makes their world stop spinning.”

“Was Sue that woman for Mr. Kostanidis?” I keep probing because I simply can’t stop.

“No. Dionysus was not in love with her. Joseph was the reason he married Sue. People love differently, of course, but a man who is crazy about a woman is easy to recognize.”

“Do you speak from experience?” I joke, because the few times I’ve seen Odin and Elina together, it was clear that my friend and boss is the center of his universe.

She smiles. “That too.”

I want to know more about Dionysus and Sue’s marriage, as well as the little boy, but I can’t raise suspicions. “I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me, Elina. If it weren’t for you, I’d be back in Kansas by now.”

“And was it that bad there?”

“After I turned eighteen and left home, no, but while I lived with my stepmother and my half-sister—or rather stepsister, since she wasn’t my father’s daughter—it was horrible.”

“And are you liking New York?”

“Yes. I thought I wouldn’t get used to it, but I’m liking it here more and more.”

“Why? I mean, you were born and raised in a small town. How can you love the hustle and bustle of Manhattan?”

“I’m loving being anonymous. In my city, you sneeze at home and someone at the bakery says, ‘bless you.’ It’s exciting to be in a place where no one knows you.”

“What about the promise you made?”

At the exact moment she finishes the question, I see Mr. Colt, Dionysus’s driver, park. Today will be the day I’ll see Joseph for the first time, as Elina invited me to a small reception among friends.

I see the Greek who is the reason I have completely changed my life get out of the car and then lean into the back seat. When he stands up again, he has a little blond boy in his arms.

My heart skips a beat, and I feel my eyes filling with tears, but I hide them, looking away from the targets of my interest.

“The promise I made is on its way to being fulfilled. I’ll do it, God willing.”