Page 24

Cecily

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Something’s happened,” Elina says when Zoe, the wife of another of Dionysus’s cousins, enters the dressing room.

“Do you have a crystal ball?” I ask.

“No. I’m just an observer. For a long time I listened more than I spoke and learned to read people. Tell me.”

I could talk about my sleepless night after the inappropriate conversation with my boss, but I’m not that brave. After I got dressed and grabbed the baby monitor, I waited, watching Dionysus through the device until he left the room. I saw him pull out the rocking chair and watch his son in the crib. He stayed there for a long time, and the contrast between the loving father and the seductive man is so enchanting that it drives my entire system crazy.

I choose to report Peyton’s phone call instead. “Remember I told you I have a stepsister and a stepmother?”

“Yes.”

“Peyton, an almost -sister who was never anything to me other than a stranger, called me. She wanted to visit me in Manhattan.”

“And would that be so bad?”

I wonder if I should tell her my story, but I don’t want her to feel sorry for me, so I summarize everything. “After my father died, Jodelle, my stepmother, became my guardian. While I lived with them, life was hell. I want distance from both of them.”

“Did you tell your sister that?”

“She’s not my sister.” I remember Keith. Yes, he was the only friend I had.

“Still, she has the power to upset you.”

“I know. I thought about it. I still allow people to hurt me.”

“Sometimes it’s not a matter of allowing . We are human, flawed, and emotions are difficult to contain most of the time. Want to hear some advice from someone who comes from a completely dysfunctional family?”

I nod my head, signaling yes.

“Don’t hide yourself so much. Nobody is strong all the time. You don’t have to be perfect. Just learn to say “no” and be okay with it. You said they were mean to you, so you don’t owe either of them anything.”

“Thank you, Elina.”

“It’s got to be this one.” Zoe, a beautiful ex-top-model, comes out of the fitting room stall in a champagne-colored dress. “Have you chosen yours yet?”

“Cici is somewhere between red and tea pink.”

“Red, always!” Christos’s wife says.

“To match the hair?” I ask, discouraged.

“Baby, there’s no way to hide your hair color. You are a natural redhead, and some women would give an arm to have that color. I vote for red, without a shadow of a doubt.”

“That’s five times what I can afford for an outfit like that. The chance of me being invited to another wedding is very small, and if it happens, it will probably be with you two, which means I won’t be able to wear it again. It’s a big investment for something I’ll wear only once.”

“Lucky for you, this store belongs to me,” the Greek woman’s friend says. “Choose whatever you want—it will be a gift.”

I look at Elina, wanting to choke her and kiss her at the same time. “You did this on purpose,” I accuse. “That’s why you told me to come with you.”

She shrugs, not at all ashamed. “Yes, I did. I knew you wouldn’t accept it if I offered, but you can’t be rude to Zoe.”

Her phone rings, and she walks away to answer it. I talk to Zoe, who tries to convince me to take matching silver sandals.

When Elina returns five minutes later, she says, “Dionysus is going on a business trip. He should only return the day before the wedding. He asked me to stay with Joseph until then, which means you have every night free from now until then, Cici.”

“He doesn’t trust me to be alone with his son.” I’m stating the obvious, but despite being disappointed by being separated from the boy just twenty-four hours after meeting him, I can’t help but understand my boss’s position.

To him, I’m a stranger, so he doesn’t trust me to be with his heir unsupervised while he’s away.

Elina nods and, in her undiplomatic way, says, “I wouldn’t trust you either, in his place. Don’t get me wrong, but you’re a recent hire and there’s no way I would leave town and leave you with my kids after so little time working for me.”

“Looking at it from that point of view...” I say, trying not to get too upset.

“Look on the bright side: you have a house measuring almost a thousand square meters all to yourself. Three swimming pools and no grumpy boss to disturb you.”

“He’s not grumpy. Not that grumpy, anyway,” I say, and they both laugh.

“Of course. Greek men are all lovely,” Zoe mocks. “Now let’s get down to business: which hairstyle are we going with?”

It’s strange to have a mansion at my disposal, but when I get home from my shopping spree with Zoe and Elina, Barbara tells me that she was instructed by “Mr. Kostanidis” to make me feel at home.

You know that story about “who seeks, finds”?

That is what happened.

After going around the house trying to familiarize myself, I head to the library, sure that Dionysus won’t mind if I take one of his books.

As soon as I take a few steps into the room, however, I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach when I see a photo of him with one arm around Sue’s shoulder and the other holding Joseph.

I know she’s dead, but I can’t help but hate her.

No, hate is not enough. I despise her with all my might.

I run away because even her image hurts me. I feel choked up remembering what she did.

I run up the stairs and change out of my pajamas and into a bikini.

I read on a website about anxiety disorders that when I feel this way I should try some physical exercise to combat it, not an intellectual activity, so I go down towards the heated pool and without even testing the water, I jump into it.

I couldn’t tell you how long I swim, but when I get out, my muscles are exhausted and my mind is numb.

I go up to my room like a robot, and after a shower, I fall into bed in my bathrobe.

I don’t want to think about that wretch. I hope she’s burning in hell.