by Brandy Blake
She was starting to get a little bored with her days. About half of Stavros’s books were in Greek, half the English books being law and business texts. She had burned through the interesting looking ones, spending her first couple of weeks there at the library. It had gotten colder, windier, and cloudier, making the beach not as good of an option for Imani. With many stores and restaurants closing down for the season, Imani was left with very little to do.
Winter had come and many of the visitors had gone home, the only people around the island now the locals who had lived there for years. She saw the same few faces at the stores and restaurants, starting to get a little stir crazy on the island. What Imani was afraid was going to happen was unfolding before her eyes, her growing skeptical about having to keep this charade up for half a year.
She had been there for four weeks, and she only had dinner with Stavros once. Petra would have dinner ready every night, sometimes having an extra chef come in to help her cook nice meals for the weekend. She set a place for Stavros every single night, but he had yet to show up in the time she was there. He met them out at a restaurant the first week, but that was the last time she had seen him for dinner. He came home late most nights, if not he’d sneak in a side or back entrance. Imani made sure to be careful what she wore for a week in case she’d run into him. She wasn’t sure if she’d even give into him if he made a move on her, but she liked the idea of him giving her a bit of attention. It was nice to feel desired holed away in the tragically beautiful mansion. He didn’t even look at her half the time they passed. Or so that’s what Imani thought. Stavros was careful to hide his stare from Imani when they would pass in the hall or one would walk by an open door of the room the other was in. He still always managed to sneak a peek in of Imani; even if he only caught a blur it’d remain an image he’d replay in his mind throughout his long workdays.
When he was home, which was a rare occasion, he was usually working in the library or his office. Imani still wasn’t sure what exactly his business was. It seemed like in her times, anyone could be found online through different social media accounts or business profiles. Even someone who didn’t know very many people had an online history. Stavros was pretty good at keeping private. Even though he was one of the richest men in all of Greece, there still wasn’t much information on him to be discovered, no matter how far Imani dug online.
Imani worried that their messy relationship would keep her stomach in knots the duration that she’d be there, but his rare appearances kept that on the back burner. She was actually wanting to see him, his mysteriousness making him all the more desirable. What could he be doing that took so much of his time and made him constantly away from his own son?
Things were easy between them, Imani eventually realizing it was the easiest relationship she’d had at least, and the furthest along one had gone. She was like a mother and a big sister to Darius, doing her best to be his friend and have fun, but also know where to draw the line and discipline when necessary. He was smart and fierce, sweet and gentle at times as well. Imani saw both herself in him, as an independent child with few parental figures, and she also saw Stavros’s strong will and independence peek out at various moments. The rest of his actions were left to Imani’s imagination when trying to figure out where they came from. He had a short temper and at times, seemed a little selfish. Was that all Stavros or was Darius’s mother popping in as well. She had a lot of time in the mansion alone, so it wasn’t uncommon for her mind to wander this far.
Imani had spent yet another day flipping around Greek television, helping Darius with schoolwork some of his future teachers sent to get him caught up with the rest of the students. She had been eating chips and hummus, looking down at her shirt and realizing it was covered in chip crumbs. Her hair was tied up in a knot on top of her head, and it could certainly use a wash. In the first few weeks that she was there, she had tried to look her best for Stavros every day, just wanting to at least tease the idea that they could have a little romance going on beneath the lies and deceit. She at least wanted to look good for the most attractive man she saw often, besides one of the gardeners that came on Tuesdays, but that was just a fantasy. At this point, being comfortable was her priority. She got in a bit of a cozy routine that might not have been good for her overall, but it was certainly relaxing.
As she heard the door close, she brushed the crumbs of her chest as quick as possible, smoothing her baby hairs down and pinching her cheeks so she looked a bit less like a zombie.
“Hello, nice to see you,” she told him as he walked into the living room. She couldn’t help but be hyper aware of her looks at the moment. He looked scared, not offering a smile back.
“We need to get married now,” he told her right away without saying hello back. She immediately scrunched her brows, not quite sure how to react the sudden statement.
“Excuse me, what?” Imani asked, kind of laughing at the same time. She had no idea what was going on.
“I need you to be more than my wife,” he explained, Imani utterly confused.
“What are you talking about?” She asked.
“My lawyer says we should do it now. If we just keep the engagement going, that’ll look fake,” he told her. It was fake, but that’s clearly not how they wanted things to look. “Ursa is already calling my bluff. She says she doesn’t buy it and that you’re probably someone I hired.”
Imani didn’t know how to respond. That was exactly what was happening, but she was offended that it was Ursa’s first thought after having met Imani. “So, what does that mean?”
“So, we should get married now. The court date is in just a little over seven months. Once it’s over and I get custody of my son, we can have a nice easy divorce, as you’ll sign a prenup, of course,” he explained. Imani wasn’t sure she was quite ready to go through with it.
“That’s a lot. To have that on my record? I don’t know Stavros. I just don’t know,” Imani said as she shook her head. It was a lot to ask, but there was also a lot at stake. He had given her a ton of money already, so she felt somewhat indebted to him. Still, how would she explain that situation to future partners? Would her real-first husband appreciate the fact that she had been married before?
“Please, I can’t lose my son,” Stavros begged. Imani stood up and walked to the back balcony off the living room. He followed her out as she paced around, trying to figure out what the best thing to do would be.
Imani wasn’t sure that she’d actually be able to go through with this entire thing. If she did it, it would certainly help Stavros’s look, and he would have a better chance of holding onto custody of his son. It was also a lie, however, and Imani didn’t know if she wanted to be part of a scheme like that. Was it wrong for her to deceit Darius’s grandparents as well as the courts of whichever legal system they were going to be dealing with? Imani didn’t’ even know if they were going to be lying to the court of Athens or if the case was going to be in the United States.
What effect would it have on Darius? How was this little boy supposed to process everything? There were real feelings at stake, and although living in the mansion and having a full bank account felt pretty good, she couldn’t help but think about whose emotions were being toyed with.
She didn’t like that she was thinking of this more than he was. At the same time, it was clear he was desperate to hold onto his son, actually paying a woman to pretend to be his wife. If he were this desperate, maybe Imani’s only option was to go through with it.
“All right, let’s do it,” she told him, not sure if it was going to be the right thing to do. Seeing the look of desperation in his eyes helped sway her, and looking deep into his glare paralyzed her, keeping her from letting him down.
Chapter6
When Imani had gone to the courthouse to get married, she felt like she had drifted out of her body. Imani looked at the people around her. She wondered if anyone had been together as little as they had. they had to wait until Stavros was off work to go to take th
e boat to the courthouse and get legally married. The trip was something she had been anxious for, but it floated in front of her like a distant memory during the trip back. There were some couples there that looked legitimately in love, others that didn’t even look at each other. There was a young girl with an older man, and a couple that looked like they had already been together for a few months. Imani thought about running out of the courtroom, but the idea of where she’d go after weighted too heavily on her conscience. This idea felt insane, but what else was there to do? She needed to put this family back together, and this might not be the way to do it, but it seemed like it was buying her time until she could really figure out what to do.
They had slept together twice at that point, however, Imani thinking that might be more than some of the other couples waiting to get married. She had been told all her life to save herself until marriage, but that wasn’t an easy thing to do. She couldn’t help but enjoy sex, and when it came to Stavros, she had been wanting it pretty bad again. He had managed to make her orgasm so easily, a thought that still thrilled her when she replayed the beast with two backs in her mind over and over again.
Afterwards, Stavros decided to take Imani out once they got back to Mykonos, a chance for her to actually get to know her husband a bit better. That saying wasn’t sounding just right to Imani yet. She wasn’t sure it ever would.
“How about some pasta and wine?” Stavros asked Imani, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“That sounds perfect,” she responded. Once they got back to the island, they headed to Casa di Giorgio.
She looked across the table. She had hardly known this man and now she was calling him her husband? she had seen ridiculous situations like this happen on television before, some edgy new reality show where people get married after knowing someone for a short period. This was her real life, and she wasn’t feeling great about it. Nothing ever turned out the way she expected, so she was scared now knowing that this could end pretty badly if she wasn’t careful. Imani always thought of herself as a stubborn person who would stand up for themselves if they needed, but she wasn’t so sure she wasn’t being that strong person since living with Stavros. Would someone like her normally agree to marry a man that they knew so little about. On the other hand, she couldn’t imagine not going through with the marriage, wondering what might happen to Darius if his father lost custody of him. At the same time her stomach turned from fear of the unknown, her shoulders relaxed seeing the smile stretch across his face as they sat down at their table.
“It’s nice to actually see you. It seems like you’re working a lot,” she told him. It was true, he was hardly around, and Imani was starting to feel like she knew him less and less, even though, so little was already known.
“Everything I do, all that I work for now, I do it for him, Imani,” he explained seriously. Imani could tell that he was a little upset that she might have hinted at his work addiction. She didn’t want to push him over the edge, but Imani did want to get to know him better at a faster pace. There was a connection there once, and now that she was a bit turned off by his lifestyle, she was hoping that digging deeper would take her back to the place they were when their lips first met.
“Before him, it seemed like you had a cushy life,” Imani said, wanting to reference his notoriety for being a bit of a playboy. He had been commonly known for dating younger women, always seen out with a new model or actress. His wife was younger than him, and certainly looked like his daughter in some photographs. Imani was a bit turned off by this part as well, but she admired that he knew how to appreciate a beautiful woman.
“What do you mean cushy life?” he asked. He knew English pretty well, so the language barrier wasn’t why he was asking Imani to repeat what she just asked him.
“Well, you can clearly get everything you want,” Imani explained to him as the waiter poured them each a glass of red wine. She thanked them, not even having to order a type, the staff just knowing exactly what Stavros wanted.
“It’s not like it was always like that,” Stavros explained as he scrunched his brows. His tone was starting to get defensive and Imani realized she needed to backtrack a little bit on what she was saying.
“I know, I just. I’m sorry forget I said anything,” she told him, sipping her wine and looking into his eyes to make sure that he knew to drop it. Imani couldn’t look deep enough, and it was clear he wasn’t getting the message. “You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
“I worked for everything I had. I never even knew my dad and my mother was a drug addict. I worked to build a business and I have to keep that up, so my son never has to suffer the way I did,” he explained. Imani could see that he was getting emotional. Imani did need that explained to her a bit. She didn’t want to mess with Stavros because she could see he was getting upset, but she actually shouldn’t have said anything because she wasn’t aware of the life he had lived up until that point.
She saw the hurt in his eyes and knew she had made a mistake.
“Stavros, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. I didn’t know my mother either,” she explained. “Just call me bitter.”
He let out a deep sigh and knew that he was just a little too sensitive about the subject. Imani had gotten the deep dirt she was looking for, but she didn’t realize she’d end up finding some worms.
“Then, you know how I feel. You know how important it is for me to stay in Darius’s life,” he told her.
“Of course. I’ve always seen that. I have always known that importance,” she explained. “You work hard, but your son already has everything he needs. What’s the thing you missed most about having a dad?”
“Having my mother have to work twice as hard was bad. But then she got addicted to heroin and abandoned me, making it a little harder to feel sorry for her,” he told Imani as he took a sip of wine.
“Right. But if you could have your dad back, or if you could say something to him, isn’t it that you’d want him to spend more time with you?” Imani said, realizing she was failing miserably at trying to get the point across.
Stavros understood what she was trying to say, but he certainly didn’t agree with her. “I see my son. Just not when you’re around. When he’s not with you or Petra he’s with me. So, you wouldn’t know how much time we actually spend together. Thank you for the advice,” he explained condescendingly.
She sipped her wine, realizing he was pretty good at arguing. She had met her match.
“You’re not afraid to say what’s on your mind, are you?” Stavros told her, finishing his glass of wine. It was clear there were some good vibes getting sent through his blood as the wine finally kicked in.
“Is that a bad thing?” She asked.
“Not at all,” Stavros said, pouring his own glass of wine and finishing it quickly. Imani was realizing he was certainly enjoying his fair share of alcohol. The more he filled himself with liquid, the easier it was for the truth to pour out, so Imani didn’t mind him indulging in a bit of the truth serum.
“So, after this, what’s next for Stavros? Do you ever see yourself remarrying?” Imani asked, looking around the restaurant for her food. The server managed to keep Stavros’s wine glass full, but she was most interested in stuffing her face with pasta.
“You’re really not afraid to ask the tough questions, are you?” Stavros asked, his Greek accent getting thicker as his eyes glazed over. Imani just smiled cheekily and shrugged, Stavros smiling back.
“Marriage is supposed to be till death do us part, right baby?” Stavros winked, just as Imani saw the server walk towards them with plates full of steaming food.
*****
“Come on in, my wife,” Stavros told Imani as he led her through the front door. Imani was drunk on carbs, feeling in good spirits as Stavros carried her like a new husband and wife off to their honeymoon suite.
They had managed to walk home from the restaurant, Stavros sobering up a bit and Imani getting a chance
to stretch as her limbs got taken over by pasta. She felt noodles stuffed in every corner, even finishing Stavros’s plate when he couldn’t. Normally she wouldn’t do something like that on a date, but Imani didn’t think it was a real date, even though the two were married.
“Put me down,” Imani laughed as Stavros set her in front of the stairs. “I have to put these away.”
Imani walked into the kitchen, putting two more orders of past in the fridge she had gotten in case she was hungry when they returned. There was a note on the fridge from Petra letting her know that there was dinner inside and congratulating them on the marriage. Petra was certainly protective over the family, so Imani wondered how she felt about this situation. Stavros had done everything to protect himself, and it was Petra’s idea in the first place, but Imani still wasn’t sure just how involved she actually was. They seemed to be in bed a bit early, but Imani was happy that she might get another chance alone with Stavros.
Imani walked back to the kitchen to see Stavros standing at the top of the split staircase. She walked up halfway, seeing what he was lost in. If you looked out the back window just right that you could see behind the stairs, there was a large window that looked out to the sky over the water. The bright white moon illuminated the sky, Imani instantly taken aback by the breathtaking sight.
“Checked on Darius, just in case you were wondering,” Stavros said with an annoyed voice, hinting at how Imani had teased him over the subject earlier.
“Well, that’s good to know,” Imani responded with a cheeky smile, not wanting to play into his game. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” he told her, still looking out the back window. “I always feel better knowing that he’s safe and sound asleep in his bed. I really hope our plan works Imani.”
He turned towards her, looking deep into her eyes with worry filling his own. Imani was seeing him incredibly vulnerable, certainly the most open that she’d seen since moving in with him.
