Chapter Seven

Currently:

Apolo walks out of Cybele's house, leaving the strangest lunch of his life, Iris runs after him past the small alleys, still smelling of passion fruit juice.

— Apollo, wait a minute. — Iris calls him loudly.

He turns and approaches her, and takes a deep breath. — Was it true what Cybele said? He crosses his arms.

— Apollo, please, my cousin is just jealous! — She snorted and rolled her eyes.

— Iris, if there's one thing Cybele isn't, it's that she's a liar, much less that she likes to make a fuss. — He scratches his beard looking at Iris.

She sits on the bench and looks at the sunset, the strong wind ruffling her hair, and breaks the silence.

She throws her hands in the air and looks around. — I confess, I got some ideas from my cousin, but I swear I didn't mean to. — She puts her hands together, and looks at him.

— Why did you do it, Iris? You are capable of creating just as much. — She says with her hand over her mouth.

— People are thinking that your cousin is a liar! — He opens his arms.

— I freaked out and her ideas seemed so much better, I just wanted to make sure I would win this job. —He throws his hands in the air, Iris takes a deep breath, and stares at him.

— I don't believe it. — He raised his eyebrows, and turned around, turning his back to her and taking a few short steps.

She rubbed her palms together, and brushed her hair out of her face. — Apollo, no, don't go away, please, and everything we talked about earlier today, it all happened fast I know, but I want to have a chance with you...

— What do you want me to do now? If I find out about this and I'm talking to you, I'll feel like I'm colluding. And I'm not! What you did was very wrong. And last night was also a mistake. — He said closing his hands, while closing his eyes as the strong wind cut his face.

Apollo felt bad, yesterday Iris appeared on his boat out of nowhere, and they ended up staying together, but it was just a kiss. But he knows he doesn't feel anything for her, maybe he did it for revenge, or to take it out on her, but everything seemed so wrong now...

She takes his arm, and looks at him with her eyes together. — Listen, I know, but there's no turning back now. — She keeps her eyes fixed on him. — If I say anything, my boss will certainly fire me, and I doubt very much that I will find a job anywhere else. And why should you care about Cybele? She betrayed you.

She bites her lips, trying to be sexy, but fails miserably. He looks down, and then looks into her eyes again.

— It's like they say, a camel can't see its own hump. — He pouts at her all over, and purses his lips together and loosens his arms. — No matter what Cybele has done, this is not right with her.

He has his eyes red and thinks how confused and strange that moment was.

— Wow, you sound like my grandmother saying those proverbs. — She frowns, and scrunches up her nose, and crosses her arms.

He turns around and points his index finger at her, and in a firm tone. —Be honest! You're doing the right thing," he raises his eyebrows, and turns back. —If you really want a chance with me. Go and tell the truth, your cousin doesn't deserve this.

━━━━ - ஜ - ❈ - ஜ - ━━━━━

A little later, Athena arrives from her lunch with Sebastian her fiancé. She goes to the Apollo harbor. She sees him, sitting on the pier with his shoulders forward, his body rather hunched over, looking out to sea.

— Hi, hi. — The redhead said with a friendly smile on her face, she blew out her cheeks. — I heard how lunch went today, I came to see how you are? — she asks with narrowed eyes, and approaches him, sitting down next to him.

— Well, I'm fine, I can manage. Does your sister know you're here? — He asks, biting the mallet in his hand.

— Apollo? I've been your best friend for years, and of course I understand the delicacy of my situation. But I will always be here to listen.

He closed his face and tapped her forehead lightly, this was their compliment. She laughed and stared at him.

— Your friendship has shown me that a friend can become a brother...— She nodded, and looking at him with squeezed eyes, she played with his earring. — So come on, spit it out.

— I kissed Iris yesterday, and I know it was a bad decision, but I've decided that I'm moving on, no more thinking about your sister. — He moves his hands in a sign that enough is enough, and finishes eating his apple.

— Well, I think your story was beautiful. It was a cycle, you know? I don't know when you love someone, you know, if my sister stopped loving you, I don't know! She hasn't stopped talking about how you broke up yesterday, and how hard it was to see you go. — Athena took a piece of lint from her sleeve and played with it.

— Something makes me believe in fate, I thought it was her. Because what I felt, what I feel, is so strong... but thank you for being here. — He said with a giving smile without showing his teeth, he pinched the bridge of her nose.

— Well, when you're ready to date, let me know, I have some great friends to introduce you to. — She winks and giggles.

— You know I live on the same tiny island as you, right? —He slaps her on the forehead.

A slap on the forehead was their "greeting" since they were kids.

She smiled and pulled the lint off, standing up, supporting her hands to get up. She slapped her forehead.

— I have to go, I haven't taken my rhinitis medicine. — She sucks in air and sneezes, and I can see I'm going to need it. Is that alright?

He nods his head, making a positive sign and watching her go, he takes a deep breath and stands there observing the immensity of the sea.

-━━━ ✽ - ✽ ━━━-

Later, Cybele sits down again on the swing and her mother arrives, opening the gate.

She sits down beside her and takes the bag off her shoulders, putting it in her lap. — Am I going to be a grandmother? — she asks excitedly, putting a wide smile on her full made up face, she faces her daughter.

— Yes, yes mom, and the best in the world. — She says, raising her eyebrows and taking her belly.

Your mother can't stand the happiness. — I confess that I'm sad that it's not Apollo's. Tell me everything, like him, and how you met, does he already know? Is he tall? — She speaks quickly.

Cybele holds her shoulders. — Mom, calm down! Breathe, I met him in Italy, and...

—What? He's Italian? How could he be? — Her mother has terror overcome her face, as she quickly blesses herself.

Cybele doesn't understand her mother's reaction, until she remembers. She twisted her mouth.

— Ah! Alexia's father, mother has to stop this superstition, Italian men are not cursed. — Cybele rolls her eyes, and plays with her necklace, and smiles in the air.

— Shi, keep your voice down! Your sister can't know that you know, I don't want her messing with him. —Julia says, putting her little finger in her mouth, biting her fingernails, and eyebrow drawn together, she swings her legs while sitting on the swing.

She looked nervous! Cybele soon notices, and looks at her mother, staring at her frowning face.

— I only know his name, Giovani Santoro, but I don't know why you get that way when we talk about him. — She leans back against the swing.

Julia scratches her hair, "I need to change the subject soon.

— But what about you? You never asked me who your father was. — She raises her eyebrows.

Cybele licks her lips, her eyes still closed. — I don't want to meet someone who never wanted me in his life, besides I had a father, Grandma! — She opens her eyes and shakes her feet. — But it's different, Mom, Alexia's father doesn't know she exists! He should di...

—Cybele, that's enough, let's change the subject, okay? — Julia retorts giving a half smile, she soon opens her purse and shows the pictures she took of baby shoes, among other things.

Julia was afraid that Alexia would find out the truth about her father and get closer to him, Julia knew that he was not a good thing, it's no wonder that she will think of him as the biggest mistake of her life... According to Julia, the further Aleia stayed away from him, the better for her...

— Guys, Iris is calling everyone into the room now. — Alexia says as she chews gum.

Cybele takes a deep breath, not to catch Iris by the hair, her mother and she enter and sit on the couch. Atena comes in ready and joins them on the sofa. They all stare at her.

— I don't know what to say, I'm sorry, tears of despair fall on Iris's face and she wipes them away, but her eyes are still red.

Her grandmother puts her hand on her heart, Agnes feels sad and tries to understand why.

But Cybele stands up, and looks up with a true smile on her cheeks. — How nice that you admitted Iris!— She feels her heart relieved...

— Do you forgive me? — Iris brings her fists to her eyes, wiping away the tears, hair streaming down her face. — I don't know what's gotten into me," she sobs, putting her arms over Cybele's shoulders in an almost hug. — She forces a smile.

—Hey, I see you, I understand you, I love you. — She smiles, at that moment surrounded by her family Cybele.— And I also have an announcement to make, as you all know I'm pregnant, but what Grandma made me realize is that I'm not alone. I will raise this child here, I want him running through the streets of Santorini and swimming in the sea and living here?

— That's great!— Her mother, still in shock at Iris' confession, says, but Julia is overcome with tears as she remembers little Cybele, her little girl is going to have a baby.

She begins to cry, they join in the embrace, they were crying women I must confess.

Tereza squeezes herself on the couch, she doesn't want to be there, she focuses her head down absorbing everything. Atena soon extends her hand calling her aunt to the hug. Her grandmother has the idea to play cards, and they accept and play all night.

Cybele really wanted to be at peace with her cousin, although she still didn't understand why she acted this way, but she forgave her heartily, she had more important things to think about. She kept thinking that in the morning she would see Pietro.