Chapter One
Ciara squinted in the bright sunlight as she emerged from the darkened holiday apartment she was sharing with her parents in the quaint holiday resort on the southern coast of the mediterranean island of Crete. As she shut the door behind her a wave of mediterranean heat hit her. Before her the dusty mountains dotted with the dark green shrubbery native to this place rose in the distance. She blinked and yawned. She had slept it in again today. Oh well, what else were holidays for, she thought to herself. Her maxi skirt started to billow in the strong wind from the east. She sighed. She tucked her keys safely into her bag with her phone, book and wallet as she walked down the rampway to the cobbled courtyard of the resort. A broken fountain stood just in the centre, its still waters gleaming in the sunlight. Ciara walked past the large rusted iron chess set and up the rampway into the taverna. She sighed at the sight before her, the rustically beautiful taverna with its flagstone flooring, wooden columns and flowering pot plants at the bases gave way to lush green grass and a row of verdant palm trees before the beach and the blue mediterranean sea stretching out onto the horizon. A feeling of deep contentment set in with Ciara smile at the sight. As she looked out she thought she could spot her fathers white sun hat and her mothers turquoise and dark blue towel under one of the sun umbrellas on the beach.  
Ciara waved to the native Greek folk working in the taverna and called out 'Kalimaera!' to them and ordered her brunch of bread, jam, some fruit. Sitting down at her favourite comfortably cushioned chair where she could see the sea beyond she fell to her usual pastime of people watching when waiting for her food. A German man with a long, white ponytail she had seen around was sitting in at the table ahead of her with his dog. From her vantage point she espied more guests dressed in their bright summer clothes sitting out in the sun, and a couple more at the dinner tables to the side of the taverna. The waiter brought Ciara her brunch and she tucked in. The bread was soft and freshly baked and the jam was tart raspberry that made Ciara smack her lips. She devoured every last morsel and drank up her cappuccino. The caffeine hit, carbohydrates and sugar rush of her brunch boosted her. It was historical fiction, the kind her friends teased her for reading. Only two girls who were her best friends since primary school understood her serious nature and the pleasure she took out of topics that their peers would typically consider “school stuff”. She was just starting to get into the mystery, depth and grandeur of her book on Greek mythology when she heard some shouting in the distance. She looked up and saw that the source of the noise seemed to be a group of young people coming up along the path from the town. A skinny brown haired young man had jumped on a dark young man from behind. Two young women were crying out as they had nearly been knocked over by the brown haired young man as he jumped on the other. A blonde young man walking a little further behind than the rest was laughing. Ciara's breath caught in her throat. It was the most breathtaking laugh she had ever seen... it bubbled with a carefree affection and youthful mirth, dimples blazing on his cheeks. Ciara could see from where she was sitting that he was tall and broad shouldered. As he walked into the restaurant she could see his face more clearly and found that it was classically handsome as well as animated in the moment with his friends, making for a truly beautiful sight...Ciara caught herself nearly giving a girlish sigh and then became painfully aware that she was in a public place. She looked around and coughed slightly before returning to her book. She still couldn't help glancing back up at that gorgeous young man. He and his group of friends spoke to one of the waiters who then started pushing two of the small dinner tables together. Ciara believed she had detected Australian accents. Now she was just being nosey. She sighed and really tried to focus on her book this time. She heard a bout of loud laughter coming from the table of young Australians and she looked up again. The brown haired guy had given himself a ketchup moustache and was now licking it off. He was making a bit of a mess of it. The dark haired guy he had jumped on before was shaking his head and the two girls were making disgusted faces. The blonde young man was laughing his affectionate, mirthful laugh again. Ciara could barely tear her eyes a way, but in the interest of not making a complete fool of herself just sitting there gaping at him she made herself turn back to her book. She shifted about in her seat and made another attempt to read. However as she read the awareness of the blonde adonis sitting only a few feet away kept tugging at her. She glanced up again. He was tucking into a pizza and managing to look amazingly attractive doing it too. Ciara surreptitiously watched him eating his pizza, pretending to read her book all the while. He and his friends went through the pizza fairly fast and were just chatting together finishing off their beers when Ciara noticed her parents arriving up from the beach going to her mother’s favourite table for lunch in the taverna. Her mother waved her over. Ciara looked over again at the blonde young man then gathered her things together and went over to her parents. She was now sitting with her back to the group of young Australians but could still hear them laughing.
Her mother smiled at her as she sat down. Her mother was a short, slightly plump woman with strawberry blonde hair that was getting streaks of grey. She was wearing a black bikini and sarong over it with massive pink flowers printed all over it. Her skin was starting to turn a golden brown from time spent in the Cretan sun.
'How's your afternoon been, sweetheart?' she asked, simultaneously giving Ciara maternal peck on the cheek.
'Fine, just reading my book,' Ciara lied. She wasn't about to go opening up to her 55 year old mother about drooling over the blonde Australian. Especially not with her 64 year old father sitting right there. When she thought of the blonde Australian she looked around pretending to look for the waiter. She saw that the table where he and his friends had sat was now empty and felt a pang of disappointment.
'No, Ciara, we're not ready to order yet,' said her mother seeing her pretend to look for a waiter.
Ciara sat back around in her chair feeling, the disappoointment of the Australians disappearance settling in. Her parents chatted together about this and that. Ciara was not paying too much attention to what exactly. They ordered then after a little while. They liked doing things at their leisure while on holidays. Ciara got slightly bored with all the waiting around. Her parents chatted some more and then the waiter came with the food. Ciara didn't really feel like eating at all but she took a tiny bit of the salad her parents had ordered. Her mother frowned as she took in Ciara eating the salad leaves looking glum and down but didn't say anything.
'You'll come down to the beach this afternoon, won't you Ciara? Get a bit of sun while you can,' her mother said. 'It's raining at home, you know.'
Ciara said she would. She didn't have a lot more choice. She could stay here ordering more cappuccinos but that could make her hyper-active by the evening time and unable to sleep. She would be able to read just as easily on the beach. Or so she thought.
Ciara had to go back up to the apartment to change into her swimsuit for the beach. She did this, grabbed her bag and headed out from the apartment for a second time and then made her way through the taverna onto the beach. The beach had rough sand and became rocky underfoot closer to the sea. Ciara made her way over to her parents where she had seen them before and took the spot next to them where she stripped off her clothes she had put on over her bikini and began to read her book. Loud laughter interrupted her finding out what the heroine of the novel would do now that she had discovered  This time, before she even looked up from her book, she had a feeling about who was making the noise. And sure enough, when she looked up there was the group of young Australians dressed in their swimsuits playing with a beach ball. What came next was a moment that was going to stay vividly imprinted in Ciara's memory for the rest of her life. The dark haired young man had just thrown the ball and the blonde young man was running and trying to catch it. For Ciara, it all seemed to be happening in slow motion. The sun was hitting off the young man's golden blonde hair, cheekbones and jawline. Muscles were rippling under his taut skin as his arms reached out to catch the beach ball. This time Ciara failed to suppress a gasp. It was one of the most beautiful, captivating sights she had ever beheld in her life. The young man had now caught the ball and seemed to sense her gaze and look her way. Ciara quickly ducked her head back into her book. She looked up again and the young man had turned his attention back to his game with his friends. She continued to watch him as he played with them. Ciara felt a peculiar writhing sensation in her gut at the sight of the pretty blonde girl running in her bathing suit. She was as gorgeous as the blonde young man with an amazing physique as well. Ciara continued to watch, her gaze always returning to the blonde young man. As time went on Ciara's absorption in her voyeuristic exploits featuring the handsome Australian led to her neglecting her other pursuits, such as the book which was now slowly falling out of her grasp. Ciara's eyes were stuck on the young man whose movements had a strong, athletic grace. She became mesmerized by the way his muscles moved under his skin as he ran and played with his friends...the book fell and thudded softly on the sand.
'Ciara?' her mother's voice came from beside her.
Ciara blinked. The sound of her mother's voice shattered her near reverie, abruptly waking her again to the wider world outside the beautiful Austalian man who seemed more dream than reality. The wind blowing now seemed colder and stronger, the voices around her harsher and the music blaring from the mini golf course near by more intrusive.
Ciara's mother, taking in Ciara's shock and noticing the young man who had been in her line of vision tsked to herself. She shook her head and then went back to soaking in her beloved sun rays.
Ciara winced at her mother's silent rebuke for so obviously losing her head over a guy. She picked up the book and was just shaking the sand out of the spine when she then felt something large and light thump into her head. She looked around to see the beach ball the young Australians had been playing with in the sand beside her sun lounger. She heard her father start to chuckle`from his place next to her mother. The next thing she knew, a shadow had fallen over her. She looked up to see a dark figure with a halo of golden hair against the sun. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the sun and saw that it was him, the gorgeous young Australian she had been ogling at all afternoon. She felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment.
'Sorry about that,' he said 'Are you alright?'
Ciara could swear that she saw the corners of his lips quirking, as though he was fighting back a smile.
Ciara's cheeks turned an even brighter red and she found herself unable to formulate any words in response to his simple question. She stared mutely up at him. As her silence went on his lips stopped quirking and his forehead creased into a frown as he looked down at her. Ciara started to feel like crying.
'Are you alright?' he repeated, now looking slightly concerned.
Ciara managed to get out a small, squeaky 'yes' this time.
The young man continued to look down at her. Under his waiting gaze Ciara managed to gather herself together enough to up the beach ball from where it had fallen beside her sun lounger and handed it back to him wordlessly.
'Cheers, mate,' he said, nodding his head and then jogged off back over to his friends to continue their game.
Ciara sat back in her lounger, closed her eyes and sighed. Now she really felt like an idiot.
'Are you alright, love?' her mother asked. Her father chuckled again.
'I'd be more worried about the ball,' he said, chucklng even harder still.
'Daaaad!' Ciara moaned.
'You should go volunteer to be the net for their game,' her father teased.
Ciara groaned loudly.
'The ball will bounce off you better,' he continued.
'Mam, make him stop!' Ciara pleaded.
'Liam, that's enough,' her mother commanded.
Her father shook his head still chuckling quietly.
Ciara sank back in her lounger. The Australians were still playing their game. She watched as the blonde you man twisted and turned trying to keep the ball from the opposing team.She watched as the blonde young man dodged the dark haired young man who was diving for the ball in an impressive move.The lovely blonde girl clapped her hands. The blonde young man looked extremely pleased with himself. Ciara felt the peculiar writhing in her gut once more. She was overcome by feelings of inadequacy in the face of such physical perfection. For all her longings, they would surely never be requited. Ciara's thoughts were interrupted by a loud snore coming from next to her. She turned to look and saw that her father had fallen asleep, her mother seemed to be as well. Ciara's cheeks burned for the second time this afternoon. She felt she could have died from the embarrassment. Her father continued to snore loudly and Ciara wondered could the young Australians hear it even from where they were playing on the beach.
Well, she wasn't going to stay to find out. She gathered up her things and shook her mom gently telling her that she was heading back up to the apartment. Her mother let out a 'mmm' and went back to sleep. Ciara made her way back up through the taverna to the apartment, wishing fiercely that her friends and not her parents were with her at this moment. Lisa was good with boys, she could advise Ciara on what to do and if that failed Hannah was always good at making Ciara laugh and distracting her from stuff that got her down. That had pretty much been the way it was all last year with Ciara's crush on Ronan, although Lisa had helped Ciara get a date for their Debs towards the end of the year. But no, it was her aging parents with her instead while the hot Australian had a good time with his cool, young friends. She wondered would she make it through the rest of the holiday with any scrap of her dignity intact. These were the thoughts running through her mind as she reached the apartment. Such a weight were they on her youthful soul that when inside the apartment she threw her bag down and flung herself on the single bed she slept on in the living room of the apartment. She thought of the young Australian man down on the beach playing beach ball with his friends and her parents snoring in the sun. She sighed and reached down for her ipod in her bag. She popped in her earphones and lay on the bed letting the rhythms and melodies wash over her. The angst of the songs reflected her own and soothed her mind with the passage of time. The last song on her playlist was playing when the apartment door opened and her father walked in yawning.
'Is that where you are?' he said and then shuffled into the room he shared with Ciara's mother, who was following fast on his heels through the door. She tsked when she saw Ciara lying stretched out on the bed.
'Ciara you're not out in the sun half enough,' she said. 'It's not healthy to be inside all day everyday!'
'I got loads of sun!' said Ciara defensively.
Her mother heaved a great sigh.
'I don't know where I got you from at all,' she said. 'You'd better get ready now Ciara we'll be heading out to dinner soon.'
Ciara hopped off the bed and began dressing for the evening meal. It did not take her long and she wandered out onto the balcony while she waited for her parents to be ready. Evening had fallen and the sun was lower in the sky making the light a warmer glow than the glaring light of day. Ciara leaned on the balcony railing and looked down at the beach. The young man and his friends were long gone. She wondered where they were now. She hoped she would see them around a lot more, the young man in particular. Maybe there would even be more games of beach ball...she was just indulging in the memory of his muscles rippling in the sun when she heard her mother come out of the door behind her.
'Ciara we're going now,' she said.
Ciara sighed and followed her mother back into the apartment and through the apartment door. They walked through the taverna and up the path to the town. The walk was a long one. Up ahead there was a bridge over a great river flowing out into the sea. In the hot weather of June the river waters were low and stagnant. 
Beyond the river more beaches stretched out.  up until the path curved up and around a headland and beaches gave way to a rocky shoreline. After the headland the path sloped down into the port of the town of Agia Galini and the white buildings of the town rose up over the hill it was built on. The evening light was turning even darker still as Ciara and her parents walked by the port to turn up onto the stepped streets of Agia Galini. Gone was the heat of the day, the air was now just pleasantly warm. Now Ciara and her parents reached the restaurant where they would have their evening meal. It was upstairs over a fish mongers, it was an open plan restaurant with a view of the port of Agia Galini. There was a golden glow where the sun had set over the ocean and the sky was a deep blue. They sat right up against the railing at the end of the restaurant overlooking the port. The waiter came and took their orders. Ciara's parents chatted about this and that in the light, carefree tones of people who are completely at their leisure. The food came and they ate, all the while Ciara's thoughts were still on the gorgeous young god from the afternoon. All the moments from seeing him laugh with his friends to playing beach ball on the beach with them were replaying in her mind. She was just reliving the first breathtaking moment where she saw him catch the beach ball when again her mothers voice interrupted her very pleasant thoughts.
'Ciara, what are you smiling at?' she asked.
Ciara felt her cheeks go slightly pink.
'Nothing! Just thinking of…..something else….' she ended in a mumble.
Her mother sighed.
Ciara started playing with the leftovers of her dinner.
'Ciara don't play with your food!' her mother snapped.
Ciara dropped her fork and slumped back in her chair.
Her mother heaved an even greater sigh.
'Ciara….' she began in a tone that Ciara was very familiar with, a tone that signaled that she was about to launch into a great lecture of parental disappointment which indeed was exactly what she did. Ciara sat and listened to her mother start off on table etiquette and then go on to how she needed to be getting out in the sun while they had brought her on holidays. Ciara started feeling very restless as it went on but her mother eventually finished. And, as she did after these lectures at home, she asked 'May I be excused now please?' to which her mother wearily nodded and replied 'Yes, you may'.
Ciara got up from the table and thought she heard her mother sigh again as she walked away. She bid the owner of the restaurant goodnight in Greek. She headed down the stairs and out of the fishmongers below, then walked down the steps of the street of Agia Galini to the port and the path that led back to the resort. The restaurants that looked out onto the port were crowded with people enjoying their food and drink on the warm Cretan evening. Ciara drank in the relaxed atmosphere of holidaymakers and locals out for an evening in the company of friends. It was fully dark now so the path around the headland was illuminated only by the street lights set along it. Down below the path the dark, inly black nighttime ocean lapped against the rocks. Ciara stopped for a minute to say hello to one of the stray cats from around Agia Galini before continuing to walk down the path until she was walking past the shops and tavernas. The shops were closing up now, but the tavernas had yet more people enjoying their food and drink. Ciara folded her arms and smiled as she walked on. She crossed the bridge and walked up the path until she got to the resort she and her parents were staying at. There were plenty of people in the taverna smoking and drinking. Ciara decided she did not feel like going straight up to the apartment and so made her way over to the bar to order a drink. Her heart gave a jolt when she saw the group of Australians sitting in one of the seating areas close to the bar. The blonde young man was laughing with his friends at something the brown haired young man had said. Again Ciara was caught by the beauty of his carefree mirth. She suppressed another sigh. She wished more than anything that she could be in the company of one so handsome, but at the Jamese time felt intimidated by the thought of it - particularly when he was surrounded by his friends. So she simply sat down on a bar stool and ordered her drink. It was then that she heard a voice say 'Hi there! How's it going?' in an Australian accent from beside her. She looked around and saw that it was the brown haired Australian young man she had seen earlier. He was wearing a broad friendly grin and had the look of someone who was slightly tipsy. Ciara started in surprise.
'Are you okay?' the young man asked.
'Wha – uh – yeah, I'm fine,' Ciara stuttered in reply.
'Sorry if I startled you,' he said.
'No, you're alright,' Ciara assured him. 
The young man grinned at her.
'So where are you from?' he asked
'Ireland,' Ciara replied.
'Ireland?' he said, sounding impressed 'Awesome! Hey...why don't you come join me and my mates for a drink? If you're not waiting for someone or anything…'
Ciara felt a surge of excitement and nerves. She couldn't believe her luck.
'Oh I'd love to!' she exclaimed, and then felt very self-conscious about the enthusiasm she was displaying about joining a group of strangers for a drink. The young man simply smiled at her. She hopped off her bar stool, relieved that he didn't seem to have found her enthusiasm to be too weird. She followed him away from the bar to the seating area close by where his friends sat.
'I'm Brandon, by the way,' he said as he led her over to the group. 'What's your name?'
'Ciara,' she said in reply.
They reached the table that the Australians were sitting around.
'Guys!' Brandon called to them 'This is Ciara, she's from Ireland! I said she could have a drink with us.'
They all turned to see the newcomer. Ciara felt a little self-conscious with their attention on her and squirmed a bit.
'Ciara this is Mason,' Brandon said gesturing to the dark haired young man.
'That's Danielle,' he said gesturing to the pretty auburn haired girl sitting next to Mason.
'That's Kirsten,' he said this time gesturing to the stunning blonde Ciara had admired earlier on the beach, who was sitting in the middle next to Danielle. Ciara felt a stab of jealousy and an uncomfortable squirming feeling in her gut that she had come to know as insecurity.
'And that's James,' he said finally gesturing to the blonde young man Ciara had been salivating over all afternoon, who was sitting next to Kirsten. Ciara felt herself turning slightly pink.
The all gave Ciara friendly 'his' and ‘heys’ at a-synchronized times. Ciara's self-consciousness faded somewhat and she took a seat. The only other one available once Brandon had taken his was the one nearest to James. She felt embarrassed and extremely shy sitting next to the strange young man she already felt such an intense attraction to. The waiter bought her her drink that she'd ordered at the bar and she took a big gulp of it.
'So you been here long, Ciara?' Brandon asked her after taking a drink from his own beer.
Ciara found it hard to find her voice in front of the group. She felt very conscious of James's eyes on her, but they were waiting for a response and she didn't want to look stupid.
'Just a couple of days now,' she said.
'Are you with someone or on your own?' he asked.
Now Ciara found her wish from earlier that her friends and not her aging parents were the ones who she was with in Crete surge back up.
'I'm here with my parents,' she muttered, unwilling to really let the gorgeous James and his cool friends know that she was on holidays with her mom and dad like a little kid.
'What was that?' Brandon asked, his face crunching up into a frown.
'I'm here with my parents,' she said again, this time a little louder.
'You're here with your parents?' Kirsten asked her.
Ciara's started to really hate the world.
'Yes,' she replied.
The group were silent then. Ciara felt an urge to explain that it was for a special reason that her parents had brought her on holidays, maybe that would sound better to them if they knew it was a celebration and she wasn’t just completely pathetic and friendless.
'I just finished school, that's why we're here,' she began 'I was supposed to go with my friends, Lisa and Hannah but Lisa went off with these other friends and I don't really know them so I didn't want to go with them – well I guess I could have gone with them but it might have been really awkward you know? And Hannah is working in her mam's company for the summer and I wasn't going to go on holiday at all for a while but my parents felt sorry for me so they brought me here,' she finished breathlessly, only realizing how pathetic and childish it all sounded as she finished saying it in front of the to die for James and his friends. Ciara cursed herself inwardly for opening her mouth.
'You're just out of school?' Kirsten asked then, sounding quite snooty.
Ciara started feeling uneasy about socializing too much with Kirsten.
'Yeah,' Ciara responded lamely, wishing that she could think of something clever and self-deprecating to say but try as she might she could not come up with anything.
'Cute,' Kirsten said in a dismissive, patronizing tone.
Ciara was reminded strongly of a girl from her year at school, Chloe, who had a reputation for inspiring fear and intimidation all the other girls. A bully. Feelings of guilt followed as she'd only just met Kirsten and should perhaps not be jumping to such conclusions about her. She decided she'd give her the benefit of the doubt but watch her back at the Jamese time.
Kirsten now turned to James and started chatting and flirting with him.
Of course, Ciara thought to herself.
James seemed pretty receptive to Kirsten's advances, too. Ciara's stomach churned with the insecurity and painful jealousy. She took another gulp of her drink and turned her attention to Brandon. Brandon then started talking to Mason.
'Hey mate, do you remember when we just finishing school and Mr Harrigan caught us carving those penises onto the school desks?'
Mason seemed to get quite excited at the memory.
'Oh, oh and you told him it was our legacy to the school!' he recalled.
'He was so angry and he couldn't even put us in detention,' Brandon said with an amused grin on his face.
Ciara laughed at this as Danielle rolled her eyes and said 'Guys!' in a jaded tone.
Brandon and Mason continued reminiscing about school day pranks and Danielle turned her attention to Ciara.
'So where in Ireland are you from?' she asked with a friendly smile on her face.
'Just outside Dublin city,' Ciara replied.
'Oh cool -,' Danielle began to reply before Kirsten kicked her under the table and made a face at her. Danielle shrugged and let the whole thing drop. Ciara shrank at this cutting blow and knew then that she had been correct in her initial assessment of Kirsten's character. She looked to see if Brandon had noticed this occurrence but he was still engaged in an animated conversation with Mason so Ciara just sat and sipped her drink. When it was gone and the alcohol was flooding Ciara's system she started feeling a bit less shy and a bit more brave. She turned to James.
'So how do you like Agia Galini, James?' she asked, smiling.
James and Kirsten both turned to look at her. Ciara's stomach turned cold at the look Kirsten was giving her, but just gulped and turned her attention back to James as he answered her question.
'It's nice,' he replied 'Has a really relaxed vibe to it.'
Ciara smiled even wider. 'Yeah it does, hope you're enjoying yourself here!' she said and James returned her smile. At this point Ciara felt certain that Kirsten's stare could have withered every plant in the taverna if so directed. However, Ciara was feeling more confident now with James reciprocating her friendliness and so motored ahead.
'How about I order another round of drinks?' she offered the whole group.
They all made sounds of assent.
'What a lovely offer,' said Kirsten through gritted teeth.
Ciara felt a surge of triumph and called to the waiter for more drinks.
She turned back to James then.
'So whereabouts in Australia are you all from?' she asked him.
'Sydney,' he replied.
'We all grew up really close together, didn't we James?' Kirsten said now.
James nodded and Ciara felt a rush of envy at the thought of growing up near someone as cute as James. 
'We were practically neighbours,' Kirsten continued. 'Played together all the time growing up, right James?'
James nodded again. The waiter brought the drinks and James took a swig of his.
'So we're all super close,' Kirsten said looking directly at Ciara.
Ciara knew that Kirsten was trying to make her jealous of her closeness with James and hated to admit it but she was succeeding.
'Well that's lovely,' she said, trying to sound as genuine as possible but from the glimmer in Kirsten’s eye she knew that some of her true feelings must have come through. James did not seem to have noticed anything. Ciara was now at a loss at what to do next. She sat sipping her drink as Kirsten resumed her chatting and flirting with James. Ciara had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. What was she doing ever letting herself think she could catch the attention of a guy like James with a girl like Kirsten there as competition. She sat, drinking and silently berating herself until Brandon stood up from his chair.
'Hey guys, what do you say we have some real fun?' he said with a mischievous grin on his face.
They all looked up at him.
'Lets go skinny dipping down in the ocean!' he said, grinning even wider.
Ciara's heart plummeted. She did not even like undressing in the girls locker rooms after playing sports in school. Her body image was not great, she knew she was pale and on extensive examinations in her bedroom mirror had had to come to the conclusion that she fell quite short of the typical slender beauties that had pride of place in magazine racks. Skinny dipping with a group of young people she'd just met, especially one she was so attracted to was something akin to a nightmare for her.
'I think that's a great idea,' Kirsten said with a sly, sidelong glance at Ciara.
Ciara's gut squirmed with feelings of insecurity and in her chest there was a sensation of mild panic.
'I don't know man, there are still people around,' Mason said looking around the taverna.
Ciara felt a slight relief, hoping that this would sway the group and that this skinny dipping idea would be dropped.
'Nah man, it's dark down at the ocean anyway - no-one will see!' Brandon said.
'Alright then, I'm up for it,' Mason shrugged.
Ciara's feelings of panic returned. They must have been showing a bit on her face because then Kirsten took a look at her and smirked.
'Yeah, lets do this!' she said, getting up from her chair. The rest of them followed suit, with only Ciara staying seated. She was looking around for a way, trying to think of a way to get out of this.
'Too chicken for it, are you?' Kirsten said when she saw that Ciara was staying in her seat.
Ciara felt her face heat up at the jibe. She could not let that stand. She had no choice but to try to overcome her insecurities and join them now.
'No I'll come,' she said, getting up out of her chair.
'Great,' Kirsten said in a less than enthusiastic tone.
'Okay…' Brandon said after witnessing this exchange and started leading the way out of the taverna down to the beach.
Feelings of trepidation welled up in Ciara as she followed the group to the beach. They themselves were giddy and excited. Upoun reaching the beach Brandon ran ahead, whooping and clothes flying as he went. Mason, Danielle and Kirsten followed suit. Ciara took in Kirsten's toned, tanned body and felt dread in the pit of her stomach. How could she compare to this goddess? It was her and James still dressed now, and then she realized...as wrapped up in her own fear of getting naked in front of James as she had been, she had been neglecting to think of the fact that he was going to be stripping down himself. She felt a slight shock as the gorgeous young man began stripping in front of her followed fast by a giddy rush of pleasure at seeing him in all his naked glory. Suddenly life seemed quite wonderful. She was a young woman, it was a warm evening on a beach in the Mediterranean and there was this young god standing nude in front of her. She heard the others laughing down at the sea and began laughing herself, feeling happy and confident for the first time in a long time. She felt like maybe she could do this and be wild and free and young like she should be. She started to lift her top up in order to take it off, then she heard the most familiar voice in the world behind her say 'Ciara!' in a shocked, angry tone. She froze, a feeling of dread starting in the pit of her stomach. She turned to see her parents behind her. They'd clearly been on there way back from their meal and were now standing staring at her with expressions of shock and stern disapproval on their faces. Ciara knew that the young Australians were seeing this and felt utterly humiliated. She let go of the material of her top.
'Ciara! You come over here right now!' her mother hissed.
Now she was sure she could hear Kirsten laughing from behind her and then some of the others joining in. She could nearly cry. She trudged over to her parents, her mother grabbing her arm and dragging her through the taverna, berating Ciara all the way. Ciara's face burned and tears welled up in her eyes. This had to be one of the worst things to happen to her in her life so far. She thought of the handsome James seeing all this and nearly began sobbing in earnest. When she and her mother reached the apartment with her father in tow her mother opened the door and pushed Ciara inside.
'What one earth were you thinking?' she said when she got in the door behind Ciara. 'I thought I'd raised you with more sense than that.'
Ciara felt her cheeks burning and could do nothing but stare at a spot on the floor, although what she felt was more embarrassment than shame. Her cheeks burned as she remembered the good looking James. Her mother seemed to take these as tears of remorse and sighed saying,
'Sure we can leave it at that, love, but I don't want you hanging around that mad lot again.'
Ciara was plunged into a deep depression at this. Not only had she been completely humiliated in front of James with his out of this world handsomeness but she was not allowed ever be in his company again? Oh, unhappy day! She could not open her mouth to argue with her mother after being discovered nearly stripping and going skinny dipping with a group of strange Australians so she simply stood there, mute and miserable.
'I'm heading to bed now, Ciara,' her mother said 'We'll forget about this if you promise to stay away from that gang. Do you promise?'
Ciara nodded.
'Ciara look at me,' her mother ordered.
Ciara looked up.
'Promise me you won't see that lot anymore,' she ordered again.
'I promise,' Ciara managed to get out.
Ciara's mother gave a single satisfied nod.
'Right, goodnight then, love,' she said and retired into the room that she shared with Ciara's father.
Ciara was left standing alone in the living room with the bleak prospect of never being in the company of the handsome James again. She glumly began getting into her pajamas and climbed into bed. She let a few tears run down her cheeks. But as she drifted off into sleep her thoughts were not bleak or glum at all. They were of the breathtakingly beautiful sight of the luscious James standing naked before her.
Chapter Two
Ciara's awareness drifted through a haze of sleep. Through the fog of unconsciousness she slowly became aware of the room around her.
'Ciara, are you awake?' her mother's stern voice broke through her sleepy brain fog.
Ciara gave a sleepy start.
'Yeah,' she murmured drowsily.
'Your dad and I are going down to the beach now. And remember, you're not to see those young ones from last night again, you hear me?' her mother ordered. 
Ciara found herself yearning to be again lost in the sweet oblivion she had only just resurfaced from.
'Ciara do you hear me?' her mother repeated sternly.
'Yes, mam,' Ciara said, propping herself up in on her elbows in the bed.
Her mother nodded.
'Right, we're off then. Let's go, Liam,' she said to Ciaras' father.
When the door closed shut behind them Ciara fell back onto the bed with a small groan. It was all coming back now, the skinny dipping session with Australians the night before and her parents arriving at the taverna just as she was unbuttoning her dress to join them. She felt the humiliation creep over her, all she wanted to do was pull the bedclothes back over her head and stay there for the rest of the holiday, but a burning sensation on her left shoulder caught her attention. Great, a sunburn now on top of everything else, she thought moodily to herself. 
She hopped out of bed and began rummaging for the Aloe Vera after sun lotion she had had the foresight to pack, and as she did mused on her situation. 
It was just her luck that the one time in her life when she decided to walk a little bit on the wildside her parents showed up to catch her in the act, she thought glumly. But now what to do? She was forbidden from seeing the young Australians again. The fact that her parents couldn’t trust her not to do anything really stupid stung a little and, in fairness, it was not a very big resort, it was going to be hard to completely avoid the Australians who were also staying here. She slathered some of the Aloe Vera on her shoulder and walked out onto the veranda, still worried about what she was going to do,  still wearing her sleeveless top and shorts she had worn to bed. She looked down to the taverna to see if the Australians were there, she couldn't be around James but she there was nothing stopping her from just looking. She sighed, feeling utterly pathetic. She nearly turned away but the longing she had for laying her eyes on that gorgeous young man overpowered her and she stayed where she was. Just then she saw the Australians and James come into the taverna from the direction of the rooms. Danielle was pulling Mason along by the hand and he was looking pretty reluctant, Brandon followed looking pale and hungover with dark glasses on and Brandon and Kirsten brought up the rear. Ciara saw Kirsten link arms with James and felt twin stabs of jealousy and heartbreak. Danielle turned to Mason and in turning caught sight of Ciara watching from the balcony. She said something to the rest of the group and their heads all swivelled around in her direction. Ciara ducked back behind the wall partitioning the veranda from the one next door, her heart thudding in her chest. She walked back into the apartment, panicking that the young Australians had spotted at her vantage point. She paced around for a bit, then heard a voice calling her name from outside the apartment.
'Ciara? Ciara?' a young man's voice said.
She walked out onto the balcony and saw Brandon standing on the grass before.
'Brandon?' she said in surprise.
'Hi,' he said, in the muted tones of a very hungover person.
'Hey,' Ciara responded a little too loudly for the obviously hungover Brandon, who visibly winced.
'Sorry,' Ciara apologized.
Brandon smiled a wry smile.
'Don't worry – my own fault,' he said, rubbing his head. 'It's my fault you're up shit creek with your folks too.'
Ciara was surprised again. 
'No it's okay, you didn't make me go along,' she said.
'It was my stupid idea,' Brandon said.
'No, no honestly it's okay,' Ciara assured him 'It's not your fault, I didn’t have to join in, I could have remembered my parents were still not back from the restaurant.'
And I would have if Kirsten hadn't taunted me the way she did, she thought to herself bitterly.
'Lessons learned all around, I guess,’ Brandon said. They both laughed. 
‘So you want to come and hang out for a bit?' he asked. 'Danielle and Kirsten are going to check out the shops in the town.'
'Oh, I'd love to!' said Ciara with a pang of regret 'But my parents said I'm not allowed hang out with you guys anymore...'
'Really?' he asked, in a surprised tone.
Ciara nodded.
Brandon scratched his cheek.
'Shit,' he said ‘That’s a bit harsh.’ 
Ciara felt herself really warming to the young man. 
'You know...you're parents don't need to know that you're hanging out with us,' Brandon then said with a conspiratorial look in his eye.
Ciara felt a little glimmer of hope.
'I guess not,' she replied with a smile beginning at the corner of her mouth 'What exactly do you have in mind?'
'I'll get the others to hang around for a bit when we get to the town, you can tell your parents you're going shopping on your own or something and catch up with us there. You're parents won't know you're actually meeting us.'
He smiled at her then and she grinned back.
'Okay, see you soon!' she said, still grinning.
He smiled a huge smile and walked back over to where the others were waiting for him. Ciara turned and went back inside the apartment, full of excitement at the prospect of getting to hang around with the young Australians and James again. She stopped then, feeling a twinge of guilt at going against her parents wishes, but what was the point of being young if you weren’t going to have some fun sometimes? She hopped in the shower quickly before grabbing her bag and heading out the apartment door. She ran down to the beach where her parents were lying out.
'Mom, dad I'm going up to the town to shop around a bit,' she told them.
Her mother appeared to have been dozing off in the sun.
'Alright, love,' she said drowsily.
‘Do you need any money?’ her father asked, already reaching for his wallet. 
Ciara felt guilty in earnest at her father's generous offer even as she was going against his and her mother's wishes. 
‘No, it’s okay, I have enough,’ she said. 
‘You’re sure?’ he asked.
'Yeah. See you later,' Ciara said.
'Mind yourself,' her father bade her.
'Bye...' her mother said and shifted in her lounger and went back to dozing.
Ciara nearly raced all the way to the town. She was panting and out of breath by the time she reached the port. She saw the group waiting around not too far off. She walked down the sloping pathway and around the water of the port to get over to them. As she approached she thought she heard Brandon and Kirsten arguing.
'Why does she have to come with us?' Kirsten was saying.
'She's a nice girl, give her a chance,' Ciara heard Brandon reply.
'I don't -,' Kirsten broke off on seeing Ciara approaching the group.
'Hi!' Ciara said, trying to be bright and cheerful.
Kirsten gave her a smile that was really more of a grimace while they all greeted her. Ciara caught James' eye and a visual of him naked last night came intruding into her thoughts. She blushed. He seemed to fight back a laugh. Mason and Brandon were grinning at her widely. She blushed even harder. Now Danielle and Kirsten were just about holding in their laughter.  
'So, we're going shopping, yeah?' she said, again making an attempt to be chipper.
'Yeah,' Mason and Danielle said at the Jamese time, Mason in a reluctant tone and Danielle enthusiastically. They looked at each other and both sighed the weary sighs of two people who had known each other for a long time. Danielle giggled then and Mason playfully grabbed and squeezed her.
'So, are we going then?' Ciara asked.
Kirsten rolled her eyes.
'Yeah, let's go,' said Danielle, taking Mason by the hand and leading him up to one of the stepped streets. Brandon followed but Kirsten remained behind to say something to James that seemed playful and flirty. Ciara had started walking after Brandon but slowed to watch the encounter. James smiled and Kirsten and she returned it in full. Ciara felt her gut twisting. This wasn't going to be easy with Kirsten around. Still, maybe if she kept making an effort James would notice her. She walked on up the steps of the street. Danielle stopped at to look at some clothes hanging on a railing outside one of the shops on the street. Ciara went up to join her. Mason was hanging back, looking bored. Ciara looked back to see Kirsten lightly brush James's arm with her hand as she walked up to join in looking at clothes with Ciara and Danielle. Brandon started checking out some sunglasses on a stand. Kirsten stood beside Danielle and the both talked about the clothes they were admiring. Ciara made some efforts to join in but they fell flat and she was left feeling a bit isolated. She turned around to see James standing bored on the street. She looked back at Kirsten, seemingly absorbed in her shopping with Danielle. She went over to join James.
'It's a nice little town isn't it?' she began.
'Yeah, it's alright,' he said in reply.
Ciara looked down and brushed her hair behind her ear.
'Did you see the boats down at the port? There were some pretty cool ones there,' she said.
James shrugged.
'I guess,' he said.
Ciara started feeling a mixture of awkward and frustrated. She didn't know what else to say to James so she started looking at some little statues on a table outside a nearby shop. Brandon walked over to James.
'It's hot,' he said.
'Yeah I'm getting a little thirsty,' James said.
'You wanna go get a beer?' Brandon suggested.
'Yeah, let me tell Mason,' James said.
'Hey, mate!' he yelled over at Mason 'We're going for a beer, you wanna come?'
Mason nodded vigorously and said something to Danielle. She nodded and Mason nearly ran to join James and Brandon.
'I hope you girls enjoy your shopping,' Brandon said to Ciara with a smile.
Ciara watched James walk off with Mason and Brandon with a feeling of helplessness and frustration taking form in her chest. She sighed and walked back over to the shop where Kirsten and Danielle had moved indoors now. Ciara started looking at some jewellery, hoping that the glittering beauty of some of the pieces might distract her from her frustration and disappointment over James. She was just getting absorbed in it when she noticed Kirsten sidle up beside her, apparently also looking at the jewellery.
'Do you think James is ever going to look at you the way you want?' she said in an undertone.
Ciara felt a jolt of shock to her system at Kirsten's words.
'He would never look at you. Not a nerdy, pasty little Irish girl whose mummy and daddy wouldn't even let her play with the big boys and girls,' Kirsten said in a low, snide voice.
Ciara felt tears stinging her eyes. The sparkle of the jewellery blurred until all she could see was bright, gleaming spots in her vision. Kirsten seemed to have finished and smirked at Ciara as she walked back to join Danielle who was now looking at a pretty mermaid statue from one of the store shelves. Ciara couldn't bear it any more, she went and ran out of the store. She got to the street and turned so she was running up and up the steps. The words 'pasty little Irish girl' spun round and round in her head. She kept running up the steps of the town. She finally reached the top and was out of breath and the tears were streaming down her face. She looked around. She could see a school and some hotels. She was tired from running up the steps and so decided to go and get a coffee in one of the hotels. When she was sitting down with her coffee she looked out at the beautiful view of the blue sea and she thought of Kirsten again. She really was a lot like the bitchiest girl in Ciara's year at school, Chloe. Ciara couldn't count the number of times Chloe had reduced some poor girl to tears. She had always thought that Chloe must have some sort of emotional deficiency in herself to be so cruel to other people. It must be the same with Kirsten, then, she thought to herself. She started feeling a lot better at that. She finished her coffee and left the hotel. She was walking back down the steps of the town and thought of going to find the others, but thought the better of it. She did not want to be around Kirsten again. Even seeing James again would be too much. Her heart was still heavy in her chest at Kirstens' words. It was because she did believe them. She didn't really feel like she had a lot to offer a guy like James. It was the Kirstens' of the world who got guys like that, the gorgeous looking girls with hearts of stone. James was out of her reach and this made her heart feel vulnerable and unsteady. She reached the bottom of the steps and walked along the port. She walked up to the path that would lead her back to the taverna. The sun was hot and beat down on her as she walked a long.  She got about half way back when she looked at her phone and realized her parents would be eating lunch in ten minutes and she would have to run to get there on time. She started running and found that running in flip flops was not the easiest thing in the world and had to take them off as she tried to keep going. She ran and ran back along the path, over the bridge and up towards the resort. She was breathless and her heart was throbbing painfully in her chest when she reached the taverna. She put her flip flops back on and went quickly and sat down in her usual seat, catching her breath as she sat back in the comfortably cushioned chair. Her parents appeared coming up from the beach then. They went for her mothers' favourite table and waved Ciara over. Ciara got up from the chair and walked over to her parents table as she reached it she threw her bag down and it fell open with all her stuff falling out. Her mother helped her pick up her things and then frowned.
'Ciara where's your book?' she asked.
Ciara froze.
'Uh...I...uh....I was reading one of the books they have around the taverna for a change,' she lied, her heart racing.
Her mother looked at her with narrowed eyes for a minute but then nodded, seeming to accept Ciaras' somewhat flimsy excuse for not having her book with her as she always did. Ciaras' heart stopped racing then and she took a deep breath. She felt very tired after that afternoon. She was almost too tired to eat her lunch. She had something light as her parents chatted to each other. She was seriously contemplating going up to the apartment after this for the rest of the afternoon when her mother said:
'Ciara, why don't you join your father and I down on the beach this afternoon?'
Ciara very nearly said no, and then remembered the previous afternoon's game of beach ball featuring the handsome James with all his rippling muscles. Perhaps he was out of her reach where an actual relationship was concerned, but she could still watch and enjoy.
'Okay, I'll go change,' she said to her mother.
She went back up to the apartment and changed quickly into her bikini. This time she remembered to bring her book, although she was not planning on reading too much of it. She was hoping to pretend to read it as she watched James play beach ball in the sun. She left the apartment and walked back down through the taverna to the beach where she joined her parents. She opened her book and started reading but was really watching for the James and his friends. They were nowhere to be seen. She continued ostensibly reading her book as the afternoon wore on and the sun dipped lower lower in the sky. There was still no sign of them. Ciara sighed heavily and closed her book shut with a snap. She looked down at the ocean, with an all encompassing sadness infusing her whole being. Maybe a swim would help her work it off. She went down to the ocean and began swimming. She immersed herself in the ocean water, hoping that all the bad feelings that had come up during during the day might just wash away in it. She resurfaced to see her mother signalling at her that they were going back up to the apartment now. Her father started miming eating and then gesturing to the taverna. Ciara felt embarrassed, her dad was such a dork sometimes. She waved back at them and they turned and walked back up to the taverna to get back to the apartment. Ciara continued swimming for a bit and then decided she needed to get back to her parents so started walking out of the water. Just then she saw the Australians coming down the path from the town. She nearly dived back into the water but thought that that might just end up with her looking like a complete idiot and so refrained from doing so. Brandon caught sight of her coming out of the water and stopped in his tracks. He made his way over to her.
'Hey, where'd you go earlier?' he asked.
Ciara felt awkward, Brandon had arranged so that the group would wait for her and then she'd just disappeared on them.
'I'm really sorry, I had to go to make it on time for lunch with my parents,' she said to him.
'Oh, that's okay,' he said.
He started to say something. Ciara watched him.
'So what are you doing for the rest of the night?' he simply asked.
'Oh I'm going to have dinner with my parents soon,' Ciara replied. 'They're going to be keeping tight enough reigns on me after last night.'
Brandon laughed but at the embarrassed, sad look on Ciara's face stopped and became more sympathetic.
'Look, I'm sure this stuff with your parents will all blow over soon,' he said. 'Mine caught me half naked with a girl slathering honey on my chest at a party I'd thrown without their say so and they still got over it after a while.'
Ciara stopped.
'Half naked and being slathered in honey?' she asked.
Brandon grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
'It was the girls' idea,' he confessed.
Ciara's eyebrow popped up.
Brandon blushed and grinned shyly again.
Ciara laughed and was then confronted with the extraordinarily pleasant mental image of James lying half naked covered in honey on a kitchen table. She became so preoccupied with the wonderful daydream of beginning to help him get it off - with her tongue - that she nearly completely forgot about poor Brandon. He had to say her name a few times to get her attention. When she awakened from her fantasy he was staring into her face in consternation.
'Ciara, are you okay?' he asked.
'Wha – yeah...yeah,' she said.
'Listen don't worry too much about your parents, I'm sure they'll get over last night before too long,’ he said.
At the mention of her parents Ciara suddenly remembered that they would be waiting for her up in the apartment to get ready to go out for dinner. She let out an expletive.
'Yeah, yeah. Thanks,’ she said ‘I’m sorry Brandon. I've got to go they will be expecting me for dinner now.'
'Oh sure, go go,' he said.
Ciara found herself racing again. She raced up through the taverna, nearly colliding with a waiter as she went. She shouted back an apology and kept running until she reached the apartment. Her parents were waiting inside.
'Where on earth have you been?' her mother demanded.
'I'm sorry,' Ciara said, slightly breathless now 'I lost track of the time.'
Her mother tsked.
Ciara picked out a nice dress from the wardrobe and climbed into it, also quickly applying some light make-up for their dinner out and they were all ready to go. They walked through the taverna and then began the long walk up the path to the town of Agia Galini. Ciara saw a beach ball being played with on one of the beaches along the way and her heart leapt, but it was not James and his friends. She felt a pang of disappointment. They went to the Jamese restaurant they'd gone to the night before. Ciara noticed a man eating pizza and thought of James eating his pizza in the taverna yesterday. This was followed by a stabbing pain in her heart as she knew now that he was out of her reach. She ordered her dinner with her parents and as she waited spotted a muscular man eating his dinner over in the corner and though of James and his muscles. Again the stabbing pain returned. Their food came and Ciara could barely manage a bite with how awful she was feeling. She then noticed a young man with blonde hair in the Jamese style as James's and the stabbing pain became vicious as ever. She put down her fork.
'Ciara are you alright?' her mother asked.
'Yeah I'm fine,' Ciara lied 'I'm just not feeling very hungry.'
Her mother's lips thinned with disapproval but she simply nodded and went back to conversation with her father. Ciara knew she hadn't heard the end of this. The waiter came to take their plates away and Ciara's was still mostly full. Next, the waiter brought them their complimentary desserts. It was a kind of honey glazed pastry. Now Ciara had a flashback to her earlier fantasy of a honey glazed James and was almost losing herself in it when suddenly Kirsten's face flashed into her mind along with her words 'He would never look at you. Not a strange, pasty little Irish girl whose mummy and daddy wouldn't even let her play with the big boys and girls.' Ciara looked over at her parents who were still talking over their dessert and felt that Kirstens' words were true. James was not going to have the Jamese interest in her as she had in him, and why would he ever? The beautiful, blonde James was forever out of her reach. She became intensely moody and brooding, her brow furrowing deeply as she looked out over the darkened bay of Agia Galini.
'Ciara are you not even eating your dessert?' her mother's asked in a sharp tone.
Ciara's head snapped around at that tone. She looked down at her uneaten dessert, she tried to summon up some appetite for it but try as she might she could not.
'Uhm...no, I'm not,' she said in response to her mothers' question.
Her mother let out a sigh.
'Ciara I don't know what's going on with you recently, first you get into these moods while we're away in a beautiful place on holidays to celebrate your finishing school and then you nearly go skinny dipping with a strange group of young people right in front of the resort we're staying in, I mean really, what's got into you....'
Ciara let her attention drift as her mother got into full swing. She could not hold interest in hearing her mother nag at her. Neither could she really open up to her mother about the reason. Lusting heavily over handsome Australians was not the kind of thing you talked to your mother about. Not even just lusting heavily. Ciara had quite the sweet crush on James, which was how she was hurting so much right now...a sweet crush was the term her friend Lisa would have used. It was how her group of friends differentiated their feelings about different guys. You could feel that a lot of guys were attractive, lust heavily after a few but sweet crushes were reserved for one special guy and one special guy only. He had to have something that set him apart from the others. With James it was his looks that set him above and beyond most of the other guys you would see around. He seemed like a nice enough fellow as well, an added bonus. Not that it was much help to Ciara. He still wasn't going to look at her the way she wanted, especially not with Kirsten around.
'Ciara? Ciara?' her mothers' voice interrupted her musings.
Ciara started back to attention.
'Were you even listening to me?' her mother said, her voice climbing an octave or two.
Ciara merely gaped at her.
'I've really had it with you, young lady!!' her mother was now nearly yelling, attracting attention from the staff and customers of the restaurant. Ciara's cheeks reddened. She was deeply grateful that James and the others were nowhere around.
'Sharon people are starting to stare,' Ciaras' father said in an urgent, low tone to Ciaras' mother.
Ciara's mother stopped and looked around, letting out a small huff.
'We're not finished, miss,' she said, looking directly at Ciara.
Ciara groaned inwardly. She wasn't even doing anything...she couldn't help it if she was crushing on an unattainable guy. But her mother would not have any understanding for this so she remained silent. She would just have to grin and bear it. Her parents finished up and they began the long walk back to the resort, Ciara enduring her mothers' berating voice all the way. They reached the taverna and saw the Australians there having drinks at the bar. Ciaras' mother tsked and grabbed Ciaras' arm, pulling her through the taverna and away from the group. As they passed by the group Brandon smiled sympathetically at Ciara and she returned the smile as her mother dragged her away. They got back up to the apartment and her mother finished her tirade before heading to bed. Ciara got ready for her bed, relieved that that was over with. She got into her pajamas and turned off the light. She lay in the bed in the dark, but as she fell asleep it was not her mother or the pain of what Kirsten had said that was with her, but the image of the delectable James on a kitchen table covered in honey that was in her mind as she drifted off to sleep. It really was a sweet crush.
Chapter Three
Over the next few days Ciara was not to so much as glimpse her sweet crush or his friends. Her parents made a plan that Ciara was certain was designed to keep her from seeing them to drag her all over Crete to see the different sights. They took her to Gortyna to see the ancient ruins there, they took her to see the ancient Minoan palace in Knossos. They knew about Ciara’s enthusiasm for history and indeed that she even read books on history in her spare time. Ciara could see through their plan but didn't want to bring on more nagging from her mother and so simply went along with them, taking an interest in the history of Crete that stretched back to Minoan times and then the better known iconography of Ancient Greece. They also took her to Matala to do shopping by the sea there. Again to spare herself anymore trouble with her parents she went along with it and tried to get into the shopping around with her mother. They took her another day to a beach in Agios Giorgios. This was more of a challenge for Ciara, especially with the lack of handsome Australians to ogle at at this beach. She brought her book and tried to lose herself in it. They ate dinner  while they were out too and when they got back it was usually quite late, no time for Ciara to sneak off. So all this time she spent longing to spend some more time around the golden haired James. She stared out the car window when travelling to and from the different locations dreaming of his beautiful face. Those cheekbones, that jawline, those blue eyes...as blue as the sky above. When she was in the back seat of the car her parents had rented she was free to let her thoughts roam as she wished. She watched the landscapes she drove by, the many white rectangles that were greenhouses for vegetables, the orchards and the shrubbery that grew all over the land here all the while lamenting the distance between her and the gorgeous James for so many days. Her parents could see that she was getting more distracted as time went on, and took her to the museum in Heraklion to feed her love of history again. Ciara walked about the large echoing chambers with their glass cases full of ancient relics and artefacts and became absorbed in examining them. She escaped to the past for a while, her present troubles forgotten for a moment. She ate up all the information she could get on the ancient civilisations of Crete, wondering at the difference between now and then.
She spent a lot of time exploring the museum, and soon came across a room of statues of the Ancient Greek gods. She walked around this as well, becoming enraptured by the mythology of the time. While in there she came across a statue of the sun god Apollo. Ciara looked up at his carved stone face and thought of the gorgeous, blonde, muscular James. There was a statue of Aphrodite beside him and then she thought of the exquisite blonde Kirsten. They were the beautiful, desirable gods and what was she? A mere mortal ever lost in their shadow, just hoping for a tiny sliver of their golden grace. The peace she had found wandering around learning about the past and looking at the relics from ancient history was gone and her brooding moods had returned. She sighed and sat down on one of the leather upholstered seats outside in the hallway. She took out her Ipod from her bag and put in her earphones, putting on her playlist of angsty emo music once again. Her spirit was being eaten alive by how far out of reach the divine James was from her. What she would give just to talk with him, hold his hand, maybe kiss his soft, luscious lips. This tormented longing for him was almost too much for her to bear. She rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes trying to concentrate on her music, hoping that it would help soothe her as it had done before. She sat there like that for a while and it almost started working when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes jerked open and she saw her mother standing over her with a concerned look on her face.
'Come on, Ciara, we're going now,' she said.
Ciara took her earphones out and got up to follow her parents out of the museum. Her mother turned back to her.
'Did you have a look around?' she asked.
Ciara remembered her earlier enthusiasm for the place and how it helped her forget about James for a while.
'Yeah I did,' she replied 'It was really great. Thanks for taking me.'
Her mother smiled and seemed to relax and Ciara tried to not think about James again.
Her mother wanted to do a bit of shopping around before going to find somewhere to eat and dragged Ciara and her father around after her. Ciara tried to take an interest but soon got bored of just looking at more and more clothes. Her moody thoughts about James crept back in and she found herself experiencing something close to hell. Finally her mother finished going around the shops and looking at the clothes and they went to go find somewhere to eat. Ciara sat through the meal with her parents with a pain in her heart again. She tried to pretend it wasn't there for her parents. She tried not to get moody and down again. She thought back to earlier today and talked enthusiastically about what she had learned at the museum. Her parents smiled at her upbeat dialogue on all that she had seen. They talked about her choices for college next year, everyone of them being at least related to history and talked about how she could have a future studying history or archaeology if she wanted. Ciara stopped having to fake her good mood now. She started babbling about the artefacts now, on a high thinking and getting excited about a whole future working at something she was really passionate about. Her parents continued to smile, but after a while their eyes started glazing over. Ciara stopped herself before she literally bored them to death. Not everyone was as interested in history as she was. She had learned this fast from a young age. She finished eating the meal she had ordered. Her mother decided to stay for cocktails. Ciara joined her. They chatted away and she got lost in daydreams of being a prominent archaeologist or historian. It was a busy city and people walked by on the footpaths and cars drove by on the road. The restaurant buzzed with the conversation of its customers. Cutlery and glasses clinked as the customers ate their meals. Ciara was feeling peaceful again. Thoughts of James were still there but her hopes for the future were pushing them to the side for the moment. Ciara smiled. Her mother and father smiled at her from across the table. She felt at harmony with the world. How long this would last she did not know, she was going to enjoy it while she could though. They soon finished their cocktails and paid their bill. They then began the journey back to Agia Galini. It was getting dark as they drove on the winding roads in the mountainous country of Crete. They arrived back at the resort, and the warm light of the taverna seeming to beckon to them through the dark. Ciaras' mther decided she would like another cocktail at the taverna. She invited Ciara to join her this time too. Ciara was still in a happy mood and said yes. Her father came along as well, not being restricted now because he did not have to drive anywhere. They sat up at the bar and ordered their drinks. It was then that Ciara spotted the Australians at one of the tables. Her parents didn't seem to notice. Ciara saw James and Kirsten looking pretty cozy sitting beside each other and felt a sharp pang. She did her best to try to put it aside and as she drank her cocktail tried to recapture the feeling of happiness and excitement she'd just had about a future in an area she loved. Almost against her will her eyes wandered back to where James and Kirsten were sitting, Kirstens' hand now brushing against James's knee. Ciara felt another sharp pang and again tried to push it away and focus on excitement for the future. Once she was a prominent historian she wouldn't need to care whether some handsome Australian guy liked her or not, was what she told herself. She tried focusing on that thought and not on Kirsten giggling inanely at something James had just said. She was fighting a battle here to keep her good mood alive. She saw Kirsten give James a peck on the cheek then and had to admit that the painful feelings over James were winning against the happy ones of a future career as an archaeologist now. She excused herself from the bar and went in the direction of the bathrooms. She refreshed herself there and went on Facebook messenger on her phone. She texted Lisa through it saying she needed help. Lisa responded a minute later with a 'What's up, babe?'. Ciara quickly texted 'There's a hot Australian around but he is barely aware I exist'. Lisa responded with a sad face emoticon and a 'Try talking to him?. Ciara said 'I do, but it's hard when there's a blonde babe nearby' and a sad face emoticon. 'Awh no! Hang in there, hun' Lisa texted 'He'll notice you if he knows what's good for him! I gotta go now, see you when we're back home xxx'. She went offline at that. Ciara sighed and put her phone away, leaving the bathroom.
'Pssst,' she heard coming from her left. She turned and saw Brandon standing there in the partial darkness of the area where they kept wood for the oven in the kitchens. He beckoned to her and she walked over.
'Hey,' he said 'Where have you been?'
'Ugh, my parents have been dragging me all over the place trying to keep me away from you guys,' Ciara replied.
'No way, really?' Brandon said with an amused grin on his face.
'Yup,' Ciara responded.
'Jeez, it was only a bit of skinny dipping. I think your parents need to loosen up a little bit, Ciara,' he said with laughter beginning on his lips.
Ciara gave a little laugh and looked over in the direction of her parents at the bar sipping cocktails and chatting with some other tourists there.
'Somehow I don't think that's going to happen any time soon,' she said with a small unhappy pout on her lips.
Brandon's face twisted into a sympathetic grimace.
'So where are you going to next?' he asked.
'We're going to Rethymnon tomorrow,' she said.
'Rethymnon?' Brandon said.
'Yeah,' Ciara replied.
'We were thinking about going there ourselves someday...at least the girls were, they heard it was a good place for shopping,' he said.
'Oh....' said Ciara.
'Hey, maybe I could get them to go tomorrow, we could all meet up if you could get away from your parents for a bit,' he said with an excited grin on his face.
Ciara felt a surge of excitement herself. She could spend some time in James's company, maybe talk to him a bit. She wasn't going to win him away from a girl like Kirsten any time soon but maybe they could have some kind of friendship at least. That would be something.
'Wow, yeah that'd be great!' Ciara said, grinning back at Brandon.
'Cool, we're on,' he said 'Hey, give me your phone number so I can text you about this.'
'Sure,' Ciara said, taking out her phone.
They swapped phone numbers and then Brandon snuck back around in the darkness to the taverna where his friends were still drinking. Ciara waited a little while just in case and then headed back over to where her parents were sitting at the bar. Her parents were still engaged in conversation with some other guests of the resort at the bar and passed no comment on Ciaras# lengthy absence. They stayed for a while longer and then Ciara saw her father say something quietly to her mother. Her mother explained to the people she'd been talking with that they had an early start tomorrow and they had better head to bed now. They said their goodnights to each other and to the taverna staff in Greek and went back to the apartment. As Ciara got ready for bed she thought about how kind Brandon was to help her out the way he was, and how things might be easier for her if she liked him and not James. Ciara looked at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. That was life though, as far as she could tell. She wanted most what she could not have. She sighed as she finished brushing her teeth. She climbed into the bed and as she fell asleep she dreamt of being in Kirsten's place earlier that evening, with her hand brushing against James's knee.
The next morning dawned bright and early and Ciara ate a quick breakfast as her parents got ready to go out. She dressed fast too, and they were soon out the door on the way to the car. On the drive there Ciara was excited about the prospect of getting to hang around with James and the other Australians again. Not so much Kirsten, but James's beauty and Brandon's kindness were good enough for her to make a sacrifice there. Besides, maybe with how close Kirsten was getting to the beautiful James she would ease up on Ciara a little bit now. Ciara's phone buzzed in her bag. It was Brandon. 'See you soon!' it said. Ciara grinned happily. The Australians were going to be in Rethymnon for sure. She tucked her phone away and watched the scenery passing by, feeling happier than she had any of the times when she had done this before. They arrived in Rethymnon shortly after. Ciara's mother turned around in the front seat to speak to Ciara.
'Right, so we're going to the Fortezza here first and then we'll get a bite to eat and do some shopping, is that okay?'
Ciara resolved that after eating she would request that she could go exploring the city on her own and in that time actually meet up with the Australians. Outwardly she simply told her mother that that plan was okay with her. They got out of the car and began the long walk up to the top of the hill in Rethymno to the Fortezza. Again Ciara's love of history took over and she enjoyed walking with her parents and soaking up the history of the place. It was built in the 16th Century by the Venetians and Ciara thoroughly enjoyed imagining what the place must have been like at that time. However, as much as Ciara was enjoying herself she was also feeling excited at the prospect of getting to hang around with the Australians again. She wondered was it slightly pathetic of her to want to hang around with someone she knew she had no chance with, but decided that considering just how physically attractive James was that he was at a different level to most guys and it was perfectly okay to want to spend as much time around him as possible. She walked over to the walls of the Fortezza and looked out at the waves crashing up against the rocky shoreline. Her abiding desire for James washed over her like one of the waves over the rocks there at the shore. She wanted to get lost in the sweet longing she felt for him, but knew she couldn't. It would only bring her more heartache in the end. No, she must make do with being able to spend time in his glorious presence and perhaps form some kind of friendship with him. She resolved herself to be happy with this way of things as she stared out at the ocean from the Fortezza. She heard her mother calling her now, it was time to leave and get something to eat. She followed her parents out of the Fortezza down the town where they found a little restaurant to eat their lunch. Ciara hoped they would let her go 'exploring' on her own. She brought it up with them.
'Mom, dad, is it okay if I go explore the city on my own after this?' she asked hopefully.
They looked surprised but looked at each other and shrugged.
'If that's what you want, you can,' said her mother.
'Just keep your phone turned on,' said her father.
Ciara felt a surge of triumph. She would text Brandon as soon as she got away from her parents and she could meet up with him and the others. She hoped they were not too far away. She finished eating her light lunch and said goodbye to her parents for the moment. She walked down the street and texted Brandon to let him know she could meet up with them now. He texted her back and they arranged to meet in a little square in the old part of the city. It was a flagstone square surrounded on all sides by cafes and restaurant with an old fountain with a lionhead spouting the water. Ciara thought it was very pretty. It was a sunny day in a beautiful city and she was about to see the heavenly James again. Her mood was high. She saw them walk up the street towards the square and noticed that James seemed to be wearing quite a tight t-shirt that emphasized his muscles. Her insides squirmed with delight. A whole afternoon in the presence of such a god was going to be good. They saw her and walked up to her.
'Hey,' Brandon greeted her.
'Hi,' she greeted him in return and then greeted the rest of the group, her eyes on James in particular. His muscles were really bulging out of that t-shirt. She could barely take her eyes away. She tried though, she did not want it to be too obvious how much she wanted him. She hoped it wasn't already...she then tried to push aside those feelings, remembering her resolution earlier to be happy if she just got to form some kind of friendship with him.
'So what do you guys want to do?' Ciara asked.
Brandon shrugged.
'I wanted to go looking around the shops,' Danielle said.
'Again?!' Mason exclaimed.
'Yeah, again,' Danielle said defensively.
Mason rolled his eyes.
'Yeah let's go shopping,' said Ciara, smiling at Danielle who smiled back.
So they walked around the shops for a while, Ciara, Danielle and Kirsten looking at clothes and bags and shoes and the guys trailed along behind them. Ciara was slightly nervous that Kirsten was going to take this opportunity to be nasty to her again, but she did not. There were stalls on the street as well that they browsed around, the guys became very interested in one that held an array of bottle openers in the shape of male genitalia. Brandon picked one up and dangled it over Kirsten's head while she browsed another stall with handmade dolls. She remained unaware of this for a full minute or so until she heard the guys sniggering. Ciara couldn't help but giggle herself and Danielle bit her lip to suppress a grin.
'What are you all laughing at -' Kirsten began and turned around.
'Gah!' she said as she saw the bottle opener over her head and ducked away. Brandon walked after her holding the bottle opener in front of him. She ran away from him, James and Mason now laughing hysterically. Brandon now took one of the biggest bottle openers and with the strings on the waistband of his pants tied it so it looked like it was sticking out of them. Kirsten rolled her eyes and he waved it at her.
The owner of the shop came out looking annoyed.
'Stop pretending that good merchandise is pee-pee,' he said to Brandon in his Greek accented English.
'Oh, I'm buying it,' Brandon said to him.
'You buy?' the shop owner said.
'Yeah it's for her,' Brandon said gesturing to Kirsten 'She's got no boyfriend.'
'Brandon!' Kirsten whined.
Ciara had to cover her mouth to hide her giggle as James and Mason laughed uproariously. Danielle was no longer even attempting to hide her laughter.
'No boyfriend?' the shop owner asked with sad concern in his voice.
'No boyfriend,' Brandon confirmed.
'I give it to you half-price,' the shop owner said kindly.
Kirsten gaped indignantly at the exchange.
Ciara had to try really hard to hide her giggles now.
Brandon followed the shop keeper into the shop to buy the bottle opener.
'I'm going to kill him,' Kirsten hissed as she watched him walk inside.
'He's doing you a favour Kirsten, give him a break,' Mason said with a wicked grin on his face and Kirsten went to punch him on the arm.
James laughed even harder still.
Ciara watched as Kirsten looked at James laughing with a sour expression on her face. It was clear to her that Kirsten was obviously not happy that James was finding amusement in the joke Brandon was playing on her.
Ciara could not help feel a slight satisfaction at this after Kirstens' unkindness towards her.
Brandon exited the shop holding a bag in his hand and walked over to Kirsten holding it out to her girnning widely.
'Here you go, who needs a boyfriend anyway?' said Brandon.
'Brandon you are such a little jerk sometimes!' Kirsten gave out to him.
They all laughed out loud now, nobody hiding their amusement any more.
'Ugh,' said Kirsten.
'Come on Kirsten, lighten up,' said Brandon said, still laughing.
Kirsten crossed her arms, looked at him and gave a begrudging smile.
Danielle went and put her arm around Kirsten's shoulders giving her a friendly squeeze. Kirsten smiled at her.
'Are sure you don't want this though, Kirsten?' Brandon asked, holding out the bag with the bottle opener to her again with a mock serious expression on his face.
Mason and James laughed again. Ciara giggled a bit again, too. She was honestly having the time of her life in all this.
Kirsten looked over at Ciara.
'Why don't you give it to her?' she said to Brandon 'She's single, too.'
Ciara felt like she should have known that Kirsten would try something like that.
'I bought it for you Kirsty,' Brandon said to her, grinning.
'Don't call me that and this isn't funny anymore!' cried Kirsten.
James, Mason and Brandon all laughed together at Kirsten's discomfort at Brandon trying to give her the bottle opener.
Ciara thought that they were getting more fun out of Kirsten being uncomfortable than they would out of her because they knew Kirsten better. This was a relief to her as she really did not know what she would do in that situation in front of James. She felt a sudden swell of sympathy for Kirsten.
Brandon continued dangling the bag with the bottle opener inside in front of Kirsten.
'Maybe leave her alone now,' Ciara said in a small voice.
Brandon looked at her and shrugged.
Kirsten gave her a strange look. Her face softened.
'Thanks, Ciara,' she said quietly and looked down.
Ciara nodded and looked down herself.
Brandon was looking back and forth from the two of them.
He caught Ciaras' eye and he gave her a smile which she returned.
He walked over to Mason and James.
'You keeping that thing for yourself then, mate?' Mason asked grinning and nodding to the bag.
'How about you take it?' Brandon said, holding the bag out.
'Keep that thing away from me, man,' said Mason, backing away.
James started laughing again, until Brandon started trying to give the bag to him and then he was backing away too.
'Alright, I'll keep it for myself and some lucky lady,' said Brandon said with a mock self-satisfied intake of breath.
James rolled his eyes and Ciara giggled.
'Oh gross!' cried Danielle.
Mason put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
'Good luck with that, mate,' he said to Brandon.
Brandon made a childish face at him and Mason kicked at him. Brandon dodged out of the way of the kick and nearly collided with one of the stands.
The shop keeper re-appeared at the doorway.
'Have a care!' he yelled at Brandon and Mason.
'Sorry,' they said in unison.
'I am keeping my eye on you,' he said and then went back into his shop.
'Come on let's get out of here,' said Brandon.
They walked on down the street with Danielle stopping in yet more shops. She steadily amassed an array of bags of clothes. Ciara herself picked up a nice pair of sandals and a shirt from two of the shops. The sun was getting lower in the sky and they were all getting tired by this point. They came up to a taverna.
'Hey let's stop for a drink,' Brandon suggested to the group.
They all agreed and they went into the taverna together and took a table. They ordered their drinks and sat waiting for them in the sun.
Ciara was glad to be sitting down at last and enjoyed the warm sunshine shining down on her. When the drinks came she took hers.
Brandon had taken out his phallic shaped bottle opener and offered it to Kirsten to use to open her bottle. She gave him a very cold look.
'Ooooooooh,' said Mason and James together.
Ciara couldn't say what came over her, but next thing she knew she was reaching out and taking the bottle opener and coolly used it to open her bottle.
She could tell from their faces and the silence that followed that they were all impressed at her boldness. James whistled. Ciaras' spirit soared. She had earned the admiration of James and his friends for at least a moment.
Brandon started laughing then and the rest of them joined in, even Kirsten gave a begrudging chuckle. Ciara grinned.
They sat around drinking their beers in the sun and chatting amicably with one another for a while longer until the sun was so low in the sky the buildings it shone behind cast long shadows that nearly reached their sunny spot. Danielle observed the shadows creeping up on them and suggested that it was time to go. They finished their drinks, paid and left the taverna. They were still talking happily amongst themselves as they walked down the street. Ciara was still glowing inside over her triumph of the afternoon. She looked up then and saw her parents coming up the street in the opposite direction. She swore and ducked into the nearest shop, not wanting them to see her with the Australians.
Brandon looked in at her from the street.
'You don't want to do more shopping, do you?' he asked incredulously.
'No,' Ciara replied. 'I saw my parents.'
'Oh,' said Brandon, looking around.
'I'd better stay here,' Ciara said 'You guys go on without me.'
'Okay,' Brandon said 'See you later.' He smiled at her and exited the shop to catch up with the others.
Ciara looked around the shop. It was more brightly coloured summer clothes and souvenirs as was so typical of shops here. She looked around at the clothes for a bit. She was still basking in the afterglow of being around James for a whole afternoon. She replayed his whistling as she opened her beer bottle with the bottle opener in her mind and smiled. She then felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up. Her mother was standing next to her.
'There you are,' she said 'We've been looking for you. Come on it's time to go.'
Ciara followed her out of the shop. She walked with her parents down to the parking lot by the oceanfront where they had parked their car earlier. They began the drive home and Ciara watched the urban sights of the city fade into the brushy countryside of this country. She thought again of her afternoon with the luscious James and his friends and smiled to herself in the back seat of the car. She felt like a mere mortal who'd managed to glean a sliver of golden grace.  
Chapter Four
Another sunny day dawned on the Mediterranean town of Agia Galini. Ciara awoke and her thoughts started began to flow sluggishly as she drowsily took in the apartment around her. The apartment that she shared with her parents was still darkened by the drawn curtains. After their excursions all over the island they were all very tired. Her parents hadn't mentioned where they were supposed to be going today and Ciara lay in bed hoping that this meant that they wouldn't be going anywhere at all. She remembered the previous day in Rethymno and how she had gotten to be around the ridiculously handsome James again. And he wearing a tight T-shirt that outlined his bulging muscles so well. She smiled as she remembered Brandon's antics and even wider still as she thought of how she had made them laugh using the novelty bottle opener when they were having their drinks in the sun. The whole day had been a very good one. Ciara lay in bed, suffused with a warm happy glow at the memories. She heard movements in her parents bedroom. The door opened and her mother walked out.
'Ciara are you awake?' she asked through the gloom.
'Yeah,' was Ciaras' sleepy reply.
'We don't have any plans for today, love,' her mother told her 'We're just going to do the usual and head down to the beach after we have our breakfast, so you can sleep on if you like.'
Ciara inwardly rejoiced.
'Thanks,' she said to her mother.
'Okay,' her mother responded and went back inside the room she shared with Ciaras' father.
Ciara lay in bed, all the reasons she had to be happy right now filling her with contentment. She lay on in bed while her mother and father got breakfast, her still sleepy brain now conjuring up beautiful images of the beautiful James. Her parents finished their breakfast on the balcony and went down to the beach. She sighed and rolled over onto her back. It was probably time to get up now and have her own brunch at the taverna. She got out of bed and stretched, still feeling happy and content. She hummed to herself as she showered and dressed. She went out on the balcony for her hair to dry in the sun and looked out at the ocean. It was another beautiful day here. Tourists lay out sunning themselves on the beach or drinking a refreshing beer in the taverna. Music blared from the direction of the mini golf course where yet more tourists played their games under the Cretan sun. Ciara watched it all and when her hair was dry she deemed herself suitable to go out and about amongst the general population so she grabbed her things and headed out down to the taverna. She greeted the staff of the taverna with a 'Kale Maera' and made her order of a cappuccino and bread and jam. She took out her book and began reading. It was also a history book she brought with her from Ireland on Tudor England. She became absorbed in it as she ate her brunch and drank her cappuccino. She was having a nice, leisurely day and it was a relief after the travelling all over the island for the past while. She knew she would still have to stay away from the Australians with her parents around, at least she and Brandon had not made any plans to help Ciara sneak around and see them. As she was reading she noticed that the sky darkened and the air became cooler. She looked up and around. It began to rain. She got up from her seat and went to the edge of the roofed seating area to look up at the sky, it seemed like the rain would go on for quite a while. She began to feel mildly annoyed. She heard a sound from behind her. She turned to see James having just ran in under the roof as shelter from the rain. His hair glistened from getting wet in the rain and his shoulders had wet patches. He shook his head to get it dry and moisture droplets flew everywhere. He looked beautiful. Ciara's annoyance dissipated. She caught herself staring and then forced herself to look away. James himself looked around and caught sight of her.
'Oh...hi, Ciara,' he said.
Ciara's heart gave a funny little jolt at him saying her name.
'Hi,' she said shyly, and sat back down where she had been reading, her heart fluttering in her chest.
'Can I join you?' James asked.
'Yeah!' Ciara said, a bit too enthusiastically and James gave her a funny look.
He took a seat on the chair opposite her.
Ciara couldn't believe her good luck, trapped under one of the verandas in the rain with James, she had him all to herself now. There was the problem of how shy she felt about actually talking to him but still she was very happy to be stuck here with him. She found herself hoping that the rain would last a long time.
'I'd order you a beer but you don't have your bottle opener today,' James said jokingly with a smile on his face.
Ciara gave a small laugh and felt more at ease.
'Where's Brandon when you need him?' she joked herelf, still laughing.
James joined in her laughter.
'I had fun yesterday in Rethymnon,' he said.
'Yeah me, too,' Ciara said.
'We should all hang out more often,' said James.
Ciara felt a surge of joy. James wanted them all to hang out more often. She was a friend to him. She could be happy with this.
'Yeah, we should,' she said with a big smile on her face.
James returned the smile.
They sat in silence for a moment.
James glanced down at the table and noticed the book she'd been reading.
'What's the book?' he asked.
'Oh – it's a book on Tudor England,' said Ciara, blushing at him making conversation with her.
'Tudor England?' James asked.
'Yeah,' said Ciara with a self-deprecating laugh.
'You like history?' Jai asked.
'Oh I love history!' Ciara exclaimed, before launching into a passionate rant about her love of the past. She completely forgot herself and just went on and on about how much she loved learning about different styles of dress and different ways of doing things people had in the past. She talked about Tudor England and the different modes of dress and decorum they had back then. Her passion for the subject overcame her until her social awareness of James watching her kicked back in. She stuttered and stopped, noticing that he was looking at her with a strange look in her eyes. She became acutely self aware and gave a deprecating laugh.
'I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you...' she apologized.
'No, no...it's been been fascinating hearing all about....Tudor England...' he trailed off.
Ciara laughed and James joined in.
Ciara knew she and James were getting along well, and felt a surge of confidence that completely overcame the shyness she had felt earlier.
'So what kinds of things are you interested in as hobbies, James?' she inquired.
James shrugged.
'I play a lot of sports,' he said. 'I'm big into rugby.'
'Oh,' said Ciara, nodding.
'So you play that a lot?' she asked, feeling a bit stupid at this question.
'Yeah,' he responded.
'What else do you like?' Ciara asked.
'I don't know...hanging out with my friends and family, I guess,' he said.
Ciara nodded.
James scratched his cheek.
'I've been teaching my kid sister to play rugby, actually,' he said 'It can be a lot of fun.'
'Oh that's lovely!' Ciara exclaimed.
James shrugged again.
'Keeps her out of trouble,' he said.
So he is a protective big brother, Ciara thought to herself, how sweet. Ciara felt herself really warming to James. She had been crushing on him and desiring him before, but now she was really taking to his friendly, caring personality and sense of humour.
She looked at him with this new found affection in her eyes and he smiled sweetly at her. She felt so happy at discovering that her sweet crush really did have such a nice, genuine personality. She felt that they could be good friends. She still felt that with Kirsten around she wasn't really going to have much luck getting his romantic attentions but she could be happy with his friendship. Unbidden, a thought sprung up in her mind, that if they were getting along so well now, perhaps she did have a chance with him after all...a feeling of glorious hope swelled up in her breast. It was followed immediately by a fear of heartbreak and the urge to quell the hope and just be happy with James's friendship. The two feelings warred inside her.
'So how do you like Crete so far?' James asked her, breaking through her thoughts.
'Oh it's lovely,' she replied 'So sunny and warm, and I love the history of it. Sorry though, I won't bore you too much with that.' She said this with a small laugh.
James laughed as well.
'You really like history,' he remarked.
'Yes,' Ciara said, smiling wrily.
'It's good to have an interest like that,' said James 'Something to be passionate about.' He looked at her with a strange, serious look in his eyes.
'I don't think I've ever met a girl who was quite so passionate about something...' he said in a low voice.
Ciara held his gaze for a moment, but it was so intense she had to drop her eyes then.
She looked up again and he was smiling gently at her. She couldn't believe it, did this tenderness mean he was actually starting to get feelings for her? The desire to believe this warred with the fear of heartbreak inside her again. She smiled back at him.
James looked up and around.
'The rain's stopped,' he said.
Ciara looked herself and saw that indeed it had. A wave of disappointment came over her, her time being stuck under the veranda with James was over. At least they appeared to be friends now, maybe he even felt a bit more...
James rubbed his shoulders, which appeared to still be damp from the rain.
'I think I'm going to go and change shirts,' he said.
'Oh yeah okay!' Ciara said, covering up her disappointment at seeing him go.
'I'll talk to you later,' he said, smiling as he walked out from under the veranda.
Ciara smiled in return.
She watched him as he walked away. When he was out of sight she sat back in her chair. She had a lot to think about. This encounter had certainly sown a seed of hope in her heart that she could have James as more than a friend, but whether to nurture it or not was still a question for her. She stared out at the ocean, caught between the desire to hope and pursue a romance with James or to quell the new found hope and be happy with just being his friend, thereby avoiding the risk of getting hurt any more. She had only just managed to come out of her moods about him and resolved to be happy with a friendship with him, but she couldn't deny that it had seemed a bit like maybe he had more of an interest in her than as just a friend. She sighed, the uncertainty of what to do weighing down on her. It was then that she noticed her parents had come up from the beach and were in there usual spot waving her over. She felt a wave of anxiety, had they seen her with James? She got up out of her seat and put her book in her bag, heading over towards them. As she walked over her mother was looking in the direction that James had gone in when he left the taverna, towards the single rooms, with an expression of disapproval on her face. Ciara's insides squirmed with anxiety.
'What were you doing talking to him?' her mother asked sternly.
Ciara winced 'We were both caught under the veranda in the rain,' she explained.
'Hmph,' went her mother.
Ciara ducked her head into the menu. She started thinking about James again and just felt so happy at the interactions she had had with him this afternoon. As she decided between the garlic bread or a small pizza, she also decided that she could just see how things went from here with him. She put down the menu, happy at her new outlook and ready to enjoy her garlic bread. She ate with her parents and they said no more about her little rendezvous with James. They chatted away, enjoying their food and surroundings.
When they were finished their and their drinks her parents headed back down to the beach.
Ciara sat back and was about to order a cappuccino and read some more when she looked over and saw James and his friends playing with the giant chess in the cobbled courtyard of the resort. She looked over in the direction of the beach where her parents had walked out of sight and then back over to James and his friends at the chess set. It would be risky to go over and join them with her parents only at the beach, so she decided to just get up from her seat and move to one closer to the chess game where she could maybe watch. She picked up her bag with her book in it and walked over to a table closer to the chess set. Just as she was about to sit down James spotted her.
'Ciara!' he called to her 'Come join us!'
Ciara looked at him and then back over in the direction of the beach where her parents were, uncertain of whether she should chance it or not.
'Ciara?' she heard James's voice from behind her.
'Yeah...,' she responded, simultaneously deciding to take a chance and go and join them. She could keep an eye out for her parents. Usually they didn't come up from the beach at this time anyway. She walked over to the group and out of the corner of her eye saw Kirsten make a face at her joining them. There was a chorus of 'his' and 'heys' from Mason, Danielle and Brandon.
'Hey,' Ciara said to all of them.
'So who's playing who?' she asked.
'Me, Mason and Danielle against Kirsten and Brandon,' James responded.
'You can join Kirsten and Brandon, now, it'll even things up a bit,' he said.
Ciara felt apprehensive at this suggestion. She looked over at Kirsten who was staring fixedly down at the chessboard with her arms crossed. Brandon, on the other hand grinned broadly and walked over and put an arm around Ciara.
'Alright! Welcome to the team, Ciara!' he said.
Ciara smiled at him.
Ciara realized that her chess skills were probably a bit rusty. She used to play it with her dad over her summer holidays but it must have been last summer that was the last time she played. She turned to Brandon.
'I haven't played this in a while,' she told him.
'Oh it's okay, me and Kirsten can help you out until you start remembering,' he said.
'Oh joy...' Kirsten said sarcastically, under her breath.
'Kirsty!' Brandon exclaimed.
'I told you not to call me that!' she snapped at him.
Brandon held his hands up in the air.
'Okay, okay jeez what crawled up your ass and died there?' he said.
Ciara's apprehension about playing this game with Kirsten worsened. She noticed James watching all this and wondered what he thought of Kirsten's behaviour. He couldn't find it attractive anyway. Ciara suddenly felt light hearted and gleeful.
'Okay, let's get going,' James said, clapping his hands together.
He, Mason and Danielle grouped together, and Ciara, Brandon and Kirsten did the Jamese with Brandon standing in between Ciara and Kirsten.
'Okay so I think before Ciara joined it was our turn to make a move,' James said.
Brandon nodded.
James, Mason and Danielle clustered together, deciding which piece to move next.
Ciara looked at the board. She and Kirsten and Brandon had the black pieces and James, Mason and Danielle had the white. She tried to guess what their next move would be but couldn't make up her mind. They stood conferring for a while longer.
'Come on, hurry up!' said Kirsten.
They made their decision. They moved a knight three places diagonally. Ciara tried recalling what her father had taught her about the game, nearly all she could remember is that you had to move one of your pieces close to the king and that it was called a checkmate. She was afraid she was not going to be much use at this game.
'Alright, your move,' said James.
Brandon backed up so Ciara and Kirsten could group in around him. They did so.
'Right, any thoughts on our next move?' Brandon said.
Ciara had no clue what they should do and Kirsten was staying quiet too, her arms folded and staring straight at the ground.
'Eh...guys?' Brandon said looking at them both in consternation.
'Sorry, Brandon I just haven't played this game in so long...' Ciara said.
Kirsten scoffed.
Brandon gave Kirsten a look and then turned back to Ciara.
'It's okay, I have an idea what to do,' he said.
He went to the board and moved one of the pieces.
Ciara stood awkwardly beside Kirsten who was still staring at the ground with her arms crossed. Ciara gulped and looked back to Brandon who was walking away from the board.
James looked at the board thoughtfully, his fingers on his lips. Ciara looked at the board herself, nothing of the game really coming back to her yet. She watched James as he analysed the board. He looked so handsome even with his brow furrowed with thought. She felt a sense of elation that he had invited her to play the game now, followed by a self-consciousness that she was pretty rubbish at it. She almost started to feel happy about it because he would probably enjoy winning the game and her not being very good at it made that more likely. She smiled a little to herself at that. Kirsten looked over at her.
'What are you smirking about, then?' she demanded.
Ciara was taken aback and then flushed realizing that she could not explain why she'd been smiling in front of everyone.
'I, uh – I'm just enjoying the game...' she lied weakly.
Kirsten snorted.
Brandon watched all this and gave Ciara a sympathetic look.
James was still looking intently at the board. He walked over to Mason and Danielle and conferred with them about their next move.
The game went on and Ciara felt more and more useless as it went on, Kirsten clearly antagonistic towards her. She wished she could be a better player but those summers with her father playing the game were lost in the recesses of her memory. Ciara wondered why Kirsten was behaving so badly towards her. She saw Kirsten look over at James on the other side of the chess board then and suddenly knew that Kirstens' antagonistic behaviour was probably more to do with James' sudden friendliness towards her than anything else. She got a strong feeling now that Kirsten would only be happy when she felt that James was all hers. This left Ciara dealing with feelings of severe awkwardness as although Kirsten clearly felt some jealousy she herself was not even totally sure if James had anything more than a platonic interest in her and so did not want to be too confident in this and so risk embarrassment, especially with Kirstens' attitude problems. James checkmated their king in about three more moves. He punched the air in triumph when he did this and Ciara felt happy. She laughed a little at herself for liking him so much....Kirsten looked at Ciara and saw her smiling.
'You happy now that you lost us the game?' she said.
Ciara cringed now at Kirstens' behaviour.
'Kirsten what's your problem?' Mason demanded from across the board, clearly having had enough of her attitude towards Ciara who had done nothing herself.
Kirsten flushed and folded her arms, staring at the ground.
'Kirsten?' Danielle asked with a look of incredulity 'Why are you taking the game so seriously?'
'Never mind,' Kirsten said and stormed off in the direction of the bathrooms.
They all stared after her.
'I'd better go after her,' Danielle sighed and walked in the direction of the bathrooms herself after Kirsten.
Ciara shifted awkwardly and looked down at the cobbled stone of the courtyard.
'Are you okay?' James asked her.
She looked up at him.
'Yeah, I'm fine, wonder what her problem is,' she said with a little laugh looking at him.
She knew full well what Kirstens' problem was but she wasn't going to show it. Thankfully James and the others were oblivious to it. She felt it would be really awkward if they had her insight into the situation. She was half afraid that James would fly into Kirstens' arms if he knew, she wasn't sure how he felt about her exactly, they had certainly had a few cozy moments that she'd seen on this trip.
Brandon shook his head.
'She was taking the game way too seriously,' he said.
Mason laughed, shaking his head also.
Ciara felt relief that they were brushing Kirsten's behaviour off as just being that.
'She's too competitive sometimes,' James said, starting to put the chess pieces back into position on the board.
You have no idea, thought Ciara, feeling amusement that James knew of Kirsten's competitive streak but not that it was he that she was really competing for.
'Do you want another game?' Mason asked Brandon.
'Nah...I want to go get a beer,' said Brandon.
Mason nodded.
'Do you want a beer?' he asked Ciara.
'Yeah, that'd be great,' Ciara said.
Mason turned to James.
'James?' he asked.
'Yeah just a second,' James replied, still re-arranging the chess pieces.
Ciara started to help him put them back.
Mason and Brandon hung around waiting.
'Thanks,' said James to Ciara when they were finished.
'No problem,' Ciara replied and followed Mason and Brandon up the ramp to the taverna.
They all took seats at the bar and ordered their drinks.
Mason and Brandon were half looking back at a sports game playing on one of the televisions in the taverna. Ciara couldn't tell which sport it was, she didn't follow sports at all.
Their drinks came and the guys started talking about Ozzy Rules, which Ciara didn't follow at all. It was alright, she was perfectly content to sit with her drink in James's company anyway.
She was sipping her beer just listening to him talk when a strange man sidled up next to her, dragging his bar stool up next to hers a little too close for comfort.
'Hi love,' he said in a raspy, German accented voice.
She knew that people on holidays were generally more friendly than you might usually be and was generally friendly herself in return, but she got a weird vibe of this guy. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
'Where are you from?' the man asked.
'Ireland,' Ciara replied, feeling like maybe she shouldn't be talking to him at all.
He took a gulp of his drink.
'What age are you?' he asked.
Ciara felt intensely ill at ease. She did not want to respond to his query at all but couldn't see a way to avoid it.
'18,' she responded reluctantly, a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.
'Do you have a boyfriend?' he asked.
Oh god, Ciara thought, not wanting to give him that information about her. His closeness and questions felt invasive. Unable to form any words she simply stared down at her drink, wishing the man would just go away.
'Do you have a boyfriend?' the man repeated.
Ciara tried to shift away from him in the bar stool.
She looked over at James, Mason and Brandon who were still immersed in conversation and tried to catch their eyes.
She felt the man's hand on her leg then.
She jumped away from him, nearly falling off the bar stool and then attracting the attention of Brandon, Mason and James.
James ran over supporting Ciara so she could regain her balance on her stool. She felt his arm around her back and a sudden rush of pleasure at his touch. She was nearly grateful now for the man placing his hand on her leg.
'Are you okay?' James asked her.
'Yeah,' Ciara replied, slightly dazed at the sudden closeness of him.
'You wanna leave her alone mate!' he said to the creepy man at the bar.
The man looked at him, taking in his size and stature.
'You are her boyfriend?' he asked.
Ciara blushed, she dearly wished the answer to that question was yes.
'Yeah, I am,' James said to the man.
Ciara looked at him in surprise. He saw her looking and shook his head at her, wordlessly telling her to look away from him. She understood then that he was pretending to be her boyfriend so the man would back off. A feeling of gratitude for him swelled in her breast.
The man looked at Ciara once and then back to James.
'I'm sorry,' he said, getting off his bar stool and moving away.
Ciara felt a rush of relief and looked up at James.
'Thank you,' she said, feeling her face glow as she looked at him.
He looked down at her and smiled, he drew her closer.
'That's no problem,' he said 'Are you okay?'
'Yeah,' Ciara said weakly, intensely conscious of his hard lean muscles pressing against her.
He drew her into an embrace then. Ciara felt shocked, not having expected this at all. He pulled back after a few moments and planted a kiss on her forehead. She blushed. She looked up at him, still very surprised at this display of affection. He took in her surprise and smiled down at her again.
Ciara blinked. Being on the receiving end of so much affection from the man who was her hearts desire was making her nearly dizzy with joy. She grinned and he chuckled. She heard footsteps then coming up from the side, slowing as they came closer. She looked around and saw Kirsten, who had returned from the bathrooms. Her face was contorted into an expression of fierce anger and jealousy. A feeling of dread rose in Ciara's chest. Kirsten shot her a look of seething hatred. Ciara cringed inwardly.
James looked to see what she was looking at.
'Are you alright, Kirsten?' he asked.
She looked at him and recovered herself.
'Yeah, I'm fine,' she responded, looking from him to Ciara and then back again, the shock and anger still in her eyes.
Danielle followed Kirsten from the bathrooms and walked over to Mason who put his arm around her.
'Alright Kirsty, you over your little flip out now?' Brandon asked her.
'I did not flip out,' Kirsten said defensively, folding her arms. A flicker of embarrassment crossing her face gave it away that she knew that she had indeed behaved badly. She bit her lip and looked away.
James's arm was still around Ciara and he was looking at Kirsten with a serious expression on his face. His brow creased into a frown as Kirsten shot a venomous look at Ciara.
'Kirsten, I think you owe Ciara an apology,' he said to her, almost sternly.
Kirsten's eyes flickered to him, taking in his expression and surprise and hurt appeared on her face.
She looked at Ciara wordlessly and gulped.
Ciara felt a sudden surge of sympathy for Kirsten, understanding as she did Kirstens' desires about James.
'It's okay,' Ciara mumbled, feeling very awkward. She did not want Kirsten to feel hurt by James like this, but she knew James was trying to look out for her so didn't want
'I'm sorry,' Kirsten muttered to Ciara, took one last look at James and then abruptly walked towards the taverna exit. Ciara thought she saw tears running down Kirsten's face as she walked by.
'Kirsten?' called Danielle after Kirstens' retreating back.
Kirsten continued down the taverna ramp and across the cobbled courtyard in the direction of the rooms where the Australians were staying.
Danielle disentangled herself from Masons' embrace and went to follow Kirsten again.
Ciara, Brandon and James watched after Kirsten.
Brandon looked at James and shrugged as if to say he could not fathom what was going on with Kirsten.
James looked down at Ciara again.
'Are you okay?' he asked.
'Yeah, I'm fine,' she said and he planted another kiss on her head. Ciara started feeling dazed again by all this unexpected affection from James.
Mason, having finished his beer, got down off his bar stool.
'What do we do now?' he asked in general.
'I dunno...' Brandon said, shrugging 'Another game?'
'Yeah sure,' Mason said walking over to the chess set.
Brandon followed.
'Are you going to join them?' Ciara asked James.
'No...I think I'll stay here,' he said, looking down at her with an intensity to his gaze that made Ciara feel at once shy and happy to be the focus of such a look.
She had to look away and in doing so saw her parents coming into the taverna out of the corner of her eye.
'Oh no,' she muttered and ducked away from James and down behind the bar so they would not see her with him.
'What are you doing?' James asked in confusion.
Ciara blushed. She was embarrassing herself in front of James but she had to make sure her parents did not know she had been with him. She had to help him understand that she was not just being a weirdo though. She beckoned to him to join her down behind the bar.
He stared at her in consternation for a moment before ducking down himself.
'My parents just came in and they don't want me hanging around you,' she said.
'Your parents don't want you hanging out with me?' he asked in confusion.
'No, they think you're a bad influence on me,' she said, smiling.
'Why do they think I'm a bad influence?' he asked with a little laugh.
'You know, because of that first night I met you guys...' she said.
'Oh....' he said, a dawning realisation on his face. He laughed suddenly then.
'They think we're a bad influence for the skinny dipping thing?' he asked, an amused grin on his face.
'Yeah,' Ciara said, grinning herself.
'Hey could you try to look out for them for me?' she asked him, starting to worry about how long she would be stuck there for.
'Sure,' he replied, getting up from his crouched position. He looked around the taverna.
'They're sitting over at the far side of the taverna,' he said 'I think if you make a run for it they won't see you.'
Ciara got up from her position squatting under the bar.
'I'll see you later!!' she said to James and ran around by the bathrooms to cut across the courtyard and make it back to the apartment. She dearly hoped her parents would not see her.
She got back to the apartment and paused for a moment by the door...the events of the afternoon buzzing in her head. She found it hard to believe that in such a short space of time she'd become so friendly with James. She leaned back against the wall by the door and closed her eyes, trying to recapture all the moments with him where it had seemed like he could have been feeling more than just friendship towards her. The strange look in his eyes...his affectionate kisses on her head...his intense gaze. She smiled remembering. A surge of elation swelled up inside her as she embraced the realization that James could really like her. The dazed sensation she had been getting earlier on around him came back and she sat down heavily on one of the kitchen chairs. It was hard to believe that only yesterday James' affections seemed so unattainable to her, and today she was the happy recipient of them in more ways than she thought possible. When he got that creep to leave her alone...and he even made Kirsten apologize for behaving so badly towards Ciara....her elated mood dropped suddenly remembering Kirsten. Kirsten had certainly seemed to always have had a problem with Ciara from when they first met. Ciara couldn't say she liked Kirsten too much but couldn't help but sympathise with someone who also liked James. She remembered Kirstens' face when James was telling her to apologize for her behaviour and the tears streaming down her face as she ran out of the taverna. She did not want to imagine what it must have felt like to come under James's stern disapproval. She sat at the table considering Kirstens' problem seriously. She wondered was James or anyone else going to realize that Kirstens' bad behaviour towards Ciara was because Kirsten really wanted James for herself and saw Ciara as a threat. Ciara hadn't felt like she was a threat at all, and was still wondering at the recent and wonderful turn of events. Did James really like her or was he just very affectionate when he got friendly with someone? She hadn't seen him kiss Kirsten on the cheek like he had with her, and the way he'd looked at her sometimes seemed like there was more there than just friendship. She couldn't decide again if she was believing what she wanted to believe or seeing something that was really there. She could not decide if Kirstens' jealousy was justified or not. She was faced with two possibilities...either James did want her the way she wanted him and Kirsten was right to be jealous or he did not and Kirsten would get her way. She was filled with some trepidation at both prospects...she couldn't imagine Kirsten was going to stop disliking her either way. Seeing her get with James as Ciara had always expected might be harder now after James seeming to express an interest in her. She wanted at once to run back to her friends in Ireland or stay and see if she could find happiness with James. She got up from the table and walked out onto the balcony. She looked out again at the palm trees that stood before the beach and the ocean in the distance and let her thoughts quieten as she took in the serenity of the view. Some of the intensity of her feelings as they were crept back into her consciousness and she sighed. She found herself experiencing a new yearning, even newer than her yearning for James and it was one to not have to experience this range of nearly overwhelming emotions at all. She felt tired and a little scared of what was still to come for her. It would be more heartache or more pain and James would be the one who decided...the door of the apartment opening behind her distracted her from her thoughts. Her parents entered.
'Hi love,' her mother said.
'Hi,' she replied quietly and looked back out at the view again.
She heard her mothers' footsteps come up behind her.
'Is everything alright?'she heard her say, her voice coated in motherly concern.
She turned, trying to relax her face into a calmer expression so her mother would cease her worrying.
'Yeah, I'm fine,' Ciara said.
Her mother walked over to join her at the balcony edge and rubbed her on the back in a comforting, motherly fashion.
'We going out for dinner soon?' Ciara asked.
'Yes, as soon as your dad and I are ready,' her mother replied, turning and walking back into the apartment.
Ciara was still feeling tired from the emotional highs and lows she had gone through in the space of a day. She lay on one of the sun loungers on the balcony resting while her parents prepared themselves for their meal. Her mother came out and seeing her on the sun lounger sighed but said nothing. Ciara thought about her mother while she continued resting in the sun. She knew her mother wanted to be part of her life and in the best way possible, but she felt the need to keep parts of herself for herself. She felt guilty then realizing that she would love to share her feelings about James with her friends back home in Ireland. She sighed herself...parents were difficult sometimes. If only she could make them understand. Now she felt completely drained. She was almost falling asleep in her place on the sun lounger when she heard her mother calling her for dinner. This evening her parents chose to eat in the taverna restaurant to her relief. She would not have to walk too far to get to her bed after dinner. She felt a slight strain sitting talking with her parents after her day and her desire to keep the knowledge of what she had going on over James secret. The biggest cause of the strain she felt was knowing that her mother was aware of something going on with her. She wondered would her mother realize that it was connected to the group of Australians she had forbidden Ciara to see. Now Ciara felt anxiety take hold in her gut. Their food came and she picked at it, feeling too tired and stressed now to enjoy a meal. She continued playing with it on the plate until she caught her mother casting some disapproving looks in the direction of her and her plate and decided she needed to try and consume some of the meal. She put a forkful in her mouth and went through the mechanical motions of chewing. It was really quite tasty, so it became less of an effort for her after the first few chews. She took more forkfuls and it was no effort at all. The taste of the meal awakened the rest of her senses, she became aware of the voices all around her, her parents and the other guests in the taverna eating their meals. She felt the fresh Cretan air on her skin and heard the sound of the ocean in the distance. A feeling of calm and peace fell over her. She was engaged now with the present, fully there and no longer so concerned with what the future held for her with James or her mother. She sat with her family while they finished their meal and drank their wine. The sky grew dark and the warm glow of the taverna lights illuminated Ciara's surroundings. She felt comfortable and relaxed. Soon it came time that her parents finished drinking their wine and they all went back up to the apartment.
Ciara was sleepy now after her day and her meal. She climbed into her light summer pyjamas and then into her bed. Her thoughts became drowsy and sluggish as she lay in the bed. A recurring thought in her mind was James and his gaze, the feel of his strong muscular arm around her and his kisses on her head. The future was yet unknown for her but Ciara felt lucky to have had such moments at all. And it was with these warm, comforting thoughts wrapping her up like a cozy blanket that Ciara fell into the sweet embrace of a deep slumber.
Chapter Five
Sky blue eyes looked deep into Ciaras' own. Soft lips pressed into hers. Strong arms enveloped her. A hard muscular body was closing in on her own. She wrapped her legs around his, every single part of her wanting this and everything that was yet to come. His body rose up over hers, the passionate kisses coming hard and strong. Anticipation bubbled inside her. She opened up, his pelvis coming to meet hers....and she awoke.
She was in her bed in the living area of the apartment she shared with her parents. Sunlight was streaming in around the edges of the curtains and in through the slight opening in the middle. Frustration boiled in her veins. The dream had left her with a the feeling of her desires being unfulfilled, as they were in reality. She turned over onto her back in the bed and stared at the ceiling, something more intense than her previous moods overcoming her.
In the security of the dark room and comfort of her bed Ciara stood back a little from her emotions. Just last night she'd been happy and peaceful, and now a dream was bringing back the feelings she thought she'd only just escaped. This roller-coaster of emotions she'd started on just a few days ago was something like she'd never felt before, and she wasn't sure how to get off or where it would end for her. Her brow furrowed with worry. She felt exasperated then, what was happening to her? She'd never had these feelings for anyone before in her life. One day she was a happy normal girl, then one handsome Australian comes along and it's like her world was turned upside down in a minute. That wasn't to say that the dizzying heights she could reach on this whirlwind of emotions wasn't such a lure that she wanted to go back to how she'd been before. She closed her eyes trying to shut out the thoughts whirring in her mind. She tried to find some peace but the feeling of frustration suffused her being, making it impossible to bear just lying there for any longer. She huffed and sat up in the bed, disentangling herself from the sweaty bedclothes. She stretched and made her way to the shower, disrobing as she went. She felt sticky and gross and yearned for the cool jets of water to pour down on her. She stepped into the shower. She felt instant relief at the refreshing blast of H2O jetted down over her skin. She closed her eyes and smiled. The visceral experience of the shower cooling and cleansing her was enough to bring her some kind of peace or happiness even in the midst of her angst. She stepped out of the shower feeling renewed in a way. She chose one of the thick, soft towels and dried herself off. She let the sensation of the warm, luxurious towel on her skin comfort her. She chose her clothes for the day. A pair of denim shorts and a cherry patterned crop top. She walked out onto the balcony to let her wet hair dry in the hot sun. She looked out at the familiar view. Today she thought she could make out the figures of Brandon, Mason, Danielle, Kirsten and the man at the centre of her lustful, sweaty dreams, the champion of physical perfection, the king of her heart, James down on the beach. She smiled slightly. It was good to lay eyes on his form again.
She heard the sounds of her parents waking and getting up coming from their bedroom. She took one last look at James's outline in the distance and headed back into the apartment. She began undressing the bed for the sheets to be washed. She was tidying up the stuff she had lying on the couch opposite her bed when her mother appeared out of her room.
'Ciara, dad and I are going into Spilli for a while today to shop around for a few things. Will you be alright here on your own?' she said.
Ciara's heart leapt, they would not be around today. She would have some freedom. Freedom to do as she pleased, with whomever she pleased, and no sneaking around or having to hide.
'Yes, I'll be fine,' she said to her mother, suppressing her feelings of jubilation for the moment.
Her mother nodded and turned to go and get ready herself for her day.
Ciara turned back to her tidying and let a glad smile spread over her face. The day was hers and hers alone. She managed to sort her clothes into some kind of order and in her high spirits even decided to do some tidying of the kitchenette area in the apartment. She thought of the day stretching out before her with none of the usual limitations and the frustration of earlier that morning was all but forgotten.
Her parents soon came from their room, dressed and ready to go. They said their goodbyes and exited the apartment for the car in the parking lot. Ciara rejoiced she finished tidying up and then grabbed her own bag to head out herself down to the beach to join the Australians. She skipped down the ramp into the courtyard and walked across the courtyard to the taverna. She looked out to the beach but could no longer see the Australians there. Disappointment welled up in her breast. As she kept walking on, looking into the distance at the beach she nearly walked into someone who was at the bar.
'Sorry,' she said automatically and looking up saw that it was Brandon. Relief swept through her.
'No worries,' he said and smiled.
'Are the others around?' she asked hopefully.
'Yeah,' he replied.
'They're over there in the sunny spot,' he said pointing.
Ciara looked in the direction he was pointing and saw them at a table just before the beach. She caught sight of Jamess golden hair gleaming in the sunlight. She smiled.
She then caught Brandon looking at her with a knowing smile of his own. He gave her a small wink. She blushed and dropped her eyes. He knew that she loved James, then. Her heart beat a little faster and a wave of embarrassment came over her. She must look like a such a fool, a little Irish girl chasing after an Australian god.
'You coming over then?' he asked, still smiling at her.
She nodded, her embarrassment causing her throat to constrict, stopping her from vocalising a response.
Brandon walked over to the group and Ciara followed in his wake.
Mason and James were nursing the ends of two beers sitting looking down to the beach where Ciara thought she could see Kirsten and Danielle in the ocean. The guys looked up at Brandon and Ciara approaching.
'Come on over,' James said on seeing Ciara, a huge smile on his face.
Ciara's whole day got so much brighter seeing that smile. A smile of her own sprang up on her face. She could swear she saw a twinkle in James's eyes.
She took a seat at the low glass table.
'Do you want anything?' Brandon asked.
Ciara did actually feel quite thirsty out in the heat.
'Could you get me a light beer?' she asked.
'No problem,' Brandon responded and went back to the bar to order the drink.
Ciara felt grateful to him, she would have to try and return the favour later.
Screams and laughter came from the direction of the ocean. Ciara looked down to see Danielle and Kirsten splashing each other playfully in the water. Their slender, athletic figures glistened with the water. Ciara's breath caught in her throat at the sight.
'They're so beautiful...'she said, somewhat wistfully. She felt that they had a level of physical beauty she would probably never live up to.
'Too right,' Mason said, as he watched his lovely girlfriend having fun in the ocean.
'They're not the only beautiful girls here,' James said.
Ciara felt a little jolt. She shot a glance at him, he caught it and gave her a small wink. She felt her cheeks warming pleasantly and a smile creep over her face. She could swear now that she saw a twinkle in his eye.
A rush of joy overcame her. Were her suspicions from yesterday being confirmed in this? The miraculous hope that had taken seed in her heart the previous day flourished like it had been nourished by a brilliant ray of sunlight.
Brandon arrived with her light beer and she thanked him.
He took his seat and sighed, cracking his own beer open and taking a swig.
'This is the life,' he said happily.
'Sure is,' seconded Mason.
Ciara looked over at James who was still looking down at the beach where Kirsten and Danielle had taken to lying back floating in the sea, chatting as they bobbed in the waves. She wondered was this Kirsten trying to attract his attention again. If it was she admired her determination and obviously could not blame her for trying either. James would be quite the catch. She looked at him again, taking in his sculpted jawline, prominent cheekbones and golden hair. She took a sip of her beer and continued gazing at him. His nose curved up after the ridge between his eyebrows and then dipped and curved up again at it's end. It had to be one of the cutest noses Ciara had ever seen. His soft pink lips were sweetly shaped, puckering out at the moment as he sat in his seat watching the girls in the ocean. And his eyes...so blue, as blue as the sea before him, and framed with long black lashes. She could get lost in them a thousand times over. Simply put, his features were perfect. Sitting in the sun with a cool beer just looking at such masculine beauty was close to heaven for her. Her eyes drifted downwards to his muscular physique, today bulging out of a white vest top and a pair of canvas shorts. The neckline of his vest top fell low enough to expose black chest hair. His sleeveless top also drooped just enough to reveal the side of his well defined pecks. At this point Ciara could feel herself nearly swooning. She pulled her eyes away from James with all his raw masculine appeal and took a swig of beer, and then remembered how alcohol often just amplifies feelings like lust and tried to stop herself swallowing it but being too late ended up just choking. Her coughing and spluttering attracted the guys' attention.
'Are you okay?' James asked.
Ciara felt a stab of guilt, there she'd been drooling all over the guy and him all unawares. She wondered did it just happen to him so often that he no longer even noticed.
She nodded and put down her beer, feeling very self concious.
James smiled at her and went back to looking down at the ocean. That smile...so sweet and beautiful. Ciara looked back down to where Kirsten was now walking out of the sea, hips swaying in a mesmerizing fashion. Yes, she really could not blame the girl for doing what she could to win James's attentions. Ciara felt lucky for being on the receiving end of his affection and compliments already, daring to hope for more was almost a little too much. It wasn't just his amazing physical appearance that made her feel this way, but also because it had become clear to her that there was a warm, caring guy underneath. She could only imagine what kind of bliss it would be to be held by those strong, muscular arms knowing that the owner possessed such a good heart as well. She could see happiness in taking care of such a person. She could see happiness in being cared for by such a person. It could be a world of mutual joy, she felt. She looked back to where Kirsten was now laying out on the beach and wondered was there the Jamese depth to Kirstens' feelings for James as there was for her. Could passionate feelings for James be what fuelled Kirstens' jealousy or was it merely a superficial possessiveness of someone who was so attractive? Ciara's gut feeling told her that it was the latter. She'd given Kirsten the benefit of the doubt once before and been proven wrong then too.
'Kirsty looks pretty happy today,' she overheard Brandon say to Mason. Her ears pricked up at the mention of Kirsten's name.
'She over whatever was upsetting her yesterday?' he asked.
'How should I know?' asked Mason.
'I thought Danielle might have said something about it to you,' Brandon replied.
Mason shrugged.
'I think she said something about Bree's wedding stressing Kirsten out,' he said.
Ciara smiled slightly to herself, she did not have much experience of relationships herself but from what she knew it was pretty typical for guys not to listen too closely to things their girlfriends said. She knew it was one of the greatest sources of frustration for women in relationships. She looked at James and wondered would he cause her frustration sometimes if they got together, she couldn't help but feel that she'd be willing to put up with a lot from him to get to enjoy his physical and inner beauty.
She wondered then who Bree was and why her wedding would causing Kirsten any stress. From what Ciara had seen of Kirsten so far she seemed like a confident girl who knew what she wanted and had no qualms going after it. What could be stressing her out about someone else's wedding?
'Who's Bree?' Ciara asked Brandon and Mason.
Their heads swivelled towards her.
'She's Kirstens' sister,' James said from his seat, still directing his gaze towards the ocean.
'Kistens' unbelievably attractive older sister,' added Brandon.
Mason caught his eye and grinned.
Ciara struggled for a moment. Were they saying that there was somebody more attractive than Kirsten herself? A sibling of Kirsten's?
'Kirsten is unbelievably attractive...' Ciara said, still in the grip of uncertainty at the concept of a person, even one who came from the same gene pool as Kirsten being more attractive than her.
'Oh Kirsty is a good looking girl, no doubt,' Brandon said 'But Bree...' He shook his head and gave a low whistle.
'She's marrying a guy who's sickeningly rich next month,' Mason said. 'His dad's a tycoon in software development.'
'Do you remember that party Kirsty threw in 6th grade?' Brandon asked Mason and James with a wide grin on his face. 'Bree showed up in that little silver dress.'
Mason laughed at the memories Brandon was bringing up.
'Bradley Dean got a stiffy right when she walked in,' he said.
'Wasn't that Mike Coombes?' James put in.
Mason frowned.
'Could've been both now that I think of it,' he said.
Ciara absorbed this quietly. A girl who was somehow more beautiful than the golden haired goddess down on the beach could certainly have that effect on young guys by walking into a room. She looked at James, feeling sad and pensive now. He must be so used to such amazingly beautiful girls by now, she didn't feel like she could compete in any sense of the word. Her dreams of mutual joy with him may just stay dreams forever. Perhaps she was doomed to yearn for him forever. She started feeling moody and depressive again. She took a swig of her beer that finished off the remainder of the bottle.
'When did you stop dating her again?' Brandon asked James.
Ciara felt a massive jolt in her stomach and completely froze.
James scratched his cheek thoughtfully.
'Over a year ago,' he said, his expression turning pensive.
Mason gave Brandon a reproachful look and Brandon shrugged.
They all fell quiet.
Ciara felt like her brain had just imploded. This was a lot of information to take in. She felt her insides squirm uncomfortably sitting at the table now and quickly excused herself saying she needed the little girls' room. She walked across the taverna floor to the bathrooms and in something of a daze. She was not paying attention to where she was going and so tripped when she got to the raised floor around the bar. One of the waiters was close by and caught her and helped her right herself. She thanked him and hurried on towards the bathrooms. When she was inside the little ladies bathroom off the taverna she blew out a great breath of air and rested against the tiled bathroom walls. She closed her eyes and tried to process everything she had learned this afternoon. Gorgeous Kirsten had an even more gorgeous sister, who was marrying into money and had once dated James...the last part caused Ciara's heart to start racing in her chest. She took some deep breaths and tried to calm down. She managed to get it together enough to gather her thoughts. Kirsten's more gorgeous sister had once dated James, and now Kirsten herself was making a play for him and being viciously competitive about it. It must be hard, Ciara thought, to feel overshadowed like that by a sister. Someone who would be a constant presence in your life, a living reminder of all the things you are not. To her amazement she now found herself sympathizing strongly with Kirsten. Her cruelty and the jealousy behind it was all far more understandable to Ciara now. She made a very good outward appearance of confidence but deep down she was as insecure as the next person. Ciara tapped her cheek thoughtfully. Perhaps for Kirsten James was a way to regain some kind of self-esteem for herself. He would be a great prize for her and they would look wonderful together no doubt. Picture perfect. Ciara felt calmer now and thought she could return to the table and sit for a while longer with the guys. She made her way out to the bar and decided she would get the guys another round of beers while she was there. She picked up the beers and headed back over to where they were all sitting. Kirsten and Danielle seemed to still be down at the beach sunning themselves. She approached the area where the guys were sitting.
'Well how far have you gotten with Kirsten?' she heard Mason ask James.
Ciara froze on the spot.
'She hasn't let me touch her,' James responded.
There was a silence then. Ciara thought that Mason and Brandon were probably surprised at this news. In a way she was herself.
'She keeps flirting with me and everything but it's starting to feel like she's just leading me on,' James continued.
'Nah man she's been into you for a while,' said Mason.
'How do you know this?' asked James.
'Danielle told me,' Mason replied.
'What?!' exclaimed James 'When were you going to tell me?'
'I thought you'd find out sooner than this, mate' Mason responded laconically.
'Looks like you're pretty much in with Ciara though,' Brandon put in.
Ciara felt her face heat up.
'Ciara?' asked James, sounding surprised.
'Oh for god's sakes man do you just have your head permanently stuck in the sand!?' cried Mason.
Ciara's face became hotter still.
She heard a spluttering sound come from James.
'No....' he began in a defensive tone 'I don't know....how was I supposed to know?'
'Never mind,' said Mason in a resigned tone.
Ciara stood there while they fell silent, processing the fact that James hadn't even realized that Kirsten was after him. He had two girls competing for him and had been oblivious the whole time. She felt a wave of giddiness come over her. Giggles bubbled up in her chest and it was all she could do to keep them quiet so the guys did not hear her.
Her giggles quickly died when saw Kirsten and Danielle coming back up from the beach. She began moving from the spot where she had been frozen like she had never stopped at all. She reached her chair before the girls arrived at their spot. She set the beers down on the table.
'Cheers, Ciara,' Brandon said.
'Cheers,' said Mason.
'Thanks, babe,' James said.
Ciara went slightly pink at his calling her babe. He looked up, taking in the colour of her cheeks and gave her a slight wink. She got pinker still.
It was at that moment that Kirsten and Danielle arrived at their table, Kirsten looking from James back to Ciara with an expression like a thunder clap.
Ciara felt her gut squirm. She hoped that Kirsten wasn't going to act out again today but a sense of dread in her stomach told her a different story.
She sat back down in her seat while Brandon hopped up out of his to pull some chairs up for the girls.
Kirsten had a frozen expression on her face as she sat on into one of the seats. She shot Ciara a glance that contained volumes of venom. Ciara winced inwardly. She took a sip of her light beer and tried to look anywhere else but at Kirsten. She looked at James who was sitting drinking his beer, and thought of how he now knew that he had the attentions of two young women he was sitting hanging out with. She felt her face heat up again at the memory of Mason informing James that she herself liked him. She looked down at her beer and took another swig, hoping the alcohol would help her overcome her embarrassment. As she looked up again she saw James glance at her and shoot her a smile. He was really so kind, she thought to herself. And now she caught Kirsten throwing her one of the dirtiest looks possible. Ciaras' previous feeling of dread grew. She was half thinking about making some excuse and getting out of there before Kirsten could do worse, but she was reluctant to leave James' company.
Brandon had gotten up from his seat so Danielle could sit beside Mason and he took one of the chairs he pulled up when she and Kirsten had arrived. The tables generally only sat about 4 people and they were crowded in together, Ciaras' knee touching off Brandons'.
Ciara looked at Kirsten again and decided that perhaps if she showed she was friendly then Kirsten couldn't act too badly.
'Looked like you enjoyed your swim in the ocean,' she said to Kirsten 'It must be even warmer in Australia though, it's absolutely freezing in Ireland.' She tried to smile then.
Kirsten simply looked at her coolly.
Ciara's attempt at a smile died quickly under that gaze. The atmosphere of the group became awkward all of a sudden. Ciara felt her face flushing.
'So what do you think we should do later? I heard there's some live music on down the town tonight -' Brandon began.
'Where are your parents?' Kirsten asked Ciara, cutting across Brandon.
Ciara gaped for a moment before gathering herself.
'I, uh – they're in Spilli for the day,' Ciara stuttered in response.
Kirsten nodded coldly.
'They're still not too happy over the skinny dipping thing, huh?' she asked.
Ciara flushed again and gulped. She did not want it out that her parents had forbidden her from hanging out with them.
'I don't know why exactly I mean you didn't even open a button,' she said derisively, a slight sneer forming on her face.
Ciara did not think her face could redden any further at this point. She started feeling very embarrassed and conscious of Jai sitting in his chair at the end of the table. She stared down at her drink, hoping that this would be the end of it from Kirsten.
'Are all Irish such prudes?' Kirsten said then.
At this Ciara could literally feel her eyes stinging with unshed tears.
'Kirsten!' Danielle said in a shocked tone.
Ciara got up from her chair and fled the table, hot tears now running fast down her face. For the second time today she walked to the bar of the taverna in an emotional state that made it difficult for her to pay attention to where she was going, this time was worse as the tears blurred her vision. She stepped up to the bar and once there leaned heavily on one of the bar stools.
'Ciara!' she heard James's voice call to her.
She felt her face heat up, he had seen her burst into tears. How humiliating.
She heard him running up to her and then felt his hand on her shoulder. A gentle pull had her facing him, but in her embarrassment she kept her red, tear streaked face looking down to the flagstone floor.
'Ciara?' said James in a gentle tone.
She looked up at him reluctantly. He took one look at her face and then drew her into a hug. She still felt embarrassed and self-conscious for crying around him but his display of kindness took the edge off her pain and the tears came to a halt. She drew back and looked up at him, his face still a watery profile.
'Thanks,' she said with a little smile.
'No problem!' he said with a kind smile in return.
Ciara felt her heart lighten at his smile, Kirsten could call her whatever she wanted, James was smiling at her and that was all that mattered in the world.
A guttural scream from behind her disturbed her peace. She looked around and there was Kirsten, her face twisted into an expression of jealous anger.  
She cringed inwardly, and started to wish she was anywhere else but there. She looked up at James who was simply standing staring at Kirsten in shock.
'Kirsten, what the hell is wrong with you?!' he demanded of her.
Kirsten looked at him, and around the taverna, taking in the people there of whom many were still gaping at her. She seemed to turn slightly pink with embarrassment realizing what a spectacle she was making out of herself. She drew herself up in an outward appearance of dignity and walked forward. She reached the spot where Ciara stood and stopped.
'It's never going to go anywhere. Not with a prudish little Irish girl like you,' she said in a low voice that only Ciara could hear.
This time Ciara was more prepared and so Kirsten's words did not have such an impact. They stung a little and brought colour to her cheeks again, but her eyes remained dry and she remained calm. James, however, saw Ciara's cheeks redden again at the words he could not hear and as Kirsten walked on to leave the taverna he followed her. He grabbed her by the wrist and said something to her in harsh, angry tones that this time Ciara herself could not hear. Ciara felt a rush of gratitude towards James for defending her. Kirsten wrested her hand away from his grip and spat something at him, then turned and walked fast out of the taverna.
Ciara did not know what Kirsten had said, but it seemed to leave James frozen to the spot. She wondered should she go over to him, but was unsure what she would say. Her uncertainty paralysed her and she stayed put. Slowly James turned to the bar. Ciara felt a wrenching in her gut as she took in the look of bewilderment and hurt on his face. She felt a surge of anger at Kirsten's retreating back now. She could say anything she liked to Ciara but she needed to leave James alone. James walked up slowly to the bar next to Ciara and leaned on one of the bar stools, his eyes filled with a distant pain. Ciara wondered what on earth Kirsten had said to him and if there was some way she could comfort him as he had done for her.  
She approached him hesitantly and as she did so he looked up and caught her gaze. There was an awkward moment between them as they stood looking at each other. James would have an idea now of why Kirsten was acting the way she was acting. Ciara thought she had been picking up on signs that James returned her affections but Kirsten's savage jealousy before there was anything even certain between them was putting something of a strain on things. Nevertheless, Ciara summoned up her courage to speak.
'Are you okay?' she asked.
He nodded in response but his eyes betrayed his hurt.
Ciara felt frustration boiling in her waves. What had Kirsten said to him that hurt him so badly? She wished she knew and could help ease his pain. She made a stab at it anyway.
'I don't know what she said to you, but I think you're a great guy,' she said.
James smiled slightly.
Ciara felt a surge of triumph that she was cheering him up that much and continued in her attempts.
'You remind me of Apollo,' she said.
James looked at her, his brow furrowing in confusion. Ciara started feeling a bit foolish.
'The Ancient Greek god of the sun,' she said by way of explanation.
James gave a little laugh then.
'The Ancient Greek god of the sun?' he asked, one of his eyebrows arching.
'Yeah,' Ciara said smiling 'Golden blond hair and sky blue eyes...'
She could have sworn she saw a blush rising on his cheeks now. She started to enjoy herself.
'And your physique is quite like one of their statues as well,' she said.
There was a definite redness to his cheeks this time. Ciara suppressed a grin.
She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach then as she saw her parents car pulling into the car park in the distance then.
'Oh no....' she moaned.
'What?' James asked.
'I've gotta go!' she said, starting to run out of the taverna.
'No, wait, stay!' James said.
Ciara was already running out of the taverna across the grass to the back of the apartment block. She got to her apartment and climbed over the railing of the balcony. She heard James's voice behind her.
'What are you doing?' he asked.
Ciara had no choice but to tell him what was going on now. She could only hope that he would not judge her too harshly for it.
'My parents can't know I was hanging out with you...' she said in a small voice.
'Why not?' he asked.
'They told me not to after the skinny dipping thing,' she said.
'Oh...well that explains a lot,' said James.
Ciara heard her parents key in the door of the apartment.
'James, please, you have to go...' she said to him.
He nodded to her and started back across the lawn to the taverna.
Ciara watched him go, familiar insecurities causing her gut to squirm. He knew now that she was under her parents control like a little child. Kirsten's words came back to her now as she heard her parents enter the apartment. She'd called her parents and herself all prudes. Ciara started feeling very small. She entered the apartment now herself to see her mother and father unloading some shopping bags from their trip to Spilli.
'Hi love,' her mother said, looking up.
'Hi,' Ciara responded.
'Did you have a good day?' her mother inquired.
'It was alright...' said Ciara.
Her mother looked at Ciara's face closely.
'Are you alright, Ciara?' she asked, looking concerned.
'I'm fine,' Ciara lied.
'You look awfully pale, did you get out in the sun at all?' her mother continued.
Ciara's heart started racing, her mother could not know how much sun she had actually gotten drinking beers with the Australians.
'I did a bit, I was out on the balcony for a while this afternoon,' she said.
Her mother nodded and turned back to her shopping.
'I'm going to pack some of this stuff into the suitcases,' she said as she picked up some of the bags 'And we can go down to the taverna then for our dinner.'
Ciara sat down on the couch of the apartment. Her dad came over to her then with a small bag.
'A little present from Spilli,' he said, smiling.
'Thanks Dad!' Ciara said, smiling in return. He stroked her hair and then shuffled off to help her mother with packing away her new items.
She opened the bag to find a pretty necklace of colourful beads and her name spelt out in the Greek alphabet. She felt a stab of guilt then. While her father had been off thinking of her enough to get her such a thoughtful gift she had been here disobeying him and her mother. She walked out onto the balcony again. It was evening now and the sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over everything. A strong wind blew and nipped at Ciara's bare arms and shoulders. She grabbed a cardigan from where it had been hung out to dry after the last wash and put it over herself. The soft cotton offered some warmth at least.
She looked down towards the taverna where she had sat that day, and all that had happened during it. It had been another emotional roller-coaster. She felt somewhat drained from it all again. She thought of Kirsten being nasty to both her and James when he defended her. She hoped he was doing okay now. She heard her parents inside their room rummaging through bags and suitcases and how good they were for bringing her here, but how she was still sneaking around behind their backs to see the Australians and James. Her gut twisted with guilt. Then the memory of him sitting drinking his beer in the sun, his smiles, his kindness when she had been hurt and his blushes at her attempts at flirting to make him forget what Kirsten had said all returned. She smiled wistfully, it was probably all completely worth it. She then began earnestly questioning her moral character. Her feelings of desire and yearning for James warred with her guilt for betraying her familial bonds to the people who raised her.
'Ciara, we'll be going soon!' her mother cried from the door from her bedroom to the balcony.
Ciara sighed heavily as she attempted to put all her heavy feelings to one side so she could dress for dinner. She got back into the apartment and rummaged through her clothes, finding a simple black dress that would suffice for the evening meal. She threw it on and dragged a brush through her hair. A dab of lipstick and mascara and she was done. Her parents emerged from their room and they all made their way down to the taverna.
Her mother chose one of her favourite spots at the upper end of the taverna where she could look out at the sea. Ciara sat facing the taverna and her father took one of the spots in between. They ordered their food as the sun dipped even lower still in the sky. Ciara allowed her mind to wander while her mother and father chatted waiting for their meal. Of course what it went to almost immediately was James. She really hoped he was doing okay. She'd been so sad for him earlier after Kirsten saying whatever on earth she'd said to hurt him so much.
She approached him hesitantly and as she did so he looked up and caught her gaze. There was an awkward moment between them as they stood looking at each other. James would have an idea now of why Kirsten was acting the way she was acting. Ciara thought she had been picking up on signs that James returned her affections but Kirstens' savage jealousy before there was anything even certain between them was putting something of a strain on things. Nevertheless, Ciara summoned up her courage to speak.
'Are you okay?' she asked.
He nodded in response but his eyes betrayed his hurt.
Ciara felt frustration boiling in her waves. What had Kirsten said to him that hurt him so badly? She wished she knew and could help ease his pain. She made a stab at it anyway.
'I don't know what she said to you, but I think you're a great guy,' she said.
James smiled slightly.
Ciara felt a surge of triumph that she was cheering him up that much and continued in her attempts.
'You remind me of Apollo,' she said.
James looked at her, his brow furrowing in confusion. Ciara started feeling a bit foolish.
'The Ancient Greek god of the sun,' she said by way of explanation.
James gave a little laugh then.
'The Ancient Greek god of the sun?' he asked, one of his eyebrows arching.
'Yeah,' Ciara said smiling 'Golden blond hair and sky blue eyes...'
She could have sworn she saw a blush rising on his cheeks now. She started to enjoy herself.
'And your physique is quite like one of their statues as well,' she said.
There was a definite redness to his cheeks this time. Ciara suppressed a grin.
She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach then as she saw her parents car pulling into the car park in the distance then.
'Oh no....' she moaned.
'What?' James asked.
'I've gotta go!' she said, starting to run out of the taverna.
'No, wait, stay!' James said.
Ciara was already running out of the taverna across the grass to the back of the apartment block. She got to her apartment and climbed over the railing of the balcony. She heard James's voice behind her.
'What are you doing?' he asked.
Ciara had no choice but to tell him what was going on now. She could only hope that he would not judge her too harshly for it.
'My parents can't know I was hanging out with you...' she said in a small voice.
'Why not?' he asked.
'They told me not to after the skinny dipping thing,' she said.
'Oh...well that explains a lot,' said James.
Ciara heard her parents key in the door of the apartment.
'James, please, you have to go...' she said to him.
He nodded to her and started back across the lawn to the taverna.
Ciara watched him go, familiar insecurities causing her gut to squirm. He knew now that she was under her parents control like a little child. Kirsten's words came back to her now as she heard her parents enter the apartment. She'd called her parents and herself all prudes. Ciara started feeling very small. She entered the apartment now herself to see her mother and father unloading some shopping bags from their trip to Spilli.
'Hi love,' her mother said, looking up.
'Hi,' Ciara responded.
'Did you have a good day?' her mother inquired.
'It was alright...' said Ciara.
Her mother looked at Ciara's face closely.
'Are you alright, Ciara?' she asked, looking concerned.
'I'm fine,' Ciara lied.
'You look awfully pale, did you get out in the sun at all?' her mother continued.
Ciara's heart started racing, her mother could not know how much sun she had actually gotten drinking beers with the Australians.
'I did a bit, I was out on the balcony for a while this afternoon,' she said.
Her mother nodded and turned back to her shopping.
'I'm going to pack some of this stuff into the suitcases,' she said as she picked up some of the bags 'And we can go down to the taverna then for our dinner.'
Ciara sat down on the couch of the apartment. Her dad came over to her then with a small bag.
'A little present from Spilli,' he said, smiling.
'Thanks Dad!' Ciara said, smiling in return. He stroked her hair and then shuffled off to help her mother with packing away her new items.
She opened the bag to find a pretty necklace of colourful beads and her name spelt out in the Greek alphabet. She felt a stab of guilt then. While her father had been off thinking of her enough to get her such a thoughtful gift she had been here disobeying him and her mother. She walked out onto the balcony again. It was evening now and the sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over everything. A strong wind blew and nipped at Ciara's bare arms and shoulders. She grabbed a cardigan from where it had been hung out to dry after the last wash and put it over herself. The soft cotton offered some warmth at least.
She looked down towards the taverna where she had sat that day, and all that had happened during it. It had been another emotional roller-coaster. She felt somewhat drained from it all again. She thought of Kirsten being nasty to both her and James when he defended her. She hoped he was doing okay now. She heard her parents inside their room rummaging through bags and suitcases and how good they were for bringing her here, but how she was still sneaking around behind their backs to see the Australians and James. Her gut twisted with guilt. Then the memory of him sitting drinking his beer in the sun, his smiles, his kindness when she had been hurt and his blushes at her attempts at flirting to make him forget what Kirsten had said all returned. She smiled wistfully, it was probably all completely worth it. She then began earnestly questioning her moral character. Her feelings of desire and yearning for James warred with her guilt for betraying her familial bonds to the people who raised her.
'Ciara, we'll be going soon!' her mother cried from the door from her bedroom to the balcony.
Ciara sighed heavily as she attempted to put all her heavy feelings to one side so she could dress for dinner. She got back into the apartment and rummaged through her clothes, finding a simple black dress that would suffice for the evening meal. She threw it on and dragged a brush through her hair. A dab of lipstick and mascara and she was done. Her parents emerged from their room and they all made their way down to the taverna.
Her mother chose one of her favourite spots at the upper end of the taverna where she could look out at the sea. Ciara sat facing the taverna and her father took one of the spots in between. They ordered their food as the sun dipped even lower still in the sky. Ciara allowed her mind to wander while her mother and father chatted waiting for their meal. Of course what it went to almost immediately was James. She really hoped he was doing okay. She'd been so sad for him earlier after Kirsten saying whatever on earth she'd said to hurt him so much. Ciara knew that as Kirsten and James had known each other their whole lives and James even dated Kirstens' own sister for a time that she must have a vast itinerary of information about James to draw on to hurt him. She was only just considering this when she saw the woman herself walking into the taverna, heading in the direction of Ciara and her parents. Ciaras' gut plummeted, heavy with a black dread. 
Kirsten approached the table Ciara shared with her parents with a fake nice smile plastered on her face. 
‘Hi there!! You must be Ciaras' parents?’ Kirsten asked, still smiling her broad fake smile.
Ciara saw her mothers'  lips thinning with displeasure as she recognized Kirsten as one of the young Australians she had forbidden her daughter to consort with. 
‘Yes, we are,’ she said stiffly. 
‘Oh I just wanted to say how we have all had such a good time with your lovely daughter!’ Kirsten said brightly, pretending not to take in the stony faces of Ciara’s parents at this. 
‘Well, it’s been lovely meeting you!!’ she said and walked away, giving Ciara a nasty little smirk as she passed. 
Ciara could not bring herself to look at her parents, but the icy silence that had fallen over their table said it all. 
‘Ciara,’ her mother said in a tone that commanded her attention.
Ciaras' head snapped up. 
Her mothers' face was cold and severe with anger. 
‘Get back to the room, you are not eating here with us tonight. When we have finished our meal we will deal with you. You will be lucky if we don’t just send you straight back home for this,’ she said all this in a quiet deadly tone.
Ciara felt something like a punch to her gut and her eyes began to blur with tears as she got up from her chair and silently made her way back to the apartment. 
There she waited feeling utterly miserable at the prospect of being sent back home without ever getting to see James again leaving him in the clutches of that foul Kirsten.  
She watched the taverna from the balcony and when she saw her parents leave their seats and make their way back up she felt her insides start to writhe with anxiety about what was coming. 
A feeling of dread lay like a heavy stone in the pit of her stomach with the sound of the key in the door. 
It was about as bad as she would have expected. Her mother screamed and her father hung back, backing her mother up when she made statements about Ciara’s general lack of respect, common sense and judgment. 
Ciara shed some tears and her mother began to lay off somewhat at seeing this. 
She left Ciara sitting on her camp bed with orders that she was not to leave the apartment until they said so with the threat  of being sent straight back home should they decide. 
Ciara climbed into her pyjamas. At least it was all over now though even worse could yet come. The threat of being sent home to Ireland, never to see James again loomed over her. Her gut twisted with the anxiety. 
Oh, that foul Kirsten!! 
Ciara lay there silently cursing her nemesis in the dark for a long time. 
After some time she began wondering would James even miss her if she did go or just run into Kirstens' arms. She remembered the day she saw them on the beach thinking they looked a perfect match together. Perhaps that had been an inevitable fate all along and quietly fell asleep on a pillow damp with tears.
Chapter Six
Ciara awoke feeling like there was a sodden blanket laid over her emotions. Memories of the previous night came flooding back and her heart started feeling heavy in her chest. She might be going back to Ireland today, never to see James again. The depth of her depression made it hard for her to even move from the bed. She stayed put, intending to wallow in misery for even longer when her mother came out of her bedroom and pulled open the curtains letting the brilliant sunshine flood into the room. Ciara squinted as the bright light assaulted her eyes.
'Come on, up out of bed,' her mother said.
Ciara slowly pulled herself into a sitting position in the bed and swung her legs over the side. 
'Get dressed now, there's eggs in the fridge and bread for you for your breakfast,' her mother told her.
Ciara nodded. Her mothers' commands added stress to her misery and she sat nearly paralysed staring at the floor.
Her mother took a look at her and sighed heavily before going back into the bedroom she shared with Ciaras' father.
Ciara buried her face in her hands for a second before summoning the willpower to pull on some clothes and get her breakfast. Despite it being as sunny and bright a day as any during her stay in Crete, the world seemed a darker place to Ciara as she ate at the little table in the apartment's kitchenette.
Her parents came out of their room.
'Right, we're heading down to the beach now Ciara,' her mother said. 'We'll let you know our decision later on.'
And with that, they left.
Ciara sat at the table, brooding over what her parents decision might be. She thought again of how she was potentially never to see James again and this time a fear gripped her heart. How was she supposed to go on with life in Ireland knowing he was out there and she couldn't be with him? She would have her memories of what had happened here in Crete and would be forever haunted by thoughts of what might have been. She felt her face pale at the thought and sobs welled up in her gut, wrenching through her as tears started pouring down her cheeks.
'Ciara? Ciara?' she heard a beautifully familiar voice coming from outside.
She stopped and looked up in shock.
'Ciara?' came the voice again.
She got a sudden flashback to sitting in school studying Romeo and Juliette, which made her a bit giddy for a moment. She leapt up from the chair, ran out onto the balcony and there was her golden sun god. He'd come to visit her in her confinement, how romantic. She smiled.
'Hey,' James said 'What's going on? Kirsten just told us you wouldn't be around anymore.'
Ciara felt anger bubbling up in her gut at Kirsten.
'She told them,' she spat out.
'Told who what?' James asked.
'My parents. She told them that I've been hanging around with you last night when we were having dinner,' Ciara explained.
'Oh,' James said, his eyes widening in comprehension.
'They're really angry...' Ciara said 'They told me I have to stay in the apartment and they might be sending me back to Ireland.' Ciara started crying once more.
James muttered a curse.
Ciara walked over to the balcony railing and reached out for him. He reached back and then they were hugging. Ciara held on tight, crying the more she thought of how this might be the last time she ever did so. She looked over James's shoulder then, hoping her parents were down at the beach and not anywhere where they could see this happening. She pulled back from the hug and looked James in the eye.
'I'm sure you'll have a lovely rest of your vacation without me though,' Ciara said. 'You still have your friends here and everything...maybe you could even patch things up with Kirsten...'
Suddenly his lips were pressing hard against hers. Ciara felt a light and a heat flood through her whole body. She was lost in the moment and the sensation of his lips pressing against hers.
James pulled back and Ciara found herself unable to stop smiling. James smiled an intimate little smile in return.
'This is even better than Romeo and Juliette,' she said in her delirium.
'What?' James asked in bewilderment. 
'Nothing,' said Ciara, leaning in to kiss James again.
They kept kissing and kissing, each one addicted to the taste of the others lips. 
Ciara wanted it to go on forever but then worry started creeping into her mind. She broke away and looked around anxiously. If her parents came and caught her and James like this she would be straight back to Ireland for sure.
'What's wrong?' asked James.
'You have to go...' Ciara said
'If my parents come back and find you here...' her voice got higher in her anxiety.
'It's okay, it's okay,' James reassured her.
He hugged her tightly.
'Everything will be alright,' he said into her hair.
Ciara still had her worries but for the moment let his words soothe her mind. She smiled up at him.
'You've gotta go now though,' she said again.
He looked around himself now and then back at Ciara reluctantly.
Ciara forced herself to stay calm and not let any of her tears out or he would really never leave.
'It's okay, I'll see you later hopefully,' Ciara said, summoning her own strength for James's sake.
'You'd better,' James said, smiling.
He kissed her one last time before jogging off.
Ciara watched him go, her vision getting blurry as her eyes teared up. She hoped so much that that was not the last time she ever saw him.
She walked back into the apartment. She was happy, so happy, that she had had that moment with him. She lay down on the bed, closed her eyes and relived it over and over again. She just hoped now that it would not be something she had to relive for the rest of her life because she could not really see James any more.
She sighed heavily. She sat up on the bed and looked around the apartment. Time was going to pass slowly in here while she waited for her parents. She turned on the television. She couldn't understand a word of any of it but it was better than nothing. She began amusing herself by making up her own facetious storylines for what was happening on the screen. The long haired black dude who was sad that the blonde chick wouldn't eat his cake was complaining to the curly brunette whose phobia of tea shops was causing her to act out in a passive aggressive manner when Ciara heard another voice outside the apartment. Her brow furrowed in consternation, she walked out onto the balcony half hoping and half fearing that James had returned for more kisses. To her twin relief and disappointment it was Brandon she saw standing on the grass in front of the balcony this time.
'Brandon?' she said in surprise.
'Hi,' he said.
'What are you doing here?' Ciara asked.
'James told me the trouble you're in with your parents. I feel terrible, it's my fault any of us went skinny dipping in the first place and now you're...' he broke off as Ciara cut across him.
'No, don't worry about it, Brandon,' she said firmly.
He was about to say something else but stopped and looked at her.
'Listen, I want to thank you for helping me hang out with you guys when I could,' Ciara said 'I might be in a lot of trouble now but I had so much fun with you guys and wouldn't change any of it for the world.'
Brandon smiled.
'No problem, Ciara,' he said 'You're a sweet girl and we've all enjoyed meeting you.'
He stopped then and looked like he was thinking seriously for a moment.
'Except maybe Kirsten...' he said.
Ciara laughed and Brandon joined in.
Ciara then thought about just how true that was and her laughter died. She felt very sad again and stared disconsolately down at the grass, trying not to cry in front of Brandon.
'We're all going to miss you if you really have to go. Especially James,' he said softly.
Even in her sadness she could not help but smile at it his words. She looked up at him.
'I'd miss him...' she wanted to say more but stopped, feeling a sob threatening to burst out of her.
Brandon walked over and patted her awkwardly on the back.
Ciara was unable to hold back the sobs any more and turned from Brandon.
'I have to go,' she said walking fast back into the apartment.
'Ciara wait...' Brandon said.
She kept walking and shut the balcony door behind her. She threw herself down on the bed then, the sobs ripping out of her. Anger surged through her, anger at her parents for being so uptight and strict with her. She had been a good girl her whole life, always got good grades, always did her chores, always kept curfew...this one time on vacation when she tried to have a little bit of fun they had to come down on her so hard. She sat on the bed, sniffling when a ping from her phone distracted her from her present troubles. She picked it up and smiled slightly seeing a text from her friend Lisa.
'Hey babe, hws ur hols goin??? Soz I havn't txtd in so long...bn havin sum mad craic in Ibiza!!! Hws it goin wit de hot Aussie??? ;)'
'Mite b cumin home sooner dan I tot :(,' Ciara typed.
'Wat??? Y??? Is sumtin rong???' she got the reply.
'De parents rn't 2 happy wit me,' Ciara typed.
'Y wat did u do?' Lisa sent.
Ciara looked at her friends message on the screen, wondering what she would think if Ciara told her the truth.
'Jst sum skinny dippin nd d hot guy from Oz waz dere,' typed Ciara.
':O' she read on her screen.
'U bad grl ;) :L' came the next text.
Ciara read light hearted text message on the glowing white screen and smiled, Lisa was always able to make her smile even in her down times.
‘Did he teach you the back stroke?’ came the next text followed by a laughing emoticon. 
Ciara felt her cheeks heat.
‘Omg Lisa!!’ she replied, with as many shocked face emoticons as she could fit into the text box.
Lisa replied with more laugh emoticons.
‘Der’s no shame in it,’ she replied ‘I had my own swimming session wit 1 of de guys here just last night!’
Ciara’s curiosity piqued, particularly in light of recent events.
‘Wat waz it lyk?’ she inquired.
‘Wat do u mean?’ Lisa texted back ‘Did u rly not do it wit de Ozzie guy?’
Ciara did not know how to tell her friend who had only just bragged about a recent conquest that she had not made it that far with a very handsome Australian as of yet. 
“We came close…” was all she wrote in the text. 
“Do u think u will?” came the next text from Lisa. 
Ciara heart thumped in her chest as though threatening to break free at the mistruth, but could not bring herself to tell the story of what really happened. 
“I hav to get to stay here 1st!!” she responded.
“Good luck, hun,” she read seconds after hitting send. 
“I'm gonna go now, it's time for more sun on the beach. Chat soon xxx.”
Ciara sighed and left her phone then. She felt then that she would certainly need all the luck she could find remembering her mother's anger last night. 
There was nothing to do now except wait for one of her parents to come and get her. 
The minutes dragged on forever in the space between her text conversation with Lisa and hearing her dads' key in the door. He brusquely told her to come join him and her mother for 
lunch in the taverna.
Ciara squared her shoulders, let out a huge sigh and followed him down, shutting the door behind her. 
Her mother was sitting with a flagon of wine before her facing the sun. 
Ciara hoped that the wine and sun might help in softening her mother towards her. 
She took her seat across from her parents and fidgeted nervously as they ordered their food. 
Taking in their expressions from the corner of her eye she gathered that they were looking quite stern still. 
She continued fidgeting and looking everywhere and anywhere except in their eyes. 
‘Ciara,’ her mother began and she jolted to attention.
Her mother sighed at this.
With seeming difficulty she began to speak again. 
‘As you know we are very upset that you went behind our backs and spent time with the Australians when we had asked you not to,’ she said. 
Ciara felt a stab of guilt at this. 
‘We are especially upset that you were going to go skinny dipping with them,’ she continued. 
Ciara’s face flushed hot and red at this. She started determinedly down at her feet.
‘But you are still our daughter and we still care about you,’ her mother said in a much softer tone. 
Ciara looked up to see smiles on her parents faces. She felt her own lips curving into a smile in return.
‘We took you on this trip to celebrate you ending your school years, and this does mark the beginning of your adult life in a way, so we have talked about it and decided that we are not going to ruin the celebration and send you home. You can stay here with us and spend time with whoever you like, we only ask that you will be careful and respect us enough not to do anything too risky while on holidays with us,’ she finished.
Ciara felt a rush of joy as her mother again and then her spirits were quickly dampened again as she finished. 
Her parents waited expectantly.
She got up and gave her mother a hug and a kiss and then her father. 
‘Thank you so much!!’ she thanked them profusely.
‘Ah that’s alright,’ her father said gruffly but with a little smile on his face.
‘Just promise to be careful, won’t you?’ said her mother. 
Ciara grinned so widely she thought her face would split. 
Pure contentment filled every fibre of her being as she sat and ate with her parents that evening. 
She was staying! She was going to be able to see James some more. Her mother’s final cringeworthy request was embarrassing but still fair and totally worth more time even just talking to James in this place that seemed to have gotten even more beautiful and sunny all of a sudden. 
She could not stop smiling and her face very nearly split in two at the appearance of a familiar tall blonde figure approaching the taverna from the direction of the rooms. 
Her fresh feelings of gratitude and respect for her parents were the only thing that stopped her from jumping out of her seat and racing over.
Her mother looked at her, observing her suddenly brightened expression and smiled. 
‘You should go to him and tell him your good news dear,’ she said encouragingly.
Ciara’s father beamed.
‘Thanks!’ she called to them as she leapt out of her chair and raced over to James who looked up and smiled as she came towards him with a huge grin plastered on her face. 
He looked over to the table with her parents where she had just come from.
‘So, everything sorted with your folks is it?’ he asked, still smiling. 
Ciara nodded her head in response to him and he laughed delightedly and grabbed her up into a bear hug. 
‘What did you say?’ he asked. 
‘I didn’t have to say anything!’ Ciara exclaimed “I’m just off the hook!!’
James laughed and hugged her some more.
‘Come on, I will buy you a drink to celebrate,’ James said making for the bar. 
Ciara joined him and heard him ordering to sex on the beach cocktails giving her a little half smile.
‘Are you trying to tell me something here?’ she asked him coyly. 
He laughed. 
‘Do you want me to be?’ he asked in response.
For a moment the words Ciaras' mother had used echoed in her head, but looking into James’ sky blue eyes a bubbling excitement rose in her breast and everything else was forgotten. She found herself  experiencing the pleasant fuzz that alcohol brought for the first time in her life and thoroughly enjoying James’s company.  
As the evening went on she found herself getting increasingly lightheaded and giddy. The world seemed a perfect place as she chatted and flirted with James, the only low part of the evening being a cold looking Kirsten walking stiffly past but not before shooting a dark scowl in Ciaras' direction.
By the time the other guests had all gone to bed, James and Ciara were lost in conversation. Ciara noticed James' hand on the bar countertop just gently touching her own and her heart started beating so fast. James started to lean in for a kiss and all thought left Ciaras' mind until they were rudely interrupted by one of Cretan waiters telling them they had to go as the taverna was closing. 
There was a moon shining in the Cretan sky. It shone brightly onto the black, nighttime sea and Ciara felt herself being pulled to the silver sanded beach under it’s light. She took off her sandals and walked barefoot over the sand, feeling under the soles of her feet and between her toes. She walked right down to where the beach sand graduated into rocks and the waves were lapping gently over the rocks. She felt James come up behind her and reached her hand back towards him under the moonlight and felt  the warmth of his encasing it. She smiled and turned to him. The natural good looks of his face were elevated to an ethereal beauty in the silver glow of the moon. She felt her breath catch her chest. His lips curled into a smile and he came closer, wrapping his arm around her waist. Ciara felt her cheeks flush. She looked up into his eyes which brightened with a sudden mischief.
‘You know we never did really get to skinny dip that night,’ he said. Ciara felt her heart start thumping really hard in her chest. 
James pulled her in close to him and began playfully walking forwards, she having to walk back as he did. Ciara started laughing at his playfulness. He stopped then and leaned down, kissing her fiercely. Ciara melted under his kisses, giving in to the sweetness of them. His hands travelled down her arms and then back up again where he pulled her vest top down over her shoulder and started kissing it. His kisses travelled up her neck until his mouth met hers again. He pushed her down onto the rough sand of the beach, his hands roaming over her breasts and torso. He thrust his crotch up against Ciara's. Ciara froze up. 
'Ciara? Are you okay?' James asked her, taking in her sudden tension. 
'I have to go,' Ciara said, pulling away from him. 
'Wait, Ciara!' James called after her. 
Ciara kept walking, unable to face him. 
She made her way through the darkened taverna, James still calling after her. She heard his footsteps and walked faster ahead. She felt him grab her hand and turned to him. 
'Ciara, please...it's okay...' he said to her. 
'I'm sorry, I just can't....' she said and turned away from him, leaving him standing in the darkness. 
She got back to the apartment she shared with her parents, their snores sounding from the bedroom they shared. She nearly cried.
What had just happened? She had gotten so close to the gorgeous James who she had been lusting over for near on a week now and she just froze up?
She crawled into her camp bed, feelings of confusion and insecurity washing over her. What was wrong with her?
Before she fell asleep, she thought one last time of James' lips on hers, his strong arms around her. And with that, drifted into a pleasant slumber.

Chapter Seven
The sun rose over the town of Agia Galini, casting a pale dawn light over the collection of white buildings that rose up over the hill. The boats in the harbour bobbed and swayed on the gentle morning waves. Shopkeepers and business owners went about their morning routines opening up their places of business, awaiting the first customers of the day. Early risers took their morning coffees on verandas or walked their dogs along the beach. Far along the path from the town in the resort by the sea the chefs in the taverna kitchen were getting ready for the first  orders of breakfast. And all the while, in the living room of the apartment she shared with her parents Ciara lay snuggled up safely in her camp bed. From her cozy place wrapped in her bedsheets and blankets she watched as the light crept in through the curtains. She had never been awake this early before during her whole stay here. It was likely that the throbbing pain in her head had something to do with it... her very first hangover, she felt so grown up. She lay on in bed a while longer, the persistent pain and nausea making it a struggle to move even an inch.
Finally, groaning with the pain, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, stretching in agony. Dragging herself from the bed she shuffled over to the kitchenette and struggling through the worst case of brain fog she had ever experienced managed to rummage up some coffee and toast for herself. She wolfed down the toast and took her coffee out onto the veranda, donning her shades to protect from the harsh rays of the sun. She watched the sea in the distance and shivered, sipping her coffee. 
A movement in the corner of her eye made her look up. Brandon and James were waving her over from the taverna bar. She set down her coffee cup down on the veranda table and climbed over the railing, making her way across the grass to them. When she got to the bar she could tell from their pallor and the dark circles under their eyes that they were nursing hangovers as well. Mason sat at the bar with his head in his hands.
'Oh God...' he groaned 'Why do they have to play that music so loud in here?!'
Ciara found herself agreeing with him. With every beat of the pop music her head pounded that much more. She looked nervously up at James, who looked back. 
'Morning,' she said in a hushed tone.
'Morning,' he responded huskily. 
She heard someone make retching noises and looked up. She looked up to see Kirsten standing at the corner of the bar.
'You okay, Kirsten?' Hayden asked.
'Sure, absolutely fine,' Kirsten replied.
Unlike the rest of them who were zombielike in their hungover state, Kirsten looked fresh as a spring daisy.
'Where did you go last night anyway?' Danielle asked her from Mason's side.
'Just went for a walk is all,' Kirsten said, looking shiftily at Ciara and James and then looking away.
Ciara started feeling a suspicion rise in her gut.
'Alone? In the dark?' Dannielle continued to question Kirsten.
'Well...yeah...' said Kirsten, shifting uncomfortably now.
'Where did you walk to that late?' Brandon asked.
'Ugh, what's with the 4-1-1?!' Kirsten moaned 'I just wanted some time to myself! Anyway, forget It, I am out of here...' And with that she strode out of the taverna.
Ciara watched her go, her eyes narrowed. Danielle and Mason began talking quietly at the bar whilst Brandon downed his coffee in one go. 
'You want a coffee?' James asked her.
'A cappuccino would be nice,' she said. 
James ordered the coffees for them both. 
'Are you kidding me?!' Mason exclaimed loudly to Danielle.
Ciara winced at the flash of pain that seared through her brain at his raise voice.
'Do you have to?' Brandon asked in a pained tone of voice.
'Sorry, mate,' Mason apologized to him.
'But are you serious?' he asked Danielle again.
'That's what she said,' Danielle replied.
'What who said?' asked Ciara, walking over to the bar with James.
Danielle exchanged a look with Mason.
'Kirsten,' Danielle said 'She told me last night -'
Dannielle stopped and looked at James .
'She told me she planned this whole trip to try and get with you, James,' he said to him.
'She what?!' it was James' turn to exclaim.
They all winced visibly, including himself.
'Sorry,' he apologized.
'But....really?' he asked Danielle.
'That's what she told me,' Danielle said.
She looked at Ciara and smiled with amusement.
'She is really not happy with you,' she said.
'I was actually already able to tell that,' Ciara responded drily.
They all laughed before their heads started killing them again and they had to stop.
'Man I almost feel sorry for her,' Brandon said.
'I don't,' said James .
Mason sniggered.
'Still though, must be quite the compliment,' Brandon said, looking at James .
'Yeah, I guess,' said James, frowning.
'I would not do that for any guy ever,' said Danielle, her tone belying her disbelief. 
'Hey!' said Mason.
'Well I meant except for you of course,' Danielle quickly corrected herself.
'Okay that's it,' Brandon said 'I need to get away from this noise.'
He got up off his bar stool and headed back in the direction of the rooms, Mason and Danielle soon following suit.
Ciara and James were left sitting at the bar alone. They sat in silence for a moment.
'I'm glad she did,' said Ciara.
'What?' asked James .
'I'm glad she arranged this trip,' Ciara said 'So I got to meet you.'
James smiled at her and planted an affectionate kiss on her forehead.
'Me too,' he said.
They sat without saying anything. The beats blasting from the sound system were still jabbing her brain. She was about to suggest that they go somewhere quieter when James suddenly said:
'Have you played any mini golf yet?' he asked.
'What?' Ciara asked taken by surprise.
'Mini golf, have you played it?' he asked,again nodding his head towards the mini golf course next door.
'Oh,' Ciara said, comprehending now.
'No, I haven't,' she said.
'Do you want to?' James asked.
'Sure,' Ciara said.
They got up off their bar stools and headed for the course. 
Ciara felt very pleased with recent turn of events as she walked over to the mini golf course with James. She nearly skipped on the way over and he laughed.
'You like mini golf?' he asked.
'Oh....never played it before,' Ciara replied.
He smiled at her in bemusement.
Upon reaching the course they paid for their golf clubs and started making there way around.
'Ladies first,' James said to Ciara at the first hole, smiling.
She had never played golf before in her life. But she figured it couldn't be that hard. She held the golf club the way she thought she'd seen on T.V. before and hit the ball. It veered off to the left before reaching the hole. So it was possibly a little harder than it looked.
James laughed behind her.
Ciara made a face at him and he laughed even harder still.
'Here I'll show you,' he said.
He walked over and standing behind her with his arms around her showed her how to hold the golf club. Ciara froze slightly at his unexpected closeness. She looked around and up at him. He smiled at her. She glowed inwardly. She copied what he was doing with the golf club. The ball fell neatly into the hole. She felt a surge of triumph and grinned up at James . He laughed, his body shaking with it while still so close to her own. Ciara found herself forgetting the golf ball in the hole, the music blaring, in fact the whole mini golf course for a moment. When she looked up again at James she found that he was giving her a serious look. She remembered last night when the James e look was in his eyes and felt the worry return that about why she'd frozen up on him. She wondered if he had felt very let down. She wondered would she ever be able to give him what he wanted at all. She opened her mouth to say something, perhaps to suggest another try this evening but he was already retrieving the golf ball from the hole and the moment was gone.
Ciara was left with a depressing sense of anticlimax. The wind blowing bit into her skin with more ferocity than before and the music blasting from the speakers assaulted her ear drums and made her head pound. She and James continued playing mini golf, making their way steadily around the course. Ciara thought again and again of how she still wanted to talk about last night with him but it never felt like the right moment and as time went on it became harder and harder to broach the subject. As they played she became more and more melancholy and thought of the recent discovery that Kirsten had arranged this trip to seduce James herself. And it had been working. James liked Ciara now that was certain but what if she never lived up to his expectations and he went running back to Kirsten? Anxiety gnawed at her gut as she had never felt before. 
She had to do something. But what? James looked focused on his game as he held his golf club and gently hit the ball with it. It rolled neatly into the hole. James raised his arms up over his head in the traditional victory gesture. He turned to Ciara with a broad grin on his face. 
‘Another hole in one!’ he said triumphantly. 
He walked towards her still grinning. She looked up at him and saw it all so clearly now. She moved towards him herself, reached her arms around his shoulders and planted a kiss firmly on his beautiful lips. She felt lost in a deep sweetness. She pulled back and looked into his eyes. 
‘What was that for?’ he asked. 
‘For my golf champion,’ she said, smiling and hugged him close to her. 
Now would be a good opportunity to suggest that they skinny dip again tonight. She took a breath and drew back and looked into his eyes again. She opened her mouth to say it but at that moment felt a sharp pain on the top of her head and James ’s glorious face faded from her vision as darkness descended.
Ciara awoke on her back, dazed and disoriented. James ' face was above her, etched with concern. 
‘Are you okay, Ciara?’ he asked her.
‘What - what happened?’ she asked in confusion. 
‘Sorry, that was my bad,’ came a voice from behind her. 
Ciara looked up to see a man dressed in a short sleeved shirt, shorts and a sun hat standing over her. 
‘I whacked my ball too hard,’ he explained ‘It hit you in the head. I’m so sorry!’ 
Ciara blinked. The top of her head was still throbbing slightly. She moved to get up. 
‘Here, let me help you,’ said James . 
He put his arm around her to support her as she stood up again. 
‘I’m so sorry,’ the man wearing the sun hat repeated. 
‘It’s okay, don’t worry,’ Ciara said although she really hadn’t needed this on top of her hangover. James looked at her face and could see the pain she was in. 
‘Come on, let’s go get you a drink,’ he said. 
Ciara leaned on him and they made their way over to the bar where he helped her up on a bar stool and ordered her a stiff drink from the attractive female bartender. 
‘I’m gonna go take care of our round at the golf course, will you be okay here?’ he asked. 
‘Yeah, I’ll be fine,’ Ciara said with a smile. 
He returned it and jogged off back in the direction of the golf course. 
She sat nursing her drink, her head still throbbing in pain where the golf ball had hit it. She felt humiliated that this is how her attempt to talk to James about her freezing up on him last night had ended up. She wondered was everything ruined for her with him between the two events...although he was definitely being really nice to her today. She must have been looking very gloomy because just then she heard a Greek accented voice saying;
‘Hey, are you okay?’ 
Ciara looked up to see the attractive female bartender looking at her with an expression of concern written all over her dark face. 
‘Oh..uhm, yeah I’m fine,’ Ciara stuttered, her face flushing slightly. 
‘Guy troubles?’ the bartender asked sympathetically. 
Ciara instinctively looked over in the direction of the golf course. When she looked back the bartender was wearing a knowing smile. 
‘He’s a handsome one, that’s for sure,’ she said, her eyes twinkling. 
‘I noticed that myself, yeah’ said Ciara. 
The bartender gave a small laugh. 
‘I’m Christina, by the way,’ she said, holding out her hand to Ciara.
Ciara took it and introduced herself. 
They smiled at each other and Ciara went back to her drink. 
‘So, is this your first romance?’ Christina asked after a while.
‘Yeah, kind of,’ Ciara replied. 
Christina smiled at her.
‘That’s sweet,’ she said, leaning forward onto the bar. 
Ciara blushed a little. 
‘And it is your first time…?’ Christina trailed off but Ciara caught her meaning in her tone. She blushed harder still. 
‘It’s okay,’ Christina said in an assuring tone. ‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of, I had my first at about your age too.’ 
Ciara downed the remainder of her drink and decided to just say it right out to Christina. 
‘We haven’t actually…’ the words caught in her throat as she said them. 
‘Ohhhh…’ said Christina, understanding dawning on her face followed by confusion. 
‘So what’s the problem, then?’ she asked with a bemused expression on her face. 
Ciara flushed. It was too embarrassing to admit to an older woman the extent of her inexperience, even more of a problem still to admit to her reluctance to jump into the game with a very handsome man. She could still not even explain it to herself. 
‘I just...I just can’t….’ she choked on her words and stared fixedly down at the bar as to avoid the bartenders gaze. 
‘Sometimes it takes time, it helps if you can build up the trust with him,’ Christina said in a gentle tone. 
Ciara looked up then from the bar to see Christinas' eyes looking back at her, full of understanding. 
Her words resonated with Ciara, who looked back to the mini-golf course to see James himself walking back over to the bar. 
‘Hey, how’s your head?’ he asked as he came over.
She had almost forgotten her sore head with the intriguing conversation she had been engaging in with Christina. It throbbed viciously now as if her head was punishing her for her inattention.
‘Ow,’ she moaned, holding her head in her hand.
James winced seeing her pain. 
‘I think you had better lie down for a bit,’ he said ‘Come on, I’ll help you to your room.’
He helped Ciara off the barstool, Christina giving Ciara a small wink as James supported her. 
They walked like that to the apartment Ciara shared with her parents, where he helped her over to her bed.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out some tablets.
‘I got you some pain killers,’ he said. 
Ciara took them herself.
‘Oh! I’ll get you some water!’ James said, jumping up and running over to the kitchenette only to discover a lack of glasses. 
‘I can get some at the bar, just wait there!’ he said and ran out the door. 
Ciara sat back against the wall at the head of her bed and tried to take stock of things...how many times had she lain in this very spot pining over the man who was now playing nursemaid to her? What a strange and pleasant turn of events she thought to herself. 
She was still sitting there, smiling dreamily when James returned with the water. 
‘Here,’ he said, holding the glass out to her. 
She took it and downed the two white pills with it. 
James gave her a smile. 
‘Just lie down and rest,’ he said. 
Ciara lay down. As her head hit the pillow the intimacy of the scene hit her. Her heart started thumping hard in her chest. 
She looked up into James' sky blue eyes and he smiled again. A cozy, warm feeling she recognized as trust was taking root in her for this man. 
‘James …’ she began.
‘Sshhh, sshhh, sshhh,’ he said, beginning to stroke her hair. It was a very pleasant sensation. 
Ciara attempted to say something to James again only to have him shush her again and continue stroking her hair, which was really very distracting. 
She could feel a drowsiness brought on by the painkillers now. 
She attempted once more to talk to James but this time only faint moans came out as the sedative effects of the pills really took hold. She could still feel James ’s hands stroking her head as the chemicals pulled her down into a deep slumber. 
When Ciara awoke James was gone. Instead her mother stood over her, her brow furrowed with concern. 
‘She’s awake,’ she said, turning to Ciara’s father who was at the entrance from the hall from their bedroom into the living area of the apartment. 
‘How are you feeling?’ she asked her daughter, bending down and pressing her palm against Ciara’s forehead.
Ciara groaned, still feeling a bit foggy from the meds. The pounding pain in her head had subsided, though. 
‘James told us what happened,’ her mother said, her lips curling up into a small mysterious smile. 
Ciara felt her face reddening with twin embarrassment of the memory of her accident at the golf course and her mother talking about her crush like that.
She sat up on the bed a little too quickly and felt a rush of dizziness. 
‘Are you alright, Ciara?’ her father asked, walking over to her on the bed. 
‘Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just got a little dizzy,’ she said ‘I think I just need to get up and have a shower,’ she said.
She washed quickly and decided to join her parents for dinner in the town. 
James and the others were at the taverna bar as they approached. 
He spotted her and came running over.
‘Hi, is your head any better?’ he asked. 
‘Yeah,’ she smiled ‘Thanks.’
Her father came up and shook James’s hand. 
‘Good man,’ he said gruffly. 
James puffed up with pride. 
Ciara had to hide a little smile at that. 
Her mother was beaming at James and squeezed his hand as she walked by. 
Ciara stopped and gave James a hug and he grabbed her and pulled her back to kiss her as she tried to walk away. Ciara grinned so wide her face nearly split. 
‘Thanks for the pain killers,’ she said ‘I’ll see you later.’
She ran to catch up with her parents. James was still looking at her as she walked past the taverna up the path to the little port town of Agia Galini. 
Her mother looked back at her with a knowing little smile. 
Ciara spent the rest of the evening in a kind of pleasant haze in the knowledge that James clearly felt something for her despite her cowardice the previous evening. 
A feeling of contentment followed her, giving her usual evening meal with her parents by the sea a very dreamlike quality. 
Continuous mysterious smiles from her mother nearly weighed in on her space enough for the contentment to dissipate as quickly as it came, but then the memories of the afternoon with James  and his heroism would flood back in and the feelings of peace soon returned. 
Her parents chatted away, allowing Ciara to sit, lost in her daydreams. 
This was the spot where she had sat, full of dreams the evening after she had seen him in the taverna the first night. So much had happened since then, it seemed that just as she had given up hope of ever getting with him was exactly when he had come to her. 
They finished their dinner and made their way back to the resort. When they arrived at the entrance to the taverna Ciara instantly spotted James' blonde head sitting in the seating area next to the bar. She looked to her parents and they nodded, okay with her going to James this evening. 
James grinned broadly as Ciara approached. Ciara sat in the seat next to his, her knee brushing his. They talked, Ciara wasn't sure what about exactly, her mind was full of the colour of James' eyes and his pink lips as they moved. 
The russet evening sky turned to dark blue and then black as they talked. At some point James moved to the couch beside Ciara and they started kissing until the taverna closed. James walked Ciara back to her room with his arm around her and kissed her one last time after they said goodnight. 
Ciara fell once more into her camp bed, unable to stop smiling. And with that, fell fast asleep. 

Chapter 8

Ciara awoke the next morning to her the sound of her parents' voices. She stirred in her bed, still half asleep. 
'Good morning, birthday girl!' she heard her mother say to her on seeing her movement in the bed. 
Ciara stopped. Her birthday. She had forgotten all about it with everything else. 
She heard frying sounds coming from the kitchenette area of the apartment and looked over to see her father making pancakes. 
'Morning, sweetheart,' he said to her from where he stood at the stove 'Happy Birthday!'
Ciara was elated as her parents spoiled her with pancakes and presents on her birthday morning. The presents, a colourful skirt and pretty seashell earrings that she had admired in a shop on their first day here she donned immediately and consumed her pancakes out on the veranda, looking out at the vista of the meditteranean sea as she ate. She was just finishing the last morsels of her breakfast pancakes when she heard a familiar voice coming from the veranda of the room next to her. 
'Good morning!' 
She looked to see Brandon standing where the wall partitioning the two verandas met the railing. She started. Then James appeared behind Brandon. They both grinned at Ciara. 
'Brandon! James! What are you doing here?!' she exclaimed. 
'We're your new neighbours,' Brandon informed her, still grinning. 
'Hi, Ciara!' she heard Dannielles' voice then coming from the veranda above James and Brandon.
She looked up to see Dannielle and Kirsten standing there. Her jaw dropped. 
'We're your neighbours, too!' Kirsten called down to her. 
Ciara didn't know if she was imagining things, but Kirstens' words sounded like they had an ominous tone to them. 
'That's a nice skirt, where did you get it?' Dannielle asked Ciara. 
'It was a present,' Ciara replied 'It's my birthday today.'
'Oh Happy Birthday!' she said, and the others echoed her birthday wishes. 
'What are you going to do for it?' Brandon asked. 
'I don't know yet,' Ciara replied to him.
Never in her life was she going to look back on one single phrase and wonder at what it brought about next. The whirlwind of a day that followed was full of laughter and silliness. Ciara was young but had never felt it so much before. James was always close by, exchanging stolen looks with Ciara. When evening came, Ciara was blissfully happy. She, James, Kirsten, Brandon, Dannielle and Mason all found themselves back in the taverna, ordering drinks. Ciara was served a cocktail on the house for her birthday. She flushed with embarassment but when Brandon produced a cupcake he and the others all sang her 'Happy Birthday' with the other guests in the taverna looking on. In the end Ciara smiled gratefully at the Australians for their thoughtfulness and ate her birthday cupcake with delight. That evening she found James' arm found its way around her shoulders a lot. She found she did not mind at all. In fact she took pleasure in James' strong arm around her, and gazed up into his blue eyes frequently throughout the evening. On one of these occassions he leaned down and kissed her. Ciara felt a thrill of delight course through her, and kissed James in return. 
'Ooooooh-ooooooh-oooooooh,' said Brandon, Mason and Dannielle. Kirsten had disappeared off somewhere, but Ciara was too happy with life in this moment to care very much. 
When the night came to a close Ciara was tipsy but James kindly helped her back to her room. 
'Come into mine,' he said, catching her hand as she unlocked her apartment door with her key. There was an urgency behind his eyes. 
Ciara felt a war begin to rage within her. A desire to respond to the look in James' eyes and a part of her that wanted to hold back conflicted with each other. 
'James, I....' she couldn't finish. 
James started stroking her hand in his own. 
'Please, Ciara...' he said, his eyes fierce with his own desire. 
'Ciara?!' came her mother's voice from their apartment. 
'I have to go,' Ciara said to James. His hand dropped. Ciara felt a pang at the disappointment in his eyes as she turned into her apartment. With one wistful smile back that he returned she closed the apartment door and faced her mother. 
'Where were you all day?' her mother asked.
'I was with my friends,' Ciara replied. 
Her mother pursed her lips.
'Did you have a good time?' she asked.
'Yeah,' Ciara replied.
'Good!' her mother said then 'Well, I am turning in for the night!
Ciara breathed a sigh of relief after bidding her mother goodnight. She sat on her camp bed in the living room and leaned back against the wall. She mused on the fact that James was just on the other side of it. She climbed into her bed shorts and tee and then into the small bed. Lying there in the dark she found it impossible to rid herself of the thought of James next door. She wondered what he was doing. Probably fast asleep. Or was he lying awake just as she was? Her breath caught at the thought of it. 
Just then her phone pinged. She picked it up.'Hey, luv, how r u?' was the text from Lisa. 
'Gud, nd u?' was Ciara's response. 
'All gud here, bck in rainy Ireland :(' the reply popped up on Ciara's screen 'How r u gettin on wit de Ozzy guy?'
'His name is James,' Ciara sent in response. 
'Ooh nice name,' Lisa said 'So you are gettin closer wit him?' 
'We've come close....but not really,' Ciara texted to her friend.
'Y not? :(' Lisa asked next. 
'I don't know...I just can't...' was Ciara's reply. 
'U need to let go a little luv,' Lisa's reply came 'Dere's nutin rong wit sex.'
Ciara read the words on her screen, her heart racing a little. She sighed, closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. The memories of the previous nights came back. The feel of James' hands on her, his urgent kisses, his fierce gaze...she sighed again. Her phone pinged once more with a goodnight text from Lisa. Ciara lay down on her bed and fell into a fitful sleep, filled with dreams of James only for her to wake up into reality straight away after. Finally, the light of morning seeped in around the edges of the curtains. Ciara rolled onto her back and lay staring at the ceiling, Lisa's words floating before her eyes.
Her friend was right. There was nothing wrong with sex. And yet Ciara couldn't bring herself to commit to the act with a gorgeous Australian when she was on holidays. Was it the presence of her parents? Was she trying to be a good girl for them as she always had been? This trip itself was a reward for her good efforts. She couldn't just go off with a handsome young man when her parents were being so kind to her, could she? Or was this the time of her life to shed the constraints of parental expectations and take a dive into the wilder  side of life. Ciara felt tortured, unhelped by the recurring memory of James' eyes as they looked into hers.
She heard movements from her parents room. Not wanting to face her parents now she quickly rose from the bed and dressed. Leaving them a note to tell them she was going for a walk, she made her way from the apartment out into the cool blue light of the early morning. She did not know where she was headed, she simply let her feet carry her, her mind still full of thoughts of James. When she started paying attention to where she was again, she found she was at the port of the town of Agia Galini. She kept walking on until she had walked up to the bluff where a statue of Icarus in flight stood. Like Icarus flying too close to the sun, she was afraid that she would fall should she get too close to James. She looked out over the wall to the expanse of meditteranean sea that stretched out before her. The sun began to rise and Ciara was filled with awe at the beauty of the colours, pinks, yellows and blues mirrored in the sea at the horizon beyond. Ciara sighed. The tranquility of the scene brought her a feeling of peace after her night of turmoil. It was just then that her phone pinged in her pocket. It was another message from Lisa. 
'Dn't 4get to use protection if u do it wit James, hun. Lisa xxx.'
Ciara read the words on the screen. Of course, pregnancy. That was another concern with James. No wonder she was holding back with him.  A wave of relief swept over her. There was nothing wrong with her for not sleeping with the gorgeous Australian, she was just being sensible and not risking pregnancy before she was completely ready for it. She smiled now. She was grateful for her friends thought of her and proud of her own sensibility in the face of such temptation. She looked up and realized that she was back at the resort. Her feet had carried her back there when her mind had been on other things. She made her way back into the taverna, and saw James seated at the bar with someone else. As Ciara moved closer she could see it was Kirsten. She and James were in deep conversation. Ciara frowned. What were they talking about? Not wanting to interrupt, Ciara made her way back to the apartment. When she arrived there she found her parents up and dressed. 
'Did you have a nice walk?' her mother asked her. 
'Yeah,' Ciara replied.
'Good,' her mother said 'Ciara, we are going to Matala for the day, would you like to come with us or would you like to stay here?' 
Her mothers brows arched slightly at the last, as though she was assuming Ciara would want to stay here in the company that was here at the resort. 
Ciara flushed slightly and considered her mothers' offer. She remembered that James was in conversation with Kirsten. Maybe a day of missing her would do him good. 
'Yeah, I'll come,' she said. 
Her mother registered an expression of shock at Ciara's acceptance of her invitation to join them for the day.
'You're sure?' she asked her daughter.
'Yeah, I am,' said Ciara, smiling. She hadn't gotten to spend much time with her parents recently. It would be nice to have a day with them. 
Her parents smiled back. 
'Have you eaten breakfast?' her father asked.
Ciaras' stomach rumbled at his words. She had forgotten all about food this morning in her musings about James. She felt foolish for it. 
'We're having ours in the taverna, you should too,' her father said 'It's a long way to Matala.'
They made their way to the taverna together, Ciara looking forward to her bread, jam and fruit breakfast when James approached her. 
'Hey,' he said.
'Hi,' she responded.
'Have you got plans for the day?' asked James. 
'Yeah, actually I am going to Matala for the day with my parents,' Ciara said. 
'Would you like to join us?'
James looked suprised at her offer. Ciara was surprised at herself.
'Would your parents mind?' he asked then.
'I'm sure they wouldn't, I'll check with them,' said Ciara and ran over to where her parents had taken their seat. 
She asked her parents if James could come. They looked surprised at first and then she saw her mothers' lip quirking in amusement. Ciara flushed somewhat at the judgment in that quirk. Her father agreed and then her mother followed suit, still smiling. 
Ciara felt her heart swell with excitement. A day with James and her parents in Matala! This was going to be good...
James grinned and hugged her when she told him her parents had agreed. They all ate breakfast together, her parents peppering James with questions about Australia all the while. Ciaras' enthusiasm diminished somewhat at this, she didn't want the day to be all her parents interrogating poor James. 
Soon it was time to go. Her father was driving and her mother sat in the passenger seat next to him. Ciara and James took the seats in the back. Ciara felt a rush of excitement at sitting so close to James, but was concious of her parents' presence. The now familiar turmoil boiled up in her again, the desire to be the good girl she always had been conflicting with the urge James stirred up in her to be a little bit bad. Ciara and James' eyes kept meeting even as her parents continued to engage him in conversation. Soon they were discussing what there was to do in Matala that day. Her parents talked about some caves that there were to explore. Unbidden, thoughts of exploring the caves with James alone came to Ciaras' mind, just as he reached out his hand on the back seat of the car to brush off hers. Ciara felt a thrill at his touch. He smiled at her, an alluring little smile that caused an electric rush in Ciara. Her father coughed. She quickly retracted her hand, feeling guilty about what she had just been a part of in her parents rental car.  
'What is it that you do back in Australia, James?' Ciaras' father asked James from the driver's seat of the car.
'I finished my first year at Uni,' James responded. 
Ciara found herself blushing at this exchange and tried hard to focus on the passing terrain she could see out the car window. 
James and her father continued their conversation, her father taking a decided interest in James' education and plans for the future. After a while, Ciara began to feel at ease, nearly contented. Occassionally still thinking of those caves in Matala. 
Finally, they arrived at the costal town of Matala. It was a beautiful, sunny day as they all disembarked the car. Ciara could see the blue meditteranean sea sparkling in the distance. 
Her parents smiled at her and James fell in beside her as they walked about the town, looking at shops. At some point he took her hand. She smiled at him. Her parents must have noticed but passed no remark. This was a new world to Ciara, being with a guy around her parents. Somehow she had managed to pass the dating world by in her school years. She had a lot to catch up on in relation to her peers. Of course she knew plenty, she couldn't have a friend like Lisa without hearing about a lot, but it was all only theory. Now she was dipping into the real thing. She wondered how she could get to those caves. It was only when her mother had finished looking in a few shops that they started walking to the beach where the caves were in sight. Ciara threw a sidelong glance at James. 
Her father looked back at all of them. 
'This place was popular with the hippies back in the day,' he told them 'Hippies used to sleep in those caves.' He pointed to them.
Ciaras' mother looked to her. 
'You and James can go explore if you like,' she said to Ciara 'Your Dad and I will be here.' 
Ciara froze. It was like her mother had read her mind. 
She looked to James. 
'I'm up for a bit of exploration!' he said, grinning. 
Ciara returned the grin.
'Let's go then!' she said. 
They made their way over the soft beach sand to the warren of caves nestled in the rocky headland. Ciara took James' hand and led the way. There were other tourists in the caves. She wondered were there any secluded spots where she and James could be alone. She smiled back at him and he caught her and kissed her just as two people passed them by in the rocky passageway.
Ciara looked around and thought she saw a cave up ahead that was empty. Nobody else was around for the moment. She took James by the hand again. 
'Come on,' she said. 
James followed her lead. The cave was indeed empty. Ciara's heart raced as she stood so close to James again. They were alone again. All traces of the good girl was gone, now she wanted to be bad. She started kissing James, running her hands up along his muscular arms. Something was niggling at the back of her mind. James pushed her against the rocky wall of the cave and she wrapped her leg around him. Something was still niggling at her. James started to unzip his pants. 
'Protection,' Ciara gasped. 
James stopped. 
'Do you have any?' Ciara asked. 
'No,' said James. 
Ciara felt frustration build up in her even as she pulled out of James' embrace. 
She sat down on the sandy cave of the floor. James joined her. 
Her good side had won over and was now back in full force. She still didn't even really know James. She looked at the young man sitting beside her. 
'Do you like it?' she asked him.
'What?' he said. 
'Uni. Do you like it?' she asked.
'Oh....yeah, I guess,' he said. 
They sat in silence then. 
'Why do you ask?' he asked her.
'I still don't really know you,' she said to him frankly.
James gave a little laugh.
'Do you need to?' he asked.
'Well...I'd like to...' said Ciara. 
He laughed a little again. 
'What about you? You're finished school, right? College next year?' he asked her.
She told him of her hopes to pursue her passion for history. They sat talking then for she didn't know how long. Tourists came and went from the caves, they didn't care. They were lost in each others words. Ciara started forming a picture of James in her mind. A nice young man from the suburbs of Sydney, come travelling in Europe on his break from Uni. It was an image Ciara most definitely liked. Even as much as she liked him physically speaking. Her thoughts returned once more to that side of things and she grew antsy where she sat. She got up suddenly.
'We'd better get back to my parents,' she said 'They'll be wondering where we are.' 
'Sure,' he said, scrambling up. 
Her mother was sunbathing and her father sitting on his garden chair on the beach when she and James found them again. 
The sun was beginning to dip in the sky, casting longer shadows across the beach. Ciara's mother decided it was time for them to eat. 
They chose one of the seafood restaurants that overlooked the beach for their evening meal. Ciara found that after the day she had quite the appetite. 
Her parents resumed questioning James. Ciara smiled as he answered them politely. Their feet were touching lightly under the table. As they finished dinner and made their way back to the car, Ciara couldn't help remembering her and James' excursion to the caves earlier. She felt confused by the conflicting feelings that warred inside her. Did she want to be with James or not? Realistically she was not going to get to know him any better over a holiday. As they were sitting in the car, James took her hand and she looked into his beautiful sky blue eyes. She almost leaned in for a kiss, then her father coughed from the drivers seat and she remembered herself. 
As her father drove them back home the sky darkened to deep blue overhead as the sun disappeared behind the horizon for the night. A silence descended over the car. Her parents had run out of questions for James. Ciara reached out her hand on the seat and James reached back so their hands were touching. Ciara wished they could be closer still but with her parents there could not bring herself to move over on the seat. 
They arrived back to the resort in what seemed like no time to Ciara. The sky was dark now and there were lights and music coming from the taverna.
'Night cap?' her father suggested from the driver's seat. 
They all agreed and made their way to the bar. 
James took Ciara's hand again and they sat somewhat apart from her parents, talking some more. Ciara found herself feeling sad. 
'What's wrong?' asked James. 
Ciara gulped as she looked into his eyes.
'I'm going home in a week,' she said sadly 'I don't have much more time with you.'
'Well, we'd better make the most of it then,' said James, taking her face in his hand. She pressed her face against his hand. James leaned in for a kiss then. Ciara was lost in the sweetness of the moment when her mother's voice broke through it. 
'Ciara? Can you come over here for a second please?' her mother said. 
Ciara looked to James. 
'I'll be here,' he said. 
'Coming,' she told her mother, and made her way to where her mother sat.
'Could you please tell me what this is?' her mother demanded, shoving her phone in Ciara's face.
Ciara's heart plummeted to her stomach at the image on her mother's phone screen. It was of her and James on the beach the other night, her with her top off.
Ciara felt her cheeks heat up and miserably hung her head. She could barely bring herself to look at her mother. 
'Ciara?!' her mother demanded more sharply. 
Her mother's sharpmess forced her to meet her gaze. Tears welled up in her eyes and her voice caught in her throat. 
'Come with me,' her mother said and started leading her back to the apartment. As she looked up she saw Kirsten standing by the exit of the taverna, smirking slightly. Ciara's blood boiled. She knew who had sent her mother the pictures now.
When they arrived at the aparment, Ciara was crying in earnest. 
'Ciara...can you even just explain to me what you were thinking when you did this?' her mother asked, more pleading than demanding now. 
'I wasn't,' Ciara managed to get the words out. 
Ciara's mother heaved a great sigh. 
'I don't know what to say, love,' she said. 'I'm disappointed in you.' 
Ciara heard her mother's voice break and felt a heaviness in her breast. 
'Mam, I....' she began, but couldn't find the words. 
Her mother sighed again. 
'I'm going to bed,' she said, sounding weary.
The heaviness rested in Ciara's breast now. Anger from her mother was one thing but facing her disappointment was sore on Ciara's heart. 
Ciara sat down on the bed. She felt such guilt at causing her mother pain. She wished she could take it back...and then again, that night with James...she could never take it back for the world. 
The door opened and her father entered.
'James is looking for you,' he told Ciara. 'Where's your mother?'
'She's gone to bed,' Ciara responded. 
Her father nodded and went into the bedroom, leaving Ciara to leave the apartment to go and see James. He was waiting for her at the entrance to the taverna. He wanted to know where she had been. Without going into details she told him briefly that her mother was upset with her. He wanted her to stay, pleaded with her. 
'Come back with me to my room,' he said 'I can get protection.'
Ciara had never wanted anything so much before in her life but the memory of her mother's disappointment weighed on her that she couldn't. She refused James and quickly made her way back to the apartment where she dived into bed and began sobbing with everything. 
Some time later her mother came in and put a hand on Ciara's forehead as she sobbed. 
'There, there, it'll be alright,' her mother comforted her as she cried herself to sleep. 

Chapter 9

Ciara stared out at the sea from the balcony of their apartment. Her parents still slumbered in their room. Her heart still felt heavy in her chest that she had disappointed them. She thought of the pictures Kirsten had sent her mother of her and James on the beach that night and blushed. She was so sorry that her mother had seen those pictures, but she could never really regret being that close with James. She sighed. She felt so torn. She wanted very much to please her parents and have their approval, but the pull of James was too strong for her to resist. Just as she was thinking this she heard his voice from beside her:
'Good morning,' he said.
'Good morning,' she said with a little smile. 
'Are you okay? You look a little down,' he said. 
Ciara sighed. 
'It's Kirsten...' she said. 
'What? What did she do now?' asked James, suddenly alert. 
Ciara started to cry. 
'Ciara?' James asked.
'Let me come over.'
'No!!' Ciara cried and then remembered her parents still sleeping inside. 
'No, you can't.'
'Why not? What's going on?' asked James. 
'Kirsten sent my mom pictures of us that night on the beach,' Ciara told him. 
James started swearing loudly. 
'I've gotta go,' he said to Ciara before running back inside his apartment.
Ciara sighed again. She shouldn't have told him. Now he was going to worry too. She only had a week left, she wanted to enjoy it with him.
'Ciara?' she heard her mother calling her. 
'I'm here,' she said. 
'Were you talking to someone?' her mother asked her.
Ciara gulped. 
Her mother took her apprehensive expression in and sighed. 
'I don't mind you talking to him, you're an adult now and you've got to make your own decisions,' she said.
'But please don't do anything too stupid. Remember we're going home in a week.' 
Ciara felt like a weight had lifted from her. 
Just then her father entered. 
'Morning Dad!' she greeted her father cheerily. 
He did not respond. 
Ciara's heart sunk again. She heard her mother make a 'tsk' sound and leave to the bedroom.
'Dad?' she said. 
Still no response. She almost cried. Unable to bear her father’s silence she made to leave the apartment. As she opened the front door she heard him speak:
'If I see you with that James fella again I'll bate him,' he said. 
Ciara fled from the apartment. 
She didn't pay attention to where she was going, she just ran, tears still in her eyes. 
'Ciara!' she heard someone call her name. 
She turned. It was Dannielle sitting at one of the tables in the taverna. 
'Come over!' Dannielle waved to her. 
Ciara hadn't spent any time with Dannielle just the two of them. Maybe it would be nice to get to know the girl a little before leaving. It could certainly take her mind off of other things. So she walked over to Dannielle sitting at the table. 
'Hey!' Dannielle called to one of the waiters. 
‘Can we get two margaritas over here!’
The waiter nodded and walked to the bar to place their order. 
'So, Ciara,' Dannielle began smiling. 'What's up with you and James?'
Ciara blushed. 
'He's really nice,' she said. 
'He is really nice,' Dannielle. 'So you like him?' 
Ciara blushed again at Dannielle's direct question. 
'Yes,' she admitted to the auburn haired Australian girl.
'Awwwwwe,' Dannielle said. 'So what do you like about him?'
Ciara stopped, confused by Dannielle's investigative questioning. 
'I, well....I mean like I said, he's really nice,' Ciara said. 
The girl scrutinized her for a minute. 
'What are you going to do when you guys have to leave here?' Dannielle asked.
Ciara stopped again. She hadn't thought about that. The last thing she had been expecting when she came on this vacation with her parents was a romance with a handsome Australian. She had not expected the drama of dealing with a rival for his affections either, or even the fun she had had with him and his friends as a group while she was here. She would be sad leaving James and these new friends she had made. Maybe one day she would visit with them in Australia. 
'More to the point,' Dannielle went on 'Are you going to do it with James before you guys part forever and possibly never see each other again?'
Ciara blushed harder than she had for this whole conversation. 
'We need protection,' she mumbled under her breath.
'Sorry, what?' asked Dannielle. 
Ciara leaned in closer to the girl and repeated herself. 
'Oh, well you can do that,' Dannielle said 'So you're going to do it with him?' 
Ciara nodded. 
'I think that's a good idea, life is short, you need to live it while you still can,' Dannielle said. 
Ciara found that she couldn't agree more, then the memory of her father nagged at her consciousness.
Dannielle started asking Ciara questions about herself, what she liked, had she had boyfriend were, what her life was like back in Ireland. Ciara answered to the best of her abilities but when Dannielle's questions turned to Ciara's parents she burst into tears.
 'Oh no! What's wrong?' Dannielle asked 'It's Kirsten isn't it?'
'My Dad isn't even speaking to me,' Ciara said.  
'Oh, I'm so sorry,' Dannielle said 'I'm sure he'll get over it! My Dad was upset when I got with Mason but he came around.' 
'Ciara? Ciara, love?' she heard her mother's voice coming from somewhere behind her. 
She turned, tears blurring her vision to see the blurry figure of her mother walking over this way. 
Her mother reached out her arms and took Ciara into a maternal embrace. 
'I'll leave you two alone,' said Dannielle and got up from the table. 
Ciara's mother sat down beside her. 
'Is this about your father?' she asked.
Ciara nodded, tears still pouring down her cheeks.
'Listen, I'll handle that,' her mother said 'You just make sure to keep things with your boyfriend on the low down until your father has made more peace with it.' 
Ciara nodded again. Her mother handed her a tissue to wipe away the tears from her eyes and cheeks. 
'Will you be alright? I want to head down to the beach and catch some sun before the day ends?'
'Yeah, I'll be alright, you go and get your sunshine,' said Ciara. 
'You want to join me?' her mother asked. 
Ciara thought about it. After all the drama she could do with a bit of just relaxing and not doing anything. She told her mother she would collect her beach things from the apartment and be right there. 
Walking to her apartment she was caught by surprise by Kirsten's voice coming from James and Brandon's room. She stopped and heard James' voice too. Then both voices stopped. Ciara's heart thudded in her chest. She couldn't stop herself. She walked inside. She found James in Kirsten's arms. They were kissing. Ciara felt her heart break in her chest. Hot tears welled up in her eyes once more. James broke away from Kirsten to see Ciara.
'No!' he cried. 
Ciara ran from the room, not wanting to face him. 
'Ciara, no, wait!' James called after her. 
Ciara ran into her apartment, shutting the door behind her. She collapsed onto her camp bed, the image of James in Kirsten's embrace emblazoned on her mind's eye. 
'Ciara! Ciara! Please let me explain!' James called through the door. Ciara couldn't bring herself to face him. Not yet anyway. Feelings of sadness and hurt bubbled in her breast. She was so upset, all she wanted to do was go back home and be in familiar surroundings while she recovered from this. She couldn't leave the apartment while James was still outside. She would have to wait. She curled up on the camp bed as James continued calling through the door. She grabbed her pillow and pressed it over her ears. Eventually it stopped. Ciara sighed in relief. She made for the apartment door. 
'Ciara? Ciara?' she heard James calling from beyond the balcony outside now. 
Still not wanting to face him even in his apparent determination to speak to her, she made for the door.
Blinking away the tears that were blurring her vision she quickly made her way for the beach where she found her mother, and through sobs told her what had just happened. 
'He what?!' her mother exclaimed. 
'Mam, I want to go home,' said Ciara tearfully.
Her mother sighed and drew her into a hug. 
'Ciara! Ciara, please let me just explain!' she heard James calling. 
She clung onto her mother in the face of his pleading. 
'Now I think you have done enough, young man!' her mother said to him sternly before leading Ciara away to the apartment. 
'Don't worry, love, we'll book the next flight home if that's what you want,' she said. 
On returning to the apartment she made Ciara a cup of tea which Ciara sat and drank as her mother packed up. There was sounds of a scuffle outside. Ciara could hear James and her father's voices. Her heart rate increased with anxiety at the prospect of seeing James again after everything. She heard their voices talk more and then silence. Her father entered the apartment and immediately walked over to hug her. 
'Don't you worry, love,' her father said 'That boy won't be bothering you anymore.'
Strangely enough, though her father's words were intended to comfort her Ciara felt a depression fall over her. Despite what James had done she still had love in her heart for him. She was a confusing mess of pain, anger and love. She was barely beginning to untangle her complex emotions when her mother announced that the packing was done, and her father was on the phone to the airport. 
They packed the bags into the rental car and drove to Chania airport. 
No sooner had they begun qeuing to check in did Ciara hear James' voice again.
In total shock she turned to find him, Brandon and Kirsten standing there. 
'Ciara, please just hear me out!' he pleaded.
The pain Ciara had been feeling flamed up once more. Tears began to sting her eyes. 
'Ciara...I'm so sorry,' James said 'But I swear, Kirsten was kissing me...I didn't kiss back.'
'It's true,' Kirsten said from behind him 'I'm the one kissing him.'
Ciara stared at the blonde girl in shock.
'I'm sorry,' said Kirsten in a small voice. 
Ciara felt like dark clouds had lifted and made way for the sunshine. Her life was bright and light once more. 
'Ciara,' said James 'I love you.'
'I love you, too,' Ciara said, unable to stop smiling.
 And with that, they kissed passionately in the middle of bustling Chania airport to the delight of their friends and Ciara's parents. 

Chapter 10

Ciara had never felt so blissfully happy and at peace as she did waking up in the arms of her lover. The sun was shining through the curtains. She yawned and stretched lazily in James' arms. He stirred now. And embraced her more closely. They kissed. Ciara smiled and smiled, this closeness of their skin and deep kisses was indeed a heaven they had created all on their own. The past week had passed in this way, with both Ciara's parents and Jame's friends giving them both space to be with each other until they had to part. 
The bubble burst. That day was today. 
Ciara sighed sadly. 
She didn't have to explain the sigh, James understood and just hugged her closer in the bed, kissing her forehead gently. 
They lay there a while, then came a knock at the door. 
'Ciara, love,' came her mother's voice through it. 'I'm sorry to disturb you but are you packed?'
'I'm coming,' Ciara called back. She wasn't fully packed. 
She made to get out of the bed but James pulled her back. 
'One last time,' he said. 
Ciara succumbed to him, enjoying every morsel of him as it was her last for she did not know how long.