The warm water lapping at my bare toes brought me out of my memory. I wiped away the solitary tear that was running down my face, but as I did so I acknowledged that although the memory had made me sad, I also had a smile stretched right across my face. The memory of the beach was one of the last truly happy times in my life.
I had a feeling deep down inside of me that from the brief glimpse I’d had so far of Crete that I was going to love it. It was an awe-inspiring place, with natural beauty to be found everywhere you looked. So far, I’d been able to hear the sea as it gently lapped against its shores or crashed against the rocks every place we’d been. Stupidly the thought had been going over in my head that I thought I could be really happy here.
Snap out of it, you’re jet lagged. This is only for a year!
I took a quick look up behind me and saw the house Nico had brought us to. It was large but built very sympathetically from the two different coloured stones you could see almost everywhere on the island. The light had to be just right for you to detect his home was even there, nestled safely away in the hills. From here, and probably from various viewpoints around the land that contained his property, I was certain you wouldn’t get any clues as to just what the well-designed construction concealed within it.
The infinity pool was one of the hidden gems and a swim in it was most definitely on my list of things to do later that day. The previous night, after the incredible dinner made by his grandmother, I had taken myself off and had sat down on a lounger that was bathed by the muted lighting at the pool side. Eventually, I hadn’t been able to resist any longer and after having taken off my sandals, I’d plunged my aching feet and legs into the cool water. I’d sat there alone lost in my own thoughts for a while, before Nico had come out to find me. He’d smiled at me as he noted the obvious pleasure I was receiving from the tranquil space and had then sat down beside me. Sitting close together in a comfortable silence, we’d both watched as the most beautiful iridescent dragonflies swooped and flew around us. They’d danced just above the pool and dipped their legs momentarily into the cool water washing away the heat of the day, completely ignoring the fact that the two of us were even there. Watching them was truly one of the most magical things I’d ever witnessed, and I was even more pleased to be sharing the experience with him. I’d looked over at him once or twice as we’d watched together and delighted in the relaxed, fascinated expression on his face as I knew it matched my own.
Finally, they’d flown away and almost like Nico felt the need to mark sharing the experience with me, he had once again picked up my hand and pressed his lips to it. The touch of his lips on my skin was lingering, as was the feeling it left me with after he’d lowered our conjoined hands back to the tiles between us.
Watching the dragonflies and experiencing that moment with him, I resolved there and then that they would be one of the subjects I was going to concentrate my very limited photography skills on.
His home here, I had quickly found out yesterday evening as he’d shown me around, was to the exact same specifications as his home in Red Rock Canyon. Although I’d been given the master bedroom as my room here in Crete, I had easily managed to find my way around and out of the large building before the sun had even risen this morning, to come for a walk on the private beach.
I looked out to the horizon again, just in time to watch the warm colours of the sunrise as they began to light up the hills to the right-hand side of where I was stood, and I lifted my camera up to my face. I’d had enough time locked away in Nico’s stone fortress in Vegas to study everything I needed to know to begin taking some amateur shots. Not being able to sleep in the large master bedroom all by myself with the smell of Nico’s cologne permeating from the furniture, I’d decided that now was the ideal time to start my new hobby.
The click of the shutter as it drew in the beautiful sight that was appearing as if by magic, as this part of the world began its brand new day, ignited my blood. The fact that I knew it would hold this sight within its confines, until I was ready to expose it to the world, was an enlightening experience and it was hard to contain the childish excitement that was whipping around inside of me. To have felt dead for so long and to then be suddenly thrust into feeling everything was overwhelming, but so far it was overwhelming in a good way.
I flicked the switch to auto and heard as the camera began to relay shot after shot as the yellows spread to oranges and then eventually the warm reds grew ever bigger, consuming the paler colours. I was beginning to feel the warmth of the rays already on the bare skin of my chilled arms, which was a welcome relief. I hadn’t thought it through properly in my bid to escape my confines, that this early hour of the morning would still contain the cold chill of night in its air, when back in Vegas no matter what the hour it was always warm. So, I had only just grabbed at one of the sundresses I had hung up yesterday and pulled it quickly off the hanger. All the while I had been trying hard not to acknowledge that Nico’s clothing was hung up beside mine, and captured within the offending material was the strong fresh ocean scented cologne he always seemed to wear. The smell of the man had drifted up and into my nose as soon as I’d opened the door of the closet. With my dress clutched in one hand I had closed the door as quickly as I could.
Inhaling a deep breath, I cleared my thoughts and concentrated on the job in hand.
High above the warm glow of the impending sunrise the stars and the crescent moon were still visible and in the very bottom of my lens I saw them all reflected on the surface of the water. I knew it would make an amazing picture.
Stars were hardly ever noticeable above Vegas due to all the light polluting the sky, but here in this beautiful place, through the protection of my camera lens, I could see the start of the brand new day and the demise of the old. I hoped above all else that this was an omen for the way my life was going to progress from this day forward. What I was experiencing was truly miraculous and I wanted to do it justice by taking a decent picture.
‘Good morning.’ I ever so slightly started as Nico’s deep, warming voice entered my bloodstream and caused an involuntary shiver to travel down my back. I was only wearing the pale blue sundress and had put my hair up into a ponytail in preparation for what I knew would be another beautifully warm day. But I instantly recognised that my choice of dress wasn’t nearly enough to protect me from the sensation of having him so close to me.
‘Morning,’ I answered, but didn’t stop the automatic function on the camera. Instead, I gratefully held it in place in front of my face, as a form of protection from the man who was stood directly behind me, so close I could feel his every exhale on the back of my exposed neck.
‘It’s beautiful here at this time of day.’ Nico placed his hands on the top of both of my arms and began to slowly and gently rub at the bare skin in an attempt to warm me.
‘It truly is, breathtaking almost.’ My voice left me on a whisper and the only sound to be heard now, apart from the sea and the camera as it kept on taking picture after picture, was my own pulse as it pounded against my eardrums.
‘Couldn’t you sleep?’ he questioned.
‘No.’
As the sun finally exposed the whole of its warm globe over the hills beside us, I reluctantly flicked the auto button off and lowered the camera from my face.