I was too nervous to smile. The hard part was next. Right then the moon shifted from behind the clouds, shining down on the water like a spotlight.
Not helpful.
I yanked one foot out of the sand, gripping the edges of my dress. “This is the actual important part. I’m going to reintroduce myself, okay?”
His face poked up from behind his camera. “I know who you are, Kalamata.”
“I know. This is for me.” The water was so cold my ankles felt numb, but I held still, making my voice loud and clear. “My dad’s name is Nico Varanakis. He’s Greek, and he studies the lost city of Atlantis. He also struggles with mental health issues. When I was eight, he left my mom and me and went back to Greece. Afterward, my mom and I struggled. We had to move constantly, and I was so lonely and heartbroken that I decided that the only way to survive was to become someone else.” I was overwhelmed with affection, thinking about that girl. She’d done what she had to, to make it through.
“But I was pretending, sometimes even forgetting the things I care about. I like drawing and old movies and makeup. I hate running. Hate it. I want to go to art school. I have a new thing for French rap.” A small laugh trickled from behind the camera. “What I mean to say is, hi. My name is Olive. You can call me that now. Also…”
I dug my toes into the sand, willing the words to come out right. “I met someone here in Santorini. Someone who knows too much about olives and the worst times to stick a camera in a person’s face. But I like this someone. A lot. He doesn’t do long-distance so that means it’s only for tonight, but I have to tell him anyway. I really like him, and I want to be with him.”
There, I’d said it. Sort of. A congratulatory wave hit me at shin level, but I stood my ground against a very…
Very.
Very.
Very.
Long pause.
The camera lowered slowly, and we stared at each other. The lit-up boardwalk made a perfect background for him, the moonlight softening his features. For once I couldn’t read his expression. Was he surprised? Upset? Trying to figure out how to let me down? My heart was attempting to break out of my chest. “I already was calling you Olive,” he finally said.
Not exactly what I’d had in mind.
“Theo,” I wailed. “Are you not going to acknowledge what I said?”
“I’m getting there,” he said.
I covered my face with my hands. This was a disaster. Maybe this confession thing wasn’t such a good idea, but this ship had already set sail. I had to keep going. Don’t think, just talk.
I dropped my hands, forcing myself to look at his perfect face. There was a question there. What was it?
“Dax and I broke up,” I blurted out. He flinched. Yikes, that one maybe required a bit of forethought. “Last night. We broke up last night after you left.”
“Oh.” Theo’s shoulders sagged slightly. “I’m sorry to hear that.” Again, no encouragement whatsoever. Keep going.
“I’m the one who broke up with him.” I shifted forward onto my tippy-toes, gathering myself. “He didn’t really know me. And honestly, that wasn’t his fault. I’d made up this new version of myself so I could fit in. It was a survival technique.”
“Sometimes those are helpful.” His eyes finally met mine, and I felt a tiny shiver move through me. I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Theo! What are you thinking right now?”
He moved forward slightly, a move I felt more than saw. “Are you supposed to yell at people during these sorts of things?”
I groaned. “No. Maybe. I’ve never done this before.”
“Hmm,” he said.
Two more waves came and went. Ten more seconds of this silence and I was going to have to fall back into the water and let it carry me away. I needed him to give me something.
“Theo?” I said.
“Tell me more about this other guy,” he finally said.
A large wave rushed in around me, and I nearly fell over in relief. “I’ve never met anyone like him. I wasn’t sure at first; he was kind of nosy, and annoyingly persistent. But he’s also very smart and brave and really, really loyal. He’s also pretty funny.”
Was that a smile? I couldn’t tell. Theo shoved his non-camera hand into his pocket. “How funny?”
“Not as funny as he thinks he is,” I said quickly.
“Hmm. What about his physical appearance? Is he good-looking?”
“Annoyingly good-looking.”
“He sounds… annoying.” Theo bit his lower lip, and I gripped my dress tighter.
“Sometimes,” I said. “But it’s usually in the right ways. He doesn’t let me get away with things, and as much as I hate that, I also think I needed it in my life.”
“Hmmm,” he said again. “You aren’t really selling him. What about his hair? Does he have good hair?”
“Needs work.”
“Abs? General physique?” Theo extended his arm. “Does he have good fashion sense?”
“Don’t push it.” But now I was smiling, and my panic was morphing into something else. Hope? We were staring at each other. Like a dare. I exhaled slowly. “There’s one big problem. He lives in Greece, and I live in the States, and he has some pretty ironclad rules about how he lives his life, and he most definitely does not do long-distance dating, which means that if this is going to work, he will either have to make an exception or I will have to make do with…” I made a big show of checking my phone. “The forty-eight hours I have left.”
“Forty-eight hours isn’t very long.” He looked at me thoughtfully. “I’m obviously speculating here, but it’s possible that he came up with those rules before meeting you. And no matter how much he thinks he knows everything, he doesn’t. This is the age of the internet, Olive. He could get on a plane. Or visit you during the holidays. Maybe you’d even start spending more time in Santorini with your dad, although I doubt your parents would let you stay in the bunks anymore. Worst case, you’ll write each other old-fashioned letters and pine away miserably like every other couple in a long-distance relationship. It’s not like it’s that bad.”
My laugh stuck in my throat. He was saying all the right things, but he still hadn’t moved. Why was he so far away?
“So…,” I prompted.
He picked up his camera. “Okay if we do one more interview?”
My jaw dropped. “Now?”
“Last one.” He adjusted the camera, angling it toward my face. “Olive. How does it feel to be the daughter of an Atlantis hunter and the girlfriend of a noted National Geographic filmmaker?”
Since the last time Theo had asked me a question similar to this, an entire lifetime had come and gone. Relief poured over me, dousing all remaining fear. This was actually happening. “It feels…”
I tried hard to keep my face serious, but no amount of biting my cheeks could stop my smile. The ocean sighed behind me, deep and surprising, with me right at the edge of it. To get to the bottom would take a very long time, but I had time. Time I was due.
The breeze picked up, blowing the ends of my hair into my face. Then I turned to Theo. “It feels right. Now please turn that thing off.”