****
On Christmas Eve night, we all dressed up and spent the evening at Thais and Gianna’s home. Thais is older than Andy is by eighteen months and, like his brother, is a descendant of Adonis. He and Andy share a megawatt smile and handsome, dark-brown eyes. The two are partners at their law firm, Alexander & Alexander, where they specialize in family law. Nick hopes to follow their example, but Ari and Rory have no desire to be involved with the practice of law. Thais is louder than Andy and can be a little bad tempered at times; he certainly does not have Andy’s patience and understanding. Gianna and Thais’ home is much more formal than that of Ari’s parents and, aside from at their beach parties, everyone is expected to be on a “best-behavior” setting.
Andy and Aggie’s get-togethers are always on a no-holds-barred basis; family and guests are free to relax and come and go as they please. Holidays are an exception – at those times, Aggie sticks to a tight schedule and wants people looking their absolute best.
The formality of Gianna and Thais’ home is probably why Rory and Nick are usually over at Aggie’s. I had heard, too, that Julia was having a difficult time living with Gianna and Thais, and had considered moving back to a dorm. Thanks to me, though, there were no openings. Julia had confided in Lauren, who, of course, blabbed to everyone that Julia was planning to move out on her own once she graduated. Lauren said Rory was devastated when he heard the news.
The house was packed, as usual, with people drinking and carrying on; the food was exquisite – Gianna served roast duck and potatoes in a rich glaze with a side of carrots, peas and crunchy bread. Every room in their house was decorated with beautiful Christmas decorations. Gianna had even decorated Nick and Rory with thick and scratchy-looking sweaters, red for Rory and green for Nick.
After a few hours, Ari and I snuck away. It always seemed that if we weren’t sleeping, we were surrounded by swarms of people, and while I loved the fact that there were always people around, I came from a home that held just my mom and myself. My mother worked eighty plus hours a week; down-time was the norm. Ari’s busy home was a nice change of pace, but if we had a chance to be alone, we didn’t take a pass on it. We eased out Rory’s front door while the rest of the family had cocktails in Thais’ bar, got back to Ari’s house and put on a movie downstairs in the den; a space that no matter what the Alexanders called it was larger than most Chicago apartments that I had ever been. There was a huge, wrap-around couch and a large-screen TV mounted to the wall above a fireplace. A fully stocked wet bar and a keg of Heineken that was always on tap faced the sitting area and a pool table with a nearby poker table filled another corner.
Ari lit the fire with a push of a button and turned all the lights off. We watched all of thirty seconds of the movie before things between us started to heat up big time. My head was lost to the clouds within minutes and we started to cross the line a bit when suddenly we were stopped by the flick of a light switch. Rory, and half of the partygoers from his home, came barreling down the stairs. Ari shouted out quite a few profanities, while I quickly made myself more presentable.
“What?” Rory responded to Ari’s language with a laugh. “It’s getting late and mom kicked us out. We’re just going to play some pool. No big deal!”
Ari just stared at him for a moment with cold steely eyes then said, “I hate you, Rory.”
“Nah, you’ll thank me later.” He pointed at me, smiled and winked, and added, “You too.”
He was probably right. I don’t know what I had been thinking; a basement was hardly the most romantic or private place. We headed up the stairs to Ari’s room, where he grabbed a pillow and kissed me on the forehead.
“You don’t have to sleep on the couch,” I pouted.
“Uh… yeah, I think I do. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I gave a small sigh, then said goodnight.
Despite my frustration, and cold toes, I managed to fall asleep. Right away I found myself running in the woods again, wet and cold, searching frantically for something. My muddy bare feet slipped on the rocky terrain. I had to stop several times to keep from falling. The rain was relentless and I again heard screams in the distance. I shot up in bed with a start, breathless, my heart pounding and my palms sweaty. The clock read only four a.m., but I knew there was no way sleep would find me again.
Quietly, I made my way down the hall and took a cold shower, trying to wash the fear away and hide it before anyone could detect my uneasiness. Something different had emerged in the forest dream. Details had become much clearer and seemed much more real, but I still had no idea what I was doing out there in the woods and for what I was so frantically searching. I was scared to death of how the dream would end, and had no clue about how to control that end.
I had been firmly avoiding the fact that I was being hunted. I resisted facing reality while my actual life was so happy, but I knew I had been dealt a couple of really bad cards – the passing of my mother, the loss of my best friend, and the fact that I felt solely responsible for my grandfather’s death – and I had never believed I could be as content as I was. Ari made me happy; I just wanted to revel in that happiness a little while longer. I had considered Julia’s warning seriously, but then had relegated it to an obscure part of my mind. Eventually it was nothing more than a remote possibility.
I took my time getting ready for the day, scrubbing my face, choosing the right clothes. I headed down to the dark shadowy kitchen; I was still the only one up and desperately needed to keep my mind occupied. I made a pot of coffee and started on the paper. I got through The Chicago Tribune and half way through The New York Times before anyone else woke up.
Aggie and I made a breakfast large enough to feed an army. She talked happily all Christmas morning and had fun teaching me some of her favorite holiday recipes. Ari popped his head in through the doorway and saw me sitting at the island, frosting cinnamon rolls. He gave me an award-winning smile, then came in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Merry Christmas, Baby.”
Aggie smiled, “Merry Christmas to you, too, honey; you’re so sweet.”
He smiled playfully at her, “I didn’t mean you, Mom, but Merry Christmas to you, too.” I had frosting on my fingers and to my surprise, Ari popped one of my fingers in his mouth and sucked the white, sugary topping off, licking his lips. Ari then grabbed a roll, and headed to the shower.
My cheeks were red hot when I looked up at Aggie.
She giggled at me and batted her eyes.
“What’s going on with him on the couch, Ava; is everything all right?”
I smiled at her.
“If you don’t tell me, he will,” she said and returned my smile, putting a wicked twist on it.
“Not if I tell him not to,” I said, and she didn’t like that response at all.
She hit me playfully with her dishtowel. “You’re no fun, Ava. You never give anything away.”
In the living room, I found Andy and told him about my most recent dream, trying to be as nonchalant about it as possible. He told me that he had friends back in Greece who were trying to track the Kakos, but no one had been successful yet. Panic began to rise in my chest as the “remote possibility” moved in a little closer.
“What if they aren’t after me? What if they’re after one of you guys? I mean, who was that screaming in my dream?” The idea that the Kakos would hurt someone in Ari’s family made me stick to my stomach; I would rather be the target than to have anyone in my new “family” hurt.
Andy could see I was starting to freak out.
“Don’t worry about it, Ava. Your father believed in you and so do I.”
“Believed in me to do what? Kill people? I don’t want to do that!”
Andy looked at me from the corner of his eye and then pointedly scanned the rest of the room. His look said that I had not chosen a good time for this discussion.
Ari came in shortly after and his presence alone calmed my nerves. He sat right next to me on the couc
h and held my hand tightly in his. He brought my fingers up to his mouth and kissed each one slowly, then filled my palm with little kisses. The rest of his family gathered in around us and around the tree, talking excitedly.
Thais played Santa and passed out presents. There were so many wrapped boxes that Aggie’s living room tree was completely hidden. She had holiday music on in the background and looked at the happy faces with delight as everyone began to open gifts. Lauren squealed with glee each time she opened a different box and Andy thanked me for helping him get started on his collection again. Rory plunked a box on my lap with a sheepish smile, a very rare look for him. I tossed a small box at him and we opened our gifts from each other at the same time. His eyes lit up when he saw the Tiffany’s watch he had been drooling over a couple of weeks ago and then threw his head back and laughed. I didn’t get the joke until I opened my gift and saw that he had gotten me the running shoes I had wanted for myself when he and I were shopping.
Even Julia had gotten me a gift, which made me feel bad because I had not gotten her anything. When I opened the box, I found an incredibly tiny, barely there string bikini. I snapped the box shut; but not before Ari snuck a peek.
“Ah, Julia, I knew you were good for something,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist.
I elbowed him in the ribs, hard, and then turned to Julia. “You shouldn’t have, really,” I said, and she smiled, completely unaware of the little note of sarcasm attached to my words.
Luckily for me, Ari had been on top of things and handed her a box, saying, “This is from Ava and me.” I looked at him and he winked. I watched as she opened the gift with curiosity and Ari whispered in my ear, “Don’t be mad, please.”
I didn’t have time to respond to him. I was too taken aback by Julia’s reaction. She swallowed hard and tears poured down her face. She got up, hugged me first, and then hesitated, not sure if it was okay to hug Ari or not. He stood up, grabbed her hard, and held her tight as she cried. The whole room, myself included, waited for an explanation.
She passed around the box and Ari whispered in my ear, “Airline tickets to England. She never got to pay her respects to her parents.”
I was almost speechless. “Ari that’s…”
“Are you angry?”
“No, of course not … I was going to say, that’s so kind of you.”
He handed me a small box and I found the little box I had wrapped Ari’s tickets in and handed it to him. I took the Christmas paper from my present and then popped the top off. Inside I found concert tickets and was instantly confused, thinking these were the tickets I had gotten him. I checked the wrapping to be sure I had not opened the wrong gift by mistake. Ari opened up his box and held up two more tickets to the same show. All I could do was laugh. He was the person who had bought the other two tickets from the guy in the restaurant.
Rory had seen what had happened and was ecstatic, “Sweet, looks like I’m spending New Year’s Eve with you guys!”
Ari rolled his eyes at Rory then turned his attention back to me.
“Good thing that’s not the only thing I got for you,” he said and reached in his pocket to pull out a delicate looking silver ring. He handed it to me. Inscribed all around it, over and over again, was Ava, Je t’aime, Ava, Je t’aime, Ava, I love you.
I gasped, “Ari, it’s beautiful.”
He pulled me to him and whispered in my ear, “Ava, I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered back. “Je t’aime aussi.” We kissed sweetly, not caring that we now held the attention of the entire room.
The rest of the day passed at a nice slow pace. I helped Lauren carry all of her gifts to her room and get them put away. I took my gift from Julia and shoved the box with the bikini in it deep into the recesses of Ari’s closet.
“Ahhemm,” Ari cleared his throat, startling me. “What do you think you are doing with that?” He was leaning in the doorway to his room with his arms crossed causally over his chest.
I blushed, “hiding it.”
“You are hiding clothes in a closet?” He smiled playfully at me and I giggled.
“Ari I know clothes and nothing about the black scrap of material in that box classifies it as clothing!” Ari sauntered towards me and wrapped an arm around the small of my back. He took his other hand, twirled a tendril of my hair around his finger and kissed it.
“Do you know what I love about you, Ava?” I blinked and Ari continued. “I love your smile, and your laugh. I love that you are so wickedly smart and funny. I love this,” he said pointing to the blush on my cheeks. “I love you, all of you and I have wanted to tell you that for a really long time now.”
I could feel my cheeks turning more and more red. Ari kissed them and smiled.
I looked up at him from under my lashes. “I love you more.”
He slowly shook his head. “Impossible.”