A Bad Dream But a Good Reality

When Lucy started waking up from her nap, she felt a heaviness over her stomach. She was lying on her back, with her arms above her on the pillow, which is how she usually woke up. Feeling confused, she slowly blinked her eyes open only to find Max next to her with his arm draped across her abdomen. As she started to move so she could get from under his hold without waking him up, he started making noises as if he was talking in his sleep.

She had to stop herself from laughing and then froze as he hugged her closer to him. She took a moment to admire the face near her own. "He has such long lashes," she thought. "I'm jealous. No amount of mascara is going to get me those." Then she realized what she was doing and thought, "Wait a minute! What's he doing in bed with me?"

Lucy wriggled herself out of the confinement of his arm and sat up. Max seemed to rouse a little but then only turned over to his other side, facing away from her. She started getting annoyed and shook him a bit so that he started to wake up.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What's the matter?," he asked as if it was the most natural thing in the world to wake up next to Lucy.

"What's the matter?," Lucy questioned back incredulously. "What are you doing in the bed when you were supposed to sleep on the couch?" She inched away from him bit by bit, moving the covers so that they were covering her breasts. She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, but no bra.

Max grinned sheepishly, "Sorry. I was really tired after the hot shower, and I think a little dehydrated. I must have not realized what I was doing."

"Oh and I'm just supposed to believe that?," Lucy huffed.

Max started getting off the bed and then faced her. He too was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. She was so used to seeing him in suits that it was still taking her awhile to get used to him in more casual clothes.

"Come on. I'm not a total jerk. I swear, I really didn't mean to," he assured with one hand moving to rest over his heart.

He looked so cute that Lucy's heart couldn't be mad any longer. She said, "Okay. I'll believe you. This time. Just don't make a habit of it." She pointed her index finger at him and then couldn't help but smile.

Max grinned again, then reached over to the bottled water that was one of two by the bedside table. He drank all of it in one go.

"I guess you really were dehydrated," Lucy laughed.

"I guess so," he chuckled. Then he checked the time and saw it was around 9:30am, so he suggested that they get dressed and head out to have breakfast before taking in some sights. They planned to spend a couple days doing "touristy" things and then he would have his meetings. Then they would do more sight-seeing across the country as his investigation continued.

"Sounds good," Lucy nodded. "Do you want to get ready first since it will probably take me longer?"

Max agreed and went to his suitcase to get some clothes. "We can unpack when we get back," he suggested and Lucy thought that was a good idea.

After they got ready and headed out the door, Lucy said, "I'm starved."

"Do you want to just eat at the restaurant in the hotel then so it's faster?," Max asked, leading them to the elevators.

"No way," Lucy exclaimed. "I didn't come all the way here just to eat at a hotel restaurant, no matter how fancy it is. I want real, authentic food."

Looking at something on his phone and smiling, he replied, "Okay. Based on my research, there seems to be a highly reviewed little restaurant about three blocks from here. Do you mind walking?"

"That's why I have my walking shoes on, hun," Lucy beamed, raising one foot and pointing to it. It was a good thing there was no one else in the elevator, she thought.

Her white sneakers that she wore to work were the perfect walking shoes and she owned four pairs of them! She only brought two with her though.

Max smiled, "Great!" Lucy was wearing a peach tank-top that draped over her hips and olive gray shorts. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and he thought she looked adorable.

It was a mutual admiration society as Lucy thought Max looked pretty good too. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a band's name on it and blue jeans. Nothing extraordinary about the clothes themselves, but the way they formed to his physique really showed off how fit he was. Black and white sneakers set off the look nicely.

"I'm here to see Greece, not ogle Max," Lucy thought to herself, trying to calm her heartbeats that seemed to be getting louder by the second.

When the elevator doors opened, Max took Lucy's hand and said, "Let's go!"

Her first instinct was to let go but then she remembered their ruse and stopped herself. As soon as they got outside, though, she forgot they were holding hands as she started looking around at all the buildings they were passing by. There was a cute little bakery about a block away that they passed and Lucy did a double take that forced them to stop.

"Oh my God, those look so good," she practically drooled, pointing to the breads and sweets on display at the window.

Max pulled her arm, "We can always come back after breakfast if you're still hungry." Lucy let herself be dragged away as her stomach growled.

They made it to the restaurant and Lucy couldn't help but put the hand that wasn't holding on to his around his arm as she exclaimed, "Oh my God, that is the cutest restaurant I have ever seen."

The restaurant was on a corner and had two stories, with cream-colored awning over the door that matched the yellow of the walls. The windows were outlined in a pretty aqua blue that somehow also matched the other colors. The flag of Greece was flying proudly on the second floor as greenery draped over the railing prettily onto the awning.

"Are you going to say 'Oh my God,' to everything on this trip?," Max teased.

"I can't help it," Lucy play-pouted. Then she smiled, "Quick, let's go in and get seats."

Lucy could see that there were tables and chairs both on the second floor that had an open area to the outside and in front of the restaurant. Unfortunately, the second floor was full so they were seated in front of the restaurant.

While looking over the menu, they realized that both of them were adventurous eaters so they decided to split three entrees. Lucy didn't realize that there were several side dishes that came free of charge with the meal and so their table ended up being full of food.

"I don't know how we can eat all of this," she said, looking at Max in awe.

"It's alright," he responded, "Eat what you can." They ended up nearly finishing everything.

"I guess I was hungrier than I thought," Lucy laughed as the bill arrived.

Max laughed too, taking the bill, "I'm right there with you. Guess we'll have to walk some of this off at the museum." They had decided that their first visit would be to the Acropolis Museum, so they got a taxi to take them there.

After an hour of walking around the museum, marveling at all the ancient statues, bas reliefs, and a miniature recreation of the city, Lucy said she needed to take a break. They found some seats and were delighted when they realized there was a pianist playing at a piano nearby.

"I thought you were wearing your 'walking shoes,'" Max teased.

Lucy play-shoved him as she said, "Maybe it's just all the excitement wearing me out. This is all just so cool. I must have taken a hundred pictures already."

"At least," Max continued teasing.

"I can't help it. I love seeing all this stuff in person," she shrugged.

Max patted her thigh, "I know. I'm just joking around. It is all pretty cool, I agree. I've been here before, but it's different being here with you." He looked away before Lucy could notice his cheeks turning read.

Lucy bumped his arm with hers, "It's cool being here with you too." Then she cleared her throat, opened the map of the museum and tried to change the subject with, "So where should we go next?"

Max took the map from her and "hmm'd" before he pointed to a particular exhibit and answered, "How about here?"

She looked at where he pointed and replied, "Sounds great. Give me just a few more minutes."

After Lucy felt rested, they went back to touring the museum. Lucy wanted to see every single thing there but the museum was just too big. A couple hours of walking and standing later, she leaned against Max and asked in a sad voice, "Why am I getting tired?"

Max put his arm around her and said, "Because we took a long flight to get here and you're still getting used to the time difference."

"Oh," she said, straightening back up. "That makes sense." Then she whined, "But I want to keep going."

"We can come back," Max offered, "It's no big deal. We can do whatever we want. No itinerary, remember?"

Lucy smiled, "True. Okay. Then can we go back to the hotel and rest a little before eating lunch?"

"Whatever your little heart desires," Max bowed as if he was an 18th century prince bowing to his princess. Lucy laughed at his antics.

When they got back to their room, Lucy got a call on her cell phone. "I wonder who this is?," she said, looking at the strange phone number. It had a Los Angeles area code, but it didn't belong to anyone she knew. Feeling something gnawing at the pit of her stomach, she felt uneasy, so she was going to ignore it. Then she told herself that she had blocked Kyle's number so she shouldn't be afraid to answer her own phone.

As soon as she said, "Hello," the person on the other end started yelling.

"Where the hell are you in the middle of the night? I called the hospital and they said you aren't there that's for sure!" It was Kyle.

"Did you change your number just because I blocked you?," Lucy questioned, feeling scared.

"That's not important," Kyle retorted. "Are you out with that asshole I saw you with that day in front of your place?"

Lucy started getting mad but didn't want to antagonize him so she used an even tone to reply, "It doesn't matter. We've broken up and you should move on, Kyle. Just let it go."

"It's not over until we both agree, Lucy. And I will never agree," he said in a calmer voice. "Tell me where you are, and I'll come get you."

"I'm not going to do that," Lucy answered. "Please don't call again." She hung up the phone and immediately blocked the number.

Max had been standing by her with a look of concern the whole time. When she hung up, he finally breathed out and asked, "Are you alright?"

Lucy shook her head, trying to hold back the tears. Max hugged her and then led her to the couch. "Here, sit down. I'll get you some water."

After drinking some of the water, Lucy said, "I'm not going to let him get to me and ruin my vacation."

"Good for you," Max said, patting her knee. "Why don't you go into the bedroom and rest. I'll come get you in an hour or so."

"Okay," Lucy said, standing up. As she walked away, she called out behind her, "Don't try sneaking into here now, you hear?" She laughed as she entered the bedroom.

Max shook his head in amusement and leaned back on the couch. Then he got up to retrieve his laptop bag so that he could do some work while Lucy slept.

About half an hour later, he heard whimpering coming from the bedroom. He listened closely and heard mumbling. Thinking that perhaps Lucy was having a nightmare, he walked toward the bedroom. Once inside, he could tell that she was indeed having a nightmare.

He sat at the edge of the bed next to her and gently shook her shoulder with one hand as he said, "Lucy, wake up. I think you're having a nightmare."

Lucy opened her eyes, which were under brows knitted in sadness, and realized what was happening. Sitting up, she felt small tears at the sides of her eyes, so she wiped them gently so as not to mess up her make up. "I think I was having a bad dream," she told him.

"It sounded like it," he nodded. "You were whimpering so sadly."

Hearing that, the floodgates opened, and Lucy started crying. He drew her into his arms and held her as she cried. "It's okay. Let it out," he said. And she did.

After several moments, she finally pulled away and tried to smile as she wiped the bottoms of her eyes. Max reached over to the tissue box on the bedside table and gave her a couple. Lucy blew her nose with one and wiped the outline of her eyes with the other.

"I must look a mess," she said embarrassed.

"You look beautiful," he corrected her.

That made her look up at him and their eyes locked. Max started biting his lower lip to keep himself from kissing her, but she was looking at him as if she wanted him to do so.

In fact, Lucy did want to kiss him in that moment, but she felt hesitant at the same time. She wasn't sure if it was still too soon, but after that call, she realized she definitely did not have any feelings left for Kyle. She reached her hand up and placed it on his cheek.

"Thank you" was all she said but that was enough invitation for Max. He put his own hand on her opposite cheek, leaned in, and kissed her.