Chapter Twenty-nine
Sam enjoyed watching Stasia slip back into being a young girl having fun. Here at the sandy beach full of sun-loversand people enjoying life, she bloomed and seemed to forget her troubles. He purposely chose a spot towards the end of a sandy slope where they had privacy.
On their way, he’d stopped at a shop and rented some high-class snorkeling gear for the day. He wanted to give the unhappy girl an experience of doing something he loved to do whenever he got the chance. Taking her out into the silky turquoise water in the small, enclosed bay would be a good memory of her time here. Something she might think of when she looked back.
There were millions of tiny fish circling them, and even a few larger species who seemed to accept they weren’t a danger. Stasia excitedly pointed out every underwater feature as they swam past, and he got a kick out of giving her the special memory.
After spending an hour or so in the water, they soaked up the sun, drying off. Sam handed her his expensive, top-of-the-line phone and watched her tune in music onYouTubewhile he opened his iPad and did some work.
After they had their fill of the extreme heat, he led her to the beach’s only restaurant, which wasreally justa large, colorful hut-styled building with a huge awning surrounding it and many covered tables. There were a lot of people there, which made Stasia decide to wear her glasses and her hat.
It was while they were ordering lamb souvlaki lunches that her name rang out from a fat man on his way past. “Stasia? Is this you?”
Sam stood to block her and said in a friendly way, “No, my sister’s name is Maisie. You must have mistaken her for another girl.”
The idiot, too stupid to sense danger, stepped around Sam and pointed. His Russian accent drew interest. “It’s Stasia. One of the girls I met at the hotel—”
“It isn’t.” Sam seeing Stasia’s face pale, and a sickly expression appear, again drew the attention of the blustering fool. This time his tone was anything but friendly. His snapping out words should have been understood by even the densest jerk. That’s if they hadn’t imbibed so many beers, he could smell their breath from a foot away.
“Back off, man. We’re having lunch, and you’re embarrassing her.”
Finally, sensing the trouble he was in, fatso started to stumble away. A lack of intelligence stopped him. He pointed a finger as if he had one last comment to make.
The bastard didn’t know what hit him.
A while later, packing up their gear, Stasia said yet again, “you shouldn’t have made him walk like that, twisting his arm. I thought they’d call the police.”
“Chubby had it coming. And the rest of the customers agreed.”
“Yes. And the lunch was delicious.Truthfully, the whole day has been wonderful. Thank you, Sam.”