Till the End of Time

Chapter Two: Halva Time

The morning after the gala, Antique's music blasted through my speakerphone as I stirred halva on the stovetop. It was my YiaYia's recipe, and on days I was feeling down I had a major sweet tooth. When I woke up earlier, I was definitely craving some halva.

I hadn't seen Alex since our fight at night and didn't go looking for him. I'm sure he had slept in one of the guest rooms, but I wasn't about to ask.

My phone rang as I poured the milk with sugar into the semolina mixture. I picked up the phone and continued to stir. "Hi mom, how's it going?" I answered.

"Hey sweetie, I'm doing good but I miss you. I haven't seen you all week and need my Athena fix."

I laughed at her theatrics. My parents were not used to not having me around. I had been living in the guest house they had built in their backyard for the past five years. It was where my YiaYia and Pappous lived when they were alive, and it was home to me. YiaYia and Pappous raised me, and losing them was the worst thing I've ever had to experience. I still had moments when I would pick up the phone wanting to call my YiaYia to tell her something or check up on her, and those moments broke my heart every time.

"Sure go ahead and laugh Athena girl, but you just wait and see when you have kids and they forget about you when they're all grown up," mom replied.

"Mama bear, I could never forget about you," I cajoled. "I came over for dinner on Tuesday night."

"Yes, but today is Sunday. Surely you and Alex can stop by for lunch."

"I don't know mama, Alex might have plans. It's his only day off."

"Alex doesn't have any plans," he rumbled from behind me.

I turned around, startled. Some time during my phone conversation, Alex had snuck up on me. He was wearing his workout clothes and had sweat running down his temples. His dark blonde hair was tousled like he ran his hands through it. I stared at the tight fit of his t-shirt and the muscles peeking through. Oh, Alex played dirty. Well whatever, I wasn't going to bite.

Alex smirked at me. "I said I don't have any plans. Is that Dianne?"

"Yes, my mom wanted to see if we'd join them for lunch."

He grabbed the phone from me and began speaking. "Hi Dianne, how's it going?..Yes, we'd love to stop by...Okay sounds good, see you soon."

After accepting my mother's invitation without any input from me, he hung up and put my phone back on the counter. Then, he closed in on me, but I turned around and continued to stir the halva.

His arms wrapped around my waist as he whispered, "I don't like it when you're sad."

"What?"

"You're making halva. It's only halva time when you're sad."

I harrumphed and continued to stir. As I lowered the heat to finish up with my breakfast, Alex began kissing and nibbling my neck.

"Baby, please. I gave you space last night, but I hate it when we fight." His hands trailed to my sides as he pushed his hard body closer to my back. He tightened his hands on my hips and pressed his erection into me.

"Alex, don't!" I pushed him away and walked down the counter to grab a bowl.

Alex stalked toward me and gave me an aggravated look. "Athena, this is not like you. You've never acted out of jealousy. This is not us. We're solid."

"That's just it Alex, you've never before given me a reason to feel this way. I used to think we were solid too, but I don't understand why it's okay to completely neglect me for another woman."