Till the End of Time

Chapter Eight: YiaYia's Recipe

I'd been sulking and I was sick of it.

It had been almost twelve hours since Nico dropped me off at our parents' house. My mom and dad totally freaked out when I arrived after two o'clock in the morning, but I just told them that I argued with Alex and would explain things later.

Mom let me into the guest house where a lot of my stuff remained. After I moved out, she didn't want to make too many changes.

"You did such a nice job decorating the place, Athena. I can just keep it as is and use it for guests," she'd said.

Well, it looked like I was going to be that guest for the foreseeable future.

I tried to get some sleep when I first arrived, but I tossed and turned most of the night. I was wide awake a few hours later. I tried cleaning the house, jotting down content ideas, replying to clients, but mostly I just stared into space.

Alex and I never really fought before Virginia moved back to LA. Sure we argued like most couples, but it was always about silly mundane things.

Alex, you left the toilet seat up again and I fell in the freaking toilet!
Athena, you forgot to put gas in your car. I told you to be more careful. What if you got stranded on the street?
Alex, don't tell me you forgot my nephew's birthday. I reminded you two days ago. Hurry up and go get ready!

No, we never had any serious fights. Until what I referred to as the Palm Springs incident, since I'd say calling your fiancée a thief was pretty serious.

The phone calls and text messages started coming late in the morning. I hadn't answered any of them, but I couldn't stop wondering why he didn't try to contact me sooner. Did he not notice I was gone until then? How come? Did he stay out all night? Where was he? Was he with Virginia?

Fuck! I had to stop. I couldn't let the jealousy get to me. If Alex preferred her over me, then good riddance. Sayonara buddy!

My phone rang in my back pocket, startling me. "Hi mama," I answered.

"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm doing okay mama bear. I'm sorry I showed up in the middle of the night."

"Don't you dare apologize for that," she scolded. "This is your home Athena and you're free to come and go as you please."

"Okay mama, thanks."

"Now, why don't you come to the main house? I think it's time for YiaYia's recipe."

"Mama, I'm not really in the mood for halva," I admitted.

"No, I wasn't talking about halva."

"Oh my God, are you making dolmades?"

"You bet," she teased.

"Okay, I'm coming," I replied. I hung up the phone and rushed out to the main house.

YiaYia's recipe to the rescue.

Mama and I were wrapping the dolmades when dad walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. He pulled out the bar stool and took a seat across from me.

"Athena, girl, I gave you some time but your time is up. Tell me what happened with Alex," he demanded.

"It's a long story, dad."

"Well, lucky for you it's Saturday and I have all the time in the world."

"Ugh, fine," I huffed. And proceeded to tell my mom and dad the whole sordid story.

"Alex didn't believe you when you told him you didn't take the watch?" mom asked, subdued.

"No mama," I confirmed. "He claimed he couldn't believe I'd stoop so low."