With Every Breath I Take

Chapter Seven: Cupids Singing Cher

I poured some batter into the waffle maker and closed the lid. I was slicing some bananas to go with the waffles when Valentina, my niece who was also referred to as Teeny, rushed into the kitchen.

"Theía, are you almost finished?" she asked, breathing heavily. "I need your help learning these dance moves."

I looked up and chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yeah, I just need five more minutes. What dance?"

"The Wednesday Addams dance. I'm the only one in my class who doesn't know it."

"Of course, Teeny. I promise we can practice after breakfast."

"Can we also do my hair in braids?" she pleaded, holding her hands in a prayer position.

"Yes, of course," I agreed. "That would look beautiful."

Recently, I noticed my niece was missing a motherly figure. Her biological mother left the country, signing over her parental rights, when Teeny was only six months old. My brother, Andreas, tried his best to be a full-time dad but —as an LAPD cop— he sometimes struggled. I stepped in whenever I could and spent a lot of my free time with Teeny.

"Theía, the waffles are smoking," Teeny warned.

"Oh, shoot," I grunted, as I rushed to open the waffle machine. But, in my hurry I touched the warm plate and burned my finger. "Ouch," I groaned, pulling my hand away. And I started to wave my hand in the air, bouncing up and down—for no apparent reason.

"Are you okay, theía?" Teeny asked me, worriedly.

"Fine, sweetheart. I just burned my finger."

"Oh, well, you should spray some Windex on it."

I looked back at her, trying to hold my laughter. "What?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "That's what Grandpa Yiannis says." Then, she turned and walked back into the living room.

Oh boy! It looked like I had to have a conversation with my dad about quoting movies to a naive six year old.

After spraying some after-burn on my finger, I tried to salvage as much of the waffle as I could and poured some more of the batter into the machine. When I had everything ready, I arranged our breakfast on the kitchen counter. I turned to call for Teeny when the doorbell rang. I watched her dash toward the door, and I quickly hurried after her.

"Teeny, wait for me," I breathed.

"Okay, theía. But, what if it's my dad?" she asked, excitedly.

"No sweetheart, your dad still has to work for a few more hours." I patted her shoulder and reached for the door.

Once I had the door open, I froze and stared open-mouthed at the people standing by my doorway.

Was I being pranked?

In front of me stood five strangers, and all of them were dressed as Cupid. One of them was holding a guitar.

What was this?

The lady in the center smiled at me. "Are you Thalia?" she asked.

"Uhhhh," I cleared my throat and nodded.

Her smile got bigger and she signaled to the rest of the group. Then, they all started to sing 'If I Could Turn Back Time' by Cher.

Teeny tapped my arm and I looked down at her. "Theía, why do you have a Valentine gram in September?" she whispered.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to stare at the group of singing Cupids. When they finished the song, the same lady that spoke earlier cleared her throat. "Theo says he's so sorry," she said. And then, they all turned and left.

"Well, that was interesting. What were they singing?" Teeny asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Geez Teeny, that was Cher. Theo sent me Cupids singing Cher."

"Huh," she grunted. "Anthony only gives me stickers."

I looked down at her. "What? Who's Anthony?"

"My boyfriend," she groaned. "Geez theía, he's been my boyfriend for three weeks."

"Hold on," I said, as I held up my hand. "Does your dad know you have a boyfriend?"

She placed her hands on her hips and furrowed her brows at me. "No, are you gonna snitch?"

"Come on, Teeny." I placed my hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the kitchen bar. "Let's have some breakfast while I teach you how to talk to adults."

And, we sat at the kitchen bar, eating waffles while I talked to Teeny about boyfriends and respecting adults.

The following morning, I was getting ready for my beginner class when Theo and Liam walked into the studio. They approached me and smiled.

"Hi Thalia," Theo greeted.

"Thalia, how's it going? I'm really excited about this class," Liam added.

I looked back and forth at the two of them, confused. "What? Hold on, did you guys sign up for my class?"

They both nodded, eagerly.

"Yeah, I've been wanting to try it out and when Theo called me saying he'd join me, we signed up," Liam explained.

I looked at Theo, narrowing my eyes. "Of course, he did," I mumbled. "Did you boys bring yoga mats? If not, the gym has some. You should go grab them."

Again, they nodded and walked out, looking for yoga mats.

Ten minutes later, class had started and I was guiding my students through various poses. I decided to push Theo a little further than his comfort, punishing him just a bit.

"That's a good downward-facing dog pose, Theo. Try to straighten your legs a little more," I corrected him.

I watched as his legs trembled from the excursion and gave a little snicker.

After another forty minutes, I ended the class with a short meditation session. I thanked the class for their hard work and dismissed them. I was disconnecting my phone from my portable speaker when it rang with an incoming call.

"Hey Athena," I answered. "How's it going?"

"Hi Thalia," she greeted back. "I'm good. Are you busy?"

"I just wrapped up my morning class. I have another one starting in fifteen minutes. Why?"

"Oh, it's not a big deal. I wanted to invite you to a little get-together I'm having on Saturday."

"A get-together?" I asked. "Is it a special occasion?"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. Lottie is visiting from New York, so I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and host a little pool party."

"Alex's sister is visiting? That's great, Athena. I haven't seen her in months."

"I know," she replied, excitedly. "It's going to be really fun."

"Okay Athena, you've convinced me. I'll be there."

"Yay, I'll see you then. I'll let you go. Have fun with your class."

"Thanks, see you then." I disconnected the call, and turned to set everything up for my next class when I noticed Theo and Liam standing behind me.

"Is Lottie visiting LA?" Liam asked, surprised.

I nodded. "Yeah, Athena just invited me to a get-together this weekend."

He smiled and pulled out his phone, texting someone.

Theo stared at me with a sparkle in his eyes.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Class is dismissed," I stated.

He winked at me and walked out of the studio. Liam followed behind him, continuing to text on his phone.

I shook my head and continued the preparations for my next class.