Penthesilea's Wish [Vol.2]

Chapter Twenty

By nine-fifteen in the evening it had only started getting dark and cooling down in Athens. The couple left the housing unit of the American School of Classical Studies and walked toward the front gate. Daniela had chosen a navy blue skirt and a white summer blouse to wear to the celebration. Her sandals showcased her freshly painted toenails, matching her fingernails and the shade of her lipstick. Her hair was pulled back studiously and tied, displaying a pair of jade green earrings which Nicasio tried to remember if he had ever seen before. Standing at the gate they found the same guard from the evening before, who, smiling as he gave a nod, opened the iron barrier with the push of a button.

The Gennadius Library complex was indeed directly across the street and its gate was also controlled by the same guard who waited until they had crossed over and were standing at its entryway. They had been instructed to simply wave back to him to make a clear passage into this complex, which since the 1920's, had housed as a private collection, the largest assortment in the world of texts and manuscripts relating to Hellenism and Greece since the Classical Period.

Turning back and signaling their entrance to the grounds, Nicasio could see the white marble steps leading up to the Doric-columned porch. It invited the red walls behind it of the Neoclassical Gennadius Library and reception hall. The couple could see other people arriving both behind them and already collecting in front of the grand doors of the facility. As they passed through the foyer into the central reading room, they were asked to identify themselves on a list. They were then given plastic-covered name tags, with titles and their home institution typed neatly on them. Nicasio's card identified him as European Studies Fellow from UC Berkeley and Daniela's card simply read, Art History Fellow, from the same institution. Nicasio could see a little trepidation in Daniela's face as he helped her pin the card securely onto the lapel of her white blouse.

For the evening he had put on a pair of dark suit trousers, a wrinkled, oversized white shirt, rolled at the sleeves, and for this occasion sported, while creased and travel-worn, a dark blue tie, left a bit loose at the neck. His fears of being overdressed were immediately allayed when he saw that nearly all the men were wearing proper pressed suits and meticulously ironed ties. He realized then that Theofilos' prophetic comments about the 'forgiving attire of archaeologists' may have not been simply a joke. Nevertheless, looking at Daniela and how appropriate she looked, as a radiant young scholar, he entered into the greater room confident that they were not totally out of their element.

The two, along with other guests, were directed into the newer, east wing of the facility, Cotsen Hall-a lecture auditorium and reception area. There, the couple found a large gathering of students and scholars, all attached to similar white cards, mingling and engaged in rather loud conversations. Suddenly the pair was flanked by Judy, the professor from BucknellUniversity, and her small contingent of archaeology graduate students. Stacie immediately caught his eye as she stepped out from between her professor and another student wearing a diaphanous, low-cut dress, featuring the type of prominent cleavage and shapely silhouette which seemed intended to bring the interests of males from the far corners of the world to her buxom physique.

"Hello Nicasio," she said, a little nervously in the presence of Daniela.

"Hi," he replied quickly, feeling suddenly foolish that he hadn't added more of a greeting to the entire group.

Daniela eyed Stacie's presentation quickly and looked over to Nicasio to see just where his gaze might be. His maturity prevented any such obvious entrapment and he managed to recover the situation quickly by simply looking intently into Judy's eyes.