late in the afternoon. The light of day dropped
me from the clouds so I was deliberately avoiding Kate, as I was
not sure where things stood with Christopher. Therefore, I felt it
would be wiser to withhold any pompous statements about him.
I made coffee and turned on my laptop to enter
the Brantel web site. I used my password to login and clicked on
the STAFF link. I scrolled down the page with the names and e-mails
of the university staff but I was not able to locate Christopher’s.
I wrote his name in the SEARCH box and clicked on the START
indication. To my amazement the phrase UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS flashed
in front of my eyes. I froze.
I did not know I needed more authorization than
my password. It had never happened before. I wished I had asked him
the name of the university he used to work in Canada. I made some
more fruitless efforts to search Canadian universities staff, until
I finally gave up.
4.
WEDDING RECEPTION
Christopher was on
time for the wedding. I did not know if being punctual was another
one of his assets, or whether he was just trying to keep up with my
oddities, but he had never stood me up.
Checking from the living room window, I saw him
waiting for me standing next to his car, with his back against the
passenger door. This had been another oddity of mine. Trying to
avoid Kate’s and Tony’s inquisitive looks and teasing comments, I
had asked him to wait for me outside instead of coming in.
‘He’s here!’ Kate shouted from her room.
Next moment, she was
standing next to me, staring at him too. ‘Look at
him!’ she whispered, admiration unconcealed in her voice. ‘He could
be posing for a fashion magazine.’
‘ I know.’ I smiled as I kept staring
at him. The loose, off-white linen suit matched the color of his
skin and the light blue shirt made his eyes look
brighter.
I looked at her anxiously, waiting for a remark
about my appearance.
‘Well?’
She nodded approvingly. ‘You look astounding.
Hey, I want all the details tonight!’ she said smiling, as she
walked me to the door.
I took a deep breath before crossing the
doorstep. Christopher was holding the passenger door open for me as
usual.
‘You look fabulous, Emma. I’m starting to think
you deserve much more than a wedding reception tonight.’ he said,
grinning his approval of my appearance.
‘Thanks. You look very handsome too.’ I said,
unable to take my eyes off him.
I was grateful to Kate for helping me overcome
the total hysteria about finding the suitable dress for that night.
On Friday morning she had insisted on a shopping trip to Athens for
this purpose, to find the perfect dress for the wedding.
Eventually, I’d chosen a light green, strapped dress that revealed
the most of my back down to my waist. What had struck me about that
dress, were the small Swarofski beads that decorated the delicate
straps.
‘Definitely this!’ Kate had agreed. ‘It totally
accentuates your curves.’ She had decided not to come to the
wedding but spend the night with her sweetheart instead. She tried
to arrange another romantic dinner, but this time Tony had insisted
on ordering food from a nearby tavern.
We arrived at church soon enough to
see the nervous groom standing in front of the entrance, holding
clumsily a bunch of white orchids. He was among his friends who
kept teasing him that the bride would keep him waiting, indicating
the gaining of the upper hand in their marriage, a typical joke at
Greek weddings. But this did not happen. Tina was the kind of girl
who would rather rush an hour earlier to marry her sweetheart than
even think of torturing him by making him wait.
Inside the church, we met Rose and Don, my
godfather and professor at Brantel, who had flown here especially
for the occasion. He and the groom’s parents had been good friends
for many years. I was really glad to see him and I introduced him
to Christopher right away. I noticed Don was rather cold towards
him, probably not approving of him as
me from the clouds so I was deliberately avoiding Kate, as I was
not sure where things stood with Christopher. Therefore, I felt it
would be wiser to withhold any pompous statements about him.
I made coffee and turned on my laptop to enter
the Brantel web site. I used my password to login and clicked on
the STAFF link. I scrolled down the page with the names and e-mails
of the university staff but I was not able to locate Christopher’s.
I wrote his name in the SEARCH box and clicked on the START
indication. To my amazement the phrase UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS flashed
in front of my eyes. I froze.
I did not know I needed more authorization than
my password. It had never happened before. I wished I had asked him
the name of the university he used to work in Canada. I made some
more fruitless efforts to search Canadian universities staff, until
I finally gave up.
4.
WEDDING RECEPTION
Christopher was on
time for the wedding. I did not know if being punctual was another
one of his assets, or whether he was just trying to keep up with my
oddities, but he had never stood me up.
Checking from the living room window, I saw him
waiting for me standing next to his car, with his back against the
passenger door. This had been another oddity of mine. Trying to
avoid Kate’s and Tony’s inquisitive looks and teasing comments, I
had asked him to wait for me outside instead of coming in.
‘He’s here!’ Kate shouted from her room.
Next moment, she was
standing next to me, staring at him too. ‘Look at
him!’ she whispered, admiration unconcealed in her voice. ‘He could
be posing for a fashion magazine.’
‘ I know.’ I smiled as I kept staring
at him. The loose, off-white linen suit matched the color of his
skin and the light blue shirt made his eyes look
brighter.
I looked at her anxiously, waiting for a remark
about my appearance.
‘Well?’
She nodded approvingly. ‘You look astounding.
Hey, I want all the details tonight!’ she said smiling, as she
walked me to the door.
I took a deep breath before crossing the
doorstep. Christopher was holding the passenger door open for me as
usual.
‘You look fabulous, Emma. I’m starting to think
you deserve much more than a wedding reception tonight.’ he said,
grinning his approval of my appearance.
‘Thanks. You look very handsome too.’ I said,
unable to take my eyes off him.
I was grateful to Kate for helping me overcome
the total hysteria about finding the suitable dress for that night.
On Friday morning she had insisted on a shopping trip to Athens for
this purpose, to find the perfect dress for the wedding.
Eventually, I’d chosen a light green, strapped dress that revealed
the most of my back down to my waist. What had struck me about that
dress, were the small Swarofski beads that decorated the delicate
straps.
‘Definitely this!’ Kate had agreed. ‘It totally
accentuates your curves.’ She had decided not to come to the
wedding but spend the night with her sweetheart instead. She tried
to arrange another romantic dinner, but this time Tony had insisted
on ordering food from a nearby tavern.
We arrived at church soon enough to
see the nervous groom standing in front of the entrance, holding
clumsily a bunch of white orchids. He was among his friends who
kept teasing him that the bride would keep him waiting, indicating
the gaining of the upper hand in their marriage, a typical joke at
Greek weddings. But this did not happen. Tina was the kind of girl
who would rather rush an hour earlier to marry her sweetheart than
even think of torturing him by making him wait.
Inside the church, we met Rose and Don, my
godfather and professor at Brantel, who had flown here especially
for the occasion. He and the groom’s parents had been good friends
for many years. I was really glad to see him and I introduced him
to Christopher right away. I noticed Don was rather cold towards
him, probably not approving of him as
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