Catseyes: That Kind of Woman The ship was suddenly a magnet for dancing dolphins. They were on either side of the decks, bursting out of the Aegean in graceful arcs, and keeping up with the ferry. The beautiful tourist, whom the barkeep had been eyeing from the corner of his eyes ( he knew better than to start out with tourists, a little chatting up aside), rose from her Greek coffee and went out on deck to watch the dolphins. The sky and sea rivaled each other in intensity. On the left, the snow-capped mountains in Turkey rolled jaggedly to meet the sea in varied shades of tawny. And on the right was the island of Kastellorizo the ship was approaching rapidly. The small island, jagged cliffs, the wild goats she could already see, the mini white chapel, and then the harbor opening up to view as the ship made it???s way around a rocky point. Ashling Bathory felt excitement in her heart that she barely managed to contain, but all Sarah Gardner saw was her friend's beautiful, alert face. Sarah stopped on the steel steps from the top deck to check Ashling against her background and took a photo with her phone. Ashling, who was as beautiful physically as she was spiritually and did not even realize how beautiful she was Sarah was convinced. The ship, one of the smaller kind, slowed as it aimed into the harbor and Ashling's stomach tightened in unbearable knots. She wanted to flee and loved every moment of it at the same time. "I'm so glad the locals are still coming out with their wheel barrels to pick up their stuff," Ashling turned laughing at her friend, "there really aren???t any cars, are there?" "It's unbelievably beautiful," Sarah said holding out her phone , "It exceeds my greatest expectations, Ashly. Has it changed much in fifteen years?" "No, thank God, not that I can see " Ashling laughed. The barkeep nudged the waiter. "Did you see that little dog that American blonde just took out of her bag" he asked in Greek. "I'm too busy at the moment looking at other things, so please don't distract me with trivialities," the waiter leered. "Her friend isn't too bad looking either," the barkeep wiped his counter. "If you like that type of freckled American red-head," the waiter scoffed and put his cigarette in the empty coffee cup, "I've always favored the blond, full figured ones myself." After what seemed like an intolerable wait, the two women finally walked out of the hull of the ferry and were rushed by wheel barrels maneuvered by men jostling and yelling in English if they wanted them to carry their luggage. Ashling looked about her at the motley crowd that always thronged the otherwise quiet esplanade whenever a ship came in. She searched the faces of the men surreptitiously. It was not the Greek faces she was reading. When she caught several pairs of eyes aimed at her, she lowered her lashes in a way that seemed attractive to the seers. "Recognize anyone from the old days?"Sarah asked. "No, and I don't particularly want to." Following the lucky man pushing their luggage, they reached their pension, the Alexandria Pension, after a short meander through the narrow cobbled streets . It was an old-fashioned house, shaded by canopy grape vines. Every room had it???s balcony with sumptuous views of the harbor and mountains. This was one of the reasons Ashling had picked it out on the net, along with the traditional furniture, plates on the wall, orange trees in the courtyard, and the smiling yeneka who was coming to meet them as she hastily wiped her hands on her apron. Nobody greets guests like the Greeks, Ashley thought. "Yes, your little dog! He is most welcome too!"the patroness petted the Toy Fox Terrier. "What is it's name" she asked stroking the little dog that had stood on its hind legs. Ashling knew this was a good sing because not all Greeks believed in dogs as pets. "Phoebe." "Oh, she has a Greek name!! She is very at home here then!" the woman laughed. Once they had settled in the room they were sharing, admired the view from the balcony, obligatorily tasted the pastries and orange juice the patroness--though neither gal ate or drank sweets --had offered them, the plan was to slip on their swimsuits, don flimsy rayon dresses over them and head out to Mandraki for a swim. The stroll to the swimming spot was a half hour walk thorough the village and scenic road along the coast. But they would not be in a big hurry and planned to stop often during the way. So they packed provisions, put their long, fine-looking hair under straw hats, and headed out into the winding streets and steps of the village with Phoebe leading the way. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and Ashling felt alive and vibrant. She inhaled the sea breeze. The gentle wind caressed her cheeks like silk. It flayed long wisps of her hair that had escaped from under her straw hat around her neck and shoulders, teasing. Her impassioned soul felt almost as much pleasure as ache. The silky little dress hugged and rippled around her. She felt an intoxicating sense of beauty in her being and surroundings. Sarah complimented her friend. She was taller and younger than Ash ling by a few years though that was a technicality since both women were pictures of health and good shape. Sarah wore a little more revealing dress than her friend, though the modest cut left little in doubt about Ashling???s figure. They both liked their dresses a few inches above the knee. Needless to say the gals, with the bouncing dog, made an impression walking through the village, though there was plenty of competition, there was something about these two that said they were creatures like no other. Many eyes and smiles followed them with frequent cries of "yassas!" from cafe and shop owners and beaming nods from other tourists. In the evening the friends strolled out to the esplanade and chose a little popular taverna slightly off the waterfront. In the midst of ordering octopus and retsina the waiter informed them that there was a big dance in the main square later on. Ashling ordered tea. "You're having some of the retsina with me? I thought you drank a little wine" Sarah objected. "I don???t feel like it just now," Ashling shrugged. Little did Sarah guess the intoxication surging through her friend???s veins. The last thing she needed was to enhance it or dull her alert senses in any way. Every non-Greek man that Ash laid her eyes on made her cheek flush, gratefully hidden by a little foundation. But she had to maintain her composure, appear non-challant, ironic, self-contained, and above all not with a querying look. She smiled to herself thinking about the comedy of it all. The musicians were already playing by the time they had finished their dinners. Though there were lights on the square, they were soft and full of romantic shadows, not like their American counterpart???s obsession with powerful floodlights. Ash was glad. "Come on," she nudged Sal, "let's get in the circle dance. We didn't study Greek dancing for nothing!" she giggled. "Greek gods, am I glad we did! Look, you can tell all the tourists by how they are funking to a western rhythm and not the Greek one, ha !" Sal hooted and grabbed Ash by the hand and broke into one of the circles and entwined arms with the others. Before long they were kicking up a storm, swirling their little summer dresses about their hips to the twists and turns. People continually broke into the circle that opened up for them. Suddenly a man broke in next to Ash and wrapped his strong arms entwined around hers. Ash smiled in that friendly, good-natured way that made her the most popular barkeep at Bentley???s, in Woodstock, Vermont, but when she saw his ironic smile in reply, she quickened , smiled girlishly for a second, and the dance went on. It felt great having strong arms twined around hers, leading when it called for, like a good dancer would. "Oh, hell. This is ridiculous. Get a grip. Where is your composure?" She coached herself and managed to redirect her focus. She had not been doing cognitive therapy all these years for nothing. So she smiled back at him with an equal hint of cheekiness. The hell with it, she thought, things would play out spontaneously in this living theater, the dance. Others joined them, people he seemed to be with. So the dance went on with many partners, which is what made it so much more the fun. The women broke away while the dancing was still well on its way. After she showered, Ash put on a little silk shift, and went out on the balcony to dry her long hair with a towel. It would dry naturally in this evening breeze. Sal had gone down to the pension bar, socializing with other guests. When her hair felt as dry as it would get from the towel, she want back to the bathroom and put on some brown mascara, mink fringing her cat green eyes. She finished up with her favorite rose lip-gloss, called Phoebe, and the two of them went down the back steps and out the side door. The music was over. She could hear and smell the sea as she maneuvered the narrow alleyways echoing muffled laughter from an open window in the night. People occasionally appeared and they greeted one another and the echo of their feet fell away behind her. The stars were twinkling and there was a new moon. Ash knew where she was headed, though it had been a while. Before long she found the path along the craggy shore, below the castle. The sea lapped below her and she picked her way carefully on the rough rocks, admonishing Phoebe to take it easy. But instead of going on toward the Lycian cliff tomb as she had originally intended, she took a sharp goat path up under the castle and onward to the open area by the windmill where she wanted to get a view of both the harbor and the Turkish coast and islands. The arid ruins on either side of the Roman stone road were overgrown with poppies undulating to the sea breeze in the star and moonlight. The Aegean mirrored the twinkling celestial canopy. This had always been one of her favorite walks strangely seldom appreciated by tourists, and only the cowherd had come upon her solitary strolls with some frequency. She turned off the stone road and meandered around the leveled ruins up toward the windmill. The other side of the ridge fell away in a slope to the small harbor of St. George. Often the cows's heads had appeared here, showing more as they climbed, till their full bodies manifested and the cow-heard would follow in the same frame by frame manner. Now it was a man's head, shoulders, then the full man silhouetted in the starlight that appeared over the ridge. The apparition kept coming toward her stillness. Ten feet in front of her he stopped. In the background the stars swirled like some Van Gough. The moon was behind him thus keeping his features shaded while Sarah knew her face was visible to him. She felt the wind tossing her hair with teasing tugs. It pressed her wispy dress against her body. It trembled it's hem around her thighs like the touch of playful fingers. Say nothing. Absolutely say nothing, she said to herself. "Dans mes reves de l'imagination nous marchons main dans la main (In my fantasy dreams we walk hand in hand)," he said after a long, pregnant pause. But he said it with such irony that she grinned. It was totally surreal seeing his materialization there, hearing his rich, full voice, someone whose heart and mind she felt she had known, but now seeing this visual entity, this physical man, she felt like she were standing in front of the Sphinx. But then she saw his twinkling smile as he came quickly to her and looked down into her eyes. "Que mes baisers soient les mots d'amour que je ne te dis pas, mon ami ( My kisses are the words of love that I'm not telling you, my friend)," he murmured and unexpectedly raised her left hand to his lips. These words had a strange effect on Ashley. They would have been melodramatic had he not said them with such irony bordering on insolence. They were words that resonated as if they were sharing a private and intellectually pleasing joke. She tossed her head back laughing. She prayed to God he would not make any further moves because she was resonating with such ferocious sensuality at the moment that she was bound to abandon any high ideals and resolutions from one embrace of this....apparition. But he just smiled, and his smile reminded her of Aragorn???s smile from Lord of the Rings. Then without any warning he took her hand. "So here is that fantasy dream, then, precious.one Let's walk," he said. And guided her through the rubble as the good leader of the dance subtly does. And there was no small talk, no talk at all, just the walking hand in hand. They headed back down toward the town not saying a word. Sometimes he pulled her to a stop, looked at her shaking his head. She'd make a mock attempt to pull her hand out of his, but he???d just grab it all the firmer and walked on. When they reached Pension Alexandra's doors he stopped to look down into her eyes. "I told you, precious, no matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you," he said whispering, and then winked. She smiled, lowered her eyes, and whispered back, "Bon nuit, monsieur." Her irony too was not missed. He laughed. She swiftly turned and opened the door and vanished. That is, she was just vanishing, when he pulled her back roughly, grabbed her waist with one arm, and ran his fingers with his other hand through her long hair, then touched her chin and gently, very gently, kissed her and then teasingly pushed her immediately away. Ashley turned and swept her way through the door, that closed behind her. Sarah was already asleep in her canopied bed on the far side of the room under the mosquito netting. Sal had chosen the alcove, but Ashley preferred her bed by the window, looking out to the harbor. She slipped out of everything, picked up the soft bundle from the floor, and put it in a pile on the chair, opened her mosquito netting and climbed in. Her mind raced, her body sparking live wire; she sank languorously into the down pillows, cooling her body on the linens. She turned on her back tossing her arms above her, her mind storming. Her heart hammered and her thighs had the restless syndrome. Life felt intensely larger, another portal opening in the cosmos. Crazy. But that's what it was, something much more than just that twinge in her clitoris. Gods, this was all through her body, like electricity. She raised her right hand, slid it through her hair to her shoulder, passed it over her breasts, above her heart, round her taunt belly, mons venus, over the....orchid, gently stroking the outer petals, the swollen rose bud....But it wasn't orgasm her being desired, it was the healing of ecstasy. Right now, right here....she couldn't believe this was happening, paradoxically, if felt as normal as lying here in the starlight, Venus bathing in moonlight. She threw her arm above her head again and flung herself around on her stomach. It was a sunny morning to which she woke. Sarah was already out and about networking, more than likely. She went downstairs for coffee and goat's milk.The Kyria shooshed her to go rest on her vacation, she would have it sent to her. Ashley thanked her and said she was going up the goat path a minute with Phoebe. Shortly after she got back a pot of coffee, pitcher of milk, wild oranges, feta and a bowl of hazelnuts awaited her on the balcony table. She went and got her laptop and opened Windows Word. The project she had been working on popped up. She drank some coffee with a good measure of goat's milk stirred in. Then she sat back looking out over the harbor toward the castle and windmill rising over the village skyline, and off into that living dream . She waited ; then she had to type quickly cause sometimes they slipped back out into the mist; they could disappear as quick as they materialized and she might not remember them by the time she got to the keyboard. But other riders were approaching in the distance, Princess kept the view, while all the women came and went. And ran to the oasis, where Prince Vladim slept???ha ha ha! lol She was brought back to reality by Sally banging the door behind her rudely. "Okay. What is going on? What are you not telling me ?" She plopped herself down at the table. "What do you mean" Ashling looked at her wide eyed. "Don't give me that innocent girl look. Who was this hunk downstairs just asking for you? In an Irish accent, real cute." "Who was asking for me?" Ashley's cheeks suddenly flushed . "This buffed cutie up at the desk asking Kyria what was the name of her guest who looked like the blond in ???Mamma Mia???, and the Kyriaki said...." "No, no ,no, I don't look anything like her, please," Ashling crossed her arms over her head and lay her face on the table, "No, don't tell me" then she looked up grinning. "So did she give out my name?" "Yes, and beaming. I expected her to offer to introduce him to you next." "So what did she say?" " 'Ash ling', in that lovely, thick Greek accent. Okay, okay, okay. You know him then don't you, girlfriend? You cannot keep this from me any longer." "No. Well yes," she smiled mysteriously. "Well, which is it? Is it one of those guys who kept breaking in the dance last night?" "Yes," she smiled. "Wow. You really make an impression. We get out of Woodstock, no love life, the same old crowd, and we can't even go to a Greek island without the men being all over us like flies on honey." "I know this guy," she said smiling mysteriously into her cup. "What do you mean 'I know this guy'?" Sarah demanded. "We've been on the same net film site for almost two years." "Okay, okay, I am not hearing this. What is his name?" "I don't know. Only his user name. I didn't want to know. I had no idea what he looked like either." "You guys planned to meet up here not knowing what either of you looked like, not knowing your names? It must be some film site." "I've mentioned that site to you before." "Oh my God, how are you sure it's him then?" "I ran into this guy last night walking Phoebe up by the windmill; and we just stared at one another, then he began saying some of the quotes we had played around with on the games in the forum. Stuff we'd posted joking around our walls. It's him." She smiled sheepishly at her friend, and then looked into her cup smiling. "Oh, shit. He must be totally blown out of his mind to see what you actually look like. He must be going crazy thanking his good luck! I can't believe all this was going on under my nose. You little Medusa!" "There's just one thing," Ashling said when she caught her breath from laughing, "you have to promise me you will never, ever leave me alone with him. You've got to promise me you???ll be my chaperon. You've got my back, right, friend?" |
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