shoulders.
'I don't know. It was a week later when I woke up in a hospital bed in Zakinthos and was told that I had been shot and was lucky to be alive.'
'How did you get to … where was it, Zakinthos?'
'It's a town on an island just to the west of the Greek mainland. As far as I understand now though, after you were taken, all hell broke loose and there was a lot of confusion as Leda was sending out messages saying that the island had been attacked and she wanted to be evacuated to the mainland for her own safety. She insisted that she had been the target of the attack but had repelled her attackers. Apparently I was found by one of the catering staff during the confusion, who then told Leda I had been shot. Luckily, Leda must have at least arranged to get me to hospital quite quickly.'
'How did you find out about what happened?'
'I was flown out the same way you were flown in, and the man who accompanied me told me when I regained consciousness.'
'A man with a square jaw and a military attitude, who sniffs a lot?'
'His name is Marcus, and he stayed with me in Zakinthos. Once I came to, he told me what he knew about the attack.'
'I'm sorry Chara, I mean about what happened to you, but you really are doing my head in. I thought I'd put all this behind me and I'm not sure I want to go back over it all. As far as I know, the Swiss authorities think I'm safe; well, safe enough anyway.'
'But you don't know what's going on Lang. Really.'
'Look, it was all some kind of mistake and….,' I started to say, but my intercom rang and interrupted me mid sentence. I walked over and pressed the button. 'Yes?'
'I have something for Chara.' I looked at her.
'My suitcase.'
'So you plan on staying then?'
'It's up to you.'
I waited a moment and tried to put all the pieces of this new jigsaw together. It was not turning out to be the quiet and uneventful Tuesday I had hoped for. 'Who is it?'
'A friend.'
'I'm a bit sensitive about deliverymen at my door I'm afraid. Go down and sort it out. Sorry.'
Chara shrugged her shoulders; clearly a little pissed off, but she took my queue and headed for the door.
'Can I stay?'
'If it's only you. No one else.'
'Understood,' she said, as if we had just closed a clinical business deal. I shut the door behind her after she walked through on her way to the elevator, and half thought about locking the door and leaving Chara and my past behind me. I even three-quarters thought about it.
Denial
Flopping on the sofa, all I wanted was that Chara and whatever and whoever she had bought with her, would all just instantly disappear. I opened my hand and looked down at Helen's wedding ring and then picked it up and read the inscription inside it. 'Only forever Helen, 1992' I closed my hand around it and wished it had turned out to have been true now. Marriage, no matter how bad, seemed to have offered a security I wished I still had. All I had now, were questions, insecurity and threats, and from who and where I didn't even know. Hardly a great way to start a Tuesday, or any other day for that matter. The two men who had greeted me earlier in the morning came back to my mind and I decided they weren't innocent, lost businessmen who needed directions from a stranger. I stood up and walked over to the kitchen. I don't know why, but I decided to put Helen's wedding ring on top of the refrigerator and worry about finding a more suitable place later. Kitchens are like that – a safe, temporary place for items of value.
I caught my reflection in the glass door of my microwave oven and wished immediately that I would stop doing such things. My reflection in anything lately had made me miserable and more so today, as I contrasted my aging face with that of the world around me. Forty-six wasn't old I know, but just recently it was old enough to wish for younger days. I knew so little and so yet so much, but by either formula, I didn't know enough to make one ounce of sense of my life. While there were
'I don't know. It was a week later when I woke up in a hospital bed in Zakinthos and was told that I had been shot and was lucky to be alive.'
'How did you get to … where was it, Zakinthos?'
'It's a town on an island just to the west of the Greek mainland. As far as I understand now though, after you were taken, all hell broke loose and there was a lot of confusion as Leda was sending out messages saying that the island had been attacked and she wanted to be evacuated to the mainland for her own safety. She insisted that she had been the target of the attack but had repelled her attackers. Apparently I was found by one of the catering staff during the confusion, who then told Leda I had been shot. Luckily, Leda must have at least arranged to get me to hospital quite quickly.'
'How did you find out about what happened?'
'I was flown out the same way you were flown in, and the man who accompanied me told me when I regained consciousness.'
'A man with a square jaw and a military attitude, who sniffs a lot?'
'His name is Marcus, and he stayed with me in Zakinthos. Once I came to, he told me what he knew about the attack.'
'I'm sorry Chara, I mean about what happened to you, but you really are doing my head in. I thought I'd put all this behind me and I'm not sure I want to go back over it all. As far as I know, the Swiss authorities think I'm safe; well, safe enough anyway.'
'But you don't know what's going on Lang. Really.'
'Look, it was all some kind of mistake and….,' I started to say, but my intercom rang and interrupted me mid sentence. I walked over and pressed the button. 'Yes?'
'I have something for Chara.' I looked at her.
'My suitcase.'
'So you plan on staying then?'
'It's up to you.'
I waited a moment and tried to put all the pieces of this new jigsaw together. It was not turning out to be the quiet and uneventful Tuesday I had hoped for. 'Who is it?'
'A friend.'
'I'm a bit sensitive about deliverymen at my door I'm afraid. Go down and sort it out. Sorry.'
Chara shrugged her shoulders; clearly a little pissed off, but she took my queue and headed for the door.
'Can I stay?'
'If it's only you. No one else.'
'Understood,' she said, as if we had just closed a clinical business deal. I shut the door behind her after she walked through on her way to the elevator, and half thought about locking the door and leaving Chara and my past behind me. I even three-quarters thought about it.
Denial
Flopping on the sofa, all I wanted was that Chara and whatever and whoever she had bought with her, would all just instantly disappear. I opened my hand and looked down at Helen's wedding ring and then picked it up and read the inscription inside it. 'Only forever Helen, 1992' I closed my hand around it and wished it had turned out to have been true now. Marriage, no matter how bad, seemed to have offered a security I wished I still had. All I had now, were questions, insecurity and threats, and from who and where I didn't even know. Hardly a great way to start a Tuesday, or any other day for that matter. The two men who had greeted me earlier in the morning came back to my mind and I decided they weren't innocent, lost businessmen who needed directions from a stranger. I stood up and walked over to the kitchen. I don't know why, but I decided to put Helen's wedding ring on top of the refrigerator and worry about finding a more suitable place later. Kitchens are like that – a safe, temporary place for items of value.
I caught my reflection in the glass door of my microwave oven and wished immediately that I would stop doing such things. My reflection in anything lately had made me miserable and more so today, as I contrasted my aging face with that of the world around me. Forty-six wasn't old I know, but just recently it was old enough to wish for younger days. I knew so little and so yet so much, but by either formula, I didn't know enough to make one ounce of sense of my life. While there were
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