45 comments/ 22667 views/ 99 favorites A Remembered Love Ch. 01 By: NoirABNC Hey guys I'm back! Before you ask and yes of course I am going to finish His Cajun Moon, be on the lookout for upcoming chapters of that. I started this little baby so you guys could have something to pass the time over until HCM 6. Comments are welcomed and appreciated. I really want to know what you guys think. This is my take on those little Harlequin novels. You know the ones...Dashing gazillionaire long lost blah blah blah...lol. This is a short romance only about 3 chaps so enjoy! I have an awesome and by awesome I mean Super Freaking Awesome editor Honeycaramelbits. Enjoy you guys. * Stephanie put the last of the books on the shelf and dusted her hands off. She definitely wasn't going to miss walking up and down the aisles of the library she had been volunteering at, for the next couple of weeks she would be on a much deserved vacation. Making her way back to the front desk she shut down the computer and while she was putting her things away she noticed her aunt walking up. "Oh Steph, I'm sure going to miss you and my little munchkin. I can't believe your going to Greece for three weeks" her aunt Verna sighed. Stephanie held back her laughter but she couldn't hold back her smile. Her aunt could be so dramatic at times. "Auntie you're the one who told me to take this trip. You and uncle Sonny made my dad practically pay for the whole trip. Plus it's time I got over my fears and introduced Angel to her father's homeland and culture" she said as she unconsciously rubbed the place over her heart. Her aunt saw this gesture but said nothing. Verna didn't mean to inadvertently bring up her niece's dead husband. It still made her choke up a little to think about the sad twists that life threw in people's path. That's why she had made her brother fork over the money so his daughter and grandchild could enjoy the trip. She was tired of seeing her niece in a funk and she knew that this trip was going to do her and the little munchkin some good. It had been almost four years and it was time for her Stephanie to move on with her life. "You are right. That little girl is three going on thirty. She's got so much sass in her, in a minute you won't be able to tell her anything." Verna laughed just thinking about her great-niece's antics. "I'm always saying that she reminds me of your mother my sister Shirley" she continued. "Well you get going now; you can't miss the ferry off the island or you'll be late for your plane" she said shooing her away from the front desk. "Ok, auntie I love you and I'll go say by to Uncle Sonny on my way to pick up Angel at the day care." Stephanie said as she kissed her aunt on the cheek and walked out the front door. Stepping out into the August summer sun on the Martha's Vineyard always brought a smile to her face. It gently warmed her coffee colored skin. She walked to the library parking lot and hopped in her jeep. The short drive to the golf course her uncle haunted during the day was just up the road. She waved to the people that she knew as she drove the road, which eventually turned onto the course entry, she caught glimpses of men playing golf but she couldn't tell if any of them were her uncle. Stephanie parked the car and went to the main house. She waved to the concierge girl and went to the bar. Thankfully she spotted her uncle sitting on the patio smoking cigars with his cronies. Her uncle was very handsome and well built man for the age of sixty-three. He was six two and still had muscles like a thirty five year old. His brown skin made his peppery colored hair almost look fake, his kind brown eyes hinted at his maturity. Even though he still looked like he was running one of the best law firms in Boston, now he just played golf spoiled his grandkids and her daughter. He and Aunt Verna had chosen to move to the island once he retired. He spotted me, smiled and motioned me over. "Stephanie, my girl I thought you would have left already. And where is my little bumble bee?" He asked as he got up and gave me a hug and kiss. "You know I couldn't leave you without coming to say bye first and I'm going to get her right after I leave here." She said as she pushed her sunglasses onto her head. "Oh well, don't miss the ferry and make sure you call before the plane takes off." He said while sitting back down. "I will, hi Mr. Radcliff, hi Mr. Jones, hi Mr. Chapzski." Stephanie greeted her uncle's friends. "Hi, Stephanie, so where are you going again?" Mr. Radcliff asked. He was her uncles' best friend and business partner. He always reminded her of Frank Sinatra with the blue eyes although his hair was still naturally black though he was the same age as her uncle. In fact, her uncle and his friends reminded her of the rat pack. All that was missing was her father who was still in Los Angeles working at the firm that he and her uncle started in the seventies. "I'm going to Santorini for three weeks" she said as she leaned against her uncle. "So you're going with just your daughter. I don't think that's a good idea honey" he said thoughtfully. "Oh, it's going to be Lizzy, Angel and I so I think it will be ok. You know Lizzy can be a hand full so I think it's safe to say that no one will mess with us" she said smiling at the older man she'd known most her life. All of these men went to college together in a strange way they were all family. "My son isn't going to like that. In fact, I think you might get a visitor while you guys are there. So don't be surprised when he shows up" he said as he puffed on his cigar. "Well that's if you tell him. Heath doesn't know that she is going on the trip with me. But I told her that once he finds out his going to hit the roof" Stephanie laughed. Her best friend did some of the craziest things for love at times. Like taking off of work and going to Greece with her with out telling Heath. She said it was to make him make the move from acting like her older brother and look more at me like I'm a grown damn woman. What was funny to Stephanie was that everybody could see that they had feelings for each, he just didn't want to take it too far because she was in fact his best friend's little sister. That made getting with her a dangerous situation. "Yeah I think he will and no I don't think I'll tell him. That boy can run a mult-million dollar company but he can't run his love life. Sometimes I wonder about him" he said jokingly and the other men laughed too. "Well I should be going, love you, Uncle Sonny. Bye gentlemen." She said as she kissed her uncle on the head. She walked back to her car and quickly drove to pick up her daughter at the day care on the side of the island. It was in Edgartown by the house she owned. Stephanie made it to the day care in record time. As she retrieved her very excited daughter, Angel practically bounced to the jeep. "Oh mommy, I'm so excited to go to Greek. I can't wait to see the pretty blue water and the white house with the blue tops." She said as Stephanie strapped her into the car seat in the back of the jeep. Every time Angel tried to say Greece it came out geese so she just told her call it Greek. Her daughter was a toasty cream color with tight ringlets that framed her face and fell to the middle of her back. She had her father's features. She had a perfect miniature version of his straight arrow nose and the same Mediterranean blue eyes. Every time she looked into her daughter's eyes her heart broke a little. Angel reminded her so much of Alexander. "Grandpa told me to take lots and lots of pictures so he can put them on his desk at work. And I have to take a picture so Mrs. Carr can put it on the fun wall at school" Angel said as she ticked the things off on her finger. "Ok, jellybean we can take lots and lots of pictures. You ready to get on the ferry?" she rarely got to take her daughter off island. So this was the beginning of an adventure in her three year olds eyes. "Yes mommy I'm ready!" She shouted excitedly. Stephanie laughed and got in the truck. She made her way to the Oak Bluffs ferry. It took the forty minutes to reach the main land. During that time she called her dad. They had a brief conversation and he told her to use the credit card he gave her for anything she wanted. He said he loved them very much and couldn't wait for them to get back and that he already missed them. Then she called her best friend to make sure that they would be meeting at the airport. After the ferry dock she made the two and half hour drive to the Boston Logan's International airport. Angel dosed off a little during the drive but was right back at attention when they arrived at the airport. She parked the truck in the long-term parking lot got all of their bags and took the shuttle to the entrance. That's where that met Lizzy, she was standing at the check in desk talking on her phone. She still had on her work attire which was a silk white blouse with I black pencil skirt and some black stilettos. Her best friend was a real estate broker for the elite class of Boston. She got all of the good listings because she was very best at what she did. Her motto was 'take no prisoners' her looking like and brown skinned Halley Berry, with long hair only helped her to be at the top of her trade. Stephanie got her attention and Lizzy hung up the phone. "Oh my gosh, look at my little niece! You've gotten so big." Lizzy said as she scooped up the giggling three year old. "Hi auntie, are you excited to Greek too?" She asked as she played with Lizzy's long ponytail. "Yes honey bun we're going to have so much fun, get really tan and eat delicious food" she said loving the little girl's excitement. "Let's get checked in. I want to get Angel situated" Stephanie said putting their two huge suitcases on the check-in counter. She had strategically packed all three weeks worth of clothes in the largest suitcase she could find. It was hard but she did it and as a result she and Angel were going to be wearing a lot of sundresses and flip-flops. If they needed more she would just buy it. They got checked in, slowly made their way through the security checkpoints and finally made it to the boarding area. Stephanie asked them if they wanted to get anything to eat because they had awhile to want to board the plane. They didn't so she and Angel just played silly little games until Lizzy was finished with her phone calls. "You know I saw Mr. Radcliff today with my uncle and I told him you were coming with me." Stephanie said nonchalantly. "Oh no, he's going to tell his idiot son where I'm going now." Lizzy said looking exasperated. "Don't worry about it he said he wouldn't say anything. Plus I think he is tired of the horror show that Heath and you call relationship. We all are, Lizzy. So you have an ally for now." She giggled remembering what Mr. R had said. "Yeah it's really bad when his dad is forcing him to make a move." Lizzy said thoughtfully. "I don't know what I have to do to get him see me more than just someone he has to protect. That is why I'm doing this you know? Leaving without telling him, I want him to see that he misses when I am not around. I want him to realize that he needs me as a woman, not someone he needs to protect a like a kid sister. Gosh he is more protective of me than my brother Johnston is. It's so frustrating! But you know what, I don't care anymore I'm going to one of the most beautiful places in the world with my best friend and my niece and I'm going to have fun and maybe meet someone while I'm at it too. Maybe I can find a man who will look at me like the woman I am instead of his best friends little sister" Lizzy said not really talking to Stephanie anymore. "Trust me, he doesn't just see you as Johnston's little sister. Remember the Zaylen Inc. takeover" Stephanie mumbled. "Huh, what you say?" Lizzy said while coming out of her personal thoughts. "Nothing, all I'm saying is that he sees more than just Johnston's sister, he is hiding his feelings from you. The guy has been in love with you since forever. He just has this weird sense of honor, even though my brother Carl has talked to your brother about it and Johnston is perfectly fine with you guys having a relationship" Stephanie said while she was watching Angel color a few seats down from them. "I know!" Lizzy gave another frustrated sigh. "He is so stubborn that I don't even think that he will truly do anything once he finds out I'm gone" she said while absently twirling her now loose ponytail. Stephanie gave a loud snort to that and began to laugh. "Elizabeth Ashley Williams, you are off your rocker if you think he won't do anything about you going somewhere like this and not telling him!" she said while she continued to laugh. "He won't I tell you, he will probably be to busy dating one of his new gold-digging bimbos to worry about little ole me" Lizzy sniffed while dusting imaginary lint off of her skirt. "Four words Zalen. Hostile. Take. Over." Stephanie said. "Ha, that was a very good opportunity for Radcliff industries and it had absolutely nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with me" Lizzy said looking straight ahead. Stephanie laughed at little harder and louder when she saw that Lizzy cheeks were turning burgundy. "So it had nothing to do with what Peter Collins, the then vice president of Zalen Inc., pulled at Heath's thirty first birthday party in front of everyone last year?" Stephanie asked while smiling. She still chuckled about it from time to time. The night was going well and the champagne was flowing and she was having a good time. Angel was with her father Carl Sr. for their grandpa and granddaughter weekend end so she could drink all she wanted. Heath had suckered Lizzy into being his date because quote unquote, he didn't want to bring any outsiders to his intimate affair. Forget the fact that is was at least three hundred people at said intimate affair. It was around the time that Johnston, Carl, and Zach his best friends were giving him raunchy toasts and well wishes. That Peter Collins ever the attention grabber in regular life and even more so when he was three sheets to the wind, said, no shouted in an impromptu and unwarranted speech to the entire party that seeing Heath saw Lizzy as nothing more a little sister, he would do Heath the honor of taking her off his hands for his birthday. He then ended the speech with a very slurred happy birthday. You could hear a pin drop for about twenty seconds then Johnston, Zach, and Carl saved the day by laughing at the little out burst and continuing on with their toasts. While things went back to normal and people continue to enjoy the night, I could see that every time that Peter tried to get close to Lizzy, Heath would stare him down with his steely blue eyes until the guy would stumble away. The following Monday, the newspaper read that there had been a hostile takeover of Zalen Incorporated by Radcliff Industries. They stated that no one knew why the young owners of the companies were feuding but anyone at the party the previous weekend who were not blind, deaf and stupid knew. And as a result Lizzy's dating life took a sharp nosedive. It is sad and extremely hilarious at the same time. "Like I said it was a great opportunity for Heath and Mr. R and that's all I'm going to say about that. They are starting to board now and we are in first class to lets go slow poke." Lizzy said not give Stephanie any time to retort. All Stephanie could do was chuckle at her best friend. They gathered Angel, their tickets and carry-ons and boarded the plane. Once they got situated in their seats and made sure that Angel had everything she needed. Lizzy went to change into something more comfortable while Stephanie made all the calls to both of their parents and brothers telling them that they would be taking off soon and that they would call when they had there layover in Italy. About half an hour later they were taking off when Angel suddenly asked about her father. "Mommy, what was my daddy like again?" Angel asked while looking at her locket, it had a copy of the only picture that she and Alexander had ever taken together. She had got it for her third birthday that had just passed because she was constantly trying to take the real photo with her everywhere. It pained her sometimes that she and Alexander never really talk about his personal life, so there wasn't much that she could say to her daughter about the man that stole her heart. "Well jellybean, as you know his name was Alexander Petridis and you look just like him." She said smiling down at the little girl. "He was very funny and could make me feel better by just smiling. We loved each other very much. He liked to do lots of things like go sailing and draw. Oh and he was very smart, he was working on second college degree when I met him" Stephanie said while absently rubbing the place over her heart again. "We met at NYU when I was taking summer classes there. We fell madly in love and got married, but he had to go see about his father back in Greece because he was really sick" she said while trying to hold on to her smile. Stephanie always felt like her heart was breaking into a million pieces all over again when she had to talk about Alexander with her baby. "But before he could come back he had a terrible accident and went to live in heaven just like grandma" Stephanie watched her child look thoughtfully at the locket for a few seconds then back up to her. "So he's in heaven watching over us just like grandma is too?" Angel asked. "Yes jellybean he is" she said was kissing her little daughter on the forehead. "Mommy can I see your ring again?" Angel asked as she leaned over to see if she could see it through Stephanie's t-shirt. Stephanie pulled the chain out of her shirt and unhooked it. On the chain was a three-carat heart shaped ruby that was surrounded by diamonds. It was the only thing she had left of Alexander besides Angel and that one picture. "It's so pretty mommy." Angel said as she oh and ah'd over the ring. After a few minutes she gave it back to Stephanie and she put it back around her neck. Lizzy eventually stole Angel's attention away from Stephanie because she could see that her best friend was seconds away from losing it. Stephanie sent her silent thanks and turned to look at the window. She promised herself that she wasn't going to cry over this anymore. But thinking about him was making her heart ache to touch him one more time. To feel his warm hands on her body while he whispered naughty things in her ear. For the words I love you to come from his lips just one more time. Stephanie couldn't help but remember the first time she'd seen him. She had been walking on campus while looking at one of her course studies books and really wasn't paying attention to her surroundings when she suddenly found herself sprawled out on the ground. Stephanie was so shock that she didn't immediately notice the guy that was leaning over her and apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry are you ok? Are you hurt do you need any medical attention?" He asked her but she couldn't see him because the sun was right over his shoulder and shining in her eyes. "Yes I'm fine just let me get up. I do have on a skirt you know." She said as she tried to get up. When she finally did get up, the verbal beat down she was about to give him died in her mouth. Standing in front of her was the most gorgeous guy she had ever seen in her life. He was six four, with a swimmer's build, lovely tanned skin, gorgeous blue eyes and looked like he had just stepped out of a Ralph Lauren summer ad. His wild dark locks were gently blowing in the wind and every few seconds he would run his fingers through it to keep it out of his eyes. It looked like the length stopped just below his popped collar. He had this European look about him that made his aura seem even more exotic. A Remembered Love Ch. 01 "Are you ok? I didn't mean to knock you down but you came out of nowhere" he said to her with a slightly accented delicious voice and his smile... was to die for. She quickly snapped out of her lust filled haze. "It's alright." She mumbled as she bent to pick up the tote bag and purse she dropped. Thankfully the contents of her purse didn't spill out. The only thing she was able to pick up was the tote before he picked up everything else. They started to make small talk and they quickly found out they were both attending the college for summer courses. He introduced his self as Alexander Petridis and he was just in the states for the summer so he could take the last few classes to get his M.B.A. They ended up going to a coffee shop and were talking to each other like they were life long friends. He told her that he was twenty-six and was born and raised in Greece but came to the states for college. She told him she was twenty-two and was born and raised in Boston but came to New York for college. That was the beginning of their three-month whirlwind romance. It took them a month before they became intimate and it was very special for the both of them. It was her first time and he said it was his first time making love. They became inseparable, Alexander would take her sailing, and they would always go to Coney Island where they could just be kids for the day. He took her to see Broadway plays and they went to the movies together. He was always asking her about her life growing up and asked about her family but rarely shared about his own. He was the first one to profess love in the relationship and after that he said it every other sentence. The night he proposed to her she was so surprised, he had his grandmother's wedding ring expressed mailed from Greece. Alexander asked her after they had made love all night. He had slipped the ring on her finger while they were lying there. Telling her that, she was his heart and that he couldn't live another day without her being his wife. Of course she said yes and they continued making love into the morning. Later that day they went to the Justice of Peace and had small but very touching ceremony. Alexander shared a rare glimpse into his family life and said that the ring was his grandmother's who practically raised him and that it meant more to him than mere words could express. Two days later when they were just packing up to a trip to Boston to see her father and show him off the every one, he got a call from home. Alexander said that he needed to get back to Greece because his father had become deathly ill and was in the hospital. It shocked Stephanie a little because up until then she had always thought that his parents were dead because he never talked about them or his life back in Greece and when he did rarely talk about it, it was always stories about his little sister or his best friend. She asked him if he wanted her to go with him but he said no he wouldn't be gone that long. And in an instance their little honeymoon was over. He changed his flight plans and made his way to Greece. She still went to Boston and told her family and friends about Alex and how they were in love and were married. Her family thought it all came about quickly but they were happy for her nonetheless, they knew she would never put herself in foolish situations so they trusted her judgment about this stranger. The only people, who had ever spoken to him on the phone, were her father Carl and her best friend Lizzy. There conversations were brief but they both thought he was a good guy. Alexander had been gone about a week and they talked every night on the phone. She was excited for him to come back and he couldn't wait to come back either. She would ask how his father was doing and he would tell her that he was okay but, that's as far as it went. Stephanie would ask him if he wanted her to fly out there to be with him and he would always say no. One night she asked him if the reason why he didn't want her to come to him was because she was black and that he was ashamed of her. He got so upset with her that they had their first argument. He told her that she was crazy if she believed those stupid things and that he loved her more than anything in the whole world. She told him that she didn't believe him because he never talked about his life so he must be ashamed of her with that she hung up on him. He called her ten times over the next hour before she answered. She had been so moody lately and she missed him so much that she was snapping at every one, including him. She answered when he called the next time and he immediately said he wasn't ashamed of her. Alex told her that he would be coming back to the states and that he would tell her about his self and maybe after that they could come to Greece and she could meet his father, little sister, and best friend. Besides her they were the only important people in his life. She agreed and told him that she wasn't feeling well so she was going to let him go. He wished her a good morning because he was seven hours ahead of her and made a joke about the time difference. He told her he loved her and that they would see each other soon. And those were the last that he ever spoke to her. Two days had gone be and he hadn't called her or answered any of her texts or calls. Not hearing for Alex had worried Stephanie more then words could express. Then she saw his number calling her cell phone and she was excitedly answered but to her surprise it wasn't Alex who answered the phone. "Hi Alex. Why haven't you called me? Baby I've missed you!" Stephanie said. "This is not Alex, this is his mother." The woman said somberly in a heavily accented voice. Immediately Stephanie knew something was up. Alex had given her the impression that his mother was dead because he never talked about her, not even when he even after he agreed to bring her to Greece. He had only mentioned three people and she wasn't one of them. The tone of her voice made Stephanie extremely nervous. She first assumed something had happened to his father. "Oh I'm sorry Ma'am may I speak to Alex." She asked while fidgeting around. The fates must have known that she was going to need someone because she was sitting in her home in the kitchen when all of her loved ones walked to the door. Her father Carl Sr., her brother Carl, her aunt Verna and Uncle Sonny, Lizzy, her brother Johnston, Heath and Zach had come into the house. They moved around the kitchen laughing and talking amongst each other. "I am sorry he is dead. He got into a horrible car accident on his way to see his father." That was all heard Stephanie, because she dropped the phone, right then in that instant her world came to an end. She broke down and was saved from crashing to the floor by her brother who had been nearest to her. Stephanie cried and screamed until she passed out. And when she woke up in the hospital later on, they told her when she passed out her father had called the ambulance and Lizzy had pick up her phone to see why she was so distraught. The women was still on the phone and told them how Alex was killed in a horrible accident on the way to see his father two days ago and that his mother had just got his cell phone back from the authorities and how he had mentioned her once. So the woman felt like she had to call and tell she would never hear from him again. Her father told her that the lady sounded torn up so they didn't have a long conversation. All she told them that she was having her son cremated in a few days. They had to call the doctor in for her to be sedated by the time Lizzy finished telling her what happen. They kept her over night and everyone stayed there to give her whatever support they could considering the circumstances. When she was able to leave, they took her home and only then had they given her phone back. With her phone back in her possession she tried calling Alex's number but it was disconnected. Stephanie had so many questions she wanted to ask the woman. She wanted to know if she could come to the funeral. She needed to go the funeral because something in her would not let her believe that he was dead. Stephanie had to see it for herself. Then there were the questions about his father and if he was ok. So many things were going through her head and she had a sinking feeling that they would stay unanswered. A month passed with her calling the disconnected number on a daily basis hoping against hope that it was all some cruel sick joke but the number never connected. Everything she loved as a woman was gone. She was slipping into depression at the realization that hadn't had her period. She deduced this was because of the stress of losing her husband as a newlywed. On a whim she went out and bought a pregnancy test. Stephanie's emotions were everywhere when she saw to two pink lines. It was bitter sweet for her, on one hand she had lost the love of her life, but on the other God blessed her with his child. She threw herself into researching his family to see if there was any way to contact them. Stephanie wanted his family to know that while he was gone, there was something still on earth that would allow his essence to live on. She went to a Greek directory to see how many Alexander Petridis' there could be. There were like four thousand or some crazy number like that. But when she put in his age and it dwindle down to like five hundred and two hundred out of the five hundred had listed numbers. She was only going on a hunch but she figured to maybe they still had his number listed and that way he could get in contact with his family. She wished that somebody would have gotten his mother's name and it would have been way easier that way. Nevertheless, she worked her way down the expansive phone number listings. It was agonizingly painful to here all of the men say they were Alexander Petridis but not one she was looking for. It tore her family up to watch her put herself through that type of self-torture. And about three months into her pregnancy she had to stop because the stress was getting to be too much. So she started to focus on the little life inside of her and ever so slowly began to put her life back together. She moved to Martha's Vineyard where she spent most of her childhood or at least every summer there and had been there ever since. Raising her child and the person she loved most in the world, Angel Alexandra Petridis. Stephanie was so absorbed into her own thoughts that Angel and Lizzy were both asleep by the time she snapped out of it. She put a blanket over Angel and kissed her on the forehead. They had a couple more hours until they had to switch planes she decided to get some sleep as well. Her lasts thoughts were as they always before sleep were... of Alexander. ~*~ Earlier the same day Alexandros Christos Petridis Athanasiadis sat at the head of boardroom table and discreetly fingered the long scar behind his right ear that was hidden by his hair. He sat back and watched as the meeting slowly crawled along. This was the fourth meeting that had been scheduled between the two companies and he was getting tired of the hold up. This merger should have been a done deal by now but if it continued like this, he was going to pull the deal off of the table and take his business elsewhere. He sat there thinking about the woman he had been dating recently, shipping heiress Clara Ramos Del Blanco. For some reason, his mother had been pressing him to settle down with Clara and get married. His mother had her own reasons why she wanted them together. He just hadn't figured them out yet. That alone gave him plenty to worry about. Maria Petridis Athanasiadis Winston only looked out for herself and his father found out the hard way. Giorgos Petridis Athanasiadis met and fell in love with a young Maria Karamanlis. She was the daughter of one of Giorgos father's business partners. He thought it was love at first sight and they immediately married. Too bad he didn't get to know more about her or he would have realized that she had a selfish nature and her horrendous spending habits before he married her. No, he found that out right after their son Alexandros was born that she was a monstrous bitch. He suspicions were confirmed by the fact she would never wanted to hold her newborn son. He thought more like he hoped that she had postpartum depression, sadly he hopes were futile and he realized he had in fact married a traitorous, heinous bitch with no capacity to love more than her own self and money. All she wanted to do was drink, party, and go shopping. Still even with the realization Giorgos was in love with her so he stayed with her. But eventually that love slowly turned into dislike and then blossomed into full-blown biblical like hatred after their second child Delfina was born premature because of alcohol poisoning. By this time Alexandros was eight and he couldn't stand his mother either. At that tender age he could tell the way she treated him was not normal. He spent most of his time with his yaya (grandmother) and nanny, or his papa. His mother never had time for him because she was to busy being a socialite and going to parties. Alexandros got all his motherly love and affection from his yaya. After his sister was born his parents got divorced, Maria went to live in England while his father and yaya nurse little Delfina back to health. Maria eventually remarried a British millionaire twenty years her senior and tried to get him and Delfina to come and stay with her and her new husband in the UK. He flatly refused and Delfina was too young and barely knew the woman. There relationship became almost none existent after that. It got even worse after her elderly husband died. She took long trips around the world only calling occasionally. It wasn't until four years ago when his father had to have open-heart surgery and him getting into a nearly fatal car accident around the same time that she showed up. The accident left him with memory loss. He couldn't remember the four months before the incident or the week after it. His thoughts went back to Clara; she was as nice girl and kept her name out of the gossip rags. No, when she was in the news it was because of the business deals she was making. She was his female counterpart in their world. So that had him wondering why her and his mother was so close and whatever the reason was, he didn't like it. But that couldn't persuade him not to like her. Because she was just his type, she was tall, slim, had long blonde hair and she was smart. Clara was as close to a comfortable companion as he had since the near fatal accident but, he did not love her. He thought about his yaya's ring and how he would feel giving it to her. That's if he would have never lost it. Alexandros still couldn't remember why he had it shipped to him when he was in America. The last link he had to the person he considered his mama was forever lost and he didn't even know why. Alexandros noticed that the meeting was coming to an end. No agreement had been reach and he was disgusted with the whole thing. What he needed to do was go to his villa on Santorini so he could relax. He thought about inviting Clara but quickly dismissed that idea. Alexandros would call the best mate and maybe his little sister to see if they wanted to go. Then he thought about inviting his father too. He told his secretary to make all of the necessary plans to have his clothes packed and the plane ready by the time he was done from seeing his father. He made his way out of the building and to the car where his driver was waiting. He told him to take him to his father's house the driver expertly maneuvered through the busy streets of Athens and made his way toward the mansion. Once there, Alexandros got out and made his way through the elegantly decorated home to his father's study. As usual the old man was sitting behind his antique desk watching stock markets opens and close around the world from his computer. He and his father were mirroring images with the same build, height, and eye color. The only difference was his papa's hair was gray. All he did now since he retired and let Alexandros take over P.A. industries, he dabbled in stocks and currency. He and his father's relationship had come a long way since both of their near death experiences. Before those experiences their relationship was kind of strained because neither one of them knew how to really communicate with one another. But after their life altering incidents they became extremely close. "Hi papa, are finding any good stocks?" Alexandros said loosing his tie as he walked over to his father's bar. He poured himself a scotch and went to sit across from his father. "No, nothing so far but the Yen is getting stronger and gold prices went up two percent today" he said while still studying his three computer screens. "Oh, how about you come with me to Santorini for vacation" he said causally while he sipped on his scotch. His father finally looked at him. "Sure when are you going?" Giorgos asked confusedly. His son never wanted to vacation let alone with him. "I'm taking my plane there right after I leave here. I was thinking about inviting Robert and calling Delfina to see if she was interested too. I don't plan on doing much other than sailing while I'm there" he commented. "Sure I would love to come, but if you don't mind me asking why aren't you taking the woman you have been seeing?" he asked his son nonchalantly. "You mean Clara, I have been thinking about breaking things off with her" he said looking at his father. Even if he still had his yaya's ring he knew that it would feel very wrong giving it to her. He did not love her and did not think he ever would love her, if he learned anything from his parent's marriage was that he would have to love the whomever he married and she would have to extremely special to be worthy of yaya's ring. "Ok, I'll pack my things and meet you there" he said because he really didn't want to get into his son's love life. It wasn't like he could give him any type of good advice. They said their goodbyes and he called his best mate Robert who agreed because he didn't have any major deals coming up any time soon and then he called his sister. She was so excited about the trip the she began to pack for it while they were still on the phone. Delfina said she had been bored to tears and this was the pick-up she needed before Uni started back up. It was agreed that she would fly down with Robert from London on his private plane. By the time he got to the airport his bags were already in the plane and they were waiting on him to take off. He got to Santorini about an hour later. It was getting late into the evening so he just took a long hot shower and lounged out on the deck watching the sun set. His mother called him and he didn't answer then Clara called. She asked him why he didn't answer for his mother he told her he was busy. She asked him if they could spend the night together and he told her he was staying in Athens instead of coming back to London. He knew if he told her where he was, she and his mother would show up there uninvited. After he got off the phone with her he sat there and thought about his love life or lack there of. Ever since his accident his love life was put on the back burner. It took him five months to recover from his external injuries; he still hadn't gained his memory back yet. And after that he took over his father's place at the head of the family business, being an international playboy wasn't in the cards anymore. And when he did date he was discreet about it. His sexual partners satisfied him on a physical level but left him unsatisfied on other levels so he didn't keep a mistress. Alexandros went into his room and laid across his king sized bed. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts wonder. All he wanted to do for the next couple of weeks was relax and he planned on doing just that. Maybe he could take the YaYa, his yacht, out once his family got there in the next couple of days. His last thoughts were discombobulated he couldn't keep the feeling that his family wasn't complete but he didn't understand why he thought that way but, it was a feeling he had not been able to shake. A Remembered Love Ch. 01 ~*~ Five days later They had been in Santorini for four days now and they loved it. Angel was already starting to get a toasty tan, Stephanie and Lizzy had gotten a little darker too. Thankfully Stephanie brought her laptop because her camera memory kept filling up. Angel wanted her to take pictures of literally everything. She even wanted her to take pictures of the people they passed on the streets, the beach, stores, scenery; she even wanted pictures of the lights. Stephanie loved Angel's excitement and was happy they had made the trip to Santorini. The bed and breakfast they were staying at was amazing and had breath taking views of the of the sunset each night. Angel couldn't say enough of how 'pretty the blue water is'. They had just come from a sailing trip and were walking down the dock when Angel asked for her hat. Stephanie was sifting through the tote bag one second and the next she was falling. She had ran into someone and in order for not to fall on a daughter who was right behind her she quickly twisted to her left and landed on the dock. Stephanie almost got away unscathed but she ended up hitting her head on one of the guardrails. She was disoriented for a few minutes but came around quickly when she heard Angel crying for her. That's when she noticed someone was carrying her. She tried to look around but every time she did she got extremely dizzy. It felt like she was being taken on to a boat. The whole time she could hear Angel crying for her and Lizzy trying to calm her down near by. She was placed on something soft and asked if she was all right. Oddly the voice sounded familiar. Stephanie slowly opened her eyes. She instinctively screamed and tried to back away. Kneeling right in front of her was the spiting image of Alex. The only difference between her Alex and this man was the man in front of her looked older, his hair was shorter parted on the left and slicked back and there was a grey streak that went through his hair on the right side. The man immediately put his hands up and no idea what was making this woman act that way. She was mumbling something but he couldn't quite catch what it was. After about fifteen seconds Stephanie shot off of the lounge chair and started to make her way to the Lizzy and Angel who were standing by the back of the boat right next to the exit. That when she realized that she was on one of the very big yachts that was anchored to the dock. "Miss I'm sorry but I can't let you leave yet. You are bleeding from the head profusely" he said as his long strides closed the distance between them. He stopped her by gently putting his hand on her arm and she immediately tensed up. An electric shock coursed through the both of them when there skin first made contact. But he still held on to her so she couldn't leave. The blood was now trailing down the side of her face and dripping on to her collarbone. She looked at him for the longest time then began to relax. "I'm so sorry, for a second I thought you were someone I used to know, but you can't possibly be him" he said while her eyes roamed his face. She suddenly whispered "you cannot be him because he is dead". He absently agreed with her because as beautiful as she was he had never seen this African American woman before and he clearly was not dead. She was small, about five six and had on a striped blue yellow and white sundress that showed off her gorgeous milk chocolate skin. It framed her curves very well without really showing them off. Her eyes were dark brown, she had curly hair that was in a ponytail at the back of her head and a perfect bow mouth. Right now she was chewing on her bottom lip and for some reason he wanted to tell her to stop because she would mess up her perfect lips. For a crazy second he as if he was having déjà vu but it quickly slipped away. He slowly lead her back inside the yacht and had her seat on one of the bar stools. Then he quickly began to look for the first aid kit. He spared a glance to the other woman and little child who followed them into the bar area. The woman was beautiful and also African American and he really couldn't see the child because she was crying into the neck of the woman. That caught the first woman attention and she immediately asked the woman she called Lizzy to bring her here. The woman complied and when she immediately brought the little girl to the woman. She took the child and positioned her on her so she was crying into the side of her neck that didn't have blood and started whispering to the child. 'It's okay jellybean, mommy's not hurt.' And ever so slowly the child began to calm down and his hopes began to go down with the recognition that if the child was her daughter the meant she surely had a husband somewhere. After he found the kit he made his way to back the woman. That's when he noticed the mother and daughter were wearing the same sundress the little girls just more child like. That brought a smile to his face and the woman was looking at him and she gasped. "Does your cut pain you?" he asked, thinking something was wrong. She just shook her head no or at least she tried to. "It's just that...you look exactly like someone I use to know." She said studying his face again. He didn't mind, in fact he liked that the woman was looking at him. Little by little he began to clean the cut, which had stopped bleeding by now. It really wasn't as bad as he thought. He cleaned it thoroughly always asking her if it hurt too much when she winced. Once he got through cleaning the cut, he coated the cut with ointment because it was in an awkward position for a Band-Aid. He quickly cleaned up the blood that was on drying on her face and neck and after he was done, he threw everything away. The little girl had stopped crying by now and only sniffled ever so often. Just as luck would have it, his sister Delfina had brought some candy on the boat the day before and he was sure that it would cheer her up. "I have some candy around here somewhere for the little one" he said while motioning toward the little girl. She smiled up at him. He asked the woman would it be okay if the child had candy. "That would be great. And thanks for everything. Sometimes when I'm looking for something I forget that I'm walking and tend to crash into things a lot" she joked while trying to lighten the mood. He chuckled a little and found the candy bag behind the bar and walked around and brought it to the lady. "That's alright, I'm sure that happens to everyone. I didn't catch your name by the way. And what type of candy would you like little one" he said while looking at the little girl who was still hiding in her mother's neck. She didn't look to be no more than three or maybe four but from what he could see, she was pretty like her mother. "Oh sorry about that, my name is Stephanie Robinson and this is my daughter Angel" she said while she stuck her hand out for him to shake. Then she coaxed the little girl into sitting up and when she finally did he was almost stepped back in shock. Sitting in front of him was the spitting image of his little sister Delfina but only a couple of shades darker and the little girls hair was tight little ringlets that was being held away from her face with a ribbon instead of loose and curly like his sister's. Then he started to see himself in the little girl, she had his eyes and his nose. He was so transfixed on the little one that he didn't hear Stephanie when she asked him his name the first time. The little girl was going through the candy bag by now that he held in front of her and her face was scrunched up in total concentration, like the pieces she picked were very important. It was the prettiest thing he had ever seen in his life. Immediately something started to tug at his heart and mind. He finally heard her asking him his name and he torn his eyes off the little girl he looked at her and was about to say his name when he was interrupted. "Alexandros, do you know who bag this is? It was just sitting on the deck just outside the boat" Delfina asked as she walked through the sliding door and looking at the tote bag so she barely had time to see what happen next. Alexandros had turned toward her when he heard her voice and saw that his father was right behind her. So he didn't see total shock and horror that came across Stephanie's face. Stephanie and Lizzy both gasped loudly. "Alex...Alexander?" She whispered and he instinctively turned to his name being called. There was a flash of emotions he saw cross her face. Pain, anguish, hurt and then came rage. She shot up from the bar stool clutching her daughter to her causing the candy bag to spill out of his hand. It looked like she was holding back tears. ~*~ "Alexander Petridis?!" She shouted accursedly as she handed her daughter to Lizzy. "How do you know my name?" He asked and when she saw the shock and confusion on his face and before she even knew what she was doing, she hauled off and punched him in the jaw. She then hurried to the door before she hit him again, this time with her hand good. She rushed passed the woman and older man and didn't see their shocked faces when they looked at her daughter as she took her back into her arms. All she could think about was getting her baby off this boat and out of this freakish nightmare. Lizzy kept saying 'oh my God' as she tried to keep up with Stephanie as she rushed off the boat. Once they were half way down the long dock, she repositioned her daughter on her hip and would have put her down but she was walking to fast for her to ever be able to keep up. She passed a tall blond haired white man who was just standing there staring at her and her daughter. His staring made her pick up her pace even more. Then Angel started to ask her why did they have to leave the nice man's boat and that she wasn't finished picking out her candy, she wanted to go back and get some more. 'Never' she growled before she could stop herself. Then she quickly apologized to her baby and to her that she would by her all the candy she wanted later. The bed and breakfast was a short but steep climb away from the dock and she didn't slow down until she was at her door. Right when she was about to grab the door handle it opened. It was the owner; she had been remaking the beds and putting out new towels. Stephanie thanked her and quickly walked in. That's when she finally heard Lizzy talking. She put Angel down and the little girl ran to the bed and dropped her candy she that had safely been clutching in her hand up until then. She was blissfully unaware of the emotions that were going through her mother at the moment. Stephanie finally started to hear the questions that Lizzy had been throwing at her since they had started walking. "Steph, could that really be him I'm I can't remember how he sounded on the phone the one time I talked to him but oh my gosh it looks just like him. I should know Angel shows me the picture at least five times a day" she came close to her and whispered so Angel wouldn't here the conversation. Stephanie looked over at Angel who was sitting on the bed and counting her candy. She told Angel that her and auntie were going to go outside and sit on the little landing porch and for her to take out her coloring book and draw. After she got outside she bent over and moaned. "I think I'm going to be sick. Oh my god did you see the woman that came on to the boat?" She asked as she slowly broke down. All of her worse imagined fears, the ones she dared never to give a voice to, were coming true. The man she had loved more than life had been alive this whole time, forgotten about her or at the very least was pretending to and it seemed that he moved on. Her stomach contents immediately tried to make there way up her throat. She kneeled down and prayed for what, she didn't know. Stephanie just prayed. Then all of a sudden her chest started to tighten up and her throat started to close up. Stephanie was outside but it felt like everything was closing in on her. She wasn't getting enough oxygen to her lungs and as a result she her chest started to heave. Lizzy saw that she was starting to have a panic attack and forced her to sit on of the chairs on the little landing porch. Once Stephanie was in the seat she Lizzy gentle forced her head down between her legs and told her to take deep breaths. "That's it Steph, just take deep breaths and think about Angel in there. That's it breath in and out, breath in and out" she said as she gently coerced her into breathing normally again. After a few minutes Stephanie said she was ok and wanted to be let up. Lizzy let her grip go on the back of her neck and helped her sit up right. The look on Stephanie's face made her heart go out to her friend. "Why would he do that to me, Lizzy?" She asked miserably as tears silently streamed down her face. "Why would he-" Stephanie began to cry so hard the rest of the question was unintelligible. She cried hard tears and all Lizzy could do was just close the door so that Angel wouldn't hear and hold her best friend. ~*~ They had all stood there shocked, Alexandros holding his jaw, Delfina was still holding the tote bag, and there father was standing there with his mouth slightly open for probably a full two minutes after the little altercation. Then Robert came scrolling into the room. "You would never believe it mate. I just saw a woman carrying a miniature Delfina and I would be saying that someone was stealing your baby if I didn't know any better" he said jokingly. It took him a couple of seconds to figure out something was wrong and when he did, it was around the same time that they were coming out of there shock. Then everybody was talking at once. They all were asking Alexandros questions. Like who were those people? Why did that little girl look at him and Delfina? Why did that woman hit him? And how did the little girl look just like him? How did the woman even know him? His father came over to gently shake him out of his shock. But all he could think about was that woman knowing his name. The last time he had been to America was about a year ago, and it was only for a week. But what was really puzzling was right after she called his name he had a flash of her lying naked in a bed moaning his name while he feasted on her glorious breasts. That didn't last long because she socked him one a couple of seconds later, bringing him back to reality. Now he was standing with his father in his face. "Papa please, give me some room" he said as went to sit down on the barstool. Besides the ache in his jaw, his head began to hurt also. "Wait everyone stop talking." Giorgos gently commanded. Once Delfina and Robert stop talking, he turned back to his son, his firstborn child. He needed to help him figure this out. There was something all of them were missing. "Now son, please tell us what is going on." Everyone turned to look at Alex. He didn't notice because by then his head was in his hands and his head was really starting to cause him true pain. "Delfie, can you go get my pills. And father I don't know who that woman is" he said looking up at his papa as Delfina dashed off to get the pain pills. "Well apparently she knows you and I don't want to even begin to think of why that child looks likes you" he said while giving his son a stern look. "One things for sure, that woman sure does have a hell of a right cross." Robert said as he came to stand next to Alex and lightly touch the bruise. Delfina was back in a flash with a bottle of pills and a glass of water. "Hell papa, I didn't meet the woman until a few minutes ago when she literally ran into me. And your guess is as good as mine as to why her child looks like us." He didn't want to say me because he just knew that would be opening a can of worms. "Let's start off with how she ended up in here with you" his father said as Alex took to pills and quickly drank half of the water. "Like I said she ran into me and I'm guessing that she didn't want to fall back on her daughter, who was directly behind her, she ended up falling sideways and striking her head on one of the concrete polls. I immediately brought her in here when I saw the blood." "Wait, was she waiting here for you?" Alex shook his head no. "I think that they just got off one of those tourist sailing boats" he said as he sat the empty glass down. "What are their names?" Giorgos asked trying to get all of the information that he could. "The woman, her name was Stephanie and the little ones name is Angel" he replied like the way their names rolled off his tongue. "I think to other woman name was Lizzy or something like that." His father was about to say something but he cut him off. "And before you ask, she is American and that is all I know. We didn't talk much because I was tending to her cut and her daughter was crying." "Was the child hurt did she need medical attention?" Giorgos asked. He'd always had a weak spot for children in his heart. "No papa, she was fine. She was just a little upset a seeing her mother hurts is all" Alex reassured his father. "Hey I think that this is her purse." Delfie said as she brought a large bag into view. Delfie, his father and Robert opened the bag and began to go through it. "I don't think you guys should be invading her privacy like that." Alex said as they began to take things out and put them on the coffee table. "We need to know what is going on mate and where to return the bag to, so I think she'll forgive us for peeking." Robert said as he pulled more things out. He thought to protest more but he was really intrigued by this woman and her daughter. So he stayed quiet. After a few minutes, they had everything out in on the table. There was two passports, a female wallet, a small Greek translation book, a bottle of water, sun screen, a little girl's hat, and a few other things. "Her name is Stephanie Robinson, she hasn't traveled very much and she has been here for four days. Delfie then opened the second passport and the shock registered on her face caught everyone by surprise. Robert took the passport out of her trembling hands and read the name. "Angel Alexandra Petridis age 3."