Chapter 2

“No. I don’t want to go to Nicosia.” Keva firmly shook her head while making coffee in the kitchen the next morning. Kyrenia was still trying to convince her to go with her. “You know that if I’d go there, I’ll never be at peace!

Kyrenia rolled her sky-colored eyes. “Your dad again, isn’t it?

Keva paused to glance at Kyrenia. “I don’t want to talk about him.” She placed the two cups of coffee on the island table that was made of blue granite. “I’m doing fine with my job as a freelance journalist here in Limassol and I can go to the beach whenever I want to!” she said, trying to evade the touchy subject about her family.

“But you can bring your work over there and you’ll be with me!

“I told you we’re not getting back together!

“But as friends? We were best friends, Keva darling,” she said with puppy eyes.

Keva blew her breath and shook her head. She sipped her hot cappuccino and ate some toast bread with goat cheese.

“Why are you here anyway? Don’t tell me you just wanted to visit me because I don’t believe that.

“Well, you should.” Kyrenia shrugged then picked up the cup of coffee. “My boss promoted me a couple months ago, which means I got a big raise. Right? So now, I have a bigger apartment, you could live with me and no strings attached if you want! We’ll have great fun together!

Keva’s tinkling laugh rang all over the kitchen. Then, she stopped abruptly to give her ex a burning look. “I’m not a masochist, Kyrenia.” She slammed the empty cup on top of the table. “Just get out of here when you’re done eating breakfast, will you?” She turned on her heels.

“You still love me, Keva darling,” Kyrenia said when she was about to leave the kitchen.

“Still, I won’t go with you! You go fuck those guys you want—even your old boss—I don’t care! I won’t anymore!

“One day, you’ll come for me in Nicosia. That’s for sure!

Keva just harrumphed. Her ex was just as crazy as she was. She slammed the door of her bedroom. She badly needed to be away from Kyrenia before she’d do or decide anything drastic.

***

Keva’s life was back to normal after that weekend. Kyrenia left after staying with her that weekend, trying hard to convince her to go back to Nicosia. That was about a week ago or so. But she thought that it was toxic for her to go there, given that she and her father weren’t on good terms.

She was in her sexy black-and-white bikini. After finishing her assignment that afternoon, she decided to take a swim. Since it was June, the heat was still scorching but once in the water, it would be fine. She passed by some men playing beach volleyball. A few of them looked in her direction. One was hit by the ball in the face. She laughed at his expense and ignored their whistles and their invite to join them.

She floated on her back, watching the sky and thinking about her life. Her dream was simple. It was to be free of everything and just live happily with her loved ones. But it seemed that her father made it impossible for her to achieve that.

Her father was rich and powerful. However, she could not stand him having his way with her life. It was enough that she had to choose journalism to spite him. He wanted her to study business management to take over their company one day, as she was the only heiress. Yet, she wanted to do something else aside from that. Nonetheless, she did study some business management courses online while she was in the university, just in case. Maybe a part of her wanted to please him one day. But maybe she was just dreaming. She could never please her father even if she would take over the company if the right time comes. If ever… However, it may not come given her father’s stubbornness. Well, they were both stubborn and proud. Her mother was like their neutral ground, because they both loved her.

In the middle of this musing, she heard a yelp not far from her. She treaded in the water and looked around. Maybe she misheard it. But then she found someone’s arms splashing the water. She didn’t waste any second and just swam towards that person in need of help. It seemed that she was the only one who noticed it, while the others were busy chatting, drinking, strolling or playing at the beach.

She approached the drowning woman from behind and grabbed her just below the neck to bring her safely to surface. Even with the warm water in Cypriot beaches, some people experienced foot or leg cramps.

“You’re okay,” she said in Cypriot Greek. She was guiding her towards the shore.

The woman coughed and breathed heavily. “Thank you!

They were both lying on the shore. After clearing the salty water from her face, she looked at the brunette she rescued. She raised an eyebrow when she recognized the other woman.

“Rumeysa?

The brunette with shoulder-length light brown hair stared at her. “Oh, I’ll be damned! Thank my lucky stars!” she exclaimed, looking back at Keva with a wide smile and slightly punching her shoulder. “Aww! Can you help me with my foot? Just push it towards me.

“Hey! How come you’re here?” she asked her elementary friend with a wide smile. They were good friends then. But they separated in high school. They met a few times during college and were out of touch since then. “You went to the police academy the last news I heard about you. So?” she asked while pushing the foot towards her friend to ease up the leg cramp. Her friend was leaning back with her two hands on the sand as support.

“Yes, I’m Constable to you!” she said in a jesting manner.

“Wow! That’s great!” She looked at the leaner woman. She could see her friend’s slightly muscled stomach.

They didn’t notice the time passed by quickly as they were catching up in the nearby beach bar. It was already night and the lights were lit. The dock some miles away could be seen with the floating yachts having their own lights glittering amidst the darkness. The breeze from the ocean was still a bit warm and fresh. They were lounging and drinking cocktails.

“Hey, I think that guy’s been checking you out since we got here,” Rumeysa nodded in her nine o’clock.

Keva glanced at her right, at the table next to theirs. She noticed it was the man who got hit by the ball earlier. He was still with his friends, whose faces she recognized.

‘Good for him he didn’t break his nose,’ she mused.

She snorted when he smiled at her, showing her his even teeth. The man was in fact good-looking in women’s standards but she wasn’t attracted to him at all. She just shook her head at him.

“I’m telling you, guys like that are up to no good,” she told Rumeysa, rolling her eyes.

“Well, what are you up to?” her friend asked.

“I’m off the market.” She showed Rumeysa her phone screen when Kyrenia called. The police officer’s eyes went round.

“Angouri tou Pingu!” Rumeysa said “No way!” in Cypriot slang.

She just laughed, but in her mind, she was confused why her ex called her. Again. Surely it was not about convincing her to go to Nicosia, was it?

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