The Stables

He was getting ready to take a shower when there was a knock on the bedroom door. Since he was still wearing his trousers, he said, “Come in?”

The door opened, and Giorgos stuck his head in. “Sir, Ms. Sambu is here.”

He glanced at his watch in slight irritation. “She’s twenty minutes early. Hmm. Where is she?”

“In the drawing-room, Sir.”

“Why is she in the drawing-room. Never mind. Have her wait for me in the music room.”

“Good. Tell her that I will be down shortly.”

“Yes, Sir.” Giorgos withdrew his head and quietly closed the door.

Thaddaus removed his pants and underwear. He walked into the bathroom and stepped into the shower.

Mariama was sitting at the piano tinkering with the keys when she decided that since she was early, she would go outside for a bit. It was such a beautiful day. She got up and taking up her bag, she left the music room. She managed to find her way to the foyer where she bumped into the manservant, Giorgos.

“Are you leaving, Miss?” he inquired.

“No, I’m not leaving. I just thought I’d go for a walk and then come back in time for my lesson.”

“All right, Miss.”

She smiled at him and then, turned and headed for the front door.

Ten minutes later, Thaddaus walked into the music room only to find it empty. Miffed, he rang for Giorgos. “Yes, Sir?”

“Where is Miss Sambu?” he demanded. “I thought I asked you to have her wait here for me.”

“Well, Sir, I brought her here myself and left her. Then, I saw her in the foyer. She said that she was going for a walk and that she would be back in time for her lesson.”

“She could be anywhere. I’ll go and look for her.” He stormed out of the room.

She was in the stables. She ended up there after exploring the grounds. There were about 6 horses in the stables and two stable-hands tending them. She chatted with the older stable-hand who had known Mr. Kyriaku since he was a boy.

Now she was alone in the stables with the horses. They were beautiful and strong animals. She wondered what it would be like to ride one. Was Mr. Kyriaku as good a rider as he was a swimmer? Musing, she went over to an area some distance from the horses and sat down. She leaned against a large sack.

As she sat there, she thought about when she ran into him last week Sunday outside of the garden center. She hadn’t expected to see him. One minute she was standing there admiring the strange plant and the next, she was she was staring up at him.

It was hard talking to him and not think about his naked body gleaming in the sun as he sat by the pool. What made it worse was her reaction to him. How she managed to get through the lessons afterwards, she had no idea. Thankfully, he was sitting in the armchair behind her, out of her sight. However, when she was lying in her bed that night, she kept seeing him by the pool. She kept seeing his broad shoulders, flat stomach, chiseled legs, perfectly formed buttocks and…She pressed her legs together now as she felt the same sensation settle between them.

He sensed that seeing him naked still bothered her. He explained that he hadn’t expected to see her at the pool and that he had wanted her to leave so that he could get out of the water. Then, he told her to forget about the whole thing and took her for lunch. They went to KAVA Neo-Taverna, his favorite Greek restaurant and over Greek salads and grilled Mediterranean sea bass served with Greek spinach rice, they talked about all sorts of things. By the time he took her home, she was no longer embarrassed or uncomfortable around him.

With a start, she realized that it was time for her to head back to the house or be late for her lesson. She jumped to her feet and ran out of the stables and straight into Mr. Kyriaku. He caught her by the shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, mortified.

“What on earth were you doing in there?” he asked.

“I wanted to see the horses.”

“You could have told me and I would have brought you to see them after your lesson.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kyriaku.” This close, she could see that he had beautiful brown eyes.

He released her abruptly and muttered, “Let’s go”, before turning on his heel and striding briskly away from the stables.”

She followed him back to the mansion.