Melina Breaking Free. Dimitra Mantheakis

life. She couldn’t stand the monotony, the boredom and the gossip any more, nor the lack of prospects for something better. Nor did she want to marry a fellow villager and be buried, so to speak, forever in her home town.

      Paris, in his turn, told her that he had an import-export company, that he travelled extensively and lived in New York for most of the time. He didn’t spend more than three or four months a year in Athens.

      “You’re very lucky to be able to live how you want, and where you want!” said Melina. “God help us who live in the village and will waste away here for the rest of our lives!”

      “Don’t say that!” replied Paris. “People only fail to do things they don’t want. If someone has goals and persists, at some point they’ll succeed. Determination is needed, and a little luck of course!”

      “Where would I find luck? It passed by and didn’t stop for me!” she thought but didn’t say this out loud to the stranger.

      They spoke for a while longer and Melina said to him that they should be getting back. She didn’t want to be late and to have to explain where she had been to her parents. At ten thirty they were back again. Melina told him to let her off before they entered town so as not to be seen. So it happened. Before she got out of the car Paris embraced her and kissed her lightly on the lips, stroking her face gently.

      “I like you a lot!” he said to her, but strangely he didn’t carry on kissing and stroking her. Melina felt goose-bumps of pleasure rising on her skin when he touched her, but didn’t say a word.

      “Will I see you tomorrow at the same place?” Paris asked her.

      “Yes! At the same time,” the girl replied and went off.

      They met every day for several days in a row. The man explained that he was passing through her town but had stayed behind only because of her since she had captivated him with her beauty. Three weeks went by. Paris, except for a few kisses, hadn’t asked for anything more. Melina felt like a queen to see this desirable man showing so much interest in her, for just a simple provincial girl and didn’t pressure her at all sexually, as other men would do, in order to bed the woman who had drawn their attention. His discreetness, his politeness, made her fall in love with him. He had everything she would want in a man. Good looks, money, manners, a life in cosmopolitan centres – Melina’s dream - travel, expensive clothes and a way with words. What made her wonder was what did a catch like this want from her, since in all this time he hadn’t progressed to even one daring caress, something that would be well received by her. Melina wanted to sexually “try” a man-of-the-world who had entranced her. She had nothing to lose even if he abandoned her the next day, which was the most likely outcome. She didn’t believe that she could conquer Paris emotionally, knowing that for sure many interesting women of his social standing would have passed through his bed. However many thoughts and questions went through her mind she couldn’t drum up the courage to ask him where he was going with all of this.

      One night Paris, taking her hands in his and kissing them tenderly, said to her, “Melina, my dear, in two days I have to leave for Athens and I would like to take you with me. I am charmed by your beauty and sweet manner and that’s the reason I stayed so long in your town. I have my own apartment and if you want you can stay with me. It’s an opportunity for you to live the things you dreamed of and to change your life. Don’t reply now, please. I want you to think about my proposal and to tell me tomorrow what you have decided.”

      Melina couldn’t contain her curiosity and asked him, “In what capacity will I be coming with you, Paris?

      He looked at her affectionately. “In whatever capacity you want Melina, dear. As a friend, a companion, or whatever you want to call it!” the man replied.

      When Melina left him she was confused. On the one hand the opportunity to leave the provinces was a gift from heaven, on the other hand she thought about the pain she would be inflicting on her family and the repercussions for them. Lying on her divan-bed that she shared with her sister, hearing it squeak each time she turned, and in the near-dark of the room she could see three other people lying on mattresses on the floor: her grandmother, her younger sister and her brother. The frequency of her father’s cart-hire fares had been reduced greatly and then almost exclusively only to transporting animal fodder, since trucks had entered the goods transport market and had pushed aside the out-of-date animal-drawn carts. Her washerwoman mother’s daily wages had become rarer because local households had bought washing machines. It was a matter of time before they would be left without any income at all. These miserable thoughts made her come to a decision. She couldn’t put up with this kind of life any longer and she would take her chances. The next morning when she found herself alone at home for a while because her grandmother had gone to a neighbour for her morning coffee and her siblings were playing in a nearby field she sat and wrote the following letter to her family.

      “My dear parents,

       I am sorry to cause you pain but I am leaving for Athens. It is impossible for me to carry on living under these conditions. When I find work I will send you a little money for the children. I hope you will understand me and not hold my leaving against me.

       With kisses and with my love forever,

       Melina.”

      She folded the letter carefully and put it into her pocket. Then she found a worn travel bag and packed her few personal belongings. She covered it with a blanket and went out to phone Paris. It was 9 a.m. and he was still asleep.

      “I’m coming with you, Paris,” she said. “Come in an hour to the end of my street to pick me up.”

      “I’ll be there!” he replied and got up to start packing his suitcase. He paid his hotel bill, hurriedly drank a coffee and started off for Melina’s house. At 10 a.m. on the dot he saw her running towards him holding onto her travel bag. Paris opened the door for her and placed her bag on the back seat.

      “Leave quickly so they won’t see us!” she said to him out of breath.

      The man put his foot down on the accelerator and in a short time the car was beyond the town’s limits.

      Mrs. Magdalini, a neighbour of Melina’s who was hanging out her washing on her balcony saw the sports car and the girl with the travel bag getting into it and hung over the railing with great curiosity to see what was going on. She looked at the driver and noted he wasn’t from their parts. He was a total stranger.

      “Now where has the blessed girl taken off to with the stranger?” Mrs. Magdalini wondered, anxiously. She went indoors and told her invalid husband about what had happened. “Should I inform Mr. Nikos, Melina’s father, Manoli?” she asked him.

      “Stay where you are and don’t meddle in other people’s business. Whatever they are going to find out let them do it on their own. I’m not in the mood for an altercation!” Manoli said to her firmly.

      “My husband is right,” the woman thought. “Mr. Nikos may be insulted and get angry if I tell him what I saw. Let it pass! We’ll soon find out what happened. “

      In the afternoon when Melina’s parents returned home they found their daughter’s letter on the table. They almost collapsed when they read its contents.

      “What a mess the wretched girl has landed us in,” cried her mother with sorrow in her heart. “Who will stop people gossiping now?”

      “I thought we had been through everything, without this happening. Our daughter taking off!” said Mr. Niko sternly.

      “What do we do now?” asked the mother. “Where will we find her to bring her back?”

      “We can’t do anything,” the father replied. “She is over 18. She isn’t a minor for us to call the police. Whatever was to happen to us has happened! We’ll have to wait for her to contact us sooner or later.”

      A few hours later the town was buzzing with gossip. Two or three other villagers had seen Melina in the sport car and had told everyone.