Mastermind

Greece, August 6th 2022

"Hello...wake up, it's time to go-" Thrashing out into the darkness, my hand connected with skin. "Ow! You really must have it out for me."

"What are you on about! You being the one who snuck into my room at...four in the morning." The sky was just beginning to light so I could make out his form. My morning brain loosened the lock I had placed over really seeing him. But, in a loose t-shirt, sweatpants and a grin it was a fight to still the butterflies.

"We're leaving in forty so I just thought you would want a wake up call."

"I...I have an alarm set. But, thank you." Gazes locking, a chill went through my body. He walked out, leaving me alone, without a cracked window or cold vent in the room.

When we stepped off the plane in Greece, there was a car waiting on the jetway. Pierre laughed,

"Maman tu n'as pas fait." He looked at his mother then gestured to the man sitting in the front seat. I watched as he strode over and spoke quietly with our presumed driver, finally handing him a bill.

"Qu'est-ce que tu lui as dit?" Pascale yelled.

"He said I could drive! Also, his car is just in the garage so it's not a far walk. And why have him?" Pierre gestured to where the man had been standing, "when you have a perfectly good driver right here." His mother scoffed as his brothers and I moved towards the back doors.

"Merde...I'm sitting with you to make sure you don't go too fast." We all piled into the car and he sped off the jetway causing us all to reach for something steady.

"Sorry habit." The grin in his voice was evident. We drove across all kinds of areas: first Athens, countryside villages, then we reached the coast. The breath was taken from me when I saw the blue water. Looking through the windshield, I caught Pierre's gaze in the rearview mirror. Our eyes were locked for a brief second and the feeling from this morning creeped into my gut.

Nausea.

Am I going to throw up?

Carsick?

I had felt this before, but not while sober.

I don't like it.

Shifting my gaze before the heat could reach my face,I went back to gawking at the scenery. After another hour, we arrived at what felt like the end of the world, all that was left was an expanse of sea. A large white boat was docked at the end of a wooden dock and I could not believe any of this was real. Taking my journal, I moved to the front of the boat and settled in for the ride. I tried to take my focus from the french driver chasing his brothers as my heart panged at the family bond. These skeletons of songs needed to be turned into something I could work with. Pascale's words rang through me like the waves we traveled over.

You will never heal if you are unable to face the past.

Anger cleared any calm I had out of my body. In a flash, I threw my journal and watched it slide across the deck. Forcing my eyes closed, my breaths turned shallow. A weight was slowly being lowered onto my chest. Footsteps approached, then someone took a seat about two feet away from me.

"I think this is yours?" That voice expelled the darkness. "How did it end up over there?"

"How is that any of your concern?" I realized my tone was harsher than I intended when the frenchman stiffened. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. There's just a lot of pressure to get these right." I laid back and gazed up at the darkening sky. Movement next to me began, then his face appeared in my field of vision,

"Tu es tendue," he raised his eyebrows at me.

"What did you just call me?" I quickly rose from my back. As he crouched, the smell of his cologne got caught in my nose. He looked me in the eyes and enunciated each word,