A silence fell over them, and neither party moved to occupy it. Alex grabbed the water, refilling her glass and offering a refill to Paul with a subtle tilt of the bottle. He nodded, sliding his glass her way with the back of his hand.

The same harsh sunlight landed on their table again, prompting Paul to move his glass out of its path. As it had before, the brightness felt almost accusatory, like it was pointing out something neither of them had a desire to acknowledge. She glanced down toward her chipped nails and, almost without thinking, slipped her hand beneath the table to hide the physical evidence of her anxiety. Across the patio, she noticed a couple seated on the same side of a table, sipping their drinks and leaning in for overlong embraces that bordered on inappropriate.

“Get a load of them,” she muttered, tapping her finger on the table to get Paul’s attention.

He slid his sunglasses down his nose, rolling his eyes. “Ugh, we get it, you’re just so horny for each other. Congratulations.”

She looked over at him, offering her first tentative smile since he’d sat down.

“I know you were just trying to defend me.” She reached across the table, taking his hand in hers. ”I’m sorry for being a bitch.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” he instantly corrected. “And I want you to have fun in Athens. You know I always thought you should stop by there.”

Alex knew that his haste in ending the argument was more about his own eagerness to pivot away from Guy than in her rightness, but she leaned in.

“Thank you.”

“Are you going to Kynosoura?”

It was the first time in years she’d heard the name of the resort she’d worked for after college, and it sounded funny to her ears—from an alternate universe, almost.

“Yeah, I think so. It’ll be fun.”

“You know,” Paul replied, a flicker of discomfort overtaking his face again, “I’m just going to say this, for whatever it’s worth. But whenever I talk to your mom, she doesn’t ask me about your dating life.”

“Yeah?” Alex’s heart pinched slightly at their last conversation, the harshness of its ending.

“Yeah. She just asks me if you’re happy.”

The waiter arrived, setting their overfull plates down with a flourish. The two of them nodded thank you in sync before picking up their utensils. She knew that neither of them had much of an appetite, but they would both put forth a good effort. If nothing else, stretching out this lunch meant avoiding everything else. In just a few hours, Paul would be back on the Verseau with a fiancé who constantly belittled him, and Alex would be in her tiny hotel room, as alone as she’d ever been. They chewed in silence, looking out onto the ancient street full of tourists.