The Last Nymph

The Blessing and Curse of Eros

When the four arrived at the opulent hotel, Golden Trident for the night, Doc was already worried his presence with Maera was an imposition on Jim and Diane. Once they passed through its lobby with its pastel colors and low, indirect lighting, they were led by their hosts to the large suite they had been in for a week. While passing through the main room Doc asked Jim once again if the two would rather spend their last night alone and with privacy.

"Look, Dr. Roussos," Jim said, taking him by the arm. "Let me show you two something. He led them down a short hall beyond the master bedroom to another room. When the door was opened, and the light switched on, both Maera and Doc peered into a quaint room with a queen-sized bed in the center of the space. There was an adjoining bathroom and a large curtain, which when pulled back by Jim, revealed the bright lights of Lefkada's Old Town below and the sea beyond.

"That's so beautiful!" Maera exclaimed under her breath.

"And look there," Doc whispered to her. "Across the sea. You see that dark mountain rising out of the water? That's our home. That's Kalamos."

"It's so small from here," she said. "So dark."

"No people there," Doc answered back. "On that side of the island there lives just a crazy professor and . . ."

"A Nymph," she said boldly, loud enough for Jim to hear.

"Yes, a Nymph," Doc replied

Jim just laughed.

At that point Diane showed up in the small room with them.

"Now you two make yourselves comfortable here. You'll probably want to take showers." She quickly went into the bathroom and surveyed the toiletries and existence of towels and robes.

"All set," she said.

"Now after you're all cleaned up and ready for bed," Jim added, "drop over to the main room for some fresh fruit we're having brought up. Some Champaign, possibly a movie, and . . . what other indulgences have you got planed as a night cap, Diane?"

"Well, you'll all just have to come and see," she said in a devilish voice.

Doc was uncertain what meaning was dangling in the air of the comment, while Maera just innocently smiled at the festive sound of it all.

As their hosts left them in the room, Maera instantly went into the bathroom and began exploring the soaps and creams on the sink. Doc followed her in and saw that she was fascinated by the glass doors of the shower stall.

"What is in there," she asked excitedly.

"It's a shower. Where you go in and wash yourself . . . under the water."

"Under the water?"

Doc smiled, never tiring of being mystified by what Maera did not know.

"Here, look." He opened the opaque glass door and reached in to turn on the showerhead by its large glass ball.

"Oh! I see! And you get under the water?"

"Yes. And you wash your body with these. He handed her a colorful wash cloth and the small bottles of perfumed soap.

"Oh, Doc I've missed the water on my body . . . all day!

"Well, now you just get in there and live it up."

"No clothes?"

He laughed to himself.

"Nope. No clothes, Maera. Just your body and the water. And soap, of course."