Race among the Ruins

She just needed to talk to Aaron. She hadn't even actually had an affair. She'd just been flirting with Bob for the past week because she needed to convince him to let her have the professorship. Or at least name her as a part of their team so that she could be in the running for it. Bob had picked up a new research assistant who'd been let go from her position as a teaching aide, some young English girl; one of those nerdy types who wore big glasses and baggy clothes. The blowjob had been to reward Bob for firing the girl and letting Stacy have the research assistant credit. Though to be honest her flirting had hinted that she might reward him that way anyway.

By being on the team, Stacy would be able to submit an application for the professorship. If everything went as planned, she'd be the professor and Bob and Aaron could be explorers or treasure hunters as they'd always been.

Though she and Bob both had doctorates, she had more teaching experience. Bob had more field experience though all he ever did was research and comb through records. It was actually Aaron who went and did the bulk of the actual field work. Diving, digging, and climbing were the things that he loved doing. The three of them would be a formidable team. The team just needed to be restructured so that three people all did their parts instead of two.

Stacy was only trying to break into the boys club, not break it up. In her mind they'd be perfect. Bob would do the research and figure out what they were going after. Aaron would go and get it and Stacy would teach and lecture about it later. It would have been perfect.

It really would have been, but now it was all fucked up. Not only was the team broken up, Stacy's marriage to a man who had always treated her well and respected her, whom she also happened to love, was in jeopardy. She had also destroyed a lifelong friendship between the two men. Aaron had disappeared on her. She was still shocked that he hadn't shown up. She was further shocked that Robert actually thought that something was going on between them.

Apparently he'd thought that her "thank you for firing the bimbo" blow job was the beginning of some kind of relationship. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Robert couldn't compete with her husband on any level. He wasn't as attractive. He didn't arouse her in any way and she didn't like him nearly as much. Except for on a purely intellectual level, they had nothing at all in common. He had to be delusional to even think it.

After he'd gone to the hospital, where the emergency room doctors had numbed Bob's scrotum so they could remove it from the zipper he'd constantly used the term "We" in conversation. "What are "We" going to do?" he'd asked. "How are "We" going to handle this?" Didn't he now that there wasn't a "We?" Bob had always treated her like one of his students. Until now he'd had no respect for her. The funny thing was that now, the one man who did treat her like an equal, the one man who respected her for her brain as well as her body, wanted nothing to do with her.

To make things worse, she'd had to leave the gala with her head down. The embarrassment alone of her "walk of shame," had nearly killed her. None of the people who'd seen them would have much respect for them after that. Especially damning had been the reaction from the Dean's wife. That smoldering, dark haired woman had looked at Stacy as if she could see into her soul and found her wanting.

Elena Rinehart had looked at her with almost pity in her eyes. Stacy had asked her if she knew where Aaron had gone off to. She'd posed the question just to break the awkward silence, but also to give the woman the impression that Stacy intended to find her husband and make things right with him. Stacy knew those Greek women were reported to be very family oriented, but then most women were.

Elena had looked back into Stacy's eyes and said with a smile, "Don't worry about him. He'll be just fine. I'll see to it."

Remembering the woman's tone and expression had brought chills to Stacy. Thinking back on it now, she had to find Aaron. It shouldn't be too hard to do. That car of his ought to stick out like a sore thumb. How many Mustangs could there be on a small island?

Stacy dried herself off and started to get dressed. She put on a flower patterned blouse and cargo shorts. She also planned on wearing her favorite shoes. They had a high wedge heel that really made her calves stand out. Stacy was tall and slender. She had a figure that looked great in a bikini. Her legs were long and thin and her waist was flat. Her very light sun bleached blond hair and her blue eyes were probably her best features. Aaron had never been able to deny her anything when she pouted a little and hit him with those baby blue eyes.

Just as she started to put her shoes on, someone knocked at the door. Stacy hobbled over with one shoe on and the other one in her hand to answer it thinking that it might be Aaron.

Robert stood or hunched on the other side of the door.

"Hello sweetheart," he said. His voice sounded dry and devoid of any emotion. "I would have been here earlier but I had to wait for the pain killers to kick in. I didn't want to call because I didn't know whether your husband had come back or not. I can see that he hasn't. I can tell that because his other wife isn't parked in the driveway."

"So what do you want, Bob," asked Stacy.

"Oh don't be upset Angel. I know that this isn't the way that you wanted this to happen. To tell you the truth this isn't what I wanted either. I really want to avoid hurting Aaron. After all, he is my best friend and partner. But I guess the attraction between us was just too strong. Anyway I'm sure we'll pull all of this back together in time to get out there and find ourselves a chunk of history. After all this is business and we're all professionals. In fact, that's why I came."

"You came here to suggest that we bury the hatchet and let bygones be bygones?" asked Stacy.

"No, I came here because we have a meeting to go to over at the university to discuss the amount of support they'll give us and what they want us to do," said Robert. "If Aaron's not back the two of us will have to go alone. He's usually bored at these things anyway. My whole face has swollen up and my jaw hurts every time I speak. It's going to be an awkward meeting."

Stacy realized that she had no choice but to attend the meeting. She wanted to be considered a part of the team and not just Aaron's wife. Being at the meeting and expressing herself would get people to see her as a true partner in this. So instead of tracking down her husband like she wanted to, Stacy followed Robert to his car.

Maria was buzzing with excitement. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. She'd been expecting for Elena to offer her a position as a teaching assistant or maybe a position as a gopher on one of the expeditions. To be truthful she'd have preferred the gopher job because she had literally, no field experience to speak of. Research assistant was totally out of her reach, but head researcher was more than a dream, it was a pure fantasy. Of course she'd have to sell her future partner on the idea. And judging from what Elena had told her of his life during the past twenty four hours she wasn't sure what state he'd be in, but time was short.

Maria was sure she could handle it. She had four brothers and had helped a couple of them through some relatively rough break ups. They also had something in common. His former partner was the one who'd hired her as a research assistant just days after she'd lost her teaching assistant post and then fired her before she even started to work for him. So neither of them was very happy with Dr. Thompson.

She'd been let go by Professor Dilworth, after working for him for a semester and a half. It had been totally his fault. He'd decided to take his staff out to dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate a local holiday. The restaurant's dress code meant that Maria couldn't wear her baggy clothing. She'd worn a formless sack dress that was nice but still loose enough to conceal her figure.

Maria had been the subject of much unwanted attention since she started sprouting breasts. Her figure gave some men the idea that she was up for grabs. Her large breasts drew far too much unwanted attention to her. Her slim waist only served to make them seem even larger than they were. She wore the baggy clothing to make people think that maybe she was just fat.

Maria also had contact lenses that she could wear, but the large unsightly glasses helped to make her less attractive and she always kept her longish curly honey colored hair tied back in a bun that was so tight and severe that it made her seem like a much older woman.

When the professor and the other men on his staff took a look at her breasts they didn't care what the rest of her looked like. The very next day the professor himself started "accidentally" rubbing against her every time he could manage it. When he finally got the nerve to simply grab one of her breasts, Maria kneed him in his sensitive area so hard that he walked funny for a week. The next day he apologized very sincerely and told her it wouldn't happen again. She actually believed him.

Two weeks later he called all of his staff together and laid them all off. At first Maria thought that it was directed towards her, but she found out that he'd laid all of his staff off. He'd laid the men off as well as both women. That settled her down and made her think that it was just a cost cutting move.

A few weeks after the layoff, Maria found out that she was the only one who hadn't been called back to work for the professor. In fact, the others had all been rehired less than a week after they were laid off.

Then there had come the research assistant position with Dr. Thompson. Maria had just found out that Thompson had given her position to another woman whom he was reportedly sleeping with. He'd looked like the grabby type anyway.

Maria slipped into the back of the meeting room and recorded every word that was said and also took notes. Elena had told her that her new partner would probably be out of sorts for a few days and they'd need to submit their research and a location in their bid for funding and resources from the museum. They'd only have 4 days to do their research and present their bid. The Dean would fund the best four teams. There were at least twelve teams here. Some of them were known for traveling all over the world to find things.

Thompson and Anderson had a great reputation in the field. Maria wondered how exactly this would work. It was quite possible that she'd end up on their team anyway. That was one of the possible situations that Elena had suggested to her. That T and A would put their problems behind them and work together. If that happened she'd probably be Anderson's assistant and the other woman, whoever she was, would be Thompson's.

As she looked around she saw Thompson and some woman at his side but didn't see Anderson at all. Not that she knew what he looked like. Elena had only told her that he was big and handsome. Maria nodded politely at Thompson and taking her notes left as soon as the meeting ended. She needed to find her new partner and get started on their bid ASAP.

Elena had told her that he and his wife had rented a villa just off of campus. She decided to start there. She got a ride with one of her friends and turned up an hour or so after the meeting. She walked up to the door and knocked on it. She waited for a few moment s and knocked again. The villa was in great shape, not that its current occupants had anything to do with that. There were some areas that could use a bit of sprucing up, but that was to be expected. Having a home of her own was one of the things that Maria looked forward to. She wanted it all. She wanted to have a successful career and balance it out with a home and family.

The career thing was looking up, but she still had yet to meet a man that she could truly say interested her. She'd had lots of first dates but very few second dates and hardly any third dates. It wasn't like she was a virgin or anything. But she seemed to draw out the weirdos. They all started out being her non-sexual friend, mostly because when they saw her in her normal working clothes they didn't see her as attractive. But as soon as she showed any interest in them and they got to see what she was really built like, all of the non-sexual friendships and interest in her as a person disappeared.

They went from, "Hey friend, wanna play Modern Warfare," to "Hey baby can I feel those tits," in the same breath. The older men, as professor Dilworth had shown, were no different.

Finally a woman came to the door. She looked as though she recognized Maria, which was strange because Maria couldn't remember ever meeting her. Then her mind clicked. She was the woman who'd been with Dr. Thompson at the meeting.

"Can I help you?" asked the woman. She was probably nearing forty and though pretty for her age, seemed to be kind of out of sorts at the moment. She was tall and slender. She also wasn't encumbered by Maria's heavy breasts. Maria would have died to be built like that.

"If you're looking for Robert, he doesn't live here and you won't find him here. I had nothing to do with him letting you go," said the woman. She couldn't seem to look Maria in the eyes.

"Actually, I was looking for Mr. Anderson," said Maria cheerfully. "Is he here?"

"No he isn't and why would you be looking for my husband?" asked the woman. Maria had already decided that she didn't like her."

"Business," said Maria, and started to leave.

"What kind of business?" Asked Stacy who was becoming more upset with each passing second.

"Nunya," said Maria.

"What the hell does that mean? Speak English," said the woman.

"It means that my reasons are none of your business," said Maria. "Have a really nice day." Maria walked away and got back in her friend's waiting car and they sped off. She felt like a complete idiot. Elena had told her that Anderson and his wife were in the middle of some kind of tiff. Why the hell did she go to his house? She'd have to look for him in other places, but where?

Maria called Elena and asked her where she might find Mr. Anderson. Elena thought about it for a second and told Maria that the island was a very small place. There weren't too many places he could hide and he was probably hiding. You start checking hotels and look for his car. He drives one of those loud sporty cars, the American one with the horse on the front. Elena told her that she'd also check on it and call her back.

Elena Rinehart was a strange woman, thought Maria. Though she didn't appear to be much older than Maria; her mannerisms often suggested a much older woman. Maria absent mindedly fingered the necklace that Elena had given her at their first meeting. Even stranger was the fact that the woman had made Maria promise not to ever take it off for as long as she was in the region.

"It will protect you," said Elena. It smacked of old world beliefs and witchcraft to Maria. How backwards could a University Dean's wife be? Oh well, Maria liked Elena and she'd given her word, so she wore the necklace. It was pretty anyway.

Nearly four hours later Elena called her back. "It took a while to find him, even for me. Apparently the people here love that man already. He's definitely hurting over what happened at the gala." Elena told Maria what had happened and told her to keep it to herself. "He has a room at the Hanging Dog Hotel down near the harbor," said Elena. "You need to find him fast if you want to get on the team. From what I hear, Thompson will be ready with the team's bid in only a few days. If you're not signed on by then, you may still go out with them but it'll only be as a crew member, which won't get you any kind of credit. And I want you to have that."

Maria borrowed the friend's car and headed for the harbor. Once there she walked around and asked directions to the Hanging Dog. It took a while for her to get over the fact that everyone she met wanted to ask about her accent. Then it took even longer to realize that no one actually called it the Hanging Dog. All of the locals called it the Hang Dog. She couldn't figure that one out but it didn't really matter. She went to the hotel. It was smaller than she expected and kind of seedy.

It was about 8 p.m. when she got there and just starting to get dark. The sun going down and the moon rising over the sea was really wonderful to look at. If Maria had time, she'd love to just take her shoes off and stroll along the beach. Of course, unlike in her dreams, she'd be doing it alone. But shit a beautiful ocean front stroll was a beautiful ocean front stroll. Whether she was with someone or not, it would still be a very special thing to remember someday.

Maria sat at the bar and fended off some of the local gigolos who all thought that they'd sweep her off her feet, out of her panties and into the poor house in one evening.

"Oh my God, your accent is so wonderful, beautiful lady," said one truly inspired lothario.

"Look Romeo, get the fuck away from me," snapped Maria smiling. "If you don't just turn around and leave, I'll scream "Rape" at the top of my God damned lungs." She said all of this in a voice that only he could hear while smiling the whole time.

"So sorry," he said just loud enough for the people in the immediate vicinity to hear. "I did not realize that you were a lesbian."

After that exchange, Maria was pretty much left alone. However, several women did come over to sit near her, but none of them made a move.

Maria had begun to think that Elena had led her on a wild goose chase. After all what would a famous explorer be doing in a place like this? Everywhere she looked, there were the gigolos and a few whores plying their trade on the few tourists who'd ventured this far off from the typical tourist haunts. Most of the people here were only here to drink and relax. There had been a few musicians who played a song or two during the evening. Some played Gypsy type music while others had gone for the traditional Greek genre. Nearly all were met with a smattering of applause and a lot of disinterest.

Just when Maria was about to leave, it happened. She'd drunk more than her usual amount of beer and had decided that she was going back to the dorm to pee. A big man came down the back staircase. He was well over six feet tall and though he was smiling, his eyes conveyed a sense of sadness deeper than anything Maria had ever seen. If it could be said about a man, he was beautiful. He had dirty blond hair and eyes as deep a shade of blue as the ocean outside.

He staggered into the bar area as if he was a little bit drunk. He was met by a round of catcalls. The funny thing about it was that though he seemed to be loved and accepted by all of the locals, he didn't look like one of them. He didn't appear to be Greek. He looked like an American.

He sat down in front of the bar and someone patted him on the back and stuck a drink down near him. The drink they gave him wasn't one of the tourist drinks or even the bottled liquor the bar served. It was in a pot or a jar. It appeared to be some type of Greek homebrew. He looked at it, sniffed it and titled his head back. His eyes got huge, which for some reason caused Maria to smile.

"Wow," he said in a really loud voice. "That'll put hair on your chest." The crowd roared and Maria couldn't help but laugh at him too. For some reason she wanted to like the man as much as everyone else here did.

"Sing one Andy," yelled someone from the back. Now Maria knew what the man's name was. It was Andy, something or other. Someone handed the man a guitar that looked like it had seen better days. He made a few adjustments of the tuning pegs and strummed it. He tapped the back of the guitar and strummed it again.