The Honeymoon Trips
Chapter 53
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

The list of characters mentioned in this story belong to the various authors that created them. This is a fan-fiction story.

~~~000~~~

We appear before Mr. Pierre and Duris in a blink of an eye.

“You’re back! Were you successful?”

“We were, Mr. Pierre.”

“That’s great! You can tell us all about it as we tour Greece together!”

We follow Duris as we walk around Hephaestus’ Temple. He relates several stories that involves Hephaestus and the other Greek Gods.

“How long were we gone, Mr. Pierre?”

“About five minutes, Richard. Did it feel longer there?”

“Yes, my friends.”

“So, what happened when you got there, Richard?”

“I was tested by Ares and Poseidon, Mr. Pierre.”

“How did you fare?”

“Well it might be best if I described the encounter.” I then tell the story of how I defeated Ares.

“Hah, hah, hah, you put Ares on his back side?”

“I sure did, Duris. He didn’t expect my speed and strength. Also, my animal fighting style took him off guard. Ares admitted he gotten his ass whooped by a mortal.”

Everyone is chuckling and laughing. You can even hear our fairies giggling along with Brianna as well while we laughed.

“What happened when you faced Poseidon?”

“Poseidon saw my fighting ability against Ares. So, he challenged me to see what I can do with water.” I tell the story of my encounter with Poseidon.

“That’s impressive, Richard. You can now command the largest standing tidal wave. You’ll need that when you are in Japan and China in two years.”

“Do you know of a contact in Japan and China?”

“Yes I do, Richard. Japan will be the easier of the two. China will be a lot tougher. I’m just giving you fair warning, Richard. They did not like how you eliminated the world wide debt. The Chinese government loaned a lot of money out to the other countries.”

“Sigh . . . . I wonder if they realize they were just keeping the status quo. I mean, look at the countries whose internal economy collapsed. There were riots and thievery of the grocery stores. As soon as a semi pulled into a grocery store, they were mobbed by the crowds and emptied of their cargo. This can’t go on.”

“You’re right, Richard. The people in Greece here, suffered a lot. They wished this forgiveness of debt happened much sooner. But at least you did something about it and you got the world’s attention. I can tell you, the people here are very grateful for what you did here.”

“Well, you better help me keep a low profile, Duris. I don’t want to be the cause of a celebrity riot here.”

“Heh, heh, heh, that’s an idea. Perhaps we should let the government here give you thanks for what you did. That way it is out in the open and it is over with. The people here are a lot more respectful of the rich and famous than the other countries.”

“But, what about the paparazzi?”

“Hmm . . . you do have a point there, Richard. What can you do about it?”

“Here’s an idea, Duris and Mr. Pierre. Since I can communicate with the animals, mind to mind. I could send a bunch of flying insects and buzz them until they drop their cameras.”

“Heh, heh, heh, they would curse like crazy that their cameras are now broken. They deserve it.”

“I do remember one time, several news reporter got in my face in New York City. I stared at one of them and said politely, ‘Back off.’ They all backed off.”

“I remember that incident, Richard. I wouldn’t mind if you do that either. That’s if they get in your face again.”

After we toured Hephaestus’ Temple, we started walking back to the car. Duris takes us to an outdoor café on the water in Athens for lunch. Once we get out of the car, the fairies fly out in butterfly mode. They find a wide assortment of flowers around the café. They take their fill of nectar while we have our lunch. Duris orders us a great selection of the typical Greek food. That would be stuffed grape leaves, tzatziki sauce, lentil soup, rice dishes with chicken called souvlaki. Then there is the eggplant casserole called moussaka. We end the meal with a great serving of baklava for all of us. The waiters brings out ouzo drinks for Duris and Mr. Pierre. Brianna and I get cups of herbal tea. We sip the drinks while we do the small talk.

Then out of the corner of my eye, I see a photographer take a picture in our direction. Tiger, check out that photographer to our right. I think he just took a bunch of pictures.

We’re on it, father. We’ll let you know what is going on.

Then the butterflies flutter over to where the photographer is sitting. They see him talking to someone on his cell phone. The butterflies relay the conversation to our minds.

~~~000~~~

“I tell you sir, it’s him.”

“Whom are you talking about?”

“It’s Richard Moore. He has a beautiful woman with him. He is sitting with Mr. Pierre and Duris from the computer company that Mr. Pierre has here.”

“Does this beautiful woman have brunette hair to the shoulder?”

“She does, sir.”

“Then it is probably his wife. They just got married the first week in May.”

“His wife? Oh, they are probably on their honeymoon trip.”

“It seems that way, cub reporter.”

“Why are you calling me a cub reporter? I’m with a major media organization.”

“Because, I was in New York City when the trial of the decade or century took place. I was a reporter just like you, then. I got in front of Richard to get information from him. No one knew who he was. Then he turned around and looked at us and said ‘back off’. So I backed off.”

“Did you get an earful from your boss?”

“I sure did. But what I saw during the trial in the UN put everyone on notice. Don’t mess with Richard Moore.”

“Wha . . . wha . . .happened?”

“I could describe it. But, you better come to the office to watch the video.”

“Well . . .I . . Oops . . . he’s getting up from his chair sir. In fact he is walking this way. Oh, oh, . . .He’s stopping at my table and sitting down in front of me. What should I do?”

“Pay attention to what he says, Robert. I’ll talk to you later.” “Click.”

~~~000~~~

The reporter closes his cell phone and puts it into the belt clip holder.

I sit down in front of the reporter. I give a quick smile at him.

He gives his best smile. “Gulp.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“You’re Richard Moore. You’re the one who wiped out the world wide debt.”

“That’s right. However, don’t go blabbing my name around. I want to keep a low profile as much as possible.”

“Wh . . .wh . . .why . . . is that?”

“I just got married. This is my honeymoon trip with that beautiful brunette you saw over there.”

“That still doesn’t answer my ‘why’ question.”

“Then I’ll answer you with a question. See if you can figure it out.”

“Okay.”

“Suppose you loaned money to a friend. Then that friend either lost it or couldn’t pay it back. Do you still want your money back?”

“Why yes, it is my money.”

“Then multiply that for a world economy into the trillions of dollars. Do you still want your money back?”

“Uh . . .er. . . .uh . . . I guess I would never get that money back.”

“That’s right. Get your boss back on the phone. I want to talk to him.”

“Y . . . yes . . .yes sir.” He opens his cell phone and calls his boss.

“Ring . . . ring . . . Click” “Is he still there?”

“He wants to talk to you.”

“Put him on.”

He hands his cell phone to me. “Hello, this is Richard Moore. Whom am I speaking to?”

“I was the reporter who got in front of your face in New York City.”

“I remember your voice now. Are you doing all right?”

“I’m doing fine, sir. It is my boss back then who got reassigned to another office elsewhere. It seems his higher ups didn’t like his attitude too much. Once I saw the trial unfold in New York City, I knew you were somebody you don’t want to mess with. I’ll have my young reporter watch the video. I’m sorry he bothered you.”

“Well, if the photos don’t get published, then I’ll be happy. I will have enough on my plate when I face these groups if they come looking for me.”

“I hear you, Richard. Watch your back. And have a peaceful honeymoon.”

“I hope so, sir. However, don’t be surprised what you hear from the British Isles next week.”

“I’ve been watching there too, Richard. I heard through my grapevine there are several groups waiting for the one who will pull out the famed sword from the stone. The rumor I hear is an assassination attempt that will be very explosive.”

“Hmmm . . . I wonder who told you that? Was it someone with the inside scoop in Windsor?”

“You’re a good guesser, Richard. I’ll leave it at that. Have a great honeymoon, Richard.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Hand his cell phone back, Richard.”

I hand his cell phone back to the reporter.

He takes it and puts it to his ear. “What now, sir?”

“Now I’ll tell you why, you don’t want to mess with him. He has the black belt in the Shaolin martial arts.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you are to pack your camera and bags and get to my office right now. I’ll explain it then.”

He responds with a defeated voice, “Yes . . .sir.” “Click.” He closes the cell phone and puts it away. He looks at me, “I’m sorry to have troubled you. I need to report to my boss. Have a safe trip.”

“You have a safe trip as well, reporter.” I get up and walk back to our table.

The reporter puts his camera away into the carrying case. He gets up and leaves the table after paying his bill.

~~~000~~~

When I get back to my table, Duris, Mr. Pierre and Brianna stand up. I see Duris already paid our table bill and the tip.

Then we see the owner walking to us just before we leave. He stops before us. “I just want to thank you very much for what you did, Richard. You saved our economy and a lot of lives.”

Then several of the local people clap their hands around us.

“You’re welcome, sir.”

“Enjoy your honeymoon trip.”

We shake each others hand. I don’t see his face change like I usually do. I hear from the Creator. He is almost there, Richard. He will hear my voice when he attends church service the next time. We turn around and go our ways. Our butterflies flutter around us as we walk back to the car. As soon as the door opens, the butterflies flutter in quickly. We get into the limo and sit down. Then the butterflies flutter into our coat pockets.

“So, how did it go, Richard?”

Duris turns on the engine and drives to the hotel.

“It went fine, Mr. Pierre. That is one loose end tied up.” I then repeat the conversation I had with the reporter. Thank you for the help, my fairies.

You’re welcome, father, mother, Omega.

“Hmm . . . . You better be on guard when you are in the British Isles, Richard. It seems you have become a thorn in their side.”

“I know, Mr. Pierre.” Brianna takes my hand and squeezes it tightly.

It takes about a half hour to arrive at the Marriott in Athens. We pull up to the front entrance and open the doors. Two bellhops with dollies come forward. Duris opens the trunk. Our bags gets unloaded onto the dollies and pushed into the main lobby. Duris then hands the key to the valet and gets a receipt. The valet parks the car in the valet parking lot.

We walk up to the front desk to check in. Then the concierge does a double take when he sees me. I quickly put my finger to my lips. He nods his head up and down quietly. “Welcome to the Ledra Marriott. Your rooms are ready. Enjoy your Greek vacation.”

Duris thanks him in the Greek language.

“Before you leave, sir. I wish to thank you for what you did several years ago.”

“You’re welcome, sir. Obviously I don’t want the, ahem, the hawkers, pestering us. This is supposed to be our honeymoon trip.”

“I understand that completely, sir. If they were here, all of our guests here would be upset with the extra traffic. I’ll instruct the security staff to be on the alert. They have the authority to keep the peace for special people and everyone else that comes here.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The bellhops escorts us to our rooms on the fifth floor of the hotel. We have adjoining rooms. Once we are in the room, the fairies fly out quickly to inspect the room.

“This is great mother. It is big and spacious.”

“We see a balcony out here, father. This is great for us.”

We unpack the bags where we want to. Brianna hangs up our dress clothes in the closet right away. “Now we can do some fine dining, Richard.”

“Yes, now you can be seen in your beautiful dresses.”

“Giggle, yes I will. They will see you smartly dressed as well.”

Once we get everything put away, we get a knock on the door. “It is time do some more touring, Richard and Brianna.”

“We’re coming, Duris.” The fairies quickly fly into our coat pockets before we open the door. We put our key cards into our wallets. I put the fairies satchel on. Inside it has the crystals and the digital movie camera with extra batteries and memory cards. We follow Duris and Mr. Pierre back to the main lobby.

“We’ll be visiting a local museum to finish the day. Then we’ll start the day with a trip to the Acropolis tomorrow morning. The next day will be spent at the ancient Olympic arena.”

Duris takes us to one of the museums in downtown Athens. We enjoy it very much. The fairies, Brianna and I see the carved faces of the Greek gods. We smile, they are pretty close to what we saw for real on Olympus. However, the Zeus we saw is clean shaven and not with a white beard in the drawings and the carved busts.

After spending two hours in the museum, Duris takes us back to the hotel. We get ourselves ready for some fine dining. We get ourselves cleaned up and smelling great. Brianna smiles as she does her make up for the evening. I smile proudly as we look at each other.

Our fairies stay behind in the room. They watch the latest news and weather reports.

When we arrive at the main restaurant, we get escorted by the maitre-de. He has a big smile on his face. We see two security guards in the main dining room. I nod my head up and down slightly. They nod their heads up and down slightly.

The maitre-de hands out the menus to the four of us. We order the typical Greek food that we saw earlier at the café, plus a few different items and desserts as well. We enjoy the food especially. We get done eating in about an hour. We finish the meal with ouzos and herbal tea like we had during lunch.

After our small talk, Duris pays the meal for us. “The first day is my treat, Richard. You’ll be paying for your own from here on out. We’ll be paying for ourselves.”

I smile at him, “That’s fine, Duris.”

The bill is paid. Then we get up and walk to the pool side of the hotel complex. We see the sunset change colors through the clouds and the sky. Then we see the stars come out.

“Where are they, Richard?”

“They are behind the star, Thuban. It is the Draco constellation. Thuban used to be the polar star at the time of Cheops.”

“I get it now. That is very nice to know.”

We clap our hands to give thanks to the Creator. We return back to our rooms. We have to be up at 6 AM. Have breakfast by 7 AM. We need to be at the Acropolis by 8 AM.

We all change our day clothes into our night clothes and get under the covers. Brianna turns to me. “Thank you for the compliment, Richard. I’m your beautiful brunette wife.”

“Yes, you are.” We kiss each other before we spoon each other, just before we fall asleep in the beds.