The Good in Me

It was just an ordinary day for Francis Valois, who was casually strolling down the streets of Santorini in Greece, passing by the shops, houses and the few people he knew – including some beautiful ladies in their beachwear and shades. He was miles away from his problems in France and his family. He had been staying in Santorini for almost a year now – it was just supposed to be a few weeks for him to unwind and relax but now, it was almost a year later and he wasn't planning on leaving his self-proclaimed oasis. Oh yes, with his blue mesh shirt, linen pants and sunglasses, Francis was happily enjoying his life at the moment.

"Geiá, Francis!" A man with a heavy Greek accent called to him. He turned to see one of his buddies, Alessandro. "Are you going to the party later?"

"Óchi," He answered with his brilliant smile as he ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair. "Maybe next time."

"Kalá, o fílos mou" Alessandro replied as he walked away from Francis, "Maybe next time, alright?"

"You can count on it!" Francis said loudly as he walked farther from his friend.

He hummed silently to himself as he made his way up the stairs up to a resort house where he was staying. The resort was close and has been closed for seven months now, Francis's friend owned it but decided to close it down when he got married and moved to America, however Francis didn't want it to close and for the workers to lose their jobs, therefor he proposed he would run it. However, during off seasons, he would close it down and let the staff go back to their families and rest.

Francis wasn't sure why but he was extremely happy today and nothing could have dampened his mood. Life was good for the twenty-one year old Francis Valois and he loved it!

"Sir Francis, " Jamal, one of the few staff of the resort who stays all year round, called to his employer. "There is someone here to see you. She is in the lobby."

Francis wondered for a moment, it couldn't have been one of his lady friends, all of them went straight to him or his room.

He went up to the lobby and was surprised to see who it was.

"Le fils, Francis!" Catherine de' Medici, with her French accent mixed with the little remaining Italian accent she had called to her son, as she stood in the middle of the empty resort lobby dressed in one of her suit jacket and pants.

Francis couldn't imagine what she must have looked like among the casually dressed tourist around the island.

"Mother." He said, "What are you doing here?"

"You need to come back home and we also need to talk about Mary Stuart." His mother rolled her eyes after mentioning her name.

Francis cussed silently. So much for his cheerful mood.

"Mary Stuart!" James Stuart called to her daughter.

"Yes, father?" Mary entered her father's home office, her raven hair framing her small oval face perfectly. She was nervous as to why her father called her into his office. This wasn't good. She was in trouble.

"You're brother called today," Her father begun as his sat at his table. "He has a business trip on Saturday. He's going to France to visit the Valois's and he asked if you could accompany him. "

Mary was surprised; she hasn't been to France since she was fourteen.

"Why?" It was the first thing that came to her mind and when she saw her father's glare, she quickly thought of something to add. "Um, I mean, why is he going to visit the Valois?"

Her father cleared his throat and sat up straight in his chair. "We have some business deals to attend to and since you just graduated from university, your mother and I thought it would be best if you were to join your brother on this trip. To see how our family business works."

Well, that certainly answered the unasked question Mary had but was that really all? She didn't believe it, her father never made decisions that were purely that too two dimensional. There was something more to this business trip. She knew it.

"You're going to France?" Kenna asked, one of Mary's best friends. "Why? So you could be reminded of how hurt you were when you were fourteen?"

Mary gave her friend a disapproving look but, Kenna dismissed this look with a glance at their other friends for back up.

Greer, Lola and even Aylee seemed to side with Kenna on this one.

The five friends sat together in one of Linlithgow's best bistro for dinner.

"Kenna's right, why go there?" Greer asked, "You might just see him again."

"And remember how he hurt you." Aylee added.

Mary was sick of this, it has been years since the incident and she was ready to move on. Forgive and forget.

"Enough!" She said, "I'm alright with the possibility of seeing him again. It doesn't bother me and I'm going there for strictly business purposes."

"Mary, we're just worried about you." Lola said as she touched Mary's hand. "We remember how hurt you were."

"And because of that bastard, you haven't dated anyone since!" Kenna said, almost yelling. She has always been a loud one.

"Ladies, enough." Mary tried to stay calm. "It's been years. I've moved on, why can't you?"

Everyone at the table stayed silent for a moment, it was Aylee who spoke first.

"Because we recall how broken you were and it pained us to see you like that." Aylee said so simply that the rest of them were taken aback by her words, especially Mary.

Mary took a deep breath.

"Thank you. All of you." She touched each of their hands with gentleness and love. "You're the best friends' a person can have but it has been, what? Seven years? I've moved on. I've grown. I'm okay now. But thank you for your concern and worry. I love you all so much. "

The four girls all smiled. They loved Mary so much. She has always been the one they went to for help and advice. Mary has helped them so much in their lives that they just wanted to repay her in any means necessary. They didn't want to see her so hurt and broken again.

"Okay," Lola said, "Okay, we'll be silent about the issue. We won't mention it again. We promise, right?"

She turned to the other and all agreed.

"However, you weren't serious about before, right?" Kenna asked with an arched eyebrow.

"About what?" Mary inquired.

"Your trip to France isn't purely business, right?" Kenna questioned. "You are going to go shopping, right? You can't go to France and not go shopping. That is a crime!"

The ladies all laughed but agreed with her. It was a crime to visit one of the most beautiful and fashionable cities in the world and not go on a shopping spree. Oh, Mary was definitely planning on shopping.

AN/ Hello, thanks for reading.

Kindly review if you will.

The next chapter will be up in a few days.