Lilliana Jones and the Temple of Groom

by Rich Amooi

  Marco let out a nervous chuckle. Why was he so nervous? Maybe he knew if he kissed her again it would feel different this time. Because his feelings had changed. They were stronger.

  He was falling in love with her.

  Hell, forget about falling. He had already fallen.

  Hard.

  Maybe he was the one who needed more wine.

  He slammed the rest of his glass and set it on the table. “Come with me, please.” He grabbed Lilly’s hand and pulled her toward the fig tree in the corner of the yard.

  Lilly smiled and pointed to the tree. “You going to pick fruit?”

  He shook his head. “There’s something else I want that’s a lot sweeter.”

  He leaned forward and kissed Lilly, pulling her closer. He deepened the kiss when she responded positively by running her fingers across the back of his neck and through the hair above the back of his shirt collar. A good sign.

  She was enjoying it as much as he was.

  He had to tell her he loved her. He didn't know how she'd react but he had to. Now was the perfect time.

  Or maybe not.

  Stefano came back out from the house and rang the cowbell, startling both Marco and Lilly. “Okay, my friends. We have pasta, pasta, and pasta. Buon appetito!”

  Lilly broke off the wonderful kiss with Marco with the sound of the cowbell and they turned back toward the house. Stefano and Daniella waved them over for dinner even though she would have been happy continuing that kiss.

  That kiss.

  She wanted more, but the moment was gone.

  Stefano gestured toward the table with the plates and food. “Please help yourself.”

  Marco grabbed two plates. “I’m starving.” He handed a plate to Lilly. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  “Thank you. I’m starving.”

  They filled their plates with food and sat.

  Lilly scooted her chair in and brushed arms with Marco.

  “What?” Marco said.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You looked like you wanted to.”

  “Nope.”

  Marco nodded and took a bite of his salad.

  “That must be so wonderful that your best friend is married to your sister,” Lilly said.

  Marco smiled and winked at his sister. “It’s the best.”

  “Was he your best friend before they dated?”

  “No. He was a wine distributor who I did business with. One of the nicest, most honest guys and—”

  “You introduced them?”

  Daniella nodded. “He made sure we were in the same place at the same time. Marco was having a special wine event and invited us both. He’s sneaky but I will never complain.”

  Stefano passed the bread to Daniella and then dropped his hand below the table to Daniella's lap.

  Sweet. They looked happy. In love.

  She wanted that.

  She glanced over to Marco.

  “You’re doing it again,” Marco said, this time grinning. “Are you going to say what’s on your mind or pretend it was nothing?”

  “I’ll pretend. But I was just thinking . . . you’re a matchmaker. Like Hitch.”

  Marco chuckled. “Not quite.” He shrugged. “Okay. Maybe I am . . .”

  “You are. And you’re a romantic too—quoting Will Smith like that.” Lilly laughed and took a bite of her pasta.

  “Okay, now you’re making fun of me.”

  “Nooooo. Me?”

  They laughed and enjoyed dinner with Stefano and Daniella.

  Later after the plates were cleared, they sipped on dessert wine, continuing to chat about life and love.

  “What do you do in the States, Lilly?” Stefano asked.

  “I work at a high tech company in Silicon Valley. I’m vice president of human resources.”

  Stefano nodded, a confused look on his face. “I find it odd they need to clarify that the resources are for humans. Do you have animals working for your company?”

  Lilly laughed. “Sometimes it seems like it.” Her phone sounded from an incoming text. “I’m so sorry. I think this is work related.”

  “It's okay,” Daniella said.

  Lilly pulled the phone from her purse. The text was from Roberto.

  My grandfather said you stopped by. I’m staying at Hotel Florence in Sorrento, if you’d like to call or stop by. Room 227. It would be great to see you.

  Lilly read the text again. Roberto seemed eager to see her, which was a great sign.

  “Everything okay?” asked Marco.

  Lilly nodded. “It’s from Roberto. He’s at the hotel and said I can stop by now.” She glanced over at Daniella and Stefano. “This has been a wonderful evening. Unfortunately, I must go.”

  Daniella frowned. “You can’t stay a little longer? We have an extra bedroom, so you can stay the night with us. I’d love that.”

  “I’d love it too, but if I don’t get this contract signed I won’t have a job because we won’t have a company. How long does it take to get to Hotel Florence from here?”

  “About thirty minutes,” said Daniella. “Twenty minutes if my brother is driving.”

  Marco shook his head. “Very funny, but we took the bus.”

  Stefano pushed his plate to the center of the table and stood. “Not a problem. Take my car.” He pulled the keys from his pocket and tossed them to Marco. “It was a pleasure having you here, Lilly, and you’re welcome back anytime. With or without Marco.”

  “Hey!” said Marco, pretending to be hurt by that comment.

  Lilly would love to return with Marco. But that wasn’t realistic. Was the ride to the hotel going to be the last time they saw each other? The last few days with Marco had been the best and all she wanted now was for him to say something, anything that would give her hope. Hope that there was a way they could see each other. A way for them to be together.

  That look on his face wasn’t a good sign.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Marco said little as he drove Lilly to the hotel. If he wanted to say something, he’d better hurry. They had about ten minutes until they got there. But what would he say?

  Say something. Anything.

  Marco pointed out the window. “Even beautiful at night, isn’t it?”

  That’s what you wanted to say? You’ve spent the most amazing few days with the woman of your dreams and you want to talk about things out the window? Wake up and smell the cappuccino!

  Lilly was deep in thought, turning to Marco. “Yeah . . .” Her energy was low, almost nonexistent. “Gorgeous.” She turned and stared out the window again.

  “Like you . . .”

  Better. A little cliché but not bad.

  “Thank you. And thank you for your help. I know I messed up your vacation.”

  Did she really think that? Wasn’t she even aware of how much he enjoyed her company? How much he didn’t want to say goodbye? How much he enjoyed kissing her?

  Tell her.

  “You didn’t mess up my vacation. I thought it was obvious how much fun I had with you.”

  She shrugged, but didn’t reply.

  “So . . . what’s the plan?” he asked, hoping to at least get the conversation a little deeper before they arrived.

  “Well . . . talk with Roberto. Get him to accept the job offer and then go back home.”

  “You don’t have time to see anything else?”

  “My flight isn’t until six in the evening, so I think I'll see the Trevi Fountain in the afternoon right before I go.”

  “Are you going to re-enact a scene from a movie? Maybe take a dip in the water?”

  She chuckled. “Not quite. I don’t want to get arrested on my last day. But it would be nice to see it.”

  Marco’s heart rate picked up as he pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. He should ask to see her again back in the States. Get together for a beer or a glass of wine or kissing. Lots of kissing. Or maybe they could spend a few hundred months together. But he had to
go to Australia. He didn’t want to go—had no interest. What was he going to say?

  Tell her you love her.

  Like that would go over well.

  Hey, Lilly. I love you. I’ll see you in six months!

  Right. Like she would go for that. She could get any guy she wanted. And even though Marco knew they had serious chemistry, why would she wait for him?

  They entered the lobby of the hotel and Lilly pointed to the phone on the wall. “Roberto gave me his room number. I can just call from there.” She stared at Marco, looking like she wanted to say something else. “Well . . .” She shrugged and her gaze dropped to his mouth.

  And Marco knew if he kissed her, he wouldn’t want to leave. But that’s just it . . . he had to leave.

  This is torture. At least tell her how you feel. You love her. You know you do. Tell her.

  Lilly waited for Marco to say something that would make her believe that they had something special. That they had a future together. She didn’t want it to end now, but it sure seemed like it was headed in that direction.

  Marco had to go away for work in Australia. It was complicated. She understood that.

  He’d hinted at quitting his job but she wouldn’t expect him to do that for her. If only she was the kind of woman a man changed his mind about, changing everything because of her. If only she knew his feelings.

  Lilly’s feelings were clear.

  She loved him.

  “Lilly . . .”

  Here we go. Tell me something good.

  She stepped forward, her eyes feeling a little glossy. “Yes . . .”

  “I enjoyed your company this week.”

  “I enjoyed your company, too.”

  He inched forward a little more. “Lilly, I . . .”

  Say it. Tell me what I want to hear. That you want to be with me.

  Marco hesitated and then continued. “I want to tell you I—”

  “Lilly!” said the male voice from behind Marco. “So glad you could make it!” Roberto approached and kissed Lilly on both cheeks. “You look amazing.”

  Lilly gave Roberto a half-smile and shot a quick glance over to Marco before returning her attention to Roberto. “You, too.” She gazed over at Marco again, which caught Roberto's attention.

  Roberto pivoted and eyed Marco. “So sorry.” He pulled a bill from his wallet and handed it to Marco. “Grazie.”

  “Oh, no, no,” said Lilly. “This is Marco, a . . . friend. He was kind enough to help me track you down. Marco, this is Roberto.”

  Roberto pulled the bill back and stuck it in his wallet. Then he extended his hand. “Nice to meet you. And thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Marco just stood there staring at Lilly. It didn’t appear he would say anything else. That’s when she decided she had to protect herself.

  If her past was any sign, Marco would do the same thing Lilly’s father did to her. The same thing her last boyfriend did. He would say he was going away for a little while. To Australia.

  Then he’d never return.

  She couldn’t allow herself to go through that again. The pain from someone abandoning her was the worst feeling in the world. Time to cut it off.

  “Thank you, Marco,” said Lilly, jumping in before the situation got any more awkward. But it got more awkward. Lilly held out her hand.

  Marco glanced down at her hand, a confused look on his face. He was obviously not happy with what she was doing. Her way of saying goodbye.

  He accepted her handshake. “My pleasure . . . Lilly.” He held onto her hand for a few seconds, squeezing it. Then he kissed it before letting it go.

  Lilly fought to hold back the tears.

  This was it.

  She and Marco didn’t have a future together.

  Roberto clapped his hands together and gave Lilly a big grin. “Great. How about we grab a drink in the bar and chat then?”

  Lilly’s gaze traveled to Marco before darting back to Roberto. “Okay . . .”

  “Fantastic. You take care, Marco.”

  Lilly had lost the energy to do or say anything else. It didn’t matter, did it? Roberto grabbed Lilly’s bag and rolled it for her toward the bar, Lilly following alongside him.

  A few seconds later, she looked back.

  Marco was gone.

  Forever.

  Lilly felt horrible. Why hadn’t she said anything?

  She could have pulled Marco aside and given him a private thank you and a hug. Even a kiss on the cheek. He deserved at least that much.

  A handshake? She had no idea what had come over her, but it must have been the pressure of Roberto standing there, waiting.

  “You seem a little quiet,” Roberto said, gesturing to the back of the bar. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she lied, trying to force a smile on her face while picturing Marco.

  That look he had on his face as they said goodbye crushed her soul. No. It was like someone took her soul and stuck it in a blender. High speed. No, worse. Purée.

  But Marco was gone, and she had to let it go.

  Get down to business. Make Roberto the offer. Don’t mess around. And get Marco off your mind!

  They found a quiet spot in the corner of the bar and Roberto pulled out the chair for Lilly. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you,” she answered, taking a deep breath to calm down. Her blood pressure should be shooting through the roof right about now. “Let’s order drinks and then chat about what it will take to get you back to the United States.”

  “I don’t think—”

  Lilly held her hand up. “No, no. Drinks first.”

  Roberto chuckled. “Okay. Drinks first.”

  The waitress came around, took their orders and a few minutes later the drinks arrived. A vodka tonic for him, a glass of pinot for her. Nothing wrong with helping the wine industry. It was the least she could do considering how she had treated Marco.

  Roberto held up his drink. “To Italy.”

  Lilly smiled. “To the United States.”

  They clinked glasses and laughed, but her thoughts drifted to Marco.

  Knock it off. Focus.

  “Just one minute.” Lilly pulled the paperwork from her bag and handed it to Roberto. “Here you go. Let me know what you think.”

  Roberto looked at each page, carefully reading them, then going back to the first page and nodding. “How did you manage this? This is thirty percent more than my current offer. How did you know?”

  Lilly smiled. “It’s my job to know. We want you back—we need you back. The company took a hit after you left and never recovered. We’re confident you can get us back on course.”

  “I'm flattered.”

  “Good. Let’s make this deal then. You’ll make many people happy. And then we can celebrate and enjoy the rest of the evening.”

  He shuffled through the papers again and handed them back to Lilly. “It’s not that simple. It’s a great offer, but I can’t accept it.”

  Lilly just stared at him. She was certain the wrong words came out of his mouth. He didn’t just say he couldn’t accept the offer. This was supposed to be a slam dunk.

  She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. “It’s a little noisy in here. It almost sounded like you said you can’t accept the offer.”

  “I can’t. I’m sorry. I should have told you Lilly, but we didn’t get that much time to talk on the phone when you arrived. There’s a girl . . .”

  Oh God, not a girl. Please no. Wrong answer! I don’t want to talk about love now!

  Lilly sat up in her chair. “It’s not serious, is it?”

  “I’m going to ask her to marry me. This weekend, in fact.”

  No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening.

  “Bring her with you,” Lilly said, figuring many people want to come to the United States. “To the US . . .”

  Roberto laughed. “That’s not so easy. She has her career here.”

  “What does she do?”
/>   “She’s an engineer.”

  “Hello? Silicon Valley? Engineer? We can find her a job with a big salary. Huge salary. Easily.”

  Roberto shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lilly. I can’t see this happening. She loves her job here and I don’t even think the money would get her to leave. And look at you, coming all this way.”

  Yeah. Look at me. A fool.

  Lilly forced a smile, not sure what else to say. “What’s her name?”

  “Gabriella.”

  “Beautiful name. I wish you the best, but please let me know if you change your mind. The offer is on the table until Monday, close of business.”

  Monday.

  The day she would be back at work.

  Without Roberto.

  Without Marco.

  Without a clue of what her future held.

  She knew one thing though. This was Colette’s fault that all of this happened, getting Lilly’s hopes up with those ridiculous predictions from Madam Love. The first thing she'd do when she got back was tell Colette off. Or even better, give Madam Love—the fraud—a piece of her mind. Then she would crawl back into her safe little bubble where nobody could hurt her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next day, Lilly didn’t feel any better. She’d stayed at Hotel Florence, then she took the first train in the morning back to Rome to her original hotel across from the Colosseum.

  All night her thoughts were one hundred percent on Marco.

  Wonderful Marco.

  Lilly felt like crap about the way she had said goodbye to him. Marco had helped her find Roberto, and she had fun with him. He didn’t deserve to be treated that way. He even got Lilly out of her comfort zone and she had enjoyed spontaneity for the first time in three years.

  The worst thing was she loved Marco. She knew that now, for sure.

  I love him.

  And he’s gone.

  She had left her phone on all night hoping that he might call. But why would he? If she were in his position, she wouldn’t call.

  She blew it.

  Lilly left her suitcases with the bellhop. She had a few hours for lunch and a visit to the Trevi Fountain before she would leave for the airport.

  She wandered down a quaint cobblestone street, admiring the cafes and shops along the way. A cute restaurant caught her eye, and she snuck a peek through the window. It looked wonderful, inviting. It was still before noon but she didn’t have a problem with an early lunch.