Bella Vita

by Jesse Kimmel-Freeman

  I set the library up for the meeting with the wedding planner and then I heard Kelly walking down the stairs. I met her at the stairs with a plate of food and walked with her to the patio. I could sense the tension coming off of her.

  “Okay, so what's wrong?” I hip bumped her.

  “Nothing. I'm just going to miss you and everything after this. I mean, the last couple of days of my trip are the shoot. And I'm going to miss so much of the wedding planning and stuff.” She pouted.

  “Aw, don't worry. Life doesn't stop just because I'm getting married. You know that! Besides I'm going back to school next week. You know I'm teaching.” My body shuddered at the mere thought.

  “It'll be fine. And you'll kick butt- like you always do! I guess you're right.” She started to munch on the food I had handed her.

  “I know I'm right.” I smiled.

  “Hey, this is really good!” She waved her fork at the frittatas.

  “Yep. That's why I asked Letta to make it so you'd have some good Italian cooking before you went back state side.” I smiled and heard the doorbell. “Let me get that. Meet me in the library soon.”

  “Kay.” She looked up briefly before chowing down.

  The woman at the door was intimating. She wore a crisp black suit and her brown hair was done in a blunt cut- even her features were straight and uniform. I was afraid to touch her.

  “I'm Anna. Anna Mills. I'll be organizing your wedding for you.” She held out her hand. Her blue eyes didn't smile.

  “Hi Anna, I'm Emma. Please come in.” I gestured her in.

  Anna did a quick survey of the layout of the house and looked like she was taking mental notes.

  “If you'll just follow me into the library.” I led the way, Kelly was already waiting for us.

  “And you would be?” Anna asked Kelly.

  “I'm her best friend and the maid of honor.” Kelly's words were cool.

  “Good, good. It's good to see the lines of the other members of the wedding party.” Anna pulled out a small notepad and began to write down notes.

  For the next hours, Anna took measurements, notes, and ideas down. She said she would write up a plan and then email it to me. It was the most strenuous task I had yet to conquer. When she finally left I was so drained that I suggested that Kelly and I take naps before we headed to Rome. She agreed quite readily.

  When we got up it was late afternoon. I got dressed in my black leather pants, tight goth leather corset, and extra tall 20-eye Doc Martens in red. I did my makeup a little light for me, but still had dark eyeliner on. I tried to pile my hair on top of my head, similar to what a dark cabaret would do. It wasn't as well done as I wanted it to be, but it still looked good. I did my best to keep it like that with hairspray, but I knew the ride into Rome on the bike would kill it, at least a little bit.

  Once I was all ready, I went and found Kelly looking utterly lost with the outfit I had laid out for her. It was quite amusing.

  “Um, I know you think this is like clothes and all, but I'm not sure about it, Em.” She held up the layered shirt that had black fishnet under a thin red camisole.

  “Aw, come on. Trust me. You don't want to stick out completely. And tonight I had to get special permission to take you to Bella Notte. It's very exclusive.” I hated to have to lie to her.

  “Okay, but this isn't me.” Kelly grabbed the red plaid skirt and sighed.

  “It will be worth it. Trust me.” I smiled at her.

  “Kay. I'm glad you picked out boots that were more me. I don't think I could pull those off.” She gestured at my Docs and I laughed.

  “Do you want me to do your hair and makeup?” I knew my eyes were sparkling with excitement.

  “Maybe. Let me get dressed first. Just sit here and I'll be right back.” She went into the bathroom.

  “You're a model, when did you become modest?” I laughed.

  “When I can be, I am.” She yelled through the door, which just made me laugh more.

  The door opened and out she came. A punk rock beauty. I was stunned.

  “Wow! You're hot!” I grinned at her.

  “What?! I feel like an idiot.”She shook her head.

  “Come here.” I took her hand and led her back to the bathroom to look at the full length mirror on the back of the door. “Look at yourself.”

  “I just see me dressed like someone else.” She pouted.

  “That isn't what I see. I see a punk rock princess. A woman that can and will take the world by the horns. I think I'm going to take my camera and get some shots of you like this.” I felt inspired to take pictures of her.

  “Hey, wait, what about my makeup?” She grabbed my arm as I was about to rush off to grab my camera bag.

  “Oh, right.” I smiled. “Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.”

  She moved back to the bedroom and turned on the TV and sat on the edge of the bed. I pulled out my extra makeup kit I had stuck in her bathroom in case she wanted to let me do her makeup. I did a light red sparkle on her eyelids, some rich black eyeliner, and clear mascara. On her lips I simply put a bright red lip gloss. She was just as beautiful as before, but more vibrant and almost powerful. I had done good work with minimal makeup.

  “Okay, you can look while I go get my bag. I'll meet you downstairs.” I figured I'd let her hair stay down. She'd look super amazing on the back of my bike, especially if the wind kicked up and caught her hair. My mind was going a mile a minute.

  Outside my beautiful Harley was waiting. I sighed at the sight of it. Going straight into photographer mode, I had Kelly straddle the bike. The bike added seriously to her look. Now she wasn't just a punk rock princess, but a goddess on a hog. I loved it. I took several different positions, and Kelly actually looked like she was enjoying it.

  “You're an awesome model, Kel.” I beamed at her as I packed up my camera for the ride.

  “Thanks. All my photographers have said the same thing.” She blushed lightly.

  “Okay, let's hit the road. We can still go shopping for something for you, if you want.” I wanted to make sure she was happy.

  “Nope, let's get some pizza and then head over to Bella Notte. I'm all excited about it.” She smiled at me and I was taken aback by how beautiful she truly was.

  “Okie dokie. Dom's going to meet up with us over there after he gets off work. If we need to go in early Abner will let me in.” I slid in front of Kelly and kicked the monster below us to life.

  “Sounds good.” She took the helmet I handed to her and placed it on her head, I did the same.

  And then we were off.

  Rome was starting to light up as we rolled into town. I parked my bike in the special garage built into Bella Notte. The ride hadn't screwed up my hair too much. I grabbed my camera bag and led Kelly to the opera house, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, so I could take some shots of her outside. I really wanted to get a shot of her inside with all the lights up in the giant circular room- I doubted I could get that done tonight though. So I settled for the outside. I got a great picture of her in front of the little newsstand that was in front of the opera- she all punked out and a sweet looking old man is checking her out as she reads the Corriere della Sera, our version of the New York Times. It was the most priceless picture. The last picture I got was of her leaning into the fountain at Piazza del Viminale. The lighting is all rosy orange from the light posts, but its still a beautiful image.

  After I was done playing photographer, I took her for some delicious calzones. It was my favorite form of pizza. There was nothing that compared to it and I couldn't let her leave Italy without eating an Italian calzone. Thick mozzarella, tasty tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, and my favorite toppings of green olives and artichoke hearts. Yum!

  “Oh my gawd, that was good! Way better than in the States.” Kelly licked her lips.

  “Told ya. Okay, let's head over to Bella Notte.” I figured Dom would be over there by now.

  Dominic was standing outside waiting for us when we approac
hed. He had the door open already so I didn't have to explain the tattoo thing to her. Something that I had completely forgotten about.

  Thank you! I sent the message to Dom.

  I figured you had forgotten. He smiled at me.

  “There are my two favorite women in the world.” He reached out and hugged us to him.

  “Right.” I laughed at him.

  “Wow, Kelly, you make one hell of a hot punker. If I didn't already have my own goth beauty, I would go after you.” He looked her up and down and she blushed.

  I laughed and punched him lightly on the arm.

  “Eh, thanks Dom.” She placed her arms around herself, a form of protection I figured.

  “Let's go in.” He motioned us to go ahead of him.

  The lights were turned up while Abner got the place situated for the rest of night. It was beautiful even in such bright lighting. I toured Kelly around and led her to the booth where Dom had proposed to me. She took my camera and snapped a shot of us sitting together.

  “Thanks Kel, I hardly have any pictures of us together.” I beamed at her.

  Emma, it's time to spell her. Abner wants to open in ten minutes. Dominic voice whispered in my head.

  I merely nodded my head in agreement.

  “Hey Kelly, how about I get you a drink?” I rang for a waiter to get the red fruity drink, only virgin- meaning without blood.

  “Sounds good, what's it called?” She asked after I ordered it for her.

  “Dracula's kiss.” I laughed.

  “Of course. Why should I even wonder?” She laughed too.

  I silently sent a probe towards her mind as Dom talked to her about some of the plans for the wedding. She didn't react. I went further into her mind. I found the location where she would store her memories for tonight. I spelled this to forget anything that had to do with living breathing vampires. I allowed her to remember the theme stuff from the place and the name of the drink and things like that, but nothing that would create problems. When I came back to myself, I felt tired.

  The night swirled around us in a blur of vampires, dancing, and even some blood drinking. Dominic tried to keep it all in check, but there was a limited number of things he could tell his patrons to do. Kelly had lots of fun, and I was really sorry that she was not going to remember a lot of it in the morning. The vampires were aware of her presence but never made any attempt to find out why there was a human in their safe haven. Kelly acted like she belonged. Her attire helped her blend in, but as soon as a vampire got close enough to smell her or to try to mentally communicate with her- she was discovered. I took lots of pictures. There were many that had vampires in them, but since Bella Notte was a themed club I could always explain away the fangs, and the blurred shots were from people moving and low light- not that they moved too quickly for the camera to pick up the entire movement. Whenever Kelly stumbled into an aspect of the vampires that would've thrown alarms up, her face went blank and then she kept on enjoying herself. My spell worked well, but my guilt ate me up inside. I knew that my wedding would be just as evil.

  Once the night was over, I had Dom take Kelly on his bike because she was a little bit more tipsy than I thought was safe to take on mine. I made it home first but kept a mental link with Dom until they were there as well. I helped him carry her upstairs as she had passed out on the way back. He slipped out as I undressed her and got her into bed. I knew tomorrow she would have a killer hangover. I mentally probed out the ill effects of the alcohol on her mind and body and I pulled them out. It was a strange feeling- being that I didn't get drunk- but it was like a tingle all over my body as I absorbed the side effects. I placed a bottle of water and two aspirin on her nightstand before I slipped out the door.

  The world was a little too bright when I awoke the next morning. I remembered that today Kelly had to go do her photo shoot. I knew from being in her mind that her genius photographer thought it would be brilliant to use one of the nude beaches here to do the shoot on. This deeply worried Kelly. I felt for my friend, but I knew that she would get through it. She wasn't posing for Playboy or anything, but the photographer wanted her naked with minimal on during the shoot- more like draping than anything else. I wanted her to have my strength for such things but I knew we each had to win our own battles.

  I knew she was still asleep- which would help her heal the rest of the way. I had taken the worst away, but she would still have a small hangover and the aspirins should cover that. I went to Dom's room and found him just getting out of the shower. I blushed fiercely when he walked out of the bathroom naked. I turned and stared at the door.

  “You are so funny, mia bella.” He pulled on his robe and came and kissed me on the shoulder.

  “I'm not.” It was hard to focus on anything when I thought about how he was only wearing that deep blue robe.

  “Such a prude for someone that has run all over Italy as a naked wolf.” He laughed and started to get dressed.

  “And? I can't control the fact that I can't change back and forth with clothing on. Which is why I came in here. The wedding planner left a message for me, I have my first fitting on Sunday. But I'll need help creating lesson plans for the classes that I'm teaching once Kelly is gone.” I slowly turned once I heard his zipper go up.

  “I can help with the plans, but the fitting... am I needed?” Dom fidgeted.

  “Yeah, you are. You have to be fitted for your tux.” I laughed.

  “Do we have to deal directly with Anna? She was a bit intense.” The woman clearly made Dom uncomfortable.

  “Nope.. just the wedding fitters. Kelly is going to go in later, before she leaves for the airport. That's the day they fly out.” I wanted to laugh at Dominic, but my heart panged for my friend's departure.

  “Oh, don't worry, mia bella, you'll see her again in a month.” He wrapped his arms around me.

  “I know, but I'm going to miss her. It gets lonely without any of my friends here.” My mind drifted to Mike and I felt bad.

  “I'm sorry.” Dom looked sad.

  “Don't worry about it. I'm just having a missing my old life moment, it'll pass. Get ready. I'll go ask Letta to make a huge breakfast for Kelly. I love you, professor.” I kissed his cheek and left.

  Letta made good on the giant feast for Kelly. It held as many delicious Italian breakfast items as she could make. Kelly came down the stairs looking a little worse for wear, but happy enough. The smell of all the food had clearly reached her in deep sleep. I wanted to laugh at my closest friend, but I thought it would be mean.

  “Wow, when you go all out, you go all out. I can't believe I have to leave all this so soon.” She was torn between a smile at the food and a pout.

  “Well, I had to make sure you were fed before you left. I know models live off of crackers and water or something stupid like that.” I shook my head at the mere thought.

  “You'd be surprised.” She looked solemn.

  I was suddenly worried for my friend and decided that I would start sending her little packages with Italian foods in it.

  We ate in silence. Kelly ate more than I ever thought she could fit in her little body. After the food we drank iced sweet tea out on the patio. I didn't know what to say to her that would let her know how much I would miss her.

  “Dammit. I'm going to miss you.” I finally said.

  “I know. But this is what I do. And I'll be back soon enough.” She tried to smile.

  “I know, but still, I'm being two.” I crossed my arms across my chest and pouted.

  She laughed loud and it was such a wonderful sound- I was glad I could make her smile before she left.

  “Okay, well, I have to pack. Chris's people will be here soon to get me.” She got up and went back upstairs.

  I went to find the gift I had made for her. It was a necklace made of glowy crystals, similar to the one that Dom gave me. This one was blue and I had it carved into a small heart and put on a silver chain. It was perfect.

  I knocked on her door and f
ound her bag packed and Kelly trying to tidy up the room.

  “Oh honey, don't worry about it. It will be taken care of.” I smiled at her.

  “I know, but I need something to do until they get here.” She plopped down on the bed.

  “I've got something for you.” I sat down next to her and handed her the small box that held the necklace.

  “Em, you didn't have to get me anything.” She held the box.

  “Go on, open it.” I felt impatient, I really wanted her to like it.

  The box clicked open and she pulled the chain out slowly. It was as though she was drinking in every detail of the chain and finally the pendant.

  “Emma! It's beautiful!” She hugged me tightly.

  “It's something to remember here by. The crystal came from the caves that are below the house. Maybe next time you come, if we have time, I can take you down to the pool down there.” I was happy that she liked it.

  “I love it! And I would love to see this pool.” She slid the necklace over her head, the heart fell into her shirt.

  “That way you always know you're in my heart too. You've got to remember that I'm here for you, okay?” It was important that Kelly knew she wasn't alone.

  “Yep, yep.” She hugged me again. “Thank you.”

  Her ride showed up shortly after. And I was truly sorry to see my friend leave.

  Chapter four

  The house was suddenly very silent. I tried several times to sit and work out something that I could I use to teach my classes, but I had nothing. I knew that Daniel and Lily were really nice professors, but if I showed up after all this time away, then they might question the faith they had put in me. I didn't want that, I wanted allies against Mr. Spawling. I hated that man with a passion, but I needed people to side with me if there was ever a confrontation.

  By the time Dominic got home, I was sinking into a slow depression on the patio. He took one look at me and knew instantly what was wrong with me. I felt the worry coming from him, but I just didn't care. I missed my old life, I missed Kelly, and I was failing miserably at trying to teach. The mood went darker as I sat there scowling.