Sicilian Dreams

by J. P. Kennedy

  ‘Katrina Hudson how many times have I told you not to wear the ballet skirt over your leggings. You look like a little girl playing dress ups and it hides your gorgeous, long legs. Take it off immediately.’ she said imperatively. Kat looked chagrined, but slid the net skirt off and tossed it on to Liz’s bed.

  ‘Right, let’s finish our wine and get going,’ said Liz. Several parties later, they ended up at a student bar in town, carousing merrily with the other inebriated patrons.

  ‘What’s with your second name?’ said Cassie, slurring her words slightly. She wasn’t much of a drinker and the wine had affected her quite quickly.

  ‘How do you know what my second name is?’ hissed Liz, not slurring her words at all.

  ‘Um, I saw it on the notes that Kat dropped.’ said Cassie, surprised by the vehemence in Liz’s tone.

  ‘I hate that name with a passion,’ said Liz. ‘My mother was a bit of a hippy in her day and it was her idea to call me that. Thank God my father said no when she wanted to make it my first name.’ added Liz with relief. ‘Can you imagine going through life with that moniker attached to you.’ Cassie couldn’t, but sensibly didn’t say anything.

  ‘Don’t you dare ever tell anyone else, okay.’ said Liz.

  ‘Okay, no problem.’ said Cassie, raising her hands in surrender. ‘Hey, is that Kat up on that table?’ she said, pointing to the front of the room where Kat had indeed climbed onto a bar table and was playing air guitar to Guns & Roses ‘November Rain.’ Someone had stuck a top hat on her head and Liz burst out laughing.

  ‘God, she looks just like Slash.’

  A group of rowdy young guys had been trying, without success, for sometime to get Liz’s attention and she had ignored them totally. Now seeing her laughing out loud, the loudest one of the group approached her and started hitting on her. His loud voice carried back to his friends at their table and they laughed encouragingly as he tried his best lines on Liz.

  ‘Let’s have breakfast tomorrow, shall I call you, or nudge you.’ That earned him a chorus of laughs from his mates and he turned and did a little bow to them not seeing the scowl on Liz’s face.

  ‘If I could see you naked, I’d die happy.’

  ‘If I could see you naked, I’d die laughing,’ retorted Liz. ‘Now piss off Romeo.’ She attempted to shove past him, but he grabbed her arm and his friends cheered.

  ‘Stuck up bitch,’ he hissed at her. They were blocking the door, so Cassie grabbed Liz’s other arm and tugged and they ran for the open window, calling out to Kat on the way. She abandoned her lofty perch and came after them as the group of louts started chasing them.

  ‘Jump out the window Kat,’ yelled Cassie and Kat needed no encouragement, sliding her long frame easily out of the window and dropping the couple of feet to the ground with barely a thud. ‘Come on Liz, it’s easy.’ said Cassie, nimbly placing her hand on the sill and vaulting out. She and Kat stood below and bellowed encouragement as Liz gingerly lowered herself from the window, feet first, the soft fabric of her dress billowing up in the wind; and much to the howling delight of another group of passing youths; exposing a glorious, round bottom in see through panties.

  ‘Cassie and Liz were hugging each other and laughing as Liz mooned the street, tears rolling down their cheeks as Liz slowly reached arm’s length and then had to let go, dropping to the ground with a thud.

  ‘Well done Moons.’ yelled Kat. ‘I think we’ve finally found a use for your second name.’

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ yelled back Liz, waving her finger up at them as struggled to stand up and recover some dignity.

  ‘Hey baby, that was a sight for sore eyes.’ The goons had followed them around the side of the pub and were now standing in a semi circle under the window. ‘Hm, a couple of peaches. Would I like to get my hands on those.’ He made a grabbing motion with his hands.

  ‘I’ll give you a sight for sore eyes,’ said Cassie, as he went to grab Liz again, his friends egging him on. She pulled back her right arm and using all the power in her small body, swung a right hook onto his nose, felling him in one blow. He lay on the ground moaning, clutching his face in his hands as blood spurted from his nose.

  ‘Run Cassie, we’ve got to get out of here, now.’ yelled Kat, dragging Liz away from the angry and drunken youths. They sprinted up the street away from the pub and their friendship was born.

  Slash, Moons and Cassius, (after Cassius Clay).

  CHAPTER THREE

  They decided to flat together in their second year, cementing a friendship that began at university, had endured over the passing years and was stronger than ever regardless of the distance between them. Liz had left first on her overseas adventure, met Doug in London and followed him back to California where they were married within a year. She was the last person Cassie thought of the three of them who would get married first. The Liz of those days had been a great party girl, up all-night and sleeping for most of the day as a student. Naturally bright, she had sailed through Law school paying scant attention or presence at lectures and tutorials. She hadn't needed a job between lectures as her father, Sir Kevin Hayes; scion of the Wellington brewing family, Hayes & Scanlon; made sure her bank account was topped up regularly and, once she left the Halls of Residence, her accommodation was above the usual cold and droughty, student digs around the University.

  In spite her privileged upbringing Liz was no spoilt princess. Her lovely down to earth nature and sexy, growly laugh always ensured she had plenty of admirers and friends surrounding her sunny natured generosity. But marriage straight after University and at the beginning of her overseas adventure had shocked them all. Scraping together enough money for an airfare to California to attend the nuptials had seen Cassie more than a little curious to meet this man who had so stolen away the girl they knew and loved. She left just as curious as she arrived. Doug Baxter was charming, erudite, tall and good looking, from a blue blood background like Liz’s but hardly likely to set the world on fire with his personality. He was pleasant yes, but dynamic, no, not in Cassie's humble opinion. How had the girl with the spark in her eyes ended up falling for Doug in London? Beautiful with big, brown eyes, long, silky, dark hair and an hour glass figure which had men bumping into lamp posts as they watched her sashaying down the street, she had seemed to be making great strides as a junior in an illustrious PR firm in the West End.

  In fact, she kept writing and saying that Katrina needed to come over and join her and she would introduce her to her boss. Katrina had her degree in Law but her first love was journalism and she was very envious of Liz's new position in the upmarket PR firm. Ditching her part time waitressing job in Wellington, she begged her parents for a loan to fly to London and join Liz. Of course Liz had a swanky apartment in Chelsea and wanted Kat and Cassie to come and live with her just like the old days.

  Unlike Liz, Cassie did not have wealthy parents - in fact, she had no parents. A tragic head on car accident involving them and a drunk driver had robbed Cassie of her parents at the tender age of three. Her aunt Maggie, the much older sister of her father had been the only parent Cassie had known and she had provided the young orphan with love and a home ever since the tragic event. Aunt Maggie was an artist, and one of the talented few that made enough money to live on. She had exhibited her paintings and sculptures to critical acclaim throughout New Zealand and Australia and indeed, in later years as her reputation grew, she had been invited several times to exhibit in London and New York. Now in her early seventies, Maggie was able to slow down and enjoy her garden and her beloved pets, which consisted of an aged English bull terrier, Rosa, and an old one eared tabby cat who ruled the roost.

  Although Maggie had many offers from enthusiastic suitors when she was young, and indeed when she was not so young, she had never found true love so marriage and children had eluded her. Possessed of a very kind heart, she poured all her love into young and tragically orphaned Cassie, and they shared a very strong bond. Cassie adored Maggie and wanted to m
ake her proud of her. Her aunt had given her a loving home and refuge from the terrifying reality of losing her parents at such a tender age and Cassie didn't need any more hiccups in her young life.

  She was a serious little girl who became a diligent student at school, always in the top five in class, and a gifted sportswoman who had inherited her father’s talent for swimming and her mother’s long, fast legs for sprinting. A framed portrait of medals, still hung in her bedroom at Maggie's house. Maggie had carefully pinned and displayed each medal on black velvet. Then she had made one of her beautiful wooden frames painting it a dull gold and antiquing it with crackle paint. The way she had designed it made it possible to add medals and over the years it became hard to see the velvet background as the awards piled up. Cups were displayed with pride on the sideboard in the hallway downstairs.

  There was no way Cassie would frivolously up and leave New Zealand after graduating any more than fly to the moon. She had her career path mapped out and that didn't include jaunts in swinging London, not at this stage anyway. Her father had been a lawyer and Cassie wanted to follow in his footsteps. So she had forgone the temptation of joining her friends, and was now steadily climbing the legal ladder for a medium sized conveyancing firm in Auckland. While she wasn't particularly enamored with the job, she knew it was giving her good, solid work experience which she needed before she could embark on her dream of hanging her shingle over the door of her own small firm.

  ‘You have been to Sicily before?’ said Marco.

  ‘Er, what?’ said Cassie dumbly. She had been so busy reminiscing she hadn't even heard him. Well, good she thought, at least he can see that I am able to enjoy the scenery and the drive without just staring at him.

  ‘ I asked if you had ever visited Sicily before.’ He said

  ‘Oh no, no, I haven't. Sorry I was daydreaming.’ She smiled at him ‘In fact I was just thinking how beautiful it all is and how different the landscape and the scenery is from New Zealand.’

  ‘Nuova Zelanda, there is a place I would like to visit one day. But it is so far away no? How many hours does it take to reach here?’

  ‘27 hours, give or a take a few.’

  ‘Mamma mia, 27 hours, you must be exhausted.’ He peered at her and she felt herself growing warm again under his gaze. Even through the dark lenses of his shades she could sense his intense scrutiny and it made her uncomfortable. She was used to being in control, not being put under a microscope and peered at like a bug.

  ‘Really, I feel okay’ she lied, her chin lifting and earning herself a wicked grin in response from Marco. Perhaps he is psychic, she thought. Who cares, I certainly don’t. She turned her face away and looked out the window at the passing scenery. Very soon she was lost again in her reminiscing.

  Kat had flown to London and joined Liz and she had even got a job at the PR firm just as Liz had promised. As two bright and beautiful young women in London it had seemed that the world was their oyster and for several months the girls enjoyed a whirlwind of parties, weekends as guests in the country manors of their wealthy clients, racing at Ascot and entree into the world of upper crust London.

  Then Liz met Doug Randall. It wasn't that Cassie disliked him, but for her there was still a question mark over her friend’s choice of marital partner and lifetime mate. Liz had fallen for Doug like a ton of bricks and within six months she had packed in her job at the PR firm and flown to San Francisco to be with him.

  When Liz met Doug he had been completing his medical residency by doing a year in training at London's The Great Ormond Street Hospital. When they returned to San Francisco, he took up a position at UCSF Hospital and spent the next seven years honing his craft in plastic surgery, with specialist training in craniofacial abnormalities. His reputation grew and eventually he was asked to join a small group of San Francisco’s top plastic surgeons where he primarily worked on the crème of northern California’s women of a certain age primping and enhancing their visages with delicate and very realistic looking facelifts and other procedures. He didn't go below the neck, that area he left to his colleagues in the practice. Boobs and butt enhancement didn't interest him and he still spent at least half his time back at the hospital working on the people most in need of his services but the most unlikely to have any money to call upon him privately.

  Liz had become pregnant shortly after they married and subsequently produced two bonny, bouncing twins, Sara and Lulu who were the apple of their parents eyes. She had since then dedicated herself to being a stay at home mom, delighting in her role of motherhood and all the joys and trials that brought with it. The twins were now seven and looked like mini versions of their mother and would no doubt break as many hearts when they were older.

  ‘If you look across the bay now you can see the town of Cefalu.’ said Marco.

  Once again Cassie realized she had been day dreaming, half dozing as she jerked her head around from where it had been resting on the car window. I hope I haven't been dribbling she thought.

  ‘Oh it is so beautiful and look at the color of the sea. It’s gorgeous.’ she exclaimed enthusiastically. ’It looks so clear and clean, is it?’ she asked.

  ‘Si’ said Marco ‘it is possible to swim right out in front of the town and the water is very clear even at great depth.’

  ‘I could go and jump in it right now it looks so good’ she murmured, entranced by the way the light was dancing off the ripples in the bay, causing the water to shimmer in the sunlight.

  ‘I would like to see that,’ said Marco smiling over at her again and earning himself a scowl in return.

  ‘I wasn't being literal’ she said, ‘anyway my swimsuit is packed away in my bag and I'm too tired to go through everything and find it’ she added, unnecessarily complicating her first statement.

  ‘You don't need a swimsuit Cassandra, I know a little bay where it is very private,’ he said.

  Oh, now I know he is teasing me she thought and decided to get the conversation onto more solid ground.

  ‘So, Marco, how long have you been working at Villa Tramonte’ she asked.

  ‘Only for this summer I am helping out my father, managing the property for him until he finds a new estate manager. The former manager, mio zio, my uncle, is having treatment for prostrate cancer at the moment and is unable to travel even short distances. So my father asked me if I would look after the farm until he finds another person to manage it. It is a large working farm you see, with several houses on it. What we call in Italy an Agriturisimo. Villa Tramonte is the furthest away from the main house, but the most beautiful of all the villas I think. I grew up in the main house, but then we moved to Palermo and my uncle Gaetano took over the day to day management of the estate.’

  ‘I am sorry to hear about your uncle,’ said Cassie. ‘The effects of chemotherapy can be so debilitating.’ she added, thinking about her dear friend Lucy and her battle with breast cancer. She had been dead for over a year and still a day didn't go by when Cassie didn't think of her and the fun and laughter they had shared first as girlhood friends and then as adults. Lucy had actually felt the pea sized lump in her breast one morning in the shower and had immediately made an appointment to see her doctor who in turn immediately referred her to a breast clinic. There they had performed a biopsy and within a week of discovering the lump, Lucy had a double mastectomy and all the lymph nodes removed from both arms. She began a rigorous course of chemo shortly afterwards and Cassie could vividly remember the times when she would to sit beside her friend at the cancer clinic and keep her company while the deadly cocktail of drugs slowly dripped down from a bag into her arm. She would vomit for days after each session, all her hair fell out, and she was as weak as a kitten. Peter, her husband was devastated and tried to take care of their little boy Edward as best he could in between his shifts as a traffic controller at the airport. Cassie often passed by their house on her way to and fro from work, bringing meals for Peter and Edward and little treats for Lucy who couldn't keep any f
ood down and was eating less than a sparrow. But her spirits and her confidence never flagged and she somehow managed to keep a sense of humor in spite of the appalling atrocities that were being inflicted on her by the cancer and the drugs. Her oncologist called it a 'galloping' cancer and said that it often happened in younger patients. She didn't even make it into remission as the cancer had spread and began eating it's way into her stomach and her liver.

  From diagnosis to death took fifteen months leaving a shattered husband and grieving little boy who was too young to understand that his mummy, the centre of his life and his love, was gone forever. Cassie could relate to the loneliness and the confusion because of her own experience and after Lucy died she had kept up the visits and had taken to calling Peter on odd weekends to see if she could take Edward out to a park or a zoo or a movie. Peter was very grateful as it gave him a little time to grieve by himself, to lose the strong face for a few hours and weep for the woman he had loved and lost.

  ‘Si, it is hard for him at the moment but he is a strong man and my aunt is a devoted nurse to him. He is lucky to have had such good care taken of him and to have his family living close by.’ he said in a wistful voice. Cassie glanced over at him.

  ‘You are obviously very close to your uncle,’ she said.

  ‘My uncle is like a father to me, more than my own father.’ His face tightened and became serious.

  ‘Oh’ said Cassie. She had obviously touched on a sore subject and wasn’t sure how to proceed. ‘Do you have brothers or sisters?’

  ‘No, I am the only child and my father has many expectations of me, including joining the family business. He is a hard man to get along with, but my mother is sweetness itself.’

  I doubt it thought Cassie, thinking of her ex boyfriend and his dragon of a mother. The only bonus in the painful breakup with him had been she didn’t have to suffer the poisonous old witch and her caustic comments any more.