I settled on staying superficial. “A few weeks ago, I was a high-maintenance New Yorker, and now, I eat street meat for goodness sake.” I threw up my hands.
“Change is good, Lucy,” Simon replied gently. “And so is new meat.”
A chuckle escaped me. “How can someone so young be so wise?”
The reflection of myself in Simon’s eyes disappeared as he suddenly pulled me in close. I leaned my head on his chest and breathed in the clean scent of his body. I hardly knew him, yet I felt as if I had known him forever. He was just so comfortable. It was a different kind of comfortable than what I had with Cooper. This kind was laced with an intense chemistry that I was suddenly not so comfortable with.
I stepped back and fumbled though my bag. I was looking for nothing in particular and hoped that something useful would find its way into my hands.
“I’m not that young, Lucy,” Simon said, suddenly serious. “We’re only ten years apart. When I’m seventy, you will be—”
“Almost dead.” I was afraid of the way this conversation was going and sipped from the water bottle my hand had miraculously closed upon. I knew I wasn’t ready to have another conversation with Simon about our non-relationship. I still had enough talking to do with Cooper and with myself. Besides, there was no point. Simon wasn’t boyfriend material, right?
“I’ll just be your older, senile friend.”
“We’ll all be dead one day. Look at all these statues.” Simon motioned around him. “Does it really matter in the end?”
He walked ahead to a statue of a man. “This is Jupiter,” he said, putting his arm around the figure. “He was in charge of laws and social order. I think he would approve of our friendship and if he didn’t, who cares. Life’s way too short to give a damn about what other people have to say. I know I don’t. That’s not how I want to live my life.”
“And how do you want to live your life?” I was suddenly dying to know.
“I just want to be honest with myself. Follow my dreams and have no regrets.”
“Well said,” I agreed. “Do you have any regrets?”
“None yet.” Simon started at me thoughtfully.
“Let me take a picture of you and your buddy,” I said, holding up my camera in hopes of quelling my inner turmoil. “Say cheese...”
“Cheese.” Simon smiled and hugged the statue a little closer as I looked through the lens.
“Let me take one of you.” Simon pulled his camera from his pocket.
“No way,” I cried. “I don’t photograph well.”
“That, I find hard to believe,” he said with a look. “C’mon.” He turned the camera around and held it out in front of us. “I’ll take one of us together.”
“Sure, why not,” I said, forcing my brightest smile at the camera. “I mean, everyone looks gorgeous in a selfie.”
Simon pulled me close and bent his knees to adjust himself to my height. He placed his cheek against mine and I felt the smooth touch of his skin as he snapped the picture.
“Nice,” he nodded in approval at the picture he just took. “C’mon, check this out. Do we look good together or what?”
I glanced at the photo he had taken and exhaled with relief. I had to agree with him, it actually did come out pretty good. I looked up at him with a closed half-smile. Our eyes locked, and I quickly looked away and tucked my hair behind my ears.
“You don’t have to answer me,” Simon soothed. “Just please promise that you’ll look for me in your next life. All I want is a fair shot to come back as your boyfriend.” Simon held his fist out to mine.
I tapped his fist and shook my head. “You’re crazy,” I said, trying not to fall back into his arms. “Um, do you want to grab something to eat? I’m starving.”
Simon didn’t answer, and I was becoming warm under his unwavering gaze. My eyes darted away and swept around the park.
“Or we can go to the meditation garden over there? It looks tranquil, serene... I’m sure people from all over the city come here just to pray,” I babbled anxiously.
“Hmm,” Simon said thoughtfully. “Decisions, decisions. Eat, pray—”
“Love?” I choked, making a feeble attempt at a literary joke.
Simon’s eyebrows furrowed, and he inched towards me. My throat constricted as he got closer. I swallowed, closed my eyes, and waited for him to kiss me.
The next thing I knew, Simon was picking something off my cheek. “Make a wish,” he said quietly, holding an eyelash in front of me.
I blew it gently and touched my burning hot cheeks. “I wished I could disappear,” I muttered, “but that didn’t seem to happen.”
“Lucy, there’s nothing I would like more than to kiss you, but you made your feelings clear last night. I don’t want to go there with you. You’re not the kind of woman a guy can just forget about.”
My heart melted and an inward sigh erupted in the form of a breathless exhale.
“Besides, I don’t mess with other guys’ girls. Especially now that I’ve met him and know you’re an official couple.” Simon stepped back.
“I’m not claimed,” I said indignantly. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no ring on my finger. He and I are just testing the waters. Not like I was going to kiss you anyway,” I said, defensively. “I just didn’t want to make you feel like a fool when I shot you down.”
“How kind of you,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“So do you want to eat or what? I passed a great place on my way here. They had all sorts of yummy sandwiches in the window. You know, those long, thin, crusty—”
“Been there,” Simon sang as he patted the black messenger bag slung across his body. “I was so torn between the prosciutto and mozzarella, and the tuna with black olives, that lucky for you, I got them both. Don’t worry I remember you loathe tuna, so the other one is all yours.”
I gazed at him in admiration, touched that he remembered.
“Oh,” Simon exclaimed. “We even have dessert. You’re probably going to think I’m a total loser carrying around melted chocolate for the past week.” He reached into his bag. “I actually meant to give you this last night, but didn’t get the chance before you threw me out,” he said with a grimace. “It may have gone nicely with your delectable beauty treatment.”
I raised an eyebrow as he handed me a little box. I glanced down and read the label—Maison du Chocolat.
“How did you know I wanted to go there?” I cried. “This place is rumored to be the best chocolate shop in Paris. I had planned to make a visit while we were there.” Of course, I’d been unable to predict we would be making a hasty departure.
“I know that,” he replied.
“But how?” I said, incredulous. “Please don’t tell me you’re a mind reader, too.”
“I would love to read what goes on in that pretty head of yours, but no, I’m not a mind reader. Just a good listener. You told me,” he said.
“And you remembered,” I whispered gratefully. “I don’t even recall mentioning it.” I clutched the box to my chest and thanked God he wasn’t able to read my mind. Chocolate was my favorite aphrodisiac.
We spent the afternoon lounging around the garden and all of the uncomfortable feelings between us completely disappeared. Time seemed to stand as still as the statues around us, and as I wrote in my journal and watched Simon sketch, I knew that even when I was back with Cooper in New York, I would never forget this afternoon as long as I lived.
I learned a lot about Simon and would forever equate the smell of lemons to those carefree hours we spent together among the lemon trees. It was a place where I was truly myself with someone who wouldn’t have allowed me to be anything but.
Chapter Sixteen
Billy Joel said it best. This is the time to remember, because it will not last forever.
Facebook Status June 14 at 4:40pm
Neither Simon nor I seemed to be in a hurry to part company, so when he suggested we take the long way back to the pensione,
I was more than happy to oblige. We circled the entire neighborhood, twice, before we made it back.
By the time we returned, it had to have been about ninety-five degrees, and I didn’t need a mirror to confirm I looked as gross as I felt. I was having too much fun to worry about the fact that my shoulder length hair had frizzed its way up to my chin. I told myself we were just buds, so it really didn’t matter what I looked like.
“You are one cool chick,” Simon said with a smile. We slowed down as we passed the Loggia dei Lanzi, a building that adjoined the Uffizi Gallery. I peered through its three wide arches into the open-air gallery of Renaissance sculptures.
“Why do you say that?” A flutter of excitement hit as I waited for the explanation behind his compliment.
“Well, most women would be whining non-stop about the long walk in the heat, their feet, the way they look ... something.”
“Oh, I get the way I look. I’m just trying not to let it get me.”
Simon opened his mouth to say something, but something in the gallery caught my eye, and I was too excited to be polite. “Hey.” I tugged on Simon’s arm. “Is that Michelangelo’s David?”
“No, that’s a copy and where the original once stood. The real deal is at the Accademia Gallery.”
I turned my head to look at Simon and then quickly directed my gaze to the statue. “Oh.”
I wasn’t sure what I found more surprising. That the copy looked like the real deal or that Simon knew so much about the arts. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” I murmured.
“Lucy, you are by far the most beautiful thing in the piazza.”
Sweat beaded my upper lip, and I used a finger to wipe my mouth as he looked at the statues. Simon turned his attention back to me, and I awkwardly tucked my hair behind my ear.
“Why, thank you. I do have some pretty stiff competition.”
I couldn’t help but feel flattered by his compliment. I felt like the prettiest woman in the room. I realized I felt that way a lot when I was with Simon, starting from the day we spent together in the vineyard.
He took my arm, and we turned the corner to the pensione. The day had been a slice of heaven, and I really didn’t want it to end. The joyful hours in the garden had my head in the clouds, and I wished we could travel back to where we started. Or at least bottle up the wonderful feeling bubbling inside of me.
Then like a cork on a champagne bottle popping, my joy bubbled out as I saw a familiar face outside the pensione. Cooper stood there thumbing his BlackBerry.
That peaceful feeling escaped, and in seeped negative energy. I wasn’t sure why I felt the way I did, but whatever the reason, I immediately knew it wasn’t normal. The sight of Cooper should not have made my happiness dissipate. It didn’t seem like a typical reaction for a woman who had just gotten back together with her boyfriend.
My body tensed as I pulled away from Simon. I placed a hand on my burning stomach and thought about Sal from the vineyard. His words came rushing into my head. “Il stomaco never lies.”
“Lucy, is everything okay?” Simon asked, with a gentle hand on my arm.
I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye. Instead, I nodded, marched two paces forward, and forced a smile so big the corners of my mouth twitched.
“Cooper!” I exclaimed, once I stopped in front of him. “What a nice surprise.”
Cooper’s head snapped up, and he looked us up and down like we had just come out of Oscar the Grouch’s trash can. I had grass stains on my pants from sitting in the grass, chocolate on my shirt, and those were just the things I could see. God only knows what sorts of sweat stains I had. Cooper, on the other hand, was dressed to trade at the American Stock Exchange.
I reached up to pull my frizzy poof into a neater ponytail. “You remember Simon, right?” I smiled through gritted teeth. I was hoping he could hear “Mind your manners, please,” the telepathic message I was screaming.
Cooper nodded politely. He shoved his hands into his pockets and fixed his gaze on me. “Where you guys coming from? What happened to the car?”
“I decided to go on my own walking tour and hit a local garden. That’s when I bumped into Simon. He helped me kill time,” I said with a nervous chuckle.
Simon’s eyes darted to me, and a trickle of sweat ran down the back of my knee.
“Well, I texted you like five times.”
“You did?’ I frowned and reached for my phone. I saw he had indeed texted five times as well as called several times too.
“Yikes! Cooper, I’m so sorry. For some reason, I didn’t even hear my phone.”
“You must’ve been having so much fun you forgot about me.” He frowned.
I looked over at Simon who was carefully checking his own phone, avoiding my gaze. I clicked my tongue and sighed. “Cooper, that was so not the case. We were outside, and I just didn’t hear the phone. It was nothing,” I said with a cavalier wave of my hand.
I was trying to appease Cooper, but in one second, I’d managed to belittle the hours Simon and I spent together. I felt confused and couldn’t seem to think clearly.
“Well, I wanted to tell you that I’m heading home tonight.”
“Tonight?” I placed a hand on my chest. I had just kicked Simon to the curb to protect Cooper, and now Cooper was abandoning me again. First he couldn’t go to the Gardens, and now he was leaving. “Why?”
Simon cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you guys alone.”
“Oh, no you won’t,” Tess called out, suddenly appearing from out of nowhere. Tendrils of hair spilled from out of a messy bun and her flushed cheeks matched the dark pink color of her tank top. Next to her stood Mark, who had a hand wrapped around her waist.
Tess clutched her hands together and squealed. “Aunt Lu, you are not going to believe this.” She grabbed my wrist with a sweaty hand and squeezed it. “Someone liked my skirt.” Her eyes bulged as she looked at me expectantly.
“The one you’re wearing?” I pointed a finger to her skirt. It was the same one I had admired on the train to Amsterdam, as well as the other times she had worn it on the trip. “Why are you so surprised? I love your skirt and must have told you like twenty times.”
“I know you do, but you don’t count,” she said with the wave of her hand.
“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes at Mark. He gave me a wink and laughed.
“You know what I mean,” she said with her eyebrows raised. “It was that woman. You know, the one I told you about, the buyer. She freaked when I walked into her store.”
A head-to-toe chill washed over me. “Really?”
Mark was nodding his head enthusiastically behind her.
“Really. She asked if I’d be interested in making her twenty more to sell at her store.”
“To sell? Holy crap!” I threw my arms up and gave Tess a hug. “Wait.” I pulled away and looked at Tess searchingly. “You did say yes, right?”
Tess gave me a sideways glance.
“Okay, just making sure.” I tucked a piece of loose hair behind Tess’s ear and pride oozed out of me when I looked into her eyes. “I told you, you have a real talent.”
“I just can’t believe someone wants to buy something I made.” She folded her hands across her chest and cast a dreamy gaze up towards the sky.
“Congratulations, Tess,” Cooper said. “I’m excited to say I know a real designer.”
“I don’t know if I’m worthy of that title, but thanks, Cooper.” Tess gave him a polite smile. “It does have a little more cache than ‘teacher’s assistant at a daycare center’,” she said.
Mark cupped her shoulders and planted a kiss on the top of her head. My heart melted from his tender display of affection.
“I’m heading back home tonight, but we’ll have a celebratory drink when you get back to New York. You’ll be seeing lots of more of me. Right, Luce?” Cooper nudged me with his elbow.
Tess raised an eyebrow, and I nodded in response. As I smiled at her through gritted teeth, I s
aw a brief look pass between Mark and Simon.
“Listen, I really have to go. Lucy, thanks for helping me kill time today.” Simon pressed his lips together and nodded at Cooper. “See you later, man.”
“Where are you...?” I heard the desperation in my voice and stopped myself from finishing the question.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who picked up on my tone. I saw the creases in Cooper’s forehead deepen as he looked over at me.
“Simon, wait up,” Mark called out to his brother.
“Aunt Lu, we’ll leave you alone. I want to call my mom anyway. Text me when you get back to your room,” Tess said excitedly. She clapped her hands quietly and did a little jump. “Yay!” she exclaimed with glee.
This time, a genuine smile stretched across my face.
Once we were alone, Cooper turned to face me and drew in a slow breath. “So,” he exhaled with exaggeration. “What were you guys really doing? Rolling around in the grass? Is that dirt all over your shirt?”
“Are you serious?” The vein protruding from his forehead told me that he was. “Cooper, don’t you dare. I wasn’t going to sit in a hotel room waiting for you all damn day.” My voice sounded impatient and Cooper took a step back.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know I sound like a dick. I’m just in a bad mood. I was calling you incessantly because I wanted to spend time with you before I left.” He stuck his lip out and looked at me with sad puppy dog eyes. While that look had always made me melt, it had less of an effect on me now.
“Well, whose fault was that?” I said pointedly.
I looked away and saw Simon, who had stopped at a coffee stand. A wave of sadness washed over me. Before I could stop myself I wondered what he was doing tonight.
No. I stopped myself right there. Simon and I had finally found friendship, and I wasn’t going to ruin that. I would deal with my disappointment over Cooper’s defection on my own. It wouldn’t be fair to make Simon feel like second fiddle, even though in my heart he felt like more of a first string. Especially, after the fabulous day we had shared.
Tales From a Broad Page 26