Headstrong in Tuscany

by Fay Henson

  Good job I didn’t listen to the message with the speaker on, otherwise Joe might not have been impressed if he’d heard the bit about his parents. I’d better reply but I’ll play it safe and do it by text rather than voice so I can’t drop myself in it and accidently let on about something I’d rather they didn’t know, yet.

  Hi Mum, well it’s all romance there then! Glad you saw the race. I can imagine what you said about Joe’s parents, who aren’t really his parents, the woman is his auntie and I don’t think either of them have got much time for him. Anyway, he’s happy in Siena. No other news except we hired bikes a couple of days ago which was a good laugh. Oh yes, I’ll be coming back to the hotel on the twentieth, so in only three days and looking forward to seeing you. Lots of love to you and Dad, Caylin xxx

  Just three days.

  Hi Cay, a black eye? Can’t imagine what’s going on over there with you two, for g’s sake, come back in one piece please! Oh, Zoe’s asked me to say hello to you, and also to ask you if you’ve given it up to Joe yet, she said you’ll know what she means. I know what she means too but wouldn’t have quite put it that way. I said I shouldn’t ask you, but seeing as she’s without her phone and she’s a good mate...Anyway, you take your time girl. Speaking of Zoe, she’s gone and got herself grounded and phoneless for two days as of yesterday so if she’s a good girl, she should be let out and have a phone back tomorrow. She’s not allowed visitors but she sneaked a call to me using their house phone. I don’t think she’ll mind me telling you...she went out with Sarah and Kim to a class disco in a hotel and Zoe and a lot of them got into trouble because they were found skinny dipping in the pool as well as having raided the kitchens. The hotel night reception phoned her Dad, so you can imagine...told me she was going to give a false name so bet she’s glad she didn’t ‘cause if she had... Anyway, got to go, catch ya soon, Em x

  Hi Em, sounds like it’s all going on there too poor Zoe at least it was only a couple of days, I can’t imagine what term I’ll get when my parents see me L. Anyway, changing the subject, if you get a chance to speak to Zoe you can tell her the answer is maybe yes and maybe no J. Oh while I think of it, when you two go out again, ask the barman to make you a Mojito cocktail, but I wouldn’t have more than one as it’s super nice but super strong. Sorry Em, gotta go now as we’re meeting a girl who’s sorting something out for us, fill you in when the time’s right, Cay xx

  We made our way to Stefania’s club in time for nine o’clock, and it was then whilst we walked, that I actually realised that my ankle wasn’t annoying me for once, and so that was one thing less to worry about.

  I couldn’t see Stefania but I could see Erica in the distance with some others. It felt a bit strange being back there again and I felt a little awkward having not long ago been branded a thief; I hoped I was doing the right thing and there wasn’t going to be some kind of revenge on me. On the other hand, maybe this could be third time lucky, being the third time I’d been there, well at least I hoped it would. Where was Stefania? I wondered.

  Me and Joe keeping our eyes open for Stefania to arrive, hung around opposite, near some shops where the staff were preparing to close for the night turning lights out and pulling down some metal shutters.

  ‘Do you think she’ll really be here?’ I asked.

  ‘Difficult one.’

  It was nearly nine thirty and I was starting to feel like a bit of a fool.

  ‘Come on Joe, let’s go,’ I said, ‘it was just a load of tosh and we’re obviously wasting our time.’

  ‘Shame, sure you don’t want to wait ‘til half past at least?’

  ‘Nope.’

  I looped my arm around Joe’s and disappointed, we turned to walk away in silence, both of us with our own thoughts and dodging others who were out for an evening walk around the city.

  I would say it was about ten minutes we’d been walking without saying anything to each other, when we noticed someone’s hurried footsteps getting closer from behind making us step into the side of the street and see who was coming. It was Stefania.

  ‘Caylin.’ She was out of breath so we had to wait a few moments for her to recover.

  ‘Phew,’ she said, ‘Erica said she seen you, but you gone by the time I finished to speak with some people. I’m sorry.’

  ‘That’s OK,’ I said.

  ‘I have good news, a lot of people of my club and their friends said they like your idea and want to watch.’

  ‘Great, but do they understand about sponsoring?’ asked Joe.

  ‘Don worry, they know.’

  I relaxed a bit.

  ‘We can make it like an event for tomorrow lunchtime, OK?

  ‘An event?’ I asked looking anxiously towards Joe. What kind of event? I wondered.

  ‘I find someone too who can cut your hair, don worry, it’s good.’

  ‘Thank you Stefania, that’ll be real cool.’

  ‘See you tomorrow one o’clock at my club OK?’

  ‘Great,’ I said, ‘fantastic.’

  For the second time today we watched Stefania walk away from us, and this time I had giant butterflies in my stomach. She turned round and gave us a wave.

  ‘A domani,’ she called out.

  Me and Joe looked at each other and both of us burst out laughing hysterically. I knew that mine was nervousness; his, I wasn’t sure, probably the same.

  ‘Well, you’ve gone and done it now,’ he said, ‘there’s no going back, they’re going to be expecting us tomorrow.’

  18

  Tre, due, uno

  I didn’t sleep well at all that night. We were cuddled together in my bed and we were really hot and sweaty even though we only had a light sheet over us. The temperatures had risen again and the night temperature was almost like what we had on a summer’s day back in Bristol. I managed to move a bit to give us some air between our bodies.

  The trouble was, if we had opened the window, we risked letting in those horrible tiger mosquitoes which were always too small and fast to swat. They were really devious too, the way in which they hid behind something and when you moved it, out they would come and home in on you.

  So we were suffering with the heat. In hindsight, we should’ve stayed at Joe’s because his window had a mosquito net you could pull up or down and so we could’ve had the window open to let the air circulate, albeit warm air. I missed hearing the night crickets too. I remembered lying awake there the other night in Joe’s room and hearing a cricket singing outside and thinking how lovely it sounded.

  ‘Are you awake?’ I whispered. No answer.

  I reached for my phone and checked the time. It was almost five in the morning and still dark so I switched on the phone’s light and shone it onto Joe. He looked kind of spooky because his hair and skin looked grey against the white of the sheet in contrast against the eerie dark blue and blackness of the room surrounding us. I noticed that he’d taken off the white gauze at last.

  I cheekily moved the light down along his body catching a glimpse of his raised profile beneath the sheet. No don’t, I thought, yes, go on, I dared myself. So I leant out and let my phone slip onto the floor, then followed my hand under the sheet very slowly skimming his chest, down along his stomach and there it was, and there I was a giggly girl waking him up.

  ‘Hey Caylin,’ he said stretching himself, ‘you ready for some more unvirgining?’

  ‘That’ll be telling,’ I giggled.

  Within a second he’d leapt out of the bed.

  ‘Be right back.’

  I knew where he’d gone because I could hear the sounds of his rucksack being moved and I was guessing he was searching for a little shiny packet. I wondered how many he had with him. I quickly huffed into the palm of my hand to see how my breath smelled; it was OK but I wanted to be sure. I remembered that Joe had some toothpaste on the side somewhere so I got out to find it
and took a tiny amount to wipe around my teeth; at least I was minty.

  Joe was back lying down on the bed before I was, and he’d even been to the window and opened up the shutters. What we could see above a building opposite, the sky was starting to show signs of daylight arriving, and had turned from black to a beautiful indigo colour.

  I laid myself on top of him which I knew he loved and kissed him as nicely as I could, before proceeding to move down his chest and pausing just where his pubic hairs started. I couldn’t help it, but I hesitated ever so slightly, before continuing to reach the place I knew he’d hoped I’d go and where I stayed for a while. I could tell it was making him very happy. I wanted him to be very happy.

  I decided to surprise him again and make the next move too, so I reached out for the little shiny packet and took out the greasy smooth condom; the first time ever I’d touched one of those. I could see Joe was watching me with a curious grin as I proceeded to put it on him, luckily without breaking it.

  ‘You ready?’ I asked him cheekily.

  ‘You bet.’ I didn’t think he wanted to wait any longer.

  So Joe turned me over onto my back and ever so carefully we made love.

  We eventually climbed out of bed after a super lazy lie-in, and by the time we’d showered and sorted ourselves out, it was getting close to the time we’d arranged to meet Stefania at the club. I noticed that Joe had decided to leave the white gauze off his eye as the swelling wasn’t quite so bad, but instead, the bruising had become a mystical blend of green and yellow. I wasn’t surprised he’d taken it off; I bet it’d annoyed him as I’d seen him have to move his head in a certain direction to see something properly.

  It was hot again today and as I didn’t have a huge choice of clothes, I’d decided to wear one of the long black skirts with a mint-green strappy top, making me look a bit like a dark mint-crisp chocolate.

  I stood for a while in front of the mirror. I hadn’t really noticed up to then that I’d got myself a bit of a tan which was fine, except for the freckles I dreaded each summer were starting to show themselves and faintly creeping from one cheek across the bridge of my nose to the other. Joe came up behind me, putting his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

  ‘Hey gorgeous, we should be going,’ he said looking back at me through the mirror.

  ‘Are you nervous?’ I asked him.

  ‘Not nervous exactly,’ he said, ‘just a bit so, so.’

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘You sure you want to go through with it? After all, the girl and her brother wouldn’t have known your plan to help them.’

  ‘You want to bottle out?’ I asked teasing him.

  ‘Never.’

  I wondered if he was telling me the truth.

  ‘Come on, let’s do it,’ I said, ‘Stefania might be waiting.’

  Arm in arm we picked our way through the wandering tourists. One time, Joe stopped to read a hand-printed notice in bright colours which was stuck to a post. When I asked him what it was he was reading, he said he didn’t understand it. We reached the turning to the street for the club at twelve fifty, when we continued to walk a little slower to survey the situation ahead of us.

  ‘What has she organised?’ I said.

  ‘I think we’re just about to find out.’

  We stood still trying to make out what was happening. The little area used by the club had been taken over with rows of wooden benches where loads of people of all ages were sitting and opposite them there was a small stage area I hadn’t noticed before, with two seats on top of it.

  ‘Oh my god,’ I said.

  ‘He can’t help you.’

  ‘That’s not for us, is it?’ I was utterly shocked.

  ‘Remember that notice I read...’ Joe decided to stop right there as I didn’t need to be a science buff to work it out.

  ‘Caylin, Joe.’ It was Stefania’s voice.

  We turned in the direction of where her voice was coming from and there she was, smiling and probably thinking we were two crazy Brits, and extremely relieved we’d turned up. So that was the event idea she’d been conjuring-up.

  She came right up to me and gave me a kiss on both cheeks and did the same to Joe.

  ‘Welcome to your event,’ she said.

  ‘I think it is a good thing you want to give money for to the girl’s brother to help them, you are a kind people.’

  ‘Yes, but...’ I tried to say something.

  ‘And I want to say sorry to you, for thinking you are a ladro. This is for to help you to find the money.’

  I felt quite overwhelmed at the thought she’d gone and organised the event, and I was thanking my lucky stars that we hadn’t bottled-out. We could’ve so easily had decided not to meet Stefania, unaware that she’d gone to all that trouble. For a moment I lingered on an image of her waiting for us to turn up, and how disappointed she would’ve been once she’d realised there wasn’t going to be any head shaving going on.

  ‘I’m dead chuffed you’ve done this,’ I said. ‘What a great idea, grazie.’

  ‘I’ll second that,’ Joe said.

  Then, Stefania hit us with another jaw-dropping surprise.

  ‘I spoken to a friend who work in a local TV company and he has organised Paolo to film the event.’

  ‘You mean it’ll be shown on TV? I tried my hardest to look very happy about that, and wondered just how Joe was feeling.

  ‘Certo, sure,’ she said. ‘First, Andrea want to interview you, come on.’

  I couldn’t begin to explain to you how I was feeling on having been thrown literally head first into that situation with less than zero chance of backing out except that I was dead scared and wishing I’d said nothing to her at all. Poor Joe; I doubt he could’ve believed his ears and all I could do when our eyes met, was pull a stupid oops face at him.

  We tagged along behind Stefania and followed her up onto the little stage. I was sweating buckets under my arms which I thought was more from nervousness rather than the heat, so it was a relief that the sun had already passed that area and where we were going to sit was in the shade. Realising that this was going to be recorded and shown on local TV, I had to compose myself which believe me, was going to be a hard task.

  There were sooooo many people looking right at us, it was terrifying. And Joe, love him, the gentle and quiet person that he was, caught hold of my hand giving it a squeeze, but I wouldn’t let his hand go; I wanted him to know I was there for him too. How cruel it was to have dragged him into this with me.

  Stefania introduced us to Andrea the journalist, a short man with a dark bushy beard and dark greasy hair, who incidentally spoke English quite well. I was told never to judge a book by its cover.

  Everybody hushed when Paolo started filming and Andrea commenced his interview with us. My heart was pounding. All eyes and ears were on us.

  ‘And so, Caylin and Joe, you’re from England on oliday and engaged.’ I wanted to correct him, but Joe squeezed my hand to warn me not to interrupt him.

  ‘You ave decided to take off all your air to raise money for the family of the girl who died on the day of the Palio, here in Siena.’

  ‘Si,’ Joe said and I nodded my head. I felt a drip of perspiration trickle down my back.

  The journalist repeated the question in Italian for the fascinated audience.

  ‘But there’s a little story behind this,’ he said, ‘that the girl said you were a thief, which we know isn’t truth, and made your stay in Siena very difficult.’

  I felt as if Joe could read my mind, because I was about to open my mouth and there came the big hand squeeze again. I purposely dug a nail into his palm.

  ‘But it was the girl who was the thief for her brother and is family.’

  I’d never been to court, but it certainly felt like I was being scrutinized all right. I rais
ed my hand for permission to speak.

  ‘Yes, she did call me a thief but she was trying to help her family who have no work, and now she’s dead,’ I said, ‘who can help them and their little girl?’

  The journalist repeated in Italian what both he and I had said. Then the strangest thing happened, someone started to clap their hands, then another and another until it seemed like the whole of this corner of Siena were applauding us.