by Lise Gold
A loud, flirty whistle pulled her out of her thoughts, and she laughed when she saw it was Nadine, waiting for her at the back of the parking lot. She always kept her helmet on in case one of the board members would show up, but Rome would have recognized her mint green Vespa and endlessly long legs from miles away.
“Hey!” Rome walked over to her, lifted her helmet and kissed her fiercely as she wrapped her arms around her neck. “What are you doing here?” One of her colleagues passed them and stared at them for a moment before she got in her car, but it didn’t stop Rome from kissing her one more time. Kissing Nadine was like recharging her batteries; every passionate moment sparked life into her like nothing else and every time she asked herself the same question; how had she not known how good this could be? Their lips brushed lightly, then collided again with force as Nadine pulled her in and weaved her fingers through her hair. Rome didn’t mind that her colleague had seen her with a woman; they could talk all they wanted, and she waved at her as she stepped away to catch her breath, wondering how Nadine made her feel so damn good.
“I just missed you, and I can tell you missed me too.” Nadine smirked and licked her lips. “And I wanted to check on you, see if you were okay after your meeting with Flavio and Rob.”
“Thank you, that’s very sweet of you.” Rome got on the back and scooted as close as she possibly could, delighted to have her arms around Nadine’s waist. “But I’m okay, it went well. Rob actually doesn’t seem like a bad guy and your bestie…”
“Hey, stop calling that creep my bestie,” Nadine interrupted her with a chuckle.
“Okay, sorry, I meant Flavio,” Rome continued, deciding to stop teasing Nadine about her last date with Flavio, during which he’d poured his heart out for hours, then told her she was the only one he felt he could really talk to. “Anyway, he seems pretty reasonable, too. Like you said; he’s no saint but he’s not a monster either.” She pinched Nadine’s waist. “So, where are we going?”
Nadine shrugged as she looked at Rome over her shoulder, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “What do you want to do?”
“Honestly, I want to go to bed. With you,” Rome added with a grin, sneaking her hands underneath Nadine’s T-shirt. “But first, I want ice cream.”
“Ice cream and sex, huh? So demanding but I’m down for that.” Nadine started the engine and sped off.
53
“Welcome back, girlfriend!” Nadine said enthusiastically as she put the three drinks down in front of Rome and Eliza, who had just arrived back from LA. “Did you have a good time?”
“I did.” Eliza shot her a beaming smile. “It was the most amazing party. Did you see my email?”
Nadine frowned and shook her head as she sat down next to Rome. “No, sorry, I haven’t checked today.”
“That’s fine.” Eliza scrolled through her phone. “I only just sent it on my way back from LA and I know you’re not a phone junkie like me.” She handed her phone to Nadine.
“What the…” Nadine narrowed her eyes as she looked at a screenshot of Ella Temperley, Hollywood sweetheart and A-list actress, holding her perfume bottle next to her face as she smiled in a picture on Twitter with the caption: Cutest present ever! Virgo perfume that makes me smell like myself but better! #starsaligned “How?”
“I gave it to her as a birthday present.” Eliza grinned. “I gave one to her girlfriend, Cam, too. She has her own yoga wear brand now, and she also has a heap of followers. I hope your web shop is live, because you’re going to get a lot of orders on the back of this…”
“It went live yesterday, thank goodness,” Nadine said, shaking her head in disbelief. “I don’t even know how to thank you. You’re going to get a bonus for this.”
“Absolutely not. I was wracking my brain trying to think of a unique birthday present to give her and you gave me the perfect solution. If Ella likes it and tweets about it, that’s all on her, not me. I’m just happy I was able to spread the word for you.” Eliza took a sip of her Espresso Martini and moaned. “I’ll tell you one thing though; LA is great, but there’s no place like home. I’ve missed the Italian coffee, even in the form of a cocktail.”
“These cocktails are pretty great.” Nadine toasted with Eliza and Rome. “Thank you for doing that for me. You have no idea how much I appreciate it, and all drinks are on me tonight.”
Eliza shook her head. “No, drinks are on him tonight.” She waved toward the barman and manager of the small establishment they were seated in. “They just opened yesterday and I’m going to feature his bar on my lifestyle blog.”
Rome laughed. “You are one crafty lady.”
“Hey, as I said my mantra is ‘work is pleasure and pleasure is work’.”
“What happened with Angelo, last week after we left? Any pleasure with him?” Nadine teased.
“No, nothing like that.” Eliza hesitated. “It was the strangest thing. The attraction was mutual, I was sure of that. So, I suggested he come back to my place, for pleasure,” she clarified with a wink. “But he declined and said he’d rather take me out on a date instead. I mean, what kind of man does that?”
“The nice kind?” Rome suggested. She regarded Eliza, who seemed highly confused about the situation. Perhaps no one had ever turned down sex with her before, or perhaps no man had ever been so courteous. “So, are you going to go out with him?”
Eliza shrugged. “I don’t know. A date with someone like him seems so serious, because you’re right; he’s genuinely nice and I don’t want to hurt him; he doesn’t deserve that.”
“Why do you think you’ll hurt him?” Rome asked carefully. “It might be different this time.” She took Nadine’s hand and squeezed it. “I never thought I’d love someone the way I love Nadine, yet here I am. It was different with her.”
Eliza shot them a goofy smile. “True. You guys are very, very cute together.” She averted her gaze and looked down at her lap, fiddling with a loose sequin on her sparkling lilac dress. “I was married once,” she said out of nowhere.
“You were?” Rome leaned in and placed a hand on Eliza’s arm, sensing this was difficult for her to talk about. She couldn’t imagine the free-spirited Eliza who loved being in love, tied down to anyone.
“Yes, twenty years ago, when I was eighteen. I was crazy about him, completely blinded by love. I was young and foolish and had no ambitions other than starting a family back then. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; my priorities just shifted.”
“What happened?” Nadine asked softly.
“He got my best friend pregnant instead.” Eliza clenched her jaw and balled her hands into fists. “It’s not easy to get over something like that, but I moved to Rome and worked as a bartender until I figured out what I wanted to do with my life.”
“I’m so sorry… that must have been horrible,” Rome said, but Eliza just shrugged and painted on a smile.
She straightened her back and waved if off like she’d undoubtedly done hundreds of times. “It was a long time ago and I’m so much better off without him; those two deserve each other. I’m the one with a killer career and the world at my feet while he’s still living in that tiny little factory-filled shithole and she’s stuck with an unfaithful husband.”
“That’s true…” Nadine hesitated as she didn’t want to overstep. “But just because your ex-husband was an asshole doesn’t mean all men are like that.”
“I know that.” Eliza sat back and sighed. “Seriously, I know I’m fucked up and I’d never claim otherwise. But even knowing that the problem is with me, there will always be this little voice in the back of my mind that questions everything my boyfriends do, no matter how nice they are.”
“But you might want to start giving them a chance at some point,” Rome said. “Believe me, getting close to people is hard for me too, but I’m glad I finally opened myself up. And you know what? It wasn’t even that hard. I think the idea of letting someone in frightened me more than the relationship itself.” She shot Na
dine a loving glance and leaned into her. “Unless you prefer serial dating, of course. If that’s really your thing, who am I to question your love life?”
“I like dating. And I like the excitement of something new; I never lied about that,” Eliza said. “But when I see the two of you together, I do wonder what it would be like to really be close to someone. To get so lucky to meet my soulmate and be able to let him in.” She hesitated, then shook her head. “I don’t know. I just need some time, I guess. For some reason, Angelo got me thinking and that dragged all the shit from my past back to the surface.” Her drink was already finished, and she waved over the waiter. “Anyway, enough serious talk for tonight. There’s only so much I can handle and I need a refill.”
54
Inspiration was the greatest gift, and today, Nadine was feeling very, very inspired. She’d been in her perfume room ever since Rome had left for work that morning, and she’d completely lost track of time and life in general. It was great to be in the zone, excitement coursing through her as she got closer and closer to what she was aiming for. Carefully, she added two droplets of jasmine to the blend of oils in the Erlenmeyer flask and hovered over it as she swirled it around, taking in the harmonious scent that sung to her. Almost perfect.
She’d been on cloud nine ever since Rome had told her she loved her and slowly, an idea had started forming in her mind. Although there was no rush, soon she would have to start thinking about developing her next perfume, and that was exciting. This one would be much simpler to create, and she was looking forward to simple after years of research into scents associated with personality types. Stars Aligned was the right product for the right time, but it had taken her eight years to create the twelve perfumes. She had no desire to spend so much time on her next product, as it took the impulsiveness out of the process and with that, some of the passion she felt for her craft.
Nadine wanted to go by her gut this time, instead of by science. Fueled by her love for Rome, she closed her eyes and inhaled once more, trying to figure out if the jasmine made it better or not. Rome smelled like the sun, and she needed something warm to balance out the colder oils that she’d used to reference the scents of the forest, and the summer rain that Rome loved.
Along with the Libra perfume, Rome had been wearing the fragrance Nadine had given her before she went back to Portland a lot, and not only did it really suit her, it was also one of Nadine’s proudest creations, even though she’d thrown it together on a whim. The small bottle was almost empty now, and Nadine was glad she’d written down the formula the morning Rome had gone back to the US to pack her things. It only needed to be fine-tuned.
“The sun,” she mumbled as she stood up and gazed over her fragrance organ. Perhaps it needed some bergamot, or cedarwood. She was glad no one could see her working like this; naked with her lab coat hanging open. It wasn’t just that she liked being naked in general, she also needed to be free of any traces of fabric conditioner, or the scent of city life on her clothes, as it was distracting. The temperature was set to a perfect twenty degrees, the lights were dimmed, which she tended to do when she was in the middle of the creation process, and music was playing full blast. Puccini’s La bohème was her favorite opera to listen to while she was working, and she softly hummed along as she got up on the ladder and reached for the cedarwood. Using a pipette, she added a droplet to the mixture, then checked over and over before she added another and finally, a third.
After a thirty-minute break, during which she sat back and simply got lost in the music, giving her nose a rest, she leaned over the flask again and smiled as the symphony of oils penetrated her nostrils. “Perfect,” she whispered, her lips pulling into a wide smile. Sometimes it took eight years, and sometimes it took eight hours. It was crazy what love could do to a person, how it opened you up, made you feel new things, and gave you new ideas. The perfume didn’t smell like Rome—at least not in the literal sense—but the association with her was remarkable. It carried her energy, her pureness; fresh and innocent but at the same time incredibly sensual and sexy.
Nadine’s eyes lowered to the sketchpad on her desk, and she opened it, staring at the numerous drawings of ideas for bottles she’d scribbled down over the past week. They weren’t quite right; too sharp at the edges, and too cubical. Although the designs were very elegant, they carried a hint of masculinity, and this wasn’t a unisex fragrance. It was feminine, and the bottle had to be very, very pretty. Again, she closed her eyes and this time, she pictured Rome’s body. Flashes of her delicious curves danced in front of her, and she kept seeing her hips. Slick, slightly rounded, inviting… Nadine realized she was getting turned on, so she opened her eyes and focused on her notepad instead, picking up the pencil that lay beside it. Yes, she would gladly release herself from the throbbing need between her legs and it certainly wouldn’t take long, but first things first. Days in which she swam in inspiration were rare and she needed to get the curves down on paper before she got too distracted by fantasies to continue.
By the time she’d finished, the fourth act of the opera was over too, and rather than put on more music, she sat in silence for a long moment, staring down at the notepad while inhaling the scent from the flask. “Perfect,” she whispered, studying her sketch of a droplet-shaped bottle that was narrow at the bottom and wider at the top, streamlined into a glass stopper that brought to mind the association of a slim waist. It was elegant, simple, and sensual.
Nadine let out a deep, happy sigh and suddenly felt how tired and hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten all day, too consumed with her latest project, and she hadn’t had coffee either as the smell was too strong and distracted her when she was working. She put the top on the flask and closed her notebook, then went back through the bookcase and into the kitchen to fix herself a caffeine shot and something to eat. Rome would be home soon and although she could hardly wait to tell her about her progress, she’d keep it to herself, just for now. This perfume would be very, very special.
55
“Hi, Luca. I’m going to the market. Do you need anything?” Rome asked in her best Italian after knocking on Luca’s door. She’d had dinner with him a couple of times now, and he clearly appreciated her learning Italian as she was now met with a small smile rather than his usual grunt and suspicious stares. He wouldn’t be joining her fan club anytime soon, but his comments amused her now, rather than upset her, and she’d learned how to sneer back at him.
“Grazie, un pane per favore,” he said, his small eyes squinting.
“A loaf of bread, sure.” Rome winked at him and ran down the stairs, carrying her shopping trolley. Not too long ago, she’d made fun of people dragging the trollies behind them, but after carrying heavy grocery-filled bags up the hill time after time, she’d finally given in and borrowed Nadine’s trolley that had silly cat faces printed all over it.
Rome didn’t spend much time in her own apartment anymore, simply because she really liked Nadine’s neighborhood and most of all, she liked being with Nadine. A month of practicing the language had paid off; she was starting to understand a little, and her confidence was growing.
The street smelled of fresh bread, the heat from the sun as it baked into the old buildings and garlic wafting from the restaurants. It was the smell of comfort, of home. She took a moment to appreciate her surroundings and life in the sweet neighborhood. Going back to the US seemed unthinkable now, and she didn’t really miss anything, apart from her friend Barbara and occasionally, her father, who she spoke to on the phone from time to time. She hadn’t told him about Matteo, and she hadn’t told him about Nadine either. She wasn’t sure why, but she suspected it was just easier to keep things to herself when it came to her father. Their relationship was very platonic and although they always had friendly exchanges about their jobs and life in general, their conversations never went deeper. Frankly, she had no idea what was happening in his life either, and that was fine.
Today, she would reunite with Michael, and she
was excited to welcome him and his wife to Rome. Back home, she would have met up with him in a coffee shop or at his office, but now that she’d been living here for over four months, the Italian lifestyle had rubbed off on her, and she was excited to have him, his wife, and Anton, over for dinner for their first face-to-face meeting. She’d thought of having them over at her own apartment, but Nadine had insisted she’d invite them to hers instead, since Rome spent most of her time there anyway.
Rome wasn’t used to entertaining but she was excited to cook for a group of people for the first time. Cooking had become something that relaxed her rather than stressed her out lately, and she tried to learn making a new Italian dish at least once a week. As she slowly strolled toward the market, taking in life as it passed her by, she greeted the nuns she saw almost every morning on her way to work. Saturday morning was a busy affair, as the weekend was often observed with big family dinners.
Just like most locals, she’d found her preferred stalls now and she smiled when Frederico, one of the stallholders, pulled out a bag of large, ripe tomatoes from under the counter and handed it to her. He also bagged up a large onion, some artichokes and mixed salad leaves, as she’d asked him to keep her standard order aside for her every week.