Ada smiled at him. “It’s alright, don’t worry. Nah, I’ll take the taxi. It’s late.”
They walked outside the office. “Well, it has been great meeting you, Ada,” Massimo said, shaking her hand.
“For me as well,” Ada giggled like a teenage idiot. She pressed her cheeks down so they would stop grinning. “Thanks for letting me play with your Luggage.”
“Thanks for making the proof-of-concept. It’ll work just fine, I think.”
“See you.”
“Send us a resume when you graduate,” Massimo shouted after her. “Seriously.”
Ada giggled some more. She left before she’d say something she’d regret.
At the hotel, she spoke to the receptionist. He was so helpful, Ada felt warm and tingly inside. Or, perhaps that was the aftermath from the kiss. She had no idea. “You’re a gift from the gods.”
“The airport says they’re very sorry and they’ll have your luggage ready for you in the morning,” he said, smiling. He presented a care package. “We have added some clean clothes you can use for tonight.”
“Wow!” Ada said, accepting it. “Is it free?”
“Of course not. We’ll be charging your school.”
Ada thought about it for a moment. Then she shrugged. “Sure.”
She went up to her room. It wasn’t like anyone had bothered to look for her. Even Miss Olga didn’t care enough to call her back.
Nobody loved Ada.
She ignored the snide remarks of her roommate-slash-classmate about coming in so late and hopped on the bed, hugging her pillow tight.
Nobody loved Ada. But tonight, for a brief moment, perhaps Massimo did.
They woke up early, Ada was beat. She received her luggage, thank Hermes. She barely had time to get a shower and put on some clean slacks and sneakers. She could barely keep her eyes open, and thank the gods for espresso!
Around midday she managed to pry one eyelid open. They took her to see the sights, and Ada loved it. She breathed in the air, and the smells, and the food and the drink and the hustle and bustle of Rome. She really liked it here. It was like Athens, all the shouting and the egregious disregard for traffic code. But it had better-preserved ruins and statues, and they had kept that aesthetic of the old city, while expanding in other places. Athens had pushed the old and the beautiful aside and had built the new and the grotesque on top of the ruins.
Ada had fun.
Italy was the best, even if she travelled alone, basically. She had no friends amongst her classmates. Nobody really cared about her, not even the people who’s job was supposed to be just that. Miss Olga apologised briefly and then ran off to find some boys who were doing it in the bathroom. They had posted pictures on Agora. Miss Olga understandably lost her shit and screeched away to find them.
Ada shrugged. It was okay, she was fine on her own.
The rest of the days passed by quickly, it was really beautiful.
On the last day, Ada got called by the helpful receptionist. “Miss Ada, there’s a luggage for you.”
She frowned. “No, you brought me my luggage already, don’t you remember? And thank you for sorting that out, if I’d known I’d have come to you in the first place.”
The receptionist thanked her and pushed a light-blue orb from the back of his counter.
Ada squealed in delight. “Oh. My. Gods! Is it mine?”
The receptionist shrugged. “They left it here for you, miss.”
“Oh my gods! Luggage, is that you?”
Luggage rolled towards her and popped the hood open. There was a note inside, handwritten.
‘Ada, I got my guys to copy everything you did. It took them three days, if you can believe it. We’re going to implement your solution after all, it’s brilliant. I decided to patch up Luggage and leave him to you. It’s my gift.
Massimo.
P.S. Call me when you’re ready.’
Ada held the letter to her chest, squeezing it all inside. She turned to Luggage. “Come on, Luggage. You have some things of mine to carry to the airport and back home.”
The End.
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1. Threshold to the appearance point of an epileptic seizure
2. Unit of measurement for electric charge
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