by C. M. Carpi
* * *
I had a quick shower and I was putting on my brown sneakers when he knocked.
He wore a hat again, gray, jeans and a white t-shirt with a black buskin. His eyes seemed bluer and deeper in contrast with his clothes. How was he capable of being even more handsome?
I took a deep breath, closed the door and started walking beside him through the hallway.
“Leave it” — I looked frowning at him while he smiled, that gave me chills. — “You look more beautiful with your hair down.” — He was staring at me. It was becoming difficult being around him.
I smiled, surprised by his comment. I was putting down the bun I had just started pulling. He said I’m “more beautiful”. Oh! The butterflies in my stomach were going crazy.
He gave me his arm and we went out.
We had pizza and wine in a little restaurant at Piazza del Campo. We spent two hours watching the people walking, talking and laughing while sitting on the floor.
“Where did you go that night in Verona?” — I felt my face burning and I couldn’t disguise a smile while looking down. — “What?”
“I needed to finish something.”
“Something?” — He seemed amused.
“Normally I ask the questions, Daniel” — I tried to change the subject. He laughed, passing his long fingers through his chin and leaning over the table. He asked again, curious.”
“What ‘something’, Elena?”
“With Juliet” — I answered a little embarrassed and looking at the table, I only noticed his smile when I looked up. I loved to see him smiling.
We imitated the tourists and laid on the floor to watch the incredibly starry sky. Our arms touched several times, the feeling was breathtaking.
“Are you ready to visit castles tomorrow?” — He asked in front of my bedroom.
“Can’t wait”
“Good night, Elena.”
He held me by my waist and kissed my cheek. For a second I thought about turning my face, as Jessica had suggested, touch his mouth with mine and try to find what he’s up to, but I was afraid. If he didn’t return my kiss, I’d be very ashamed. If he wanted to kiss me he would have tried again, wouldn’t he?
“Good night” — I answered quietly before walking into my room.
* * *
“You are too quiet. Is there anything wrong?” — I retracted in my sit and kept my eyes closed. He gently touched my arm while asking and turning down the volume. Mick Jagger’s voice got lower until it finally disappeared.
I opened my eyes, reluctantly.
“Just a little tired, I think.” — I looked at him. I didn’t know what was happening but I suddenly lost strength. Maybe I was tired of visiting castles and eating so much.
“We can go straight to Florence if you´d rather.”
“No, I want to visit that castle” — I turned up the volume and Angie invaded the car. I smiled at him and turned my attention to the landscape.
Il Palagio castle was our last stop and the fourth today.
After a wine tasting with cheese, bread, olive oils and almond cookies we went back to Florence in a five-star hotel. This time, Siena’s hotel was something he wouldn’t repeat, definitely. I just rolled my eyes while we parked the car. I didn’t feel like talking.
“You’re pale, Elena. Are you sure you’re ok?”
“Yes. I’ll be better after a shower” — At least I thought so.
“Do you want to go out?”
“Yes” — I regret as fast as I said the words. He agreed and went to his bedroom.
We sat at a small restaurant inPiazza dellaSignoria. I couldn’t eat anything else after that day and he still tried to convince me to order at least a salad, but I couldn’t even think about food. Am I getting sick? I was tired and with a terrible headache.
“Can we go back to the hotel?” — I yawned.
“Sure”
“I’m really tired.”
He hugged me while we walked and almost dragged me back to the hotel.
“Are you going to be ok?” — He was worried.
“Yes” — I guess.
“I call you tomorrow at a quarter to eight.”
“All right” — I mumbled leaning on the door frame. It was difficult to stand.
“Call me if you need anything”
“Hum-hum”
I put on my pajamas and laid on the bed. I’m not ok at all, I thought while the walls passed through my eyes like a hurricane.
Daniel
A pouring rain came down outside. It was a dark and cold day, what is odd for this season of the year. She was late again. Had she overslept? That was common, but it wasn’t just that. I had knocked her door before coming down to the hall, but she didn’t answer. I thought she’d be downstairs waiting for me, but the receptionist didn’t see her. I called her cell phone but she didn’t answer it. The same happened to the telephone in her room. I’d better goto her room to check on her.
I knocked trice while calling her name, but she didn’t answer. On the fourth time I knocked harder and she opened the door, still wearing her horrendous blue pajamas bear printed. Bears? Really? If she didn’t look so ill, I could’ve laughed at her. Her hair was all tangled and she had dark circles under her eyes. She immediately turned her back at me and threw herself on the bed. I walked in and sat beside her.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know” — Her voice was weak and she covered her face with her hands. — “I can’t go with you, Daniel”
“Elena, look at me” — I tried to take her hand but she refused me. — “How do you feel?” — She made a terrible effort to sit on the bed, but when she opened her mouth, she ran to the bathroom putting her hand over it.
“Do you need help?” — I asked, but she didn’t answer. The door wasn’t locked, so I put my head inside to see what was happening and found her kneeling in front of the toilet, throwing up while spasms ran all over her weak and thin body. I approached and held her hair so it wouldn’t fall over her face. She tried to push me away but I stood beside her. After a few minutes she sat on the floor and started to cry.
“I’m sorry”
“Why are you apologizing?” — I smiled. She didn’t answer but made a gesture with her hand and cried again. — “Come, let’s get back to the room” — I helped her up, and as soon as we got out of the bathroom she collapsed in bed. — “What happened, Elena?”
“I shouldn’t have eaten all that cheese and salamis and food. I threw up all night.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“So you could watch me throwing up?” — I couldn’t help smiling while facing her embarrassment. She was beautiful like that.
“Do you want me to call a doctor?”
“No, but can you stay with me a while, please?” — She laid her head on my lap, surprising me.
“As long as you wish, love” — I caressed her hair until she fell asleep.
I couldn’t leave her alone like that. I looked at the clock, half past eight. I could attend the meeting and come back after it. No, that wouldn’t work. Those Italians loved to party. I couldn’t come back to Florence today, who’d take care of her? Shit! If I don’t close this deal I can’t even think about what my brother’s going to do.
I need to call Milan first. I left her sleeping and went to the hallway to make a call.
“Paola?”
“Daniel! Are you already here?” — She seemed upset. Paola always sounded like that while anxious and this meeting was very important for both companies. She had become a good friend through these years, maybe something else by the time I lived in Milan and she was the secretary for Enrico, the president of the company. She was married to Carlos now, the vice-president, and it made the meeti
ng easier.
“In fact I have a problem and I really need your help.”
“What happened?”
“My sister is traveling with me and she’s very ill” — I closed my eyes when I realized the bullshit I had just said. My sister?
“My God! I know what you’re going to say” — She whispered on the phone. — “Enrico is going to kill us both!”
“Not just him, Paola”
“What do you want me to do? Carlos has just arrived and they are locked in the office discussing the last details”
“I’m not sure, you could say it’s due to the rain or I broke a leg, I don’t know, anything”
“Daniel…”
“Paola, this meeting is very important. I wouldn’t...”
“Andy you think I don’t know that?” — She interrupted me in exasperation.
“I can’t reprice it, can I? I don’t know how much you can do, Paola, but I really need…” — She interrupted.
“Damn it, Daniel, pay attention! I’ll see what I can do and I call you back. Keep the cellphone close to your hands and get ready to come here anyway.” — She took a pause to breath, releasing the air heavily. — “I’ll try, but I can’t assure you anything. You know how Enrico is when something doesn’t happen the way he planned.”
“Please?” — I asked again before hanging up.
I sat on the hallway holding the cell phone in my hands for half an hour, waiting for her call. I don’t know what she told them, but the meeting was rescheduled for Friday. My biggest problem would be Owen.
“YOU WHAT?” — He yelled at me so loud that I had to put the cell phone away. If I were inside the room Elena would wake up with his screams. — “Have you got any idea how hard we worked to get this meeting?”
“Owen, calm down, let me…”
“Calm down? You want me to calm down? What nonsense have you done this time, Daniel?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That’s what you always do! You always ruin everything.”
“What the fuck? I didn’t ruin anything!”
“You’ve cleared the FUCKING meeting, haven’t you?” — I heard a stuffy noise on the other side, he probably punched the glass table in his office. My brother was very controlled, but if something didn’t happen the way he planned, he’d become unbearable. Now he was almost growling. — “I should have known you wouldn’t handle this.”
“What do you mean? I’ve worked as hard as you to get this meeting, maybe more than anyone in this company.” — He was far over limits.
“Can I explain what happened?” — I altered my tone of voice.
“I’m listening”
“I rescheduled the meeting for Friday, I didn’t clear it!” — I rubbed my eyes thinking about Elena. — “Owen, I’m with… I met a girl in Verona and she is…”
“What are you doing in Verona?”
“Actually, I’m in Florence.”
“I made a reservation in a five-star hotel for you in Milan, what the hell are you doing in Florence?”
“She’d come with me to Milan but now she’s very sick. I can’t leave her alone.”
“And when will the meeting happen?”
“On Friday.”
“Great” — He spoke in an altered tone, but suddenly he seemed calmer. “Hang on, you’re traveling with a girl?” — Great! My brother is back.
“It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“I’m not thinking anything” — He was ironic and laughing, I couldn’t help but laugh as well. — “Is she pretty?”
“God, Owen! She’s just a friend.”
“A friend making you give up on a business meeting? When was the last time it happened?”
“I’ll keep in touch” — I changed the subject. — “And you keep calm, I can handle this.”
“I know” — He paused before continuing. — “Daniel, don’t lose this contract.”
“I won’t”
I hung up the phone and stayed in the hallway for some moments before getting into the room again. I never acted this way before, Owen was right. I never lost a contract, a meeting or put someone before business. Although I’ve led a disorderly life lately, the company had always been in first place. What’s happening to me?
She wasn’t in bed. The bathroom door was open, I called her, but she didn’t answer. I got in to see if everything was ok. She was laid on the bathroom floor, her hair all over her face, like she’d fainted.
“Elena, come here” — I said trying to carry her, but she resisted.
“I want to stay here”
“You’re on the floor”
“I know, but the bed is too far from here and I’m very, very tired” — Her weak voice was pausing, she was much more pale than some time ago.
“I went to the room and grabbed a blanket and a pillow. I went back into the bathroom, stretched the blanket and laid over it, making her lay beside me. The floor was too cold. I put the pillow under her head and she came closer to me. We stayed there until she fell asleep again, what didn’t take long. Only then I was able to carry her back to bed. I slept beside her while caressing her cold arms.
I had never slept with a woman before, not like that. It was always sex, but I ended up coming back home in the middle of the night or waking up before them, so they wouldn’t think it was something else. It never was. But sleeping like that? It wasnew to me.
I woke up with her laying over my chest.
“You’ve brought me to bed” — She whispered.
“I don’t like sleeping on bathroom floors”
She smiled without opening her eyes.
“You know what?”
“What?”
“You’d be a great prince” — She slept again, holding my hand.
Elena
He was all shrunken, sleeping in my bed. He was wearing jeans and a dark blue T-shirt showing his shapely arms. I felt a chill on my nape when I imagined those arms around my body.
Calm down, Elena.
His bag was close to the wall beside the door. Why is his bag here? Damn!The meeting. I looked at the clock, 3.48 p.m., the train to Milan left at 9 a.m. Did I sleep all day? Why wasn’t he at the meeting?
I got up silently so I wouldn’t wake him up. Especially looking the way I was. I must be terrible. My body still hurt, I feel a terrible headache and a terrible sickness. Maybe a bath would make me feel better.
“Where are you going?” — He asked, widening his eyes.
“I need a bath.”
“Do you want some help?” — He was smiling, I tried to stay serious, but I had to smile back.
“You didn’t go to Milan” — I walked around the bed and sat beside him.
“No”
“Because of me?” — He sat on the bed and put his hair behind his ear.
“I couldn’t leave you alone.”
“But you said this meeting was very important, you should have gone.”
“Doesn’t matter” — He put his hands on my face. — “We’re going on Friday” — He softly caressed my cheek and that made me dizzy, his touch on my skin made me chill. — “Are you feeling better?”
I just nodded, my voice was gone. He put his hand aside, still looking deeply inside my eyes.
“If you need any help taking a shower, call me” — He said while grabbing the remote control. I raised an eyebrow, but he was looking at the TV with a half-smile on his face. Perhaps I could use some help, I though while getting in the bathroom.
Maybe you need a cold shower!
The shower really made me feel better. I put on some sweatpants and a white top, I ran out of pajamas and I’d soon run out of clean clothes, I had to go to the laundry urgently. I came ba
ck inside the room and Daniel was working on his laptop, very serious and focused.
I sat beside him in silence, didn’t mean to interrupt, and started brushing my hair. It seemed I didn’t do this for days, but I was weak even to do that. He realized just when my arms fell beside my body.
“Here, let me help you” — He took the brush off my hands and sat beside me, putting his legs beside my body and closer.
He’s very close!
When his hands touched my hair I felt a chill over my neck. He brushed it softly, undoing the hair knots slowly with his fingers. It’s been years since someone brushed my hair and it never felt so good.
“You’re good at it” — I said closing my eyes. — “My nanny always made my neck stiff.” — He laughed and I loved it. He should laugh like this more often, I thought.
“My sister used to make me brush her hair every afternoon and when she didn’t like the hairstyle, that was really often, she’d make me start it all over.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty three, just like you. But sometimes she is thirteen or sixty.”
“Are you close?”
“A lot, since we were little. When she was six I guess, we didn’t have a nanny, so my mother made my brother and me responsible for her. Owen is very serious since we’re little, that’s why he got responsible for school works and I was up for the mess. I think that made her closer to me. ” — He smiled while telling me that.
“Do you get together well? You and your brother?”
“He’s a pain in the ass most of times, but I can’t imagine my life without him.”
“It must be great having a family like this. I used to spend all the afternoons alone.”
“Yes, it’s great.”
We stayed silent for some moments while he tried to undo some knots under my hair. I closed my eyes and wondered how my life would have been if I had a brother or sister. Would my mother still be alive for them? Would she love them more than me? Maybe not. My mother wasn’t capable of loving anyone more than my father. I felt a knot on my throat while having that thought.