by D. Griffith
"Hmm, that was strange. Yeah, it must have been a wrong number."
“Christina Aguilera, Danni! Seriously?”
“Don’t dish Christina, she’s the bomb, you know you secretly love her.” We chuckle and for the rest of the way we sit in silence.
We’ve stopped for coffee at this adorable, little Roman cafe. It’s so tiny. It’s a brown hutch, with modern tables close by for the public to sit. They're playing some sort of mellow music, which little kids are dancing too, it’s pretty cool. Jared and I, stand by watching them dance away.
"Kids are great at that age, aren’t they? Not a fear in the world, they're so innocent." I say, while lining up waiting for my coffee.
"Yeah, they are! My sister Julie has a son and daughter and they’re like that. Not to sound biased, but they’re amazing and so fun to be around, also not missing out how intelligent they are, they out smart me all the time.” He states, with much pride in his voice.
I go to say something back, but then the young kids come running towards me and ask if I would like to dance with them. Is that normal? I don't want to! It’s embarrassing, but I don't want to say no and sound like a complete bitch. I give in and say yes, the excitement on their, faces and their voices, as they’re cheering, is well worth me making a complete fool of myself. As they drag me towards the side of the hut, I keep looking back at Jared, waving my hand at him, gesturing for him to follow and join in. He nods continuously no, laughing his ass off at me.
I follow the kids, till they stop and they grab my hands and start dancing around in a circle. I’m trying so hard not to show how embarrassed I’m feeling and Jared is still looking over laughing away, what a tool. Jeez, he must think I’m a right lunatic.
"Coffee’s ready!" The lady behind the counter shouts. Phew, saved by the bell. I say goodbye to the kids and thank them for the dance and as I’m about to leave, the little girl with long black hair, olive skin and a cute button nose, that brings the colour of her green eyes out, comes up and gives me a hug, she stares at me as if she is seeing an angel. She gestures for me to come down to her level. She notices my scar and looks at it; she smiles to say it’s ok. That’s kind of sweet. She then whispers in my ear, that the tall man I am with is very pretty and I did a good job. I laugh,
"I know, I can put a good word in for you if you like?" She giggles and runs back, skipping, towards her friends.
"That was kind of you to dance with them, most wouldn't." Jared says, astonished.
"They're just kids! They deserve to be made happy and to be honest, it makes me feel good knowing I did something good for them, you know? I know it sounds cheesy.” I reply.
"No! Not cheesy at all, I think it’s great." He says, staring into my eyes, smiling away at me. I quickly look away, as I can feel myself becoming uncomfortable and I speak up, to help move away from this conversation.
"So, anyway, off to the Spanish steps then? Which, you have to take pictures for me, so I can put them in my scrap book.
“You, have a scrap book?” He asks,
“I will after today, you’ve got to keep memories somewhere and Rome is a must keep.” I smile and we head towards the Spanish steps.
*****
As we approach the Spanish steps, I look up in amazement.
"Wow, they’re long steps." They’re steep and look never ending.
"Yeah!” Do you want to race?" He asks, with what I call a cheeky grin, which makes me melt every time. "Come on; are you scared encase you get beat?"
"No! But can you see how many there is? They’re going to kill me.”
“I’m going to start making clucking noises at you if you refuse."
"Fine! After three! One, two..” Before I hit three, I run ahead and all I can hear in the background is.
"You little cheater!" I start laughing but after getting half way, he has already taken over me, he is to fit. I start losing my breath and have to stop. I shout,
"I give up!" And I decide to sit in the middle of the steps to try and catch my breath back; he comes running down to me, hovering over me.
"Are you ok? Do you need a hand?" he offer, I hold my hand out for him to pull me up and with a single tug he drags me up and I land straight against his chest, our faces are that close, both our noses are literally touching; I can feel his breath graze over my skin, which sends goosebumps instantly over my body. Are eyes comes to a meeting and the intensity of our gaze is overwhelming. I quickly remove myself away from his lure.
"Museum, next?" I ask, trying not to look at him.
"Yeah!” He says, confused But he shakes it off and we head to the top of the steps . “Shall we look down the steps for a moment and admire the fountain down there? And get a picture, like you asked.” I move in front of him but a few steps back and he’s directing me on where to stand. “I could get the fountain in, if you move a bit to your left.” He dictates. I turn around to have a look. It is beautiful; it looks smaller from up here though. I turn to him.
“Yeah! Sure, that’ll be great.” I pass him my iphone and stand still for a moment. I feel stupid, especially when people keep walking past and looking over.
“Right, say cheese.. There you go.” He walks towards me to show the picture, oh my god, it’s terrible and a little blurry but it will do, at least he tried.
“Excuse me.” A lady interrupts us. “Would, you like me to take a picture, with you both in?” We look at each other to decide, shall we? Shall we not?
“Yes sure!” He says, he stands closer towards me and awkwardly puts his arm around my waste, which automatically sends waves flowing through my body. I slowly wrap mine around his back and lean closer into his chest. My heart starts to race even more, as the warm feeling runs through my body and starts to make my legs feel like jelly.
“Say cheese!” The lady shouts and takes the picture. “There you go what a lovely picture.” Soon as she finished, I brush Jared’s arm off and walk towards the lady, to have a look. Jared stands still for a moment looking confused.
“Thank you!” I say, I turn to Jared and ask. “Shall we head to the museum now?” He nods and we walk back to the car.
There was a silence that had fallen over us, as Jared drove to our destination. I know it’s my fault, but I can't help the fact that I seize up around men, they make me uneasy. But to be honest, it's not as bad with him. I do still get that feeling around him, like I would any other man, but it is not as bad. It’s kind of confusing. I feel like I’m a different person around him and we’ve only spent half a day together, that’s far too strange.
"We're here!” He says, breaking into my thoughts.
“Awesome, let’s go!” We quickly walk around the museum, it’s only small, so it doesn’t take too much of our time. I didn’t see anything that was an interest to me. Museum, tend to bore me, so I don’t pay it much attention. As we’re coming to the end, we finally come to this lovely painting; it’s got different colours in the sky, they're like the colours of a rainbow, with a young girl with a unicorn as her pet, It’s kind of random but it’s such a beautiful piece. She seems happy and safe, very unusual. I like that, it means it’s unique.
Once we’ve finished around the museum, we head straight to the Roman Colosseum. It’s not far from the museum, only about a ten minute walk. I've been looking forward to visiting this place, the history fascinates me. When we get there he says,
“We need tickets to get in, come with me.” As he grabs my hand, I flinch at his touch. He looks back at me questioningly.
“Sorry! It’s your hands, they’re cold and they need warming up.” I imply, I lie and carry on walking towards the front of the line and I notice people looking over and whispering to one another. I don’t understand why everyone is staring at us and mumbling to each other, have I missed something?
"Wait here." I do as am told and minutes later he signals for me to come over. "We're in."He says. We’re heading towards an entrance and we’re with some other guy, he’s bald, short and has a stran
ge looking nose, as if it has been broken. I start feeling a bit on edge and my face is getting more and more nervous. Jared looks back at me and notices the worry on my face, he tells me. "You’re ok; don't look so worried, we’re not going to hack you up." My face drops, with the sound of them words and it sends me back into memories, I would like to avoid. "He is taking us to our very own tour guide; I especially requested that we had our own one.” He explains, trying to reassure me.
"How were you able to pull that off? How much do I owe?" I get my purse out and he places his hand on top of mine to stop me.
"Don’t worry about it, we didn't have to pay." Our hands entwine, as he’s pulling me towards the beginning of the tour.
"Ok, so are you going to tell me how you keep pulling this off?" He laughs, like I should already know. The next minute, all you hear is.
"Mr. Hall, your guide is here." The other guy, who brought us here, is gesturing to another short Italian man.
Mr. Hall, where have I heard that name before? I’m rattling my brain trying to figure it out. No... It can’t be, can it? I think it is, how could I have not realized it was him? I pause and look up at him.
"Mr. Hall, as in, Hall enterprises?"
"Yeah!" He replies, I’m surprised that I didn’t recognize who he was. I’m shocked, I cannot speak. He is the biggest bachelor going and he’s pretty famous too. He owns a ridiculous amount of business; he created the inet software and let’s not forget that he’s well known for all the Hall women. Oh my god, no wonder we keep getting stared at, they’re all probably thinking, what the hell is he doing with her? She is nothing special; I can’t believe it’s him. I have made a fool of myself all day, the shame. "Danni, we’re going." He says, nudging me from my thoughts.
"Oh, sorry! I was just thinking Mr. Hall" I say, trying to let this information sink in.
"It's Jared; you don't get to call me that. It makes me feel old." He says, trying to loosen the awkward feeling I have, for not knowing who he was.
*****
The tour takes about half an hour and as we’re walking around; I can’t help but ask the questions that keep swimming through my mind.
"But, you’re so young, how can you own a multi billionaire company?" Every time I say that, the shock never disappears; he’s laughing at me and starts telling me.
“I started young, that’s all you need to know. Anyway, enough about me! How about we talk about you?"
"Oh... there’s not much to talk about really." I turn away and keep walking ahead. I feel I was kind of dismissive, but I don't care, I hate talking about myself.
We’re standing at the top of the Colosseum and I’m just amazed at how beautiful this place is. The archways, the falling stones, it's amazing to think of all the people that have stood in the same spot that I'm standing in now. All the history and imprints from another time. I can imagine clearly what it would have been like, when people were put in there to fight. A chill creeps down my spine as my imagination takes control. This is astonishing and the strange part about it is that I’m experiencing this with a billionaire, it’s weird and I don’t understand why would he go to all this effort just for me? He shouldn't be wasting his time. "It’s stunning." I say, amazed at this whole building. "I love historic places like this and enjoy hearing about them. This whole place is exquisite; Thanks for bringing me here."
"It's not a problem, I’m glad to help! Plus, that look on your face was worth every moment. Come on, let’s go and get something to eat. Then we can head back and meet up with the others for drinks." We head back to the car in silence, as I’m just trying to take everything in; I’ve had such an amazing time. Is it strange that I don’t want it to end? As we jump into the car and he drives off, I turn around and ask,
"So, where are we going to eat?"
"Some little Italian place, called ‘La Porta’ they do the most wonderful food, It’s not far from here either; it’s just about a ten minute drive." I start to wonder if I’m underdressed. "You look fine." He whispers, as if he is reading my mind, I smile and I look out my window, lost away in my thoughts once again.
We pull up at this very tall, classy building. Great! I’m underdressed, why would he bring me to a place like this? I don't belong here.
He gets out the car and walks over to my side and opens the door for me.
“Why, thank you Mr. Hall, how very gentlemen of you.” I joke,
“You’re very welcome, madam.” He bows and puts his arm out for me to link him. I can’t help but giggle, because this is too good to be true.
With him being tall, I have to tip toe to keep linking him, which makes it pretty hard to walk. “Come on, shall we go in madam?” He jokes, as we enter the restaurant. I have a good look around and it's a very homely place. There is wooden tables, with candles in wine bottles on every one, leather booths all around; the lighting in this place is dim, to give it that romantic feeling, very lovely.
"Hello! Mr. Hall, are you wanting your usual table?" A young waiter asks,
"No!" And he starts whispering in to the waiter’s ear. I don't know what he’s said to him, but the waiter rushed off, seemingly quick.
After about five minutes of waiting around, the waiter comes back and gestures us to come over.
"Right this way." The waiter calls. We head to some double doors, which head into a corridor, which has red carpet and the walls are full of old pictures, which I would think is, old Rome. We head to some lifts and the waiter presses the button Four and we head up. As we’re reaching to the top it bings and we scramble out. We head towards some more double doors, which the waiter opens for us both and a gush of fresh air hits me. Wow! Oh my, we’re on the roof top of the building. There is a small round table, with a bottle of wine, a single red rose and two seats facing across all of Rome. I have not seen anything so beautiful before in my entire life. I’m shocked, it’s breathtaking. It’s dark out and throughout Rome, all the buildings are lit up, I feel like I’m in some cheesy movie, It’s amazing.
"You like?" Jared asks,
"Yes! It’s stunning, how did you organize this so quickly?" I ask, trying not to have a big grin on my face. Why is he doing this? I wish he wouldn't, I don't deserve any of this.
"Perks of being Mr. Hall." He smiles charmingly. He pulls my seat out for me to sit and I can’t get over how bizarre this feels to me, it’s all new.
"So, Mr. Hall, Is this you trying to woo me?" Shut up Danni, you sound like an idiot, my subconscious yells.
"Is it working?"
"I’ll have to get back to you on that one." I sound so silly, Danni, Danni, just stop.
"You’re a hard woman to please." He laughs.
"May, I take your order?" A tall, blonde haired, blue eyed, skinny waitress says, interrupting us. She looks me up and down to say, really, you with him? How rude of some people. I frown at her insolent glare.
"I will have the red pepper, with onion and tomato, chill pasta please."
"And you Mr. Hall, will it be the usual?"
"Please!" He exclaims and dismisses her.
While we’re waiting for our food, we just start talking about random topics, like favourite food, place and all the normal general chit chat.
"So, how old are you then? You look really young." I ask,
"Twenty eight, so I like to think I’m still young. How about you? I would guess, but I would rather save myself from getting a slap, if I get it wrong." I giggle slightly.
"I’m twenty six, so not that old."
"So, if you don't mind me asking, what is it you do?"
"Well! It’s not as interesting as yours, but I was a waitress at night, while studying psychology at university. But I’ve been on a break now for a few months, personal reasons." I answer, trying to hide the low tone in my voice. He is about to say something, but then our food turns up.
“Here you go, enjoy!” The waitress say’s as placing our food down.
“A lovely restaurant like this and you order a Calzone pizza?” I l
augh,
"Well, what can I say; a big guy like me needs a good old fat greasy pizza." I laugh and shake my head in disbelief, trying to get grips with this whole day. A day I will remember, the day I’ve felt warmth again around another man.
*****
We’re finally back at the house and it’s a little after nine. We’re a bit late, but I was having fun, so they can’t really bitch at me for enjoying myself. We walk up towards the house and as we approach the door, I can hear the natters already. He opens the door and we walk straight into the lounge, where they’re all sitting. They all look over at us both and say.
"You two are late.”
"Yeah, we’re sorry, we lost track of time." Andi and Darla are looking at each other with a huge smirk on their faces. They’re looking towards me and I know what’s coming up when they get the chance; they’re going to want to know all the details. I nod a no towards them.
"Anyway, I have big news Danni." Darla says, she turns around to everyone else and starts jumping up and down on the spot and blurts out. "We’re engaged, he proposed to me when we were out."
"Wow! That’s amazing news guys, congratulations, I’m so happy for you both." I give her a big hug and walk over to Carl and wrap my arms around him. "You kept that one quiet, didn’t you? Congratulations!"
"Thanks! Baby girl! I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I couldn’t risk you slipping up too Darla."
"Don't worry about it, but next time you keep something that big from me, I will have to judo chop your ass.” We laugh.
"Well, this causes for a celebration.” Jared adds, while clapping his hands together. “Let me go to the wine cellar and get a few bottles."
"I'll come and help you dude." Alex offers,
"Ok man, thanks! Come on." Soon as they walk out the door, I get interrogated from Andi and Darla.
"So, spill, what’s gone on?" They both say giggling like two schoolgirls.
"Not much really, he was like my tour guide for the day. We ran up the Spanish steps as a race, I didn't win though; he whooped my ass at that, as I only made it half way. I’m so unfit! So as a gentleman, he came and picked me up and got really close, I had to move away, it made me feel really uneasy. Then we went to the museum, which was kind of boring, and then we headed to the Collosseum, where he got us to have a private tour guide, which took us right to the top of the building. Only V.I.P gets that. It was amazing! Then afterwards, we went out for some food at a lovely restaurant, where he had a private table on the top of the roof so we could look out at all of Rome. It was really sweet of him and so romantic. We just talked about everything; it was good to actually have a decent conversation. Although, did you guys know who he was? I didn’t have a clue, I felt like a right fool when I found out.”