“Thank you. I was just wondering if it was about the same amount that we paid to get in today!” She said with a laugh “Not sure about how you would account for… what’s the word in English?” She stood for a moment looking perplexed. “Where the money is worth less as time goes on so you make it a comparison to money today and adjust it?”
“Inflation?” Iris suggested
“Yes! That’s it! But I don’t know how to work it out, I was hoping he would say but of course, the American had another question about women gladiators.” She rolled her eyes and Iris couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m Birte.” She held out a hand to shake.
“Iris.”
“Are you travelling alone?” Birte asked.
“Uh yeah but I’m only here a couple of days before I meet up with some friends from University.” It’s a lie of course but you never can be too careful, Iris thought to herself. You hear these stories about women being used by gangs to lure other women in. Maybe Iris was too cautious sometimes but it was better safe than sorry. Maybe that was why she didn’t travel much but perhaps it was also because she didn’t have anyone to go with either.
“Oh, that sounds great. I’m doing the whole of Europe by myself. My boyfriend was supposed to come too but then I found him in bed with my brother so I thought it was best he stayed where he was.”
“Oh wow! That is not what I thought you were going to say!” Birte smiled at Iris, who was now slightly open-mouthed.
“No! It’s not what I thought I would see either but it is what it is! They’re happy together though, from the limited conversations we’ve had, and I care about them both enough to be happy for them. When are you leaving Rome?”
“Tomorrow, so I have a lot of things to see on my list today!” Iris said excitedly.
“I’m going to the Vatican next, have you been yet?” Birte asked.
“No, but it’s next on my list too actually.”
“Shall we go together?” Birte offered.
“Uh, yeah ok. I was going to take the bus though. I already paid for my ticket.”
“Me also! It’s just much easier than trying to use the metro or something.” Birte laughed.
“Yes! The metro isn’t for me either!” Iris agreed with a smile.
They left the Colosseum and headed to the Vatican. After going around the Vatican museum with another guided tour, Iris remembered the postcard she bought this morning for her mum. James had told her that the Vatican has its own separate post office, seeing as it’s another country, and to use that one instead of the ones in Rome to buy stamps.
“Before I forget, I need to go to the post office. I want to post this to my mum from inside the Vatican as then it’s from another country altogether.” Iris told Birte.
“I didn’t know they had their own post office.” Birte said, surprised.
“Yeah, my friend back home told me. He said it’s much easier than the post offices in Rome as there are only like two people who work there and they only have two post boxes.”
“Oh ok. I’ll come with you then as I have a lot of postcards I want to send too. I’ve been trying to buy stamps for a few days but every time I go into the post office there are very long lines and I have no idea where to go.” Birte tells Iris.
“I haven’t tried a Rome post office; I was just going to stick with this one! Save myself the hassle.”
Once they come out of the post office, Birte tells Iris that she’s heading back to her hotel but it’s right by the Trevi fountain if she hasn’t been yet.
“I can show you where it is if you like? The bus can’t stop right outside it, you have to walk for a few minutes, but it’s amazing! And if you’re hungry we could get something to eat while we’re there?”
“That sounds great.” Said Iris. “That’s pretty much the last thing on my list for today and I might even have time to catch the spa in the hotel before it closes!”
They eventually parted ways after throwing a coin each into the Trevi fountain. Iris headed back to her hotel with a belly full of pizza and gelato and a head full of new memories. She got back to her room, took her shoes off and sat on the bed. She lay back and before she realised what she was doing, her phone was in her hand and she’d sent a text to James.
‘Rome is amazing. Thank you for the ticket trick with the Colosseum. The queue was huge but I skipped most of it and there were only about 15 people in front of me. And the Vatican post office was so easy! You’re the best!’
She never made it to the spa as she fell asleep on the bed, phone in hand and fully clothed. She was asleep before James could reply but she woke up to a simple text:
‘I’m glad it helped. Can’t wait to hear more about it at our dinner.’
Chapter 16
The second day in Rome passed as quickly as the first but with the added time pressure of needing to catch a train and check into a hotel before 8pm. She quickly got breakfast in the hotel before checking out. She packed light so only has a small rucksack and her handbag to take with her. She first visited the Castel Sant’Angelo before making a quick trip to the Pantheon. She didn’t realise that it was also known as the Pantheon of Agrippa, her last name. She made a mental note to look and see if it was some kind of family connection. Maybe that was where her family tree was heading? From the piazza around the Pantheon, she grabbed some lunch in a café before heading to the train station. The train would take about 2 hours, so she had plenty of time to read through the rest of the files on her family. Hopefully she could understand more about who she was looking for when she got to Bracciano. She realised while reading the files that her last name obviously came from her father’s side of the family but the cabinet was most definitely from her mothers. Maybe the last name was just a coincidence?
The train arrived at the station just after 6pm and she filed out of the small ticket office with a few other tourists and several locals. There was a small taxi rank outside the station with only one taxi there. She looked on google maps and realised that the hotel would be too far to walk from there so a taxi was her only option.
She arrived at the hotel, checked in and was shown to a beautiful room with views from the balcony of the outdoor pool. Hopefully tomorrow she’d have time to take a swim. She brought herself a new bikini ready for the Amalfi coast, so might as well break it in here.
There was a small restaurant next to the hotel that was open until 11pm. The front desk called ahead for her to make sure they had a table ready for her. She grabbed a quick dinner of a creamy seafood pasta dish and a glass of white wine, then headed back to her hotel.
She got back to her room and got ready for bed. The front desk booked her a taxi to get to the records office in the morning for 9.30am. Breakfast was served from 8am so she would have just enough time to eat and go.
She got comfortable in bed and grabbed her phone to set an alarm for the morning. It was then she saw that she had a text from James.
‘Hope today was as fun as yesterday. Enjoy village life for a few days. Let me know what you find!’
‘Will do! Records office in the morning and then who knows? Maybe I’ll end up staying here for 2 weeks meeting long lost family. Or maybe I’ll be on the Amalfi coast in a matter of hours, soaking up the sun in my bikini, drinking strawberry daiquiris and reading a trashy chick-lit book.’
‘The beach sounds good. And the bikini.’ She got a little shiver of excitement, unsure where to take this now. She thought about it for a minute and then went with her gut.
‘The bikini top is always optional when sunbathing on a beach in Europe, especially Italy. Maybe I’ll send you a picture when I’m there.’ It took a while for him to answer. So long that she began to wonder if she’d said the wrong thing. But then she decided that if that was the wrong thing to say, maybe he wasn’t the right guy for her.
‘With or without the top?’ Exactly the response she was hoping for.
‘You’ll have to wait and see. Goodnight James. And please try and find an actua
l calendar date for our date. Maybe I can show you my tan lines in person then.’ She couldn’t help but giggle with excitement to herself a little as she finished the text with the winking emoji. She wouldn’t send him a topless picture, it’s not her style at all, but she liked the flirtation that seemed to be building between them.
‘I’m doing my best but I appreciate the incentive all the same. Sleep well beautiful.’ She sighed deeply and relaxed back into her pillows. She drifted off to sleep with a grin on her face and a happy feeling in her body.
Chapter 17
Iris woke up starfished in the middle of the king-size bed. It was the first night she’d slept soundly all the way through, not even waking for the toilet, which had become something of a habit at home. Maybe it was stress or perhaps it was a side effect of an erratic attitude towards hydration that meant she usually drank most of her water for the day just before bed. She checked her phone to see what time it was, the sunlight was already peeking around the edges of the thick, cream blackout curtains that covered the balcony doors. The black glossy screen sprung to life. 6:32am. She was used to waking up this early for work but she didn’t usually feel as refreshed as she did right then, sat on the side of the bed. She plugged her phone in to charge and started to get ready for the day.
After a long shower in the generously sized bathroom, she shaved her legs and armpits then dries off with one of the fluffy hotel towels and got dressed for the day. She decided on knee-length khaki shorts, a plain white t-shirt with a pocket on the chest that had an applique rainbow on it and black Nike trainers. It was set to be a hot day, according to the weather app on her phone.
She went downstairs for breakfast and saw that the gelato freezer was stocked, ready for lunchtime. She asked one of the waiters if there was any possibility of having some gelato for breakfast instead of the continental selection. He went to check with the manager while she grabbed some fruit and yoghurt, before going back to her table. A few minutes later he returned and gave her a nod and a small smile. He asked what flavour she would like and brought it over in an ornate looking white china bowl, with a silver dessert spoon. She thanked him and tipped him 20 euros. He tried to give it back, telling her it was too much but she managed to persuade him and his broken English that she wanted him to have it. She’d always been a good tipper. She was taught from an early age that it was important to value the people who serve you. Her mother’s parents had owned pubs, restaurants and hotels all of their lives and she knew that the pay was never the best for staff, but that margins could also be tight.
Once she’d eaten her breakfast fit for a small child’s wildest dream, she went outside to wait for the taxi to take her to the record office. Now her adventure was really starting.
Chapter 18
Iris got to the record office inside the town hall not too long after it opened. With a bit of broken English, plus help from a delicious looking Italian postman who spoke slightly more English, she managed to find the records of her very-many-greats grandfather. There was an address listed for him in the older part of Bracciano which turned out to still be owned by his family. The postman said it was in a good part of the village. He rubbed his thumb and fingers together as he talked about it. Indicating that there was definitely money involved somewhere.
Iris’ great-great however many grandfather’s name was Enrico Agosti and he had 2 younger brothers and one younger sister. The house was still owned by his youngest brother’s descendants and the current owner, a distant cousin maybe, happened to be a local university history professor. He’d done extensive research on their family tree, according to the lady at the record office. Well, that’s what Iris thought she said anyway. She also said he was probably at home now if Iris wanted to go and see him.
“That would be great!” Iris said. Hopefully, she’d be able to get some answers from him quickly and get to the Amalfi coast later that week. The woman said she’d call ahead to check he was happy to have a visitor. She also told Iris that he spoke reasonably good English, so she should be ok, and that his name was Luca Agosti.
Once the woman was finished on the phone and confirmed that Luca was indeed home, Iris thanked her as best she could before leaving the office. Iris did her best to follow the directions from google maps to the address she was given. This was not going to be another detour like in Rome. According to the app, the address was about half a mile away, a 10-minute walk, give or take. As she came out of the records office and back out onto the plaza, with its fountain and sweeping views to the castle above the town, she was struck by how small the town seemed, yet how much history it must have seen. From what she had gathered about the town whilst researching at home, it was a relatively important part of the country. The lake itself was protected as it was a reservoir for Rome, so it was peaceful as anything with an engine was banned from the water. She also discovered that a Hollywood movie star couple had even got married in the castle a few years ago. Considering how sleepy the town felt, it was clearly anything but.
As she walked up the fairly straight but narrow streets, she felt a sense of ease that she’d never felt before on holiday. Maybe it was being somewhere she knew her family came from. Maybe it was because she was about to connect with a long-lost family member that would make her family tree feel a little less barren. She was excited to know where this family meeting would take her.
Chapter 19
She eventually found the house and was not disappointed by it at all. It was on the corner of two old cobblestone streets and rose up 3 floors. The rooms on the top floor looked to have Juliet balconies that possibly overlooked the lake if they were high up enough to look over the house across the street. The pale yellow paintwork on the house wasn’t cracked or flaking at all, unlike a few of the surrounding houses, and the stone detailing on the façade looked to be in good condition. Clearly, the house had been well looked after throughout the years. It looked like it might have amazing views of the castle from the roof too. She could almost see herself living here, perhaps in another life? Maybe she’d come back on a family holiday if this all worked out well, who knows?
She rang the doorbell and waited for an answer. A couple of minutes passed but no answer. She decided to knock, in case the bell didn’t work, and waited a couple more minutes. She knew he was expecting her as the lady in the records office had called ahead already. It had taken her a little while to get here though, so maybe he had run out of patience and left. But then he would know how long it took to walk from there to here. Or maybe he already had a standing appointment to get to and was hoping she’d wait? Or maybe he was just really old and it was taking him forever to get to the door?
While she waited, she searched for his name on the internet. It took a while for the page to load with the limited signal in the town. Iris assumed it must be all the old houses with their thick stone walls blocking the signal. The search results loaded and showed a LinkedIn profile, along with a few university articles and updates that mentioned his name. They were in Italian though so not of much use to her right now. She clicked on his LinkedIn profile to see if he had a picture uploaded but the page wouldn’t load.
He still hadn’t answered the door so she decided to go and get a coffee and something to eat in the little café she passed a couple of streets away. She would come back and wait for him afterwards. Just as she stepped off the doorstep, she heard a noise behind her, the sound of an old metal key scraping inside its lock. She turned around, expecting an older gentleman, probably with white hair and less than elastic skin, but was somewhat surprised to find someone not much older than her, if at all older. She wondered for a moment if she was in the right place. Or maybe this was Luca’s assistant or grandson?
“Luca?” She asks tentatively. If this wasn’t Luca, hopefully he spoke enough English to help her find him.
“Si, ah yes, that’s me. I assume you’re the woman Rosa from the records office called me about?”
“Yes, that’s me.” Iris nodded, surpr
ised by his apparent fluency in English.
He invited her in and apologised for the delay in answering the door. He explained that he was digging out the boxes of research he had on their family so that he was prepared for her. He offered her coffee and asked if she was hungry. She was but she was also on her own in a foreign country, in the house of a man she’d never met before and the only person who knew where she was, was a woman who spoke broken English and might have misunderstood her the entire time. Or maybe this was some kind of scheme they had going and he’s not even related to her at all. What if 6 months from now she was in some kind of harem? She told herself to relax and reminds herself that Taken was not the best movie to watch on the plane over here. She was surprised by the fact that he was much younger than she had anticipated.
He sensed her hesitation and anxiety. “I realise that this is all a lot in a short amount of time and you’re probably a bit sceptical of me, why don’t we get coffee and something to eat at the café down the street and you can tell me what brought you here? You were probably expecting a classic history professor who looks like he was alive in the time period he teaches about?” Iris smiled and nodded, feeling herself relax a little.
“Let’s go and get coffee and lunch anyway as I need to go to the supermarket. I wasn’t expecting guests or I would have gone yesterday.”
“Oh! Of course! I’m sorry to drop in on you so unexpectedly.” Iris said, with more than a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
“Oh! No! Honestly, it’s not a problem. Especially since I suppose we’re family?” Luca assured her.
“I suppose we are.” She agreed.
The Bedside Cabinet: The Cabinet Mystery Book 1 Page 7