Seeing Valeria’s expression, Paolo said, “That is powder from the marble quarries.”
Lars asked about visiting the quarries.
“The roads up to the marble quarries are very dangerous.” Paolo pointed out the hairpin turns moving up the mountain. “It is not uncommon for trucks, loaded down with marble, to roll off the mountain and on to the lower roads.”
Camille piped up, “Well then, I’m out.” Valeria nodded to Camille in agreement. Then Camille leaned into Valeria, and said, “Besides, we need to talk!” Valeria knew exactly what Camille wanted to talk about.
“The town’s water supply.” Paolo waved at a water fountain with a beautifully carved lion in the town center. Valeria wondered if that was last year or a hundred years ago.
They crossed the cobblestone street to enter an upscale restaurant. The owners were ecstatic to see Paolo and hugged and kissed him. Paolo introduced Valeria as his fiancée and she winced again, but accepted the hugs and kisses of the owners. They ate lunch and then drove back into the country to Paolo’s home.
From the road, there was a large white marble carving of a mermaid, and a sign that read, “Bella Vida.” Valeria wondered if there would be a day when she would think of this as her home. Caterers and service people bustled around the estate, with fountains, flowers, and boxes of supplies.
The home itself was a traditional stone villa with at least twenty rooms and she guessed that it was as old as the town. There were servants busily preparing for at least two hundred guests.
Paolo went into control mode with the servants, but Valeria felt that perhaps his need to dominate the servants was to compensate for his nervousness. He guided her up the stairs to a room at the end of the hall. He opened the door and it was exquisitely detailed with furniture that one might expect in a palace. The windows looked out over both the mountains, and the gardens below, where the party would take place.
“Paolo? When am I going to practice doing transferences? Jeremiah wasn’t very happy with me the last time. And then with Shinsu…”
Looking up for a moment, Paolo narrowed his eyes, selecting his words carefully as he sat on the edge of the bed. “You must not worry about that, bella.”
“But Shinsu said—”
Paolo shook his head to interrupt her sentence. “The truth will speak for itself.” Another memory, Valeria thought. Paolo took her hands in his. “I do not want you to concern yourself with this.” His eyes held such earnestness and sweetness that she wanted to believe him. “I have not always deserved your trust. There were times that I have been…” He shook his head. “Valeria, you must trust me, now. Please trust me.”
She didn’t have a choice.
Paolo rose, ending the conversation. “I need you to focus on being relaxed…and beautiful.” He crossed to the huge armoire and opened the door, revealing a sky blue silk gown. She took it out of the armoire and examined it. It had a haltered top, and a very low back—far more risqué than she was comfortable with. Good thing she hadn’t eaten much in the last few days!
“It’s beautiful, Paolo. But I thought I would just wear one of my dresses.”
“This is a formal event and you will need a formal gown. I need your dress to be distracting.” He pulled her face around and said softly, “Many problems can be hidden by the right…clothing.”
Still, she was concerned. “Paolo? What will happen tonight?”
He came behind her and held her shoulders, looking at her in the mirror on the door of the armoire. “Do not worry.” He kissed the back of her neck and this time she didn’t fight it. “Your mind is going a million miles a minute.” He glanced at her knowingly. “That is a lot of pictures.” Paolo turned to walk out.
Anxiously, she cried, “Will that work?”
He turned back to her. “Bella, please trust me, there are many people worried enough for both of us.”
How different her life would be here than at her home in Trento. It was beautiful, but it wasn’t her home. Still, she could imagine a life here. She clamped her eyes shut, breathing deeply. The truth was, she didn’t want to think about living here.
Their engagement party was tonight. She wondered how this could be happening. Then tomorrow, she would return to Paxos. How could she return to Paxos so soon? Still Valeria thought it might be easier to go there without so much notice; less time to think about it.
∞
It was evening and she examined the dress in the mirror. It was exquisite. Paolo knocked on her door and she let him in. He looked quite handsome in his tux, but she could tell he was nervous. He escorted her down the stairs where she was presented to the guests.
A band was playing music on the lawn as Paolo grabbed two glasses of champagne. She felt a bit naked in her gown and began to tense. Then she saw that Jeremiah had arrived and was heading toward her. This was the moment she had been dreading. Her life and Alex’s depended on her handling this well. Paolo noticed and immediately excused himself, leaving her alone as Jeremiah walked toward her while leaning heavily on his cane.
“You don’t waste any time, do you!” he cackled, with no joy in his eyes.
“Yes, well,” she gulped.
“So, young woman, you have a very interesting history with this council. I’m here to ensure that the council is not led astray, again.”
“Alright. Well, anyway that I can help.”
“Let’s get on with this!” Jeremiah led her to some chairs, and sighed. “I hope you’ve learned a bit more than last time!” he snapped. She was stunned to be by herself. Alex would have never left her alone at a critical moment like this. Jeremiah’s eyes salaciously drank in her body and she repressed a cold shudder of repulsion, as well as the urge to wrap her arms around herself. Instead, she kept her shoulders back and her arms down. Then she heard a familiar voice.
“Jeremiah, I expected to see you on time tonight,” Shinsu admonished.
Seeing Shinsu dressed in a beautiful silver gown, Jeremiah’s eyes lit with new appreciation. “Shinsu, you’re speaking to me!” They kissed each other on both cheeks. “Well, I must say, you look absolutely charming tonight, my dear!”
“Jeremiah, don’t bother with a transference!” She shook her head in dismay. “I did one earlier and it will take a week to evaluate what I saw. But everything looked fine, just fine.”
“Well, I’ll take my chances.” Jeremiah laid out his hands, and Valeria nervously went to grasp them. Just then, Paolo took her hand and pulled her up and into his arms.
“I apologize, Jeremiah! This is our song!”
Paolo and Valeria moved onto the dance floor both attempting smiles that barely hid their nerves.
“What are we going to do now?” she asked.
“We are going to give you,” he drew a deep breath, “a lot to think about.”
Valeria looked at Paolo confused. Then he pulled her into a corner and said, “Make it good, bella.” He pulled her into an embrace and his mouth skillfully worked with hers. His hands moved across her bare back and down around to the edges of the dress. Then his lips and tongue caressed her neck, as his hands began to move where they should not. She would have fought him. She wanted to fight it. But she clung to him, helplessly. The longer she was with him, the longer it was until she had to sit with Jeremiah. Paolo caressed her ear with his mouth and whispered breathlessly, “Very good.” Then he kissed her mouth again, lightly.
At that moment, Jeremiah rounded the corner, and Paolo jerked his hands back to more modest locations, but continued to kiss her, and then pulled back so that they were nose to nose; she saw that he was evaluating the look in her eye. She noticed him nod slightly and release her. At that moment she realized what the plan had been; she had a lot to think about, and her blush and increased heart rate were real.
Paolo led Valeria to a seat and Jeremiah faced her. She reached over, nervously, and took Jeremiah’s hands as Shinsu, and now Camille and Lars, watched. While attempting to feel some level of affinity for Jeremia
h, she also focused on the feel of Paolo’s mouth on hers, and the feel of his hands on her skin, and her blush deepened.
Finally, Jeremiah dropped her hands and said, “You have made quite a fool of me!”
Paolo laughed, like he knew what Jeremiah might say, but for once, Valeria could see beyond Paolo’s façade. Everyone seemed to draw a breath.
“You know, I was certain that I was going to discover a ruse! After our last attempts at this, I believed that the girl had no ability to focus whatsoever.” Jeremiah chuckled, and lifted a finger toward Valeria. “Frankly, I believed you to be quite a scatterbrain!” He shook his head and cackled. “Well, young lady, evidently you do have the ability to focus—when you are with the right man!” He offered Paolo a congratulatory slap on the shoulder and then continued, “Paolo, allow me to offer some reassurance—this girl thinks about nothing but you! It will be some honeymoon!”
Jeremiah’s words hit Valeria hard, “With the right man…” and “This girl thinks about nothing but you!” She had won but, instead of relief, she felt absolute devastation! Her jaw slackened and she was unable to speak as the tears flooded her eyes and the trembles deep inside her gut began to overtake her. She could barely breathe. Somehow, she kept the smile almost pasted on her face, while her eyes betrayed her terror and heartbreak.
Noticing Valeria’s expression, Paolo covered by engaging Jeremiah in male banter about the honeymoon that she might have found in very poor taste…if she could have even listened. Paolo made eye contact with Camille, who had also noticed Valeria’s expression.
“Gorgeous dress!” Camille announced loudly. “Let me take a look!” Camille continued to speak as if Valeria were actually engaged in the conversation, taking her hand and slowly guiding her so that she no longer faced Paolo and Jeremiah. Camille nodded, seeing Jeremiah leering at the low back of her dress.
Valeria wondered how it could be that all Jeremiah saw were her feelings for Paolo. Was she so hungry and desperate for that kind of relationship…was she that kind of girl? She thought of Alex hearing about this…and he would!
She felt the panic rising within her. After all the years of holding herself above the girls she had roomed with who had just wanted sex…here she was in love with one man, and the only thoughts Jeremiah could find were her elicit thoughts about another. What was wrong with her? Was she so shallow and needy that only one kiss from Paolo had made her forget the only man who had validated her entire existence?
Camille continued, “Jeremiah, very nice to see you. Paolo, excuse us.” Camille leaned in as if to whisper, but her voice carried the required volume, “Valeria is having a little issue with her dress that we need to fix.” Camille smiled at Jeremiah cordially, and placed her hand on Valeria’s trembling back as they began walking toward the house.
Immediately, Lars was there with an artificial smile. “What’s happening?”
“She’s having a meltdown,” Camille said.
“What’s the quickest escape?” Lars asked.
Smiling pleasantly, Camille waved at immortal acquaintances, and then whispered, “I think the kitchen.”
By this time, Valeria was loudly hyperventilating. Lars and Camille continued to laugh and greet friends as they moved rapidly across the massive lawn toward the kitchen. Lars blocked the view of Valeria from the front, while Camille hung onto her arm, blocking the view from the side. When they entered the kitchen all smiles dropped.
“Val! What happened?” Valeria’s eyes rolled in devastation. “Focus, Val! What happened?” Camille demanded.
“I…” Valeria quivered, and Lars removed his jacket and put it around her shoulders. “I don’t seem to think about Alex anymore.” Both Lars and Camille sighed with relief.
Lars said, “Camille, tell you what; I’m going to check in with Jeremiah and make sure it all went as expected. Can you go back out and run damage control? If anyone asks, tell them she ate something that didn’t agree with her.”
Camille nodded. “Val, will you be all right here for a few minutes?”
“Okay,” Valeria said, completely uncertain that she would ever be all right. And then the doors closed and she was alone in the kitchen.
Then her eyes focused for an instant and she saw the Aston Martin keys hanging from a hook. She took them in her hand and walked out the opposite door to the garage.
∞
The car seemed to be on auto-drive as it wove along the foothills. Valeria forced herself to think of nothing other than her destination. Each moment brought her closer and felt more right.
It had been over three hours since she had abruptly left the party, without a purse or phone. She knew that if she permitted herself to think too much, she would turn around and somehow, despite what should be, she would end up married to Paolo forever. She thought about Camille and Lars and even Paolo and was certain that she had worried them. But right now, she could do nothing else. She saw the large droplets on the windshield and searched for the windshield wipers, eventually finding them.
It was a shock to suddenly see the familiar drive and her heart began pounding. The rain obscured her view of the road, but she could tell, despite the darkness and the rain, how much thicker the foliage was. Then a heavy downpour obscured her view of the road. She flipped the switch to turn up the windshield wipers but accidentally turned them off and was forced to stop and locate the controls.
In that moment, she suddenly wondered if this was a mistake. Nerves suddenly took hold of her and she wondered if he was even there. The road was so black that she suddenly doubted it. She hadn’t brought her purse or a phone—how would she refill the gas tank?
If he was here, would he be angry? Her actions had risked their lives. How would he respond? Was he even here? She couldn’t evaluate it right now, if she did she might never see him again.
Incapable of turning around, she continued as her heart began pounding so loudly that she could hear it over the loud splatters of water on the car. She rounded the curve in the road and there she saw it…their cottage was lit with the glow from the fireplace.
She barely stopped the car and leapt from it into the pouring rain. She saw the beautiful, cedar doors, with the oversized Cs carved into them; they opened hesitantly and then, he was there, on the porch. Her heart lurched at seeing him, but he seemed frozen.
Immediately, she was certain it had been a mistake. Perhaps he had someone with him. Of course, it was a mistake—she had just signed their death warrants! Would he speak to her? He didn’t move. She remembered him peeling her hands off from his chest in St. Croix. Now she was certain he would be upset with her. She stared at him, as tears streamed down her face. Then she saw in his eyes not the anger, and certainly not the pain and anguish as before, this time his face was filled with what could only be described as gratitude!
It took him only a few steps and she was in his arms; he kissed her hair, her face—their emotions a mix of tears and tremendous joy. His mouth came down on hers with the passion that wiped away all of the months of agony, as if erased by the pouring rain. In an instant, she felt the magnitude of her love and desire for him. It was then that she knew that regardless of what anyone said or thought or felt, being with her symbolon was another plane well above what most could even imagine—and very few had experienced. This level of love and desire could never be compared to another; she felt loved and she loved…and she was whole.
Finally, Alex guided her into their cottage. They were both dripping, and a pool of water formed around the base of her dress. They laughed through their tears and he went to the bedroom and returned with several towels and a blanket. As he dried her hair, he said softly, “Let’s get you near the fire so you can dry off a bit.”
Immediately, she noticed the family portrait still there over the fireplace. And then she saw on the coffee table, right in front of him, next to his glass of wine and the book of Shakespeare’s sonnets, the picture that she had left for him. It was the first picture that Camille had taken of
them, laughing and so much in love…it was the picture that she carried in her heart. She felt the blaze of the fireplace, but it was his love that warmed her heart.
He brought her a glass of wine and then wrapped her in a blanket, holding it in place with his arms and warming her…loving her. Finally, he led her to the sofa where, covered in the blanket, she curled onto his lap. She held his hands and then, seeing his mark on his hand, she traced it several times and then laced her fingers through his as he kissed the top of her head.
She laid there in the comfort of his arms where time melted into an eternity. Neither spoke, knowing that if they did they would have to talk about what was happening, what had happened...and neither could. They stayed in the moment, surrounded by their love. Alex stroked her hair, now almost dry, and stared lovingly into her face.
Finally, she leaned into his shoulder and kissing his neck, she whispered, “Let’s disappear.”
“We already have…for a little while anyway.” He continued to stroke her face, and said softly, “They will be here shortly and you’ll need to go with them.” Sighing, he pulled her in closer. “I don’t need much more in life than you in my arms. But I do need you to be alive.”
“Have I caused too much trouble tonight?”
Alex shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”
∞
She looked at his arm and he was wearing the watch that she had given him. She brushed it and smiled.
“I always wear it,” he whispered softly.
“Not in St. Croix,” she said as a question.
He nodded. “I couldn’t wear it there.”
She wondered what he meant by the comment, but she was too comfortable to ask him.
Hours later, there was a hint of light beginning to show to the east of the now star-filled sky, when Lars’ black Mercedes pulled in front of the cottage. She had been fighting sleep, despite her exhaustion, trying to be there every moment in this wonderful dream. Two car doors opened and closed. She snuggled sleepily into Alex’s chest, breathing him in. The door of the cottage opened and Lars and Paolo stood there looking somewhat relieved.
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