EMMA's POV :
"You may have the universe if I may have Italy," - Giuseppe Verdi.
I read this quote in one of the inflight magazines and I thought it was very intriguing. I realized that didn't know much about Italy or about our plans there. I was too busy with work and the wedding to be able to do any research about Florence. Ian was doing all the research and communicating with Mr. Rossi about the trip. I honestly had no clue about what I was walking into here.
When we arrived in Florence, it was about 5.30 AM in the morning. It was still so early in the morning, the sun wasn't even out yet. We also came in such a rush, that Mr. Rossi wasn't able to come get us at the airport. We told him not to worry since we can just get a cab to his place.
Stepping out of the airport, Ian and I rode in this cute little car they call taxis. Mr. Rossi lived in the countryside, about forty five minutes away from the city of Florence. Passing the city and out to the countryside, I was seeing all these greeneries and the sun was barely rising, and I was deliriously tired from all the traveling and jet lag, but oh my god, it was probably one of the best sunrises I had ever seen in my life.
And the best part? Ian was right there next to me watching it too.
He clasped our hands together as we sat in the back of that tiny car. Laying my head on his shoulder, I inhaled his delicious scent and let my eyes wander out the window, watching the town pass before us.
"Welcome to Italy, baby girl," he said softly into my ears.
"Hmm..." I said with a smile, "I like it already,"
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I woke up from an idyllic sleep when I noticed the taxi stopped. Ian had also fallen asleep, resting his head on top of mine. We pulled away to check our surroundings. We were in the middle of nowhere. Literally.
"Uh, excuse me, is this... Bagno a Ripoli?" Ian asked the driver, referring to the address that Mr. Rossi gave him.
"Sì, Bagno a Ripoli. Sì, sì," the driver replied in his thick Italian accent.
Ian and I looked at each other in confusion. We were probably somewhere deep in the hills, there was nothing around us but green grass and tall trees.
"L'auto non può entrare in questa strada. Devi camminare. Sono solo cinque minuti a piedi," the driver said to us when we didn't leave his car, and we got even more confused.
Scratching his head, the driver then started speaking English to the best of his ability. "Uh... you must a walk... the road a too small... you walk... uh... five minutes... you find the house,"
Ian and I turned to look at each other again and we just shrugged. What else can we do? So, we got out of the car, grabbed our bags, and started walking down this ditch road. The taxi left us in a matter of seconds, and we were complexly alone in the middle of nowhere.
And just our luck, right before we started walking, we felt water falling on our skin. We looked up at the sky, and there it was, rain. Rain was drizzling down on us, just as we were about to walk into this forest.
"Let's go," Ian said as he lent his hand out to me.
I had to admit, I was a little scared to go in there. But when Ian gave his hand out to me, I couldn't not take it. Night or day, rain or shine, I would go with him anywhere.
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After walking for about ten minutes between the tall trees, we finally arrived at an opening. In front of us stood this magnificent country house, surrounded by fields of green. I couldn't help but be in awe of what I was seeing. I didn't expect something like this would exist in the middle of nowhere.
Ian and I looked at each other and we smiled. We were thinking about exactly the same thing. We made it!
As we neared the house, we saw the front door open and a man in his sixties with long white hair stepped out. That must be Mr. Rossi. He stretched his arms out to us and said, "Welcome my friends! Welcome! Oh, I hope my house isn't too difficult to find,"
"No, it wasn't so bad," Ian smiled at him and they shook hands. "How are you, Sergio? It's great to see you,"
"It's great to see you too, Mr. Hayes," Mr. Rossi replied with a warm smile. He then turned his attention to me and said, "And oh, this must be la musa, Mrs. Hayes, I've heard so much about you,"
He took my hand and kissed the top of it. I flinched a little at being called Mrs. Hayes. I liked it a lot, don't get me wrong. But technically, I didn't become Mrs. Hayes. Mr. Rossi had no idea, of course. He couldn't possibly know that our wedding turned out to be an absolute disaster.
"Please... call me Emma," I said to him. "You have such a lovely home. Thank you so much for having us,"
"Sergio, the guests have arrived, yes?" we then heard a female voice coming from inside the house. Seconds later, a lady in his late fifties stepped out. She was wearing a long dress and a big smile on her face. She was a beautiful lady with long blonde hair, she reminded me a lot of Cate Blanchett.
"Yes, darling. Come over here and say hi," Mr. Rossi said to her. "And please bring them some towels,"
The lady returned into the house as Mr. Rossi led us inside. Moments later, she came back with towels in her hand. She gave one to Ian and then to me.
"Hello, welcome to our home. We are very glad to have you," she smiled brightly at us.
"Mrs. Rossi, it's a great pleasure to be here," Ian shook her hand politely.
"Please, call me Teresa," she said to us. "How was your travel? Oh, you poor thing, you're soaking wet. You two must be exhausted. Come Sergio, let's take them to their room,"
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After taking us to our room, Mr. and Mrs. Rossi gave us some time to dry off and settle down. After taking a quick shower, Ian was too excited to rest, so he decided to go down and see Mr. Rossi. He wanted to talk to him about the teaching fellowship.
Meanwhile, I was still tired and jetlagged, so I decided to stay in the room and maybe catch up on some sleep. But after lying in bed with my eyes closed for about ten minutes, I realized that I was too excited to sleep too. Getting up from the bed, I walked towards the window with a balcony that overlooked the backyard.
Our room had a lovely view of the rolling hills. It was so beautiful out here, I got star struck every time I looked at the blue sky and green hills. Down on the grass, I spotted Ian and Mr. Rossi walking and talking. Ian had a cup of coffee in his hand, and he was listening patiently to Mr. Rossi who looked as if he was explaining the area around us.
Ian had a big smile on his face. It was the first time I saw him smile like this since the fiasco at the wedding. It made me smile a little too.
* KNOCK * KNOCK *
Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. I turned around and saw Teresa pushing the door open. She had a tray of food and coffee in her hand.
"Hi," she greeted me.
"Hi," I smiled back.
"I don't mean to bother your rest, I'm just bringing you some breakfast, in case you get hungry," she said sweetly and put the tray down on a desk.
"You're not bothering me at all. Thank you so much, Teresa," I said to her.
She smiled a gentle smile and she noticed that I was looking down on her husband and Ian. Walking towards me, she said, "I must say. You two make such a lovely couple,"
"Thank you,"
I'm glad someone thinks so.
"I heard you two just got married. Congratulations,"
"Ah... yeah..." I shuffled awkwardly. "Thank you..."
"You have something on your mind, dear?" she asked when she noticed my weird flexes.
"We didn't actually get married. We were about to, but something happened and the wedding got canceled..." I sighed.
"Oh, I am so sorry to hear that," she said, pausing for a moment before asking, "May I know what happened?"
"It's just that... our parents are not very fond of our relationship. They found things about Ian and me in the past and they're convinced that we are wrong for each other,"
Letting out a deep sigh, I turned my gaze away as it was still painful to remember our wedding day and what had happened. Teresa stepped closer towards me and took my hand gently in hers. She squeezed my hand and said, "Ah, yes. That is awful," she had the most understanding smile on her face as she said, "And I know what that feels like,"
"You do?" I looked up at her.
"Yes, dear," she replied, pausing for a moment before continuing, "You see, before I became Mrs. Rossi, my name was Teresa Angela Del Vecchio. Now, if you don't know who that is..."
"Isn't that one of the richest families in Italy, if not the richest family in Italy?" I gaped at her. I had read about it in the magazine on the airplane. The Del Vecchio family was recently ranked as the richest family in Italy.
Teresa smiled knowingly and said, "Once upon a time, when I was just a young girl of eighteen, I met Sergio and he was only an art student in college. He was a nobody back then..." she looked down at her husband and her gaze grew softer. "It was the summer before I was supposed to enter university. I met him by the river. He was painting the scenery, but he ended up painting me... And after that, we fell in love. Our chemistry was undeniable. I had never met anyone who can make me feel so much about anything. We knew we were each other's soul mates,"
"And what happened?" I asked when she stopped talking for a moment.
"My family disagreed with my choice. They went as far as sending me away to London for university. Mind you, this was in the 80s, there were no cell phones or the internet back then. Sergio and I had no way of communicating except through letters,"
Through her eyes, I could picture a young Teresa and a young Mr. Rossi, spending their days and nights writing letters, longing for each other.
"I kept all our letters. To this day, they're still my most prized possession," she said again. "After four years of being apart, I came back to Milan and found that he was still waiting for me. After all this time, even in the midst of the uncertainty, he waited. And that was when I knew that he was the one. So, we ran away together and we got married. Sergio's career finally took off shortly after, but it still took years until my family finally forgave us,"
I saw a lot of myself in Teresa, and a lot of Ian in Mr. Rossi. Hearing her tell her story, I couldn't help but be reminded of my own. It broke my heart to think that it might take years before our families finally accept us. Tears began to fall involuntarily from my eyes. Teresa pulled a handkerchief and handed it to me, smiling knowingly.
"It is a difficult journey, but true love cannot be found where it does not exist, nor can it be denied where it does," she said, pausing for a beat before continuing, "And we must fight for it because once you find it, it can never be replaced,"
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I finally went to bed after Teresa left the room. Talking to her gave me such hope and conviction that I was in fact, in the right place with the right person. Even though I kept telling Ian that I was sure of this decision, in the back of my head, sometimes I doubted myself. Although I put on a tough face, I really didn't want to lose my family.
But this love is worth the fight. So I'm going to keep fighting.
I was drifting in and out of sleep when I felt the bed moved and a warm body was pressed up against my back. Ian's familiar scent filled my nose and I sighed appreciatively. He snaked his arms around my body and pulled me tight, cuddling me.
Leaning his face into the crook of my neck, he whispered, "It's been a long day, huh?"
"You can say that again," I let out a dry laugh.
He snuggled deeper into me, inhaling my scent and he said, "How are you feeling?"
My arms went to held his body tighter and I responded, "Like I'm the luckiest girl in the world,"
We didn't say another word after that and we just fell asleep, clinging onto each other's body. I couldn't stop the smile forming on my face as I felt so warm being enveloped by Ian's strong body.
This must be what heaven feels like.
We didn't have much right now, but we didn't need much. With him by my side, I felt like the richest girl alive. Because after all, we were each other's most prized possessions.
- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -