(Present time)
I lean my forehead on the unique glass wall, separating the spacious conference hall, situated in the middle of Acquario di Genova from the outdoor pool where a pod of dolphins are playing with a big, colorful beach ball, whistling and clicking cheerfully.
One of them immediately swims over and brings its face close to mine, pinning a curious black eye on me. We are gazing at each other. I guess I am boring. The adorable animal shakes its head, as if to urge me to do something entertaining. I put my open palm on the glass, since I can't think of anything better. The dolphin seems to like it after all. I might be imagining it, but I see some approval in its glossy eye. I am almost proud of myself when my new friend starts to tap with its beak against my hand.
"Hello buddy," I coo. "You are such a cutie, aren't you? Wanna make friends?"
The sociable mammal nods in confirmation, flapping happily its tail. I grin from ear to ear. I swear that the dolphin does absolutely the same.
"Davvero? (Really?)" Luca exclaims next to me, loud enough to make everyone around turn to us. "You realize that you're the only one older than five here who's doing this, right?"
"I don't care," I mutter in annoyance. My sweet, aquatic companion has abandoned me for a tiny, curly girl, knocking on the glass few steps away. I squint at Luca. "When are you going to learn to speak normally instead of yelling as if someone is squeezing your balls?"
"Huh?" is his only answer, since he has abandoned me too, busy to smirk at the said girl's mother who doesn't seem to mind the attention at all.
I sigh deeply and head to the ray fish area, hoping to find a free spot around the pool where children are crowding, impatient to pet the flattened bodies of the rays, gliding gracefully in the shallow water.
This is where Luca finds me, half an hour later, with my hands dipped in water to the elbows. He sits on the marble ledge next to me, chuckling. "You are cute. Petting fish won't solve your problem, though."
"I don't have a problem," I stubbornly retort. "What do you mean?"
"Yes, you have," he insists. "You are in denial."
"Nonsense. I deny nothing," I grumble. "Mind your own business, if you will."
"You are my business," he doesn't give up, "literally and figuratively. I am your best friend too. That's why I'm telling you for the hundredth time. You are obsessed with an idea that has lost all its logic long time ago, as well as any possibility of fulfillment."
"You don't know that," I pout.
"We made full investigation," he goes on, ignoring my protests. "We even resorted to some quite questionable methods. Cruise companies do not keep passenger lists from twenty years ago. Police incident reports are also not particularly detailed. We spoke to hundreds of potential witnesses and found nothing."
He huffs in exasperation. I keep quiet because I am really not in the mood to start this argument again. I focus on running my fingers on the spotted, dark gray back of a small eagle ray instead.
"One thing is for sure. There were no casualties." Luca puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes hard, making me turn to him. "Ryo, it's enough. Whoever it was, he survived. You don't need to know more. Maybe, he is a married man with three children now, or a movie star, or a professor at Stanford, or just a nice man who gets up at six every morning and goes to the factory to make shoes."
"Bullshit!" I shake his hand off my shoulder.
"I am trying to say that he surely has a life," Luka bellows. "You don't. You've turned this into madness. There were people from thirty countries at least on that ship. It is impossible to find him. It's like searching for a needle in a haystack, but even worse, as if you have many haystacks and don't know which one it is. It's pointless too. Why? Why are you doing this to yourself?"
"Because I can't stop." I jump to my feet and look him in the eye. "Call it as you wish, obsession, insanity, stupidity. I just fucking can't."
My friend hesitates a little. I know what he is going to say and he is perfectly aware it will drive me mad, but stull utters quietly, "What if he doesn't exist? You were a child. You fell for a foreign boy and exchanged few glances with him. Then the accident happened. It was a nightmare. You were in shock. Maybe, your brain mixed reality with fantasies and he was never actually..."
"Did you talk to my mother again?" I interrupt him. My hands start shaking. "Luca, for fuck's sake! I told you not to discuss this with her. Shit!"
"Hush! Rilassati! (Relax!)" He tries to calm me, but I push him away and stride to the open-air terrace restaurant, overlooking the old port.
The view is magnificent. People are chatting and laughing around. The sun is bright. The breeze is waving my hair, filling my nostrils with the flavor of delicious food and the scent of the sea. I breathe in and close my eyes. I will never admit it, but deep down I know Luca is right. I am ruining my present because I am not able to cope with the past. My parents think I have imagined it all, how a boy risked his own life to keep me safe, but it is the truth. I can't give up on him. I will feel as if I have betrayed him if I stop searching. A psychiatrist would probably call this post-traumatic disorder. Perhaps it is. I don't know anymore.
"Ryo," I feel a soothing hand on my back. "Mi dispiace veramente! (I am really sorry!) I shouldn't have..."
"It's fine, Luca," I mumble. "I know you want to help. I appreciate your efforts."
"Cazzo hai fatto? (What the fuck!)" He laughs out. "What's wrong with us, amico (friend)? We should be sitting nel mio palazzo (in my palace), sipping whine with sexy ladies on our laps."
I turn to him and raise a brow.
"And dudes," Luca snorts. "Wait! One! One guy, for you I mean. I'll stick with the girls."
"Idiot," I cackle. "Only you can make my hackles rise and crack me up within a few minutes. Honestly, it's a natural talent."
"I'll take it as a compliment." Luka throws an arm around my shoulders and pushes me back inside. "I know you can never miss the gift shop. Let's buy a plushie for your handsome Angel. How about a cute, fluffy dolphin?"
"Ugh, I shouldn't have told you everything," I sigh in regret. "You have two full weeks to make my life a misery."
"Only until I see you call him," he grins.
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Photo 94525102 © Thomas Lozinski | Dreamstime.com
A/N
Hello everyone at the end of chapter 34.
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Love: Anny
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