Under Summer Sky • Zarry

1. The vibe

I loved animals for that reason; because they always loved you back unconditionally, no matter what.

I was startled slightly from petting Cleo when I heard my black front door swing open and my mum stood there, hands on her hips in that seconds away from scolding you type of way and she cleared her throat with that knowing looks mums always had; especially mine.

"Harry," she pressed, raising a thin eyebrow and I grinned, laying on the cheek as best as I could while she tried her best not to smile. "You're late. Dinner's almost ready."

My mum, Anne, was by far the best woman on the planet. I am aware that I'm probably biased but she really was the best. She worked as a receptionist at a dentist's office and we didn't have much money, but she worked hard and did whatever she had to do to support me and Gemma. She had this internal strength about her that only a single mum could have and she also tolerated my wild antics probably more than she should.

Bless her.

I never saw my dad because he was in prison and I refused to go see him, no matter how many times he called me. I always rejected them anyway. He was an addict and criminal, put away when I was just a kid and for many crimes, namely hijacking cars all over the UK and distributing cocaine as part of some underground drug ring, which was embarrassing for my mum to discover about him, even though I think she knew deep down that he was no good; he was never a proper father figure, either. So my mum raised me and my sister Gemma single handedly and even though both her and I had some flaws, I still think she did a pretty damn good job.

Her medium-length auburn hair shined in the sun with her round face and brilliant green eyes that I also happened to blessed with. A fit mum, my mates always said right before I decked them in the nuts. I swooped by her and leaned in, planting a kiss on her rosy cheek as I entered my house and was greeted with the delicious aroma of roast chicken and potatoes simmering in the crock pot.

"And where have you been?" she asked, following me into the kitchen.

"Do you really want to know?" I replied mischievously while munching on an uncooked carrot from the plate that was sitting on the counter.

"You know what...on second thought, I probably don't," she returned as she began scooping the chicken and potatoes out into a ceramic bowl.

"I was just brushing up on anatomy," I said with a wry, cheeky smile and she proceeded to lean over and smack me in the bicep.

"Surprised you did so poorly in that class then. Maybe you should quit snogging and start your packing. You leave tomorrow, remember?"

"Yeah I know. How could I forget about Italy."

I had just finished at Regent a few days ago and I had barely scraped by with my grades; just above passing. That's not to say that I wasn't smart or clever, but I will say that I had a tendency to be terribly lazy when it came to schoolwork and I was often easily distracted.

Most of the time I was either playing football or goofing off with my tight-knit group of mates; Jeff, Zach and my closest friend, Nick. Fortunately I managed to get a sports scholarship for football at UEL, otherwise I'm not so sure that I would have gotten into any good schools with my mediocre marks.

The reason I was going away to Italy for the summer was because my mum's best friend from uni, Tricia Lombardi, used to live on this exquisite, 100 acre wide vineyard and winery in Florence before she passed away from breast cancer five years ago. But Giovanni, her widower husband, still lived there and he owned and operated the finest Lombardi Imperial Wines of Tuscany. So when my mum ran into him in London about a month ago he ended up asking her if I wanted to come work for him on the vineyard through the summer because he was looking for some extra help, and I simply couldn't refuse the offer.