𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 {ᴠɪᴄ ᴅᴇ ᴀɴɢᴇʟɪs}

ʟᴏɴᴇʟʏ ʙᴇɴᴄʜ

"It was love at first sight,

at last sight,

at ever and ever sight."

- Vladimir Nabokov

_

                                      May 2018

The night was dark, there was a cold little breeze. The night seemed perfect almost too perfect. This is always what I imagined my life to be, perfect. While it was far from that moments like these made it suck a little bit less.

I held my hands in the air as I danced through the night, only on moments like these I really felt free. I didn't feel like a bird trapped in a cage, longing for a breath of fresh air. I was just simply, being if that makes sense.

I felt weightless on the edge of the fountain, the rousing of the trees in the park made my hair wave in the air. The stars in the sky glowed on the water, making it almost magical.

As I got off the edge I walked around the pond, the water reflected me, making it look as if I was in the water. That would've been nice, to just jump into it. I knew it would probably be kind of irresponsible too since it was a cold night.

The thought however got wiped out of my mess of a mind as I saw a figure standing on the other side of the pond.

As my curiosity got to me I was walking to the shadow, not bothering that my point shoes were getting dirty. I had never seen anyone there at night, people weren't interested in an old park, they only liked the busy streets of Rome. Only I thought the concrete was terrible, it hurt my feet when walking too long and it was simply boring.

As I was getting closer I saw the shadow was a woman, as she was looking up I had noticed the teary eyes. She couldn't have been older than me, maybe around 18 years old. It got me wondering how she got here, she seemed mysterious, most people would've turned away pretending like the girl was just a ghost.

She was seated on the park bench, the green paint fading as the wood had started to rot. The girl didn't move as I was standing near her, I could've just turned away but somehow I just couldn't.

All I knew to do was just sit next to her, I had hoped it would make her feel less alone. The silence wasn't that bad, I was never good with words anyway.

Minutes started to pass as we both just sat, looking at the quiet pond whose water had turned green over the years. The girl her tears had seemed to stop for a bit, her eyes made their way over to mine. I didn't look at her in pity, everyone had bad days now and then and there was nothing anyone could do about that. That's just how it was.

"Thank you", the girl said while she was looking at her hands, her nails were painted a deep red wine color and she had some rings on as well. I couldn't see her features well since it was dark, the government didn't bother to afford lights for such an old place.

I did make out her blonde hair and blue eyes, the light of the stars made them shine as if they were made of glass.

''For what, sitting? I think it's pretty normal for people to sit so no need for thank you's'', I replied to the blonde, the girl gave a little smile which made me smile as well.

"What are you doing here?", she asked after some moments had passed, I just shrugged my shoulders. Any place that was peacefull made me happy, as long as it wasn't too busy or noisy. Nature always inspired me, it made me feel like I wasn't all alone in the world. The stars, trees, and birds were always watching.

"I like to come here sometimes to practice dance", I said and I flexed my foot so she could see my point shoes. "You do Ballet? That's impressive'', she said as she dried off the tear marks from her face. ''Thank you. What about you, what are you doing here alone?'', I had asked her, I didn't know if she would want to share something like that, I was a stranger after all.

''I needed some time to think, I had a pretty big argument with a friend of mine so I came here'', she explained and I had simply nodded, not wanting to ask any more questions in fear of making her upset.

I used to have fights as well when I was younger, which led to me losing a lot of them. I was always just too stubborn and naive to say that I was in the wrong, even though I was sometimes.

"I am Victoria by the way'', she said, it's a pretty name and it suits her really well. My grandma's name was Victoria, it meant Victory in Latin. Unfortunately, she had passed away when I was barely four years old, that didn't prevent my mom from telling me all the stories about her.

''That's a beautiful name, I'm Ludovica'', I had said and she nodded, "I like your name too'', she said while she was putting her bangs out of the way. That's why I never let mine grow longer than my eyebrows, the same for my short hair since it would only get in the way. As we're sitting on the bench the breeze got colder and I was feeling a chill creep up on my spine.

I should've gone out that night in just my red dress, it was too cold to wear for a chilly night. I had suddenly felt warmth around me, Victoria put her coat around my shoulders. She probably realized I was cold, who wouldn't have been. She was smartly dressed I noticed as I looked at her, she had long pants a long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of ankle boots.

''Victoria you don't have to, you'll get cold'', I was saying while shredding it off since I didn't want the girl to catch a cold. She just shook her head and put the jacket back on me.

''Bella, I'm not going to let you get sick because of me'', she said and I felt my cheeks get a tint. I was just hoping she didn't see it in the dark night. No one had called me pretty besides my family, but it felt differently leaving Victoria's lips.

As she was about to say something again, we saw a black car driving towards the park and when it had stopped I saw a boy coming out of it. Victoria seemed to know who it was as she was standing up while he came towards us.

''Vic where were you? Ero molto preoccupato'', he said as he hugged her, I almost felt jealous at that moment. I couldn't be jealous, she was still only a stranger after all...

''Spiacente'', she said as they had let each other out of the embrace, he told her something that I didn't catch since I was trying not to be rude by listening to their conversation. Victoria had turned around and was facing me again, "I have to go but I can give you a lift if you want'', she said but I politely declined since I only lived 15 minutes away. She got what looked like a pen and a tissue, she wrote something on it and gave it to me.

''It's my number'', she said as she saw my confused look, I understood and nodded. The boy told her something again, as they were about to leave I took off the jacket, "Wait Victoria, your jacket'', I said but she shook her head, "You have my number, just text me when you can. Ciao Bella'', she said with a wink, which had made me blush again. Thank god there weren't any lights on that night.

As I slowly saw their figures leave I decided I should go as well, I had wrapped the coat around me completely. The coat smelled really nice, like a mix of vanilla and roses just like Victoria. As I was walking through the streets of Rome, the moon was shining brighter than normal.

As I said, I should've gone out that night in just my red dress, it was too cold to wear for a chilly night. But if I would've stayed inside that night, our story would've never begun...