Chapter 14
Palerme was fast becoming Gema’s favorite place on earth. Every morning, Vistos would take her to a new part of the city, watching as she marveled at everything, from the market place to the ripe grape vines. The culture was old and rustic, and had Gema wishing desperately that she was Italian. Vistos taught her new words everyday, how to order food at the markets, how to haggle for a better price. He taught her about himself to, with his interactions with the towns people. They all rejoiced when they saw Vistos, stopped to catch up with him, everyone exclaiming he had been away far too long. Many told stories of him running through the alleys as a child, playing futbol with the other boys, and her favorite story, jumping off the cliffs to the raging sea below. He took it all with barely reddened cheeks, refusing the compliments and being very modest ad quiet. Gema realized something as she sat and ate breakfast at a small café owned by a woman who had known Vistos all of his life. He was humbled by them, admired the people of his town, and it made him uneasy to know they thought he was the best of them all. She watched him sip his coffee and he caught her looking. His rakish good looks caught her off guard again, and her heart swelled as his eyebrow knit together in confusion. His golden eyes observed her.
“What?” She shook her head and Vistos shrugged before leaning back in his chair.
“Where are we going today?” Gema asked him, and Vistos opened his mouth to answer, but the woman behind the bar interrupted, rattling off in Italian about some kind of hidden lake Vistos used to go to as a child. Vistos quickly denied it, shaking his head and waving it away as if it wasn’t important. The woman chastised him and demanded he show it to Gema, repeating it over and over until Vistos relented and promised to take Gema, rather begrudgingly. He rose quickly then, throwing down much too much money on the table and walking away. Gema had to hurry to keep up, grateful she had opted for her comfortable sandals instead of the heels she had contemplated that morning. Her skirt fluttered around her knees and thighs as Gema hurried to catch up with Vistos, enjoying the slight breeze through her cotton white tank top as she caught up with him. Her hair was down, for Vistos, but she rather liked the way it looked now. Her full bangs kept out of her eyes and Gema fell into step with Vistos’s long strides as they went off the beaten dirt road and veered into the lush wilderness.
“So this is a hidden lake?” Vistos nodded curtly. “How’d you find it?”
“By looking” He answered, his voice clipped, and Gema sighed. He was going to be a bad mood now, simply because the woman had suggested he take her here. Well, she wasn’t going to let his bad mood ruin this for her. The sound of a secret hidden lake sounded romantic to her, and Gema couldn’t wait to see it. Finally, the wilderness and lush tress around them parted and Vistos ushered Gema through with a weary smile. Gema stepped into a clearing, the left side of which was occupied by a medium sized lake, surrounded by beautiful plants and lush grass. It looked like a slice of undisturbed paradise, and Gema couldn’t help but sigh.
“It’s beautiful” she didn’t wait for Vistos, but went to the waters edge and slipped off her shoes. The water was cool and inviting against the Italy heat, and Gema swirled her toes beneath the surface. Vistos came to stand beside her, looking down at the water, and Gema couldn’t help but remember that they had met like this, around a coy pond. She couldn’t help form mentioning it to him then. “Remember, this is how we met. Around the coy pond”
Vistos nodded faintly and Gema looked at him as he frowned into the waters surface. “Vistos?”
He looked at her briefly before clearing his throat. “Come, let’s swim”
Splashing playfully in the lake, Gema could almost forget how brooding Vistos had been when they’d first arrived. He swam in nothing but his boxers, but Gema left her tank top on as they frolicked through the water. They raced, splashed each other, and floated lazily on the surface for what seemed like hours, till the sun move in the sky and they swam lazily to the shore. Laying out to dry in the sun, Vistos pulled out two sandwiches and some hummus on chips Mia had sent with them, and they munched as they watched the water move over the lake in silence. Gema rolled onto her side and studied Vistos’ profile. He was in deep thought, she knew because his eyebrows were knit together and his perfectly dimpled chin was set into the palm of his hand.
YOU ARE READING
An Unexpected Romance
General Fiction“Mio dio, I love the way you say my name” His voice was a husky whisper, and Gema took a step back, caught off guard. He stared at her intently, shoving his hands into his pockets. “What do you want” he snapped at her, and Gema hesitated. “Well I…...
