Love in Italy

-6-

I hear the doorbell ring and Aunt Stella yell from downstairs as I finish putting on my lip gloss. I'm surprised Rafael is actually on time.

"ONE MINUTE!" I yell. I turn back to my mirror and take one more look at myself. I straightened my hair and have a bit of makeup on. The sundress I am wearing is light purple and has spaghetti strap sleeves that tie into a bow. I didn't want to look too fancy, but I didn't want it to look like I didn't try.

I slip on a pair of black sandals and make my way downstairs. When I get down there, I see Rafael standing in the kitchen with a bouquet.

"Here, these are for you." He says, handing me the flowers. "I remember you saying cornflowers were one of your favorites, so I made sure those were in there."

I look at the bouquet. It was mostly made of cornflowers, but it also had periwinkles, violets, lavender, and chrysanthemums. "You remembered?"

"Of course."

"Well, thank you. Here, let me put them in some water and then we can get going." I walk into the kitchen and grab an empty glass. I fill it halfway with water and place the flowers in side. Maybe I'll let them dry and use them for scrapbooking or just for decoration. They are quite pretty.

"Ready?" I ask, walking back into the kitchen. Rafael nods his head and holds out his hand for me to take. I reluctantly stretch out my hand and grab his.

"Make sure you have her home by 10 at the latest." Uncle Ricco states, entering the kitchen.

"Will do, sir. Now shall we?"

"We shall." I laugh.

"Ladies first." Rafael says, holding the door for me.

"Thanks." I mumble.

We walk for a little while in silence until Rafael says"You know, you look really pretty."

"You can cut the act now, Rafael. We are far enough away that they definitely won't hear."

"I'm not acting. You do actually look beautiful. But then again, you do always look pretty." Did Rafael just call me pretty? Twice? Am I dreaming?

"Well, thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." I reply. "Now, can you tell me where we are going? You still haven't told me anything."

"Nope." He says popping the p. "You will see when we get there."

"Ugh" I groan. "Fine!"

We continue walking until we get to the entrance to the beach. "Why are we at the beach?"

"You'll see." Rafael says with a smug look on his face. I just roll my eyes and take my sandals off. Can't have a ton of sand in them, that would be uncomfortable.

I step onto the beach and start walking alongside Rafael. The sand actually feels nice under my feet. Rafael abruptly stops and I assume that means we are at our destination.

I look around and I see a picnic blanket set out on the sand with a picnic basket and a bunch of pillows and blankets on top of it.

"What do you think?" Rafael asks nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"I love it! But you really didn't need to try so hard."

"It's your first date ever, so I had to at least make it memorable. Even if it's just fake." When did Rafael get so romantic?

"Did you ever do this kind of stuff for Emma?" I ask sitting down on the blanket.

Rafael shakes his head. "Not really. She didn't really like stuff like this. She preferred big flashy events, restaurants, parties."