Daylight [h.s]

i. Fiore

"I just told him the numbers, and he agreed." He shrugged again. "Tomorrow he starts his stay, so I was going to ask you to bring a nice bouquet to put in his living room. I want to be a delightful host."

I let out a sarcastic laugh, and he gave me a dirty look. "Are you going to eat here or are we going out to eat?"

"I'd rather go out to eat than listen to two hours of Taylor Swift while we're cooking."

We were not very far from the restaurant, so riding the Vespa is never an option unless you are going to Amalfi or Positano. We enjoyed the evenings as we walked through the narrow streets and chatted endlessly. At times, we would get distracted and stare at the sea and the small boats that lit up the place.

Despite having lived here for over four years, I never got bored with coming here to eat pizza or pasta and drink some wine. Listening to the music in the background and enjoying the typical restaurant of "La Romana". Don Giovanni and his wife Sofia would join us when they closed their kitchen. They prepared the best pizzas in Praiano, or so Elio and I thought.

But time was beating us and it was almost ten o'clock. Time flies when you are with the right people.

"It's time for us to go, Giovanni," I said, showing him the time on my mobile phone. "Tomorrow afternoon, I'll leave flowers for you." I gave them each a hug.

"Aelia is always being so generous!" Elio shouted. He was drunk and not only his attitude, but his eyes gave him away. "FINO A DOMANI," He said a loud goodbye as I pulled him by the arm towards the exit.

"I don't understand why you get drunk so fast. We just had a few drinks." I kept pulling him to walk. The wine was taking effect on me, too. I was sleepy, and we were in for a pleasant walk. "Elio, please walk."

Elio stopped dead in his tracks. "But, Aelia, look at the sky." He said as he pointed to the sky and dropped to the ground to look at the stars. "The stars look beautiful."

I looked at the sky, and there was no star.

He was just drunk.

"Please get up." I pleaded, but it was impossible. I was talking to a rock. "ELIO"

Nothing.

I couldn't leave him lying in the street where anyone could do something to him. Which I saw as difficult, but the possibilities were always there. People passing by him could be sure they were making fun of him, but you couldn't tell because of the mask they were wearing.

Maybe they didn't even want to come near us because they think we'll infect them. A drunk and a girl shouting at him in three languages. I didn't blame them.

"ELIO!" someone shouted across the street.

I felt my whole body tense up just listening to that voice. Hard to forget, and even though sometimes I did. But it had only been a few months and living here meant I had to find Lorenzo. The hardest part was that Elio was Lorenzo's brother, so the task was always difficult.

"Aelia," Lorenzo said, and let out a sigh. "Don't worry about Elio. I'll take him home. You rest, tomorrow you have to open the shop, don't you? "

I nodded, saying nothing else.

Fuck him.

Salt air.

Daylight.

Taking the long way to the shop to get a closer look at the sea and feeling the sun directly on my skin are the little pleasures in life that I like to enjoy. Like smelling that desired coffee in the afternoon or listening to vinyl with no harm. Life was full of these little pleasures that I was discovering little by little and I only wished I had realised them.