Dear Marcus

One

"Oh isn't Italy beautiful!" Clapping my hands together, I'm here in Volterra with my daughters Evelyn and Jade, my son Steven and Evelyn's daughter Amanda "I mean look at the beauty" I decided to steal my children away for some family bonding time. I mean all they do now is be stuck in stuffy offices, they no longer bother to see the beauty of the world around them. Well, maybe Steven does but he's too busy going around with my ex husbands floozy new wife's nephew.

"Right" Evelyn nods her head holding Amanda's hand "The beauty of what? All I see are just cobble streets and the nearest place to actually shop miles away"

"Sorry mom" Jade tells me "but their right, I just don't see what was so special about Volterra? I mean why not Venice or Bologna? It's called Bologna right?"

"That's meat" Evelyn corrects "its Bolona"

"No I'm certain it's Bologna" my daughters soon get into an argument about how to pronounce a city. Amanda is just bored by the looks of it, how she's trying to get out of her mothers grip and Steven sends me a sympathy glance.

"How about later mom" Steven suggests "we can go on that tour about the history of this place"

"If I wanted a history lesson" Evelyn picks Amanda up "I'd have stayed at home and ordered my PA Krishna to give me everything she can find on Volterra" looking at me "sorry mom, but I'm headed back to the hotel"

"Same" Jade nods her head

"Mom" Steven speaks "if you want"

"I'm okay Steven" holding my hand up "but can you follow your sisters making sure they don't kill each other?" He nods his head as I walk down the streets. It's night time right now, according to many people Volterra is most beautiful at nighttime and most mysterious. I walk down the cobbled path looking around before I see a gate opened going down another path.

I head in that direction, as I walk through the place I see many flowers. They are all so beautiful, one thing I love to do is plant. My children and I use to do it together, make our front and backyard filled with beautiful flowers but as they got older they didn't find it appealing. I'm trying to get Amanda to see the beauty of planting and having a green thumb but her mind is only focused on her tablet.

When I get to a bridge, I stand over looking down into the water, the moonlight above reflects in the water with the stars. A beautiful sight, as I stare I don't notice the man that comes my way until I hear his voice "why are you sad?" I jump pressing a hand to my heart looking over at a man who looks like the definition of depression. But looking past that, I see a handsome man with dark hair and brown eyes, he has pale skin and he's taller than Blake. Maybe six foot two? Six foot three?

"Wow" I comment "you know how to sneak up on people"

"Apologies" he had his hands in front of him, he stands tall like a business man but not really. I don't know what but he doesn't seem normal "you seem sad, looking into the water" even his voice sounds sad.

"It's nothing" waving my hand looking back down into the water.

"If it were nothing" he speaks "you wouldn't be sad"

I guess he doors have a point, thinking about whether I should tell a random stranger something. "Why should I tell you my problems? I don't know you"

"True" nodding his head "but sometimes the best people to tell your problems to are random people"

"That's true" nodding my head, I sigh leaning on the railing looking into the water "it's my children"

"Your married?" He asks, for some reason I hear a tint of jealousy.

"Jealous?" I ask teasingly, he stays silent "no, I'm divorced. How about you? Married?"

"We're talking about you" he reminds me

"As much" I offer a smile "as I love to talk about myself" putting a hand to my chest "I don't feel like it at the moment"

He is silent, just stares at me like he's studying me "widower, my wife died some time ago"

"I'm sorry" putting a hand on his arm "if you don't mind me asking, how?"

"Fire"

"I understand" nodding my head, my eldest son who is now dead. A few years back he started a fire nearly killing me and Evelyn, if unfortunately took her late husband Tomas "I too was in a fire" because of the fire, I got some burns but luckily they can be hidden. Unfortunately, not with bikinis.

"You were?" He asks upset

"Some time ago" waving my hand "but back to you"

"Why are you sad?" He asks again

"You aren't going to give up asking are you?" He remains silent "my children all work inside. Two children in offices while one in a hospital, I brought them and my granddaughter here to see the beauty of the simplicity of life since we live in a big city"

"They didn't see it that way" he concludes

"Only my son" looking back into the water "he's more like me, the girls are more like their father" cursing Maxwell in my head, I then look at the time to see it's getting very late "it's getting late, I best be off" looking to him "I never caught your name"

"Marcus" he introduces himself

"Alexis" I tell him before walking off, as I do I turn around to see Marcus just vanished into thin air. Did I imagine the entire thing?