Haley With the Hazel Eyes

Chapter 12: Arriving

"Haley? Wake up, sleepyhead, we've arrived." Luc's voice spoke practically in her ear, making Haley jump.

"What time is it?" she murmured, lifting her head from its place on his shoulder.

"About six in the morning on a beautiful day in Rome," he replied.

"Then why does it feel like the middle of the night?"

Luc bonked the top of her head lightly with his knuckles, laughing. "Because for you it is," he said. "Right now it's midnight back in New York City."

The time difference, duh.

"I knew that," she replied with dignity, shaking her head and retying her pony tail.

"Of course you did," he responded. "Of course you did."

Haley looked around the airport as they walked through, marveling that everyone around her was speaking Italian. Of course, there were many other languages being spoken as well, but running through them all was an absolute torrent of the most beautiful language she'd ever heard. It ebbed and flowed like a cheerful river, bobbing and weaving in the air.

"Come on, slowpoke," Luc teased, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she called as she ran to catch up.

She was in Italy.

"My driver should be waiting for us as soon as we clear customs," Luc told her as they went through immigration.

One thing Haley noticed was how much louder everything was. In Italy, apparently even the most mundane topics had to be yelled or else they lost all meaning. It seemed that way, anyway.

They cleared customs, where Haley got her brand new passport stamped for the very first time.

"What are you smiling about?" Luc asked, looking sideways at her as they descended the escalator, so Haley showed him her passport with the fresh stamp.

"Really? That's what made you so happy?"

Haley nodded. "Don't you make fun of me Mr. World Traveler. Everything's new to me, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."

Luc simply shrugged. "Enjoy away, then," he responded, nudging her shoulder with his own.

He saw his driver just then.

"Enrico, ciao," he called.

Enrico waved and approached them. He said something to Luc in Italian, and Haley was amazed that Luc could understand him because it sounded so fast. How could anyone hear the word separations necessary for comprehension of this manic language?

But Luc was answering back in Italian, just as fast, it seemed to Haley.

Enrico, an older, stocky man, grabbed both of Haley's suitcases in his beefy paws and led them out of the terminal.

"Luc?"

He turned toward the voice, which belonged to a young girl of about fifteen. Her eyes were huge, and, again, she let loose an absolute barrage of Italian in Luc's direction, using her hands to help her speak. She ended her monologue with an upward inflection, asking a question, obviously, as she clutched her phone.

Luc smiled at her and gestured for her phone.

He took a selfie of the two of them, with his free arm around her. He concluded by kissing her on the cheek, and saying something that had "grazie" in the middle of it.

The girl said something else, and turned away, already texting to someone about her good fortune in meeting Luc in the flesh at the Rome airport.

"We'd better leave in a hurry," Luc said, taking Haley by the elbow and leading her toward where Enrico waited. "Where there's one, there will be others."