Teach me to dream

1

Three soft knocks on the door were enough to awaken her with a start.

The room was in almost complete darkness, except for the pale strip of light that sneaked through where the heavy velvet curtains met. For a minute or two, she had no idea of where she was. This was not a new feeling for her, since she would wake up in a different bed almost every day.

She managed to reach the switch on the bedside lamp and everything became a little clearer: the white-profiled mahogany desk where she had left her laptop; the flowery armchair and beige sofa in front of the bed, completely covered in clothes; the pale parquet that made everything warm and airy. Yes, it clearly was a luxury hotel room, but even this was not enough to clear the uncertainty. She glanced further over and finally calmed down: she had often said jokingly (but not really) that her home was wherever her shoes were and clearly, that day too, they hadn't abandoned her. The sparkly pink slip-ons, with their long fringes and impeccable suede eyebrows, were poking out from amongst the others, winking at her as if wishing her a good day. All right then, she was home: now she only had to figure out in which city of the world.

She threw back the sheet and got up. She shivered in her pink silk vest with dove-grey lace hems and so she pulled on the grey hoodie that she had left at the foot of the bed the night before, before falling - or, as Fede would say, collapsing - into a deep sleep from jet-lag. She headed for the window and opened the curtains which, as if on a stage, pulled back to reveal the stunning view of the snow-sprinkled spires of the Duomo. She stood there staring it for a while, but when she heard three more knocks on the door, she jumped and finally went to open it.

The sight of a trolly laden with baskets, plates, cutlery and steaming cups, the nice smile of the kind waiter pushing it and his "Buongiorno, signorina Chiara, come sta oggi?", together with the awareness of being in Milan, definitely put her in a good mood.
Then she wondered where Fede had gone.

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Hey squad! Thanks for reading! I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please, feel free to vote and comment. And let me know what you think Chiara will do in her last hours in Milan! :-)