The Beautiful Spy

1. Where she meets the Roommate

Location: Venice, Italy
October, 2016

The plane took a landing in the runway and the little turbulence woke me up from my light doze.
It was half past 4 in the evening. The sky was cloudless blue. The city was glowing with the bright lights. Car honking and the rowing boats created an unavoidable tune.

My heart thudded in my chest unreasonably. I felt an uneasiness settle. I rubbed on it repeatedly to slow it down to its normal pace. That relaxed me a little.

I took out the paper from my back pocket which read

House no.11, 2nd floor.
Romita Apartment
Via mestrina, Mestre
Venice, Italy.

The cab dropped me to the address and swiftly zoomed back to the road.
I scoured the surrounding through my observative eyes. One street light was blinking among the bright ones. All the buildings were almost similarly architectured.

Among the four storeyed buildings aligned symmetrically, Romita apartment seemed to be the less attentively built. The flower pots dangling in the balcony from each floor added a hint of beauty which kept aside, gave it an old, tarnish appearance.

The city however had looked beautiful from the car window. The choice of my stay was decided even before I kept a foot on this land.
I could swear it must have been a tough job for George to find a place like this in this beautiful city.

I lifted my luggage through the narrow stairs which made some annoyed noises in between whilst hitting its wheels to the lifeless, corroded railing pipes.

Finally reaching to the mentioned house number, I found that the door was locked. I was supposed to share the room with a woman who was currently nowhere to be seen, adding to my exasperated state.

I rummaged through the mass of essential items I was carrying in the backpack in search of the key.

Apparently, I had thought Evangeline Bianchi being informed beforehand would have made this key useless enough to be carried around in the pocket.

It was the click that gave me a vague satisfaction. I pushed open the door just to get hit by a sudden whiff of sweet aroma channeling my olfactory sense. It was a contrast to the reeking smell from the neighborhood.

I pulled my luggage inside. The main door which led me to a hall had a small sofa adjusted in the middle. A bunch of tuberose was sticking out from the vase set at the corner table.
The balcony and kitchen faced each other.

I ran my hands through the laminate countertop. It was super-sleek to touch. There was nothing syrupy or sickly-sweet visible that my senses had the air of being requisite for the earlier toothsome fragrance.

I kicked open the room nearer to the balcony and instantly regretted. It was too clean to be true. The room was small yet spacious enough to do a ramp walk. The bathroom was attached to each room which was a great deal considering the price was too high for an apartment in this area of the town.

The light blue curtains seemed feathery, the setting sun ablazing through it. The bedsheet was free of any crease or fold, stretched out evenly to its ends. Some neatly stacked books were placed in the shelf.

I wiped the faint spot at the door hurriedly with my hand where I had kicked earlier and closed it more carefully.

The other room was nearer to the kitchen which I assumed mine.
It was spotless as if someone had just scrubbed the floor. Except the lack of curtains and a proper bedsheet, it was quiet pleasant.

I could only hope that my roommate doesn't turn out to be an OCD sufferer, high maintenance freak who has a habit of fluffing the pillows all day.

Taking a cold shower after a seven hour flight felt refreshing. I changed myself into a comfortable pair of pyjamas before rummaging the fridge to find something to consume and all I could find was a bowl of pasta from last night. I took it in my room and gobbled up anyway.