Love Struck (6 page)

Sara and Tommaso marvelled at the
beautiful, eventful plaza, it was packed full of rural, continental culture,
she was basking in a part of the world which had no reliance on computers,
mobile phones, video game consoles or internet connections which was linked to
all of those, forming the main network that predominated civilization back
home.

They had no use for it, why would
they want to spend their precious hours gazing into a screen, enveloped in a
digital environment, taking to faces on a monitor when they could be out there,
in a living, breathing world full of activity, friendly faces and socializing
in person, seeing such beautiful sights a virtual web could never replicate, no
matter how big and clear the pixels were in an image.

Life had to be lived in the flesh.
There was so much a person could do outside with their own eyes, rather than
rely on any form of technology to do the job for them. Being an old school kind
of woman who grew up loving the outdoors as a girl, all the way to womanhood,
she valued the enjoyment of seeing the world and meeting faces in person.

It was one of the reasons why she
never bought herself a computer or a mobile to get with the times, she would
stand by her values and live the old fashioned way.

Sara hoped one day, the kids of the
current generation would comprehend what they were missing, and for once in
their lives, turn off their computers, have a break from their video games and
pull their heads out their phones to take a read out of the real book of
living, they would enjoy themselves a great deal more, she was positive of it.

She noticed an appealing looking
small and humble ice cream stand in the distance. It reminded her of the ones
from her childhood, and how she used to race to it on her sprinting little
legs, eager to taste the chilled fruit flavoured ice on a stick and then savour
it even further by sucking the stick until all traces of its quenching
juiciness was replaced by the tasteless sensation of the wooden stick.

The refreshing desserts wetted her
appetite in the same manner she was accustomed to as a little girl, even at
this day and age. “I could do with one of those.” she smacked her moist lips,
had it not been for the gloss applied before she left, they would have been as
dry as her parched throat.

Being surrounded in a baking summer
heat wave, a cool treat was in order to give her some release from feeling as
unbelievably hot as she was in appearance to many of the masculine residents
and tourists who frequently averted their gazes to take a peek at the classy
beauty gracing the island. Many were tempted to come over, had it not been for
her lanky personal assistant, they appeared to have mistook him as her partner.

It wasn't the
first time Sara and Tommaso's closeness resembled that of a loving couple. They
looked well together, suited one another like a perfect match. No other could
have been appropriate with either.

Tommaso saw her looking at the stand,
drawn in by an insatiable appetite to become reacquainted with an old favourite
from her past.

“Cool, sweet, refreshing.” she licked
at her lips, coating them in an extra glossy sheen. “The perfect companion to
this weather. Don't you think?”

“You're on vacation, why not get
one?” Tommaso suggested, selflessly putting her before himself as usual.

Sara looked to Tommaso. He was always
thinking for her, never for himself. Looking out for her best interests, no
matter where they were. It was admirable, and she admired him for it, but she
was also selfless herself. “First, we're on vacation, and not just me. Second,
sure, an ice cream would be a perfect start to our trip to paradise.”

Tommaso smiled, she was such a
thoughtful angel on earth, he wished he could have kissed and held her there on
the spot. Maybe one day, he could. Right now he had the pressing matter of her
treat to take care of. “What flavour do you want?”

“My favourite, strawberry.” she could
already taste it in her mouth as she told him, she could not wait to savour it
after all those years.

Tommaso found it unbelievable. He
never would have guessed it in a million years. “Mine too, who would believe
it?”

Sara was astounded, all those years
and they had something else in common, “You learn something new every day.”

Tommaso reached in his wallet. “One
strawberry ice cream coming up.”

“There's no need to pay for it. I
want one, it's only fair that

I pay for it.” Sara had to draw the
line somewhere with his generosity, otherwise she would feel like she was
taking advantage of Tommaso's dedicated kindness, and that was something she
could never do.

He looked at her insistently, Tommaso
would feel like he was failing to live up to his duty if he had his superstar
paying for her own ice cream. Not only that, Tommaso always jumped at any
opportunity to offer his own tribute to her. “Ah, come on, let me pay for it.
It'll be my treat.”

She looked into his eyes, softened
towards him. “Oh, how can I refuse that face?”

Tommaso was ecstatic. “Great, I'll be
back shortly.”, he hurried off to the ice cream stand to get a treat for his
devout sweetheart.

“Try not to drop it.” playfully
teased Sara.

“I'll do my best.” joked Tommaso, playing
along to the harmless teasing, sparking them to both laugh light-heartedly.

They were in affinity, joined
together by rapport. Sara and Tommaso were an inseparable twosome that could
never be parted by anything or by anyone in the whole world. One could not
exist without the other. It was unimaginable to ever see the pair divided.

Paulo observed Sara from the
distance, he wanted to go over and greet her, his nervousness held him back, he
was star struck by her imposing demeanour as a diva. Meeting her had to be
flawless, he had to greet her with class and talk to her with gallantry. His
stance had to be confident, his hair had to be neat and his face had to be
immaculate, his clothes had to be presentable to be in her respectable
vicinity. He had to speak calm, and not ramble on about her and her films, he
had to show he was dedicated to the phenomenon that was Sara Sarracini, but not
bore her to tears at the same time.

First impressions were of the utmost
importance of making or breaking any ship built between two people.

He had to tread carefully and choose
his words well. He wanted Sara Sarracini to know Paulo for who he was and what
he was, a charming and well mannered gentleman who could treat a luxurious lady
rightly.

Gloria was losing her patience with
Paulo, she was tired of seeing him standing gormless at the other side of the
side-walk. The sooner he got her out his system, the sooner they could go on
with their own lives. “Are you just going to stand there all day or what?”

He keyed himself up. “I'm going to go
over there and ask her for an autograph.” his mind wanted to go over there, his
legs refused to correspond, they hesitated to move.

“What are you waiting for?”

“I'm not waiting.” his mind may have
projected himself heading for her, his legs told a different, more grounded
story, they still hesitated to take a step forward.

“Go on before she leaves.” Gloria
snapped, she wanted him to get it over with and endure the jealousy of seeing
him talking to his admired starlet. She could not stand all this waiting
around, imagining the worst case scenario that could possibly transpire, it was
agonizing for her.

“I will.” Paulo took a deep breath,
ingested the rich taste of salt and sea. “Here I go.”

He gathered the courage, his legs
were acknowledging his mind's commands and cooperated, Paulo actually stepped
forward, he was making huge progress. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.” Gloria said flatly. She
was putting him before herself and not pleased one bit but figured if he could
purge himself from the superstar's intoxication, he might get Sara Sarracini
out of his mind. If not, there would be the stern alternative waiting for him
back in the suite. The claws would be coming out and he would have to take it
like a man.

Paulo walked onwards, he holding onto
his bravado, trying his hardest to keep it firmly on him, refusing to let go
and waver from it.

“You're going to need it.” she
murmured. At the rate he was going, she had nothing to fear, her competition
would be the least bit impressed by her bumbling, nervous fan.

Paulo's legs were stern like stone,
they would not crumble into retreating dust. He could not falter, this was the
moment he had been waiting for, he had to grab a hold of it and not let it
escape his grasp, such an august opportunity might not have came his way a
second time.

He could never live with himself if
he let his trophy diva elude him. There was no sense in stalling for what one
desired the most, less they never wanted to have it, and instead were destined
to chase after a shadow they could not catch.

Paulo never could understand why
people had a habit of hiding from their heart's desires and denying themselves
the happiness they were entitled to claim.

The doubts may have clouded their
heads and fears may have blocked out their hearts, he could attest to that, he
was as nervous as one could be with meeting his legendary darling star,
uncertain of how it may go down but if he did not speak to her, he would never
know how it could have gone, it might have been a complete disaster but it also
might have been so completely extraordinary in every meaning of the word.

One had to have an iron strength, to
disperse the clouding doubtful mist and strip the heart of any restrictive
vindictive fear so it could beat with courage. Only those who were brave enough
to go for it would be enriched by their aspirations. Fortune only ever favoured
the boldest, not the meekest.

One could suffer more from not trying
than one who did try. Paulo was a trier, not a quitter.

He was drawing nearer to the goddess
standing so elegantly in the plaza, shining brighter and brilliant than the
glowing sun overhead. The heat waves she generated touched his face more warmly
than the sweltering climate smothered all around him at every angle and every
turn. Sara Sarracini was more hotter and glorious than all the summer days
combined in all its gold tinted radiance.

Paulo would go with the flow of the
conversation, as to not have it feel stiff and robotic like he was reading
lines written on a cue card.

He would speak from his heart, where
the most fluid and natural of the warmest words sprang. Rather than the
calculated and rehearsed colder words resided in one's own mind playing the
conversation out like a scene in a movie. It would never turn out as one
planned, so it was best to hang up the blueprint and go in blindly, seeing
where it took him without being hindered by expectations that went nowhere.

Paulo reached her, she was so close
to him he could detect the sweetest fragrance of her strawberry scented perfume
drifting from her neck and whiffing up his jubilant nostrils. He was right
behind Sara, a few feet from making his dream come true. He had built up the
courage this far, he was ready to take the bold next step and make himself
known to her.

“Hi.” came a smooth and gallant voice
which waltzed calmly and confidently behind her ears.

Sara was turned around by the
charming voice to see it belonged to a young and handsome man who was every bit
as charming as his vocalization suggested. She was compelled to smile at him,
so warmly and kindly. She wondered how she could be of assistance to the young
man, maybe he needed to know the time or directions. There was no possible way
he was a fan of her, he was from another generation, a different era, most kids
in the modern era were oblivious to her existence, she was just another mature
woman in their eyes, they were too occupied on marvelling over the stars of
today, in their wave length. “Hi.”

Paulo was nearly taken off his feet
by her gleaming beauty intensified by her dazzling smile, he quickly regained
his composure and resumed talking as cool headed as he could be around her. He
had broke the ice well enough, he had to keep going. “Sara Sarracini?”

“Yes.” she was flabbergasted,
although she hid it well, Sara was not expecting a youth of his age to know her
name with such familiarity. It was actually possible, Sara had a modern day
fan, she was flattered and honoured.

The young man introduced himself with
a great amount of gusto. “I'm Paulo.”

“Pleased to meet you, Paulo.” that
was not a friendly formality, she really was pleased to meet her first young
fan of the present century.

Paulo was star struck harder by Sara,
his words refused to come out for a moment. It was a minor hiccup, but one that
worked in his favour rather than a detriment. She found it cute. Her sweet
expression managed to give his nerves the push to finally have him speak. “I'm
a big fan of you and your work. You're an amazing actress.”

“Ah, thank you.” Sara was moved by
his genuine words, she still was awe struck herself by a young man relishing
the work of a woman who was acting long before he was ever conceived. She was
already in her thirties by the time he was ten with the wide time gap placed in
front of them. It was a gap that was easily crossed if they willed it to. The
way it looked, they were already working towards making the leap.

Paulo wasn't through giving her the
complimentary tribute of his devotion to her. “I've always said that no one
will ever compare to the beauty and magnificence of Sara Sarracini and they
haven't. You'll always be number one.”

Sara was left embarrassed at such a
compliment. She never heard such beautiful words spoken to her from the heart
by someone in his age category. Life was full of surprises, even for Sara who
thought she had seen everything it had to offer a woman of the world. “You're
very sweet, aren't you? Are you always this sweet to the ladies?”

Paulo was stunned, he was doing
great, making a powerful impression that showed no signs of fading, it was
evident from receiving a compliment from the unparalleled Sara. If he kept it
up at the rate he was going, he would be finding himself receiving something
more spectacular than an autograph. He could detect it instantly, although he
wasn't sure if it was his own subconscious perceiving it as the case. Either
way, Paulo could have sworn she was love struck by him as he was with her since
first laying eyes on the wonder that was Sara on the screen and even more so in
person.