Someone to Love (26 page)

I filled my bags, distracted, without separating the delicate things from the others, as I usually did. I just wanted to leave.

“Leave it, I'll take it,” suggested Albert, lifting the water crate.

“Thanks, but I have a trolley. I just have to get Bubu and shoot off to work. I'm already late.”

Alberto was behind me, and the uncomfortable feeling I had experienced when I first met him was back.

As soon as Bubu saw me, he began to pull on the lead tied round a pole.

“I was quick, see? Alice, thank you so much for your help, I didn't want to leave him in the car.”

“No problem, he was lovely.”

Beside me, Patty continued to re-iterate that the multiple toothpaste package should have cost less than the amount she paid. The clerk snorted and walked away to go and check.

“Mum, couldn't you wait for me? I would have helped…” cried Alberto.

“You never arrived and I have no time to waste at the supermarket. I have to sort it out quickly because I have an appointment with the beautician.”

Alberto stopped looking at her and glanced at his watch. “Then I'd better start to load the car. I'll wait outside.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of keys. “Mia, I'll see you.”

I returned the smile and waved at him. I was so distracted by his retreating figure that I didn't realize that Bubu was no longer by my side.

“Get down right away,” barked Patty.

I turned and saw Bubu jumping up at Patty, who was protecting the chocolate she had just unwrapped. It was one of the bad habits he hadn't lost.

“Look what you've done. Get down immediately,” she shouted.

I apologized. “Bubu, stop it, come here,” I pulled on the lead, and fished for a biscuit in my bag.

Patty was annoyed and still preening her coat sleeve and trousers. “Look, now I'll have to go around with the print of his paw. I've always said that small, pocket size dogs are better.”

Without giving me time to reply, she left muttering, walking towards the parking lot. The receipt wasn't one of her priorities any more.

*

There were only a few hours until the end of my shift and I began to feel tired. I still had to make a series of calls to suppliers and customers, but the cordless phone showed no signs of life, so I went to use the one at reception.

“Diego?” I tried to appear nonchalant.

He was leaning against the counter, so intent on chatting and laughing loudly with Antonio, he hadn't noticed my arrival.

Fiamma turned and stared. Even she was surprised to see them talking together.

Diego looked up and returned a broad smile, complete with adorable dimples around his mouth.

He wore a pair of dark jeans and a white shirt. The unkempt hair made him more charming.

“Oh, here's my favourite vet,” said Diego.

“There's no need to yell. You're embarrassing me,” I said, alarmed, looking around.

Antonio pushed the swivel chair toward me. “Little Mia is angry and wants a cuddle,” he teased, repeatedly batting his lashes in a comical way.

“Stupid!” I retorted. “Fiamma, please teach this young man some manners.”

Fiamma was embarrassed and tried to shift the focus on Casper. “Look, our friend is complaining. We're one step from the garden and he's forced to stand here to listen to your silly conversation.”

Diego looked at Casper from behind the counter. “What a lively look.” He pulled up the knees of his jeans and squatted. He reached out to stroke his shoulder.

“He wants to be scratched all day,” said Fiamma.

I removed the clip that held my hair and let it down on my shoulders. “Have you finished your shift?” I asked.

“Of course, I came to pick you up.”

“And what for? Another surveillance mission?”

“Is she always this arrogant?” asked Diego.

Fiamma nodded.

“Oh, please, I can't come with you anyway.”

“Why not?” Diego's tone was more curious than disappointed.

Fiamma put her hand on the back of the chair where Antonio was sitting. “What do you think Antonio? I think that we can take care of everything, right?”

I stared at her for a long time. My colleagues were sending me on a date with Diego.

“And what about our dinner?”

Fiamma shrugged. “Programs appear to have changed. It happens.”

“You'll pay for this,” I whispered into her ear, before Diego grabbed my neck and dragged me out.

“You're with your car…” noted Diego, turning in my car's direction. “And if you leave it here I'll take you into work tomorrow.”

I was indecisive. “I don't know. What time do you start tomorrow?”

“In the afternoon, I have the night shift. So no problem about going to bed late,” he said, with a beaming smile. I so wanted to throw my arms around him and hold him tight.

“I'll accept a lift.”

He walked over, touching my cheek. “I'll make you forgive me. After all, you gave up an evening with your friends. I need to take you to a place…”

“You shouldn't have told me. I love surprises, but I can never resist… Give me a clue at least, please.”

He put his hands on my hips and cocked his head to one side. “You'll have to wait. Come on, get on.”

I observed the black motorcycle behind us. A shrill voice and the sound of shoes on the gravel startled us.

“Diego, you forgot this.” Fiamma was waving a small backpack.

Diego ran to meet her. “Thanks so much. What a head…”

“Thank Antonio, he noticed it,” she said, winking. Even Fiamma must have been aware of the surprise, judging from the furtive glances and smiles.

I got on the bike; Diego put it in gear and drove away from the clinic's parking lot. I clung on to him.

The sun was setting on the horizon and soon dusk would leave its place to night. The last rays filtered through the branches and the ground filled with figures that seemed cut out of lace.

Diego turned into a hidden lane and slowed down.

After a few minutes, he pulled up and made me get off. I slipped out of the saddle, moved a few steps to inspect the place and went back to watching Diego putting the bike on its stand. I took off my helmet and breathed in the cool night air. I ran a hand through my curls to fix them.

“Where are we?” I asked impatiently.

“We have to walk a bit but you'll soon find out,” he replied. “But first, you have to close your eyes.”

Diego took my hand and guided me.

“Now you can look.”

Just a few steps away from us there was nothing. I stepped back, scared and turned to Diego, but when I looked again, I was amazed. A wide stream of clear water, hidden in part by vegetation, ran down a ledge of rock and formed a waterfall.

Diego's lips brushed my neck. “Are you happy?”

I turned around. “Are you always so convinced that you are the only romantic man in the world?” I teased, intrigued.

“Don't you like it? Was he like this too?”

“He?”

“The man who came before me.”

I didn't deny it.

“You will learn that we aren't all like that, some of us have no second endings,” he said.

I stared at him while I formulated an answer. “That may well be. This morning I met Alberto at the supermarket and we cleared things between us.”

His expression became incredulous. His voice betrayed concern.

“Go on.”

“He asked me to give him a second chance, but I was clear,” I whispered. I was afraid to utter certain words. Diego didn't seem to like competition with other men. “Then he asked if we could be friends.”

“I'm sorry, but I can't accept that. Especially after what he put you through,” he said, exasperated.

I narrowed my eyes to study him better.

Diego cleared his throat. “They say that the heart is the most powerful organ in the world, and the most fragile. I know that yours has been broken many times, but I'm sure it can be mended. And I'm saying this because I've tried, because I started to heal thanks to you.”

I didn't know what to say. I was completely enchanted and couldn't find words worthy of a response.

This time Diego didn't let the matter drop. “I never thought I would be able to tell you. I haven't dreamt it all, have I?”

I had tried to fight my feelings in the only way I knew possible: by ignoring them. Anyway, now I couldn't.

“You said it. Sometimes I feel…” I paused to catch my breath, “… confused when I'm with you. I'm no longer the little girl who believes in fairy tales.”

Speaking was difficult.

“It seems illogical.”

I waited a few seconds, then I suggested. “Tell me, what am I to do? What should I expect from a heart-throb like you?” Diego didn't move a muscle. He stood merely to record my every breath. “The best I have to offer.”

“What if your best doesn't co-incide with mine?” I said. He smiled. “A really good time to tell me.”

To hell with it! I was old enough to survive having my heart broken again. I moved closer, diminishing the distance that separated us; I put my arms round his neck and kissed him. Our lips touched, our tongues created new patterns and forms. I felt a new energy running through my veins.

I didn't know what to expect. It could have lasted a day, a month or a year. I didn't care. Diego was giving me immense joy and I didn't want to miss a single moment of it. Of us.

“Did I just kiss my girlfriend for the first time?” he asked.

“I guess so.” and we laughed.

“Come on, there's a dinner waiting for us,” said Diego.

He took his backpack and pulled out a large tablecloth and two plastic boxes.

“You thought of everything.”

Diego shook his head. “Something is still missing.” To my great surprise he produced a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Kitten, I wanted to bring some special crystal glasses, but we'll have to settle for these,” he apologized, uncorking the bottle. He poured the wine. “Nobody has ever brought you here?”

I looked at him and blushed. “No, nobody.”

“Then we must make a wish.”

I closed my eyes and prayed that fate would not take away these moments of happiness. I didn't want something impossible but one simple thing: to be the woman I was finally becoming again.

I swallowed a sip of wine and moved closer to Diego to keep warm. With my nose up in the air I admired the shining stars, and I crouched beside him.

“Will you stay at mine tonight?”

“I don't know, I didn't bring my pyjamas.”

We chatted all night. I felt protected, held tight in his embrace.

Diego had entered my life without asking permission, as if that door had always been open just for him. We both knew that, once we crossed the threshold, we couldn't go back to square one.

I stretched out my arms to touch him, to feel him, but the bed was empty. Diego wasn't by my side. The dream that I had dreamt for so many nights had come back to pay me a visit.

I turned to the bedside table and saw that there were still fifteen minutes before the alarm was due to ring. I sat on the bed for a moment, still confused and sleepy, and then got up. The room still smelled of us.

The velvet armchair on which Diego had set his clothes was empty. Could it be that he had left without even saying goodbye?

I put on my pyjama top and jeans,. looked in the large mirror and put my hair in order and went to the kitchen feeling a bit disappointed.Then I froze.

The table had been laid with fresh fruit, a jug of orange juice, biscuits and sliced bread. Diego had his back to me, intent on filling two cups of tea. His hair was still damp and unkempt, he had probably just showered, but his clothes were impeccable. The French doors overlooking the garden were wide open and from the outside came the soothing rustle of leaves.

I walked forward a couple of steps. I wanted him, but not just physically. It was a desire that went beyond the needs of the flesh.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

I didn't answer straight away, because I wasn't used to the way he was looking at me. He unsettled me.

“Everything okay?” he asked, approaching me.

I tried to make sense of it all, of what had happened in the past and what was happening right now.

I realized that since the day of our first mission I had always wanted him by my side. I had thought that his presence wasn't enough for me but now I wanted to live with him to our last breath. Together. I thought that his eyes were the most beautiful I had ever seen and that I could kiss that mouth forever without ever getting tired.

Diego pushed a lock of hair away from my face and I held his hand. “I thought you were gone,” I whispered, kissing his knuckles one after another.

He put his arms around me and I couldn't suppress a shudder. “I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go and prepare breakfast. Primrose is out with Bubu, they're having a crazy time,” he explained, pointing to the garden.

I nodded, peering over his shoulder. “Today I'll take her to the clinic and later I'll go to the hospital with Bubu,” I said, sitting down at the table and starting to spread strawberry jam on some toast.

“I think it's a good idea. Maybe one day I'll come too, I just have to find the time,” he said with enthusiasm, taking a seat on the chair opposite me.

The smell of food tickled Bubu and Primrose's palates: they rushed into the house and settled beside us, watching us with bright eyes full of curiosity. Primrose tried to jump on my lap.

“What will I do with you, you little pest, you?” I asked, lifting that furry ball up and managing to prevent her nose from sniffing the table.

Her tongue darted out rapidly, licking my cheek.

“You're terrible,” I said, and put her back on the floor.

Bubu turned to watch her and then passed in front of her, leaning his muzzle on my knees.