Tales From a Broad (34 page)

“What do you mean?”

Simon gave me a sideways look. “I think you
know what I mean.” All neutrality had been abandoned.

I blushed. “Technically, this is the new
Lucy,” I insisted.

“Well then I prefer the old one. Lucy,
undone.” Simon looked me up and down and smiled. “Although,
something tells me your stylist may not agree.”

Oh, I was coming undone, all right.

“Okay, okay, enough about Cooper please,” I
begged, suddenly very tired of the whole thing.

“You’re absolutely right.” Simon placed a
hand on his chest. “My bad. We’re starting over, right?”

“Right,” I said firmly. “Have you come here
by yourself?”

“Yep. Would you like to join me? You know
those Italian men. A beautiful girl like you shouldn’t be alone.
Don’t you already have enough men vying for your affection?”

I smiled and drew in a breath. “Do you want
to walk a bit?” I motioned towards the entrance of the tree-lined
pathway.

I don’t know,” Simon said, eyes widening.
“Are you going to throw me behind a bush and attack me? You know,
since you’re such a badass and all now.”

He clearly didn’t have any trouble joking. I
hit his arm and walked ahead so he wouldn’t see the big smile on my
face. “Not funny,” I said, wagging my finger behind me.

“I’m just teasing,” he replied, catching up
to me.

“I know. You actually are funny ... and I’m
sorry about last night, too. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad.” I
sighed, “It’s just that I don’t know who I am, anymore.” I looked
up at Simon for help.

“What do you mean?” He cocked his head to the
side and waited for me to elaborate.

I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. I
wondered how much to say. Simon was easy to talk to, which was one
of the things I loved about him, but I didn’t want to put him in a
bad spot. I kept thinking about our conversation from the night
before, and about how young he was, and how wrong for me in so many
other ways. At least that’s what I told myself. It was as if Cooper
had rubbed off on me. I had started to build a wall of protection
around myself just like he did post childhood. I couldn’t open up
to Simon and risk hurting myself, or even him, for that matter.

I settled on staying superficial. “A few
weeks ago, I was a high-maintenance New Yorker, and now, I eat
street meat for goodness sake.” I threw up my hands.

“Change is good, Lucy,” Simon replied gently.
“And so is new meat.”

A chuckle escaped me. “How can someone so
young be so wise?”

The reflection of myself in Simon’s eyes
disappeared as he suddenly pulled me in close. I leaned my head on
his chest and breathed in the clean scent of his body. I hardly
knew him, yet I felt as if I had known him forever. He was just so
comfortable. It was a different kind of comfortable than what I had
with Cooper. This kind was laced with an intense chemistry that I
was suddenly not so comfortable with.

I stepped back and fumbled though my bag. I
was looking for nothing in particular and hoped that something
useful would find its way into my hands.

“I’m not that young, Lucy,” Simon said,
suddenly serious. “We’re only ten years apart. When I’m seventy,
you will be—”

“Almost dead.” I was afraid of the way this
conversation was going and sipped from the water bottle my hand had
miraculously closed upon. I knew I wasn’t ready to have another
conversation with Simon about our non-relationship. I still had
enough talking to do with Cooper and with myself. Besides, there
was no point. Simon wasn’t boyfriend material, right?

“I’ll just be your older, senile friend.”

“We’ll all be dead one day. Look at all these
statues.” Simon motioned around him. “Does it really matter in the
end?”

He walked ahead to a statue of a man. “This
is Jupiter,” he said, putting his arm around the figure. “He was in
charge of laws and social order. I think he would approve of our
friendship and if he didn’t, who cares. Life’s way too short to
give a damn about what other people have to say. I know I don’t.
That’s not how I want to live my life.”

“And how do you want to live your life?” I
was suddenly dying to know.

“I just want to be honest with myself. Follow
my dreams and have no regrets.”

“Well said,” I agreed. “Do you have any
regrets?”

“None yet.” Simon started at me
thoughtfully.

“Let me take a picture of you and your
buddy,” I said, holding up my camera in hopes of quelling my inner
turmoil. “Say cheese...”

“Cheese.” Simon smiled and hugged the statue
a little closer as I looked through the lens.

“Let me take one of you.” Simon pulled his
camera from his pocket.

“No way,” I cried. “I don’t photograph
well.”

“That, I find hard to believe,” he said with
a look. “C’mon.” He turned the camera around and held it out in
front of us. “I’ll take one of us together.”

“Sure, why not,” I said, forcing my brightest
smile at the camera. “I mean, everyone looks gorgeous in a
selfie.”

Simon pulled me close and bent his knees to
adjust himself to my height. He placed his cheek against mine and I
felt the smooth touch of his skin as he snapped the picture.

“Nice,” he nodded in approval at the picture
he just took. “C’mon, check this out. Do we look good together or
what?”

I glanced at the photo he had taken and
exhaled with relief. I had to agree with him, it actually did come
out pretty good. I looked up at him with a closed half-smile. Our
eyes locked, and I quickly looked away and tucked my hair behind my
ears.

“You don’t have to answer me,” Simon soothed.
“Just please promise that you’ll look for me in your next life. All
I want is a fair shot to come back as your boyfriend.” Simon held
his fist out to mine.

I tapped his fist and shook my head. “You’re
crazy,” I said, trying not to fall back into his arms. “Um, do you
want to grab something to eat? I’m starving.”

Simon didn’t answer, and I was becoming warm
under his unwavering gaze. My eyes darted away and swept around the
park.

“Or we can go to the meditation garden over
there? It looks tranquil, serene... I’m sure people from all over
the city come here just to pray,” I babbled anxiously.

“Hmm,” Simon said thoughtfully. “Decisions,
decisions. Eat, pray—”

“Love?” I choked, making a feeble attempt at
a literary joke.

Simon’s eyebrows furrowed, and he inched
towards me. My throat constricted as he got closer. I swallowed,
closed my eyes, and waited for him to kiss me.

The next thing I knew, Simon was picking
something off my cheek. “Make a wish,” he said quietly, holding an
eyelash in front of me.

I blew it gently and touched my burning hot
cheeks. “I wished I could disappear,” I muttered, “but that didn’t
seem to happen.”

“Lucy, there’s nothing I would like more than
to kiss you, but you made your feelings clear last night. I don’t
want to go there with you. You’re not the kind of woman a guy can
just forget about.”

My heart melted and an inward sigh erupted in
the form of a breathless exhale.

“Besides, I don’t mess with other guys’
girls. Especially now that I’ve met him and know you’re an official
couple.” Simon stepped back.

“I’m not claimed,” I said indignantly. “In
case you haven’t noticed, there’s no ring on my finger. He and I
are just testing the waters. Not like I was going to kiss you
anyway,” I said, defensively. “I just didn’t want to make you feel
like a fool when I shot you down.”

“How kind of you,” he said, narrowing his
eyes.

“So do you want to eat or what? I passed a
great place on my way here. They had all sorts of yummy sandwiches
in the window. You know, those long, thin, crusty—”

“Been there,” Simon sang as he patted the
black messenger bag slung across his body. “I was so torn between
the prosciutto and mozzarella, and the tuna with black olives, that
lucky for you, I got them both. Don’t worry I remember you loathe
tuna, so the other one is all yours.”

I gazed at him in admiration, touched that he
remembered.

“Oh,” Simon exclaimed. “We even have dessert.
You’re probably going to think I’m a total loser carrying around
melted chocolate for the past week.” He reached into his bag. “I
actually meant to give you this last night, but didn’t get the
chance before you threw me out,” he said with a grimace. “It may
have gone nicely with your delectable beauty treatment.”

I raised an eyebrow as he handed me a little
box. I glanced down and read the label—
Maison du
Chocolat
.

“How did you know I wanted to go there?” I
cried. “This place is rumored to be the best chocolate shop in
Paris. I had planned to make a visit while we were there.” Of
course, I’d been unable to predict we would be making a hasty
departure.

“I know that,” he replied.

“But how?” I said, incredulous. “Please don’t
tell me you’re a mind reader, too.”

“I would love to read what goes on in that
pretty head of yours, but no, I’m not a mind reader. Just a good
listener. You told me,” he said.

“And you remembered,” I whispered gratefully.
“I don’t even recall mentioning it.” I clutched the box to my chest
and thanked God he wasn’t able to read my mind. Chocolate was my
favorite aphrodisiac.

We spent the afternoon lounging around the
garden and all of the uncomfortable feelings between us completely
disappeared. Time seemed to stand as still as the statues around
us, and as I wrote in my journal and watched Simon sketch, I knew
that even when I was back with Cooper in New York, I would never
forget this afternoon as long as I lived.

I learned a lot about Simon and would
forever equate the smell of lemons to those carefree hours we spent
together among the lemon trees. It was a place where I was truly
myself with someone who wouldn’t have allowed me to be anything
but.

Chapter
Sixteen

Billy Joel said it best. This is the time to
remember, because it will not last forever.

Facebook Status June 14 at 4:40pm

Neither Simon nor I seemed to be in a hurry
to part company, so when he suggested we take the long way back to
the pensione, I was more than happy to oblige. We circled the
entire neighborhood, twice, before we made it back.

By the time we returned, it had to have been
about ninety-five degrees, and I didn’t need a mirror to confirm I
looked as gross as I felt. I was having too much fun to worry about
the fact that my shoulder length hair had frizzed its way up to my
chin. I told myself we were just buds, so it really didn’t matter
what I looked like.

“You are one cool chick,” Simon said with a
smile. We slowed down as we passed the Loggia dei Lanzi, a building
that adjoined the Uffizi Gallery. I peered through its three wide
arches into the open-air gallery of Renaissance sculptures.

“Why do you say that?” A flutter of
excitement hit as I waited for the explanation behind his
compliment.

“Well, most women would be whining non-stop
about the long walk in the heat, their feet, the way they look ...
something.”

“Oh, I get the way I look. I’m just trying
not to let
it
get me.”

Simon opened his mouth to say something, but
something in the gallery caught my eye, and I was too excited to be
polite. “Hey.” I tugged on Simon’s arm. “Is that Michelangelo’s
David?”

“No, that’s a copy and where the original
once stood. The real deal is at the Accademia Gallery.”

I turned my head to look at Simon and then
quickly directed my gaze to the statue. “Oh.”

I wasn’t sure what I found more surprising.
That the copy looked like the real deal or that Simon knew so much
about the arts. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” I murmured.

“Lucy, you are by far the most beautiful
thing in the piazza.”

Sweat beaded my upper lip, and I used a
finger to wipe my mouth as he looked at the statues. Simon turned
his attention back to me, and I awkwardly tucked my hair behind my
ear.

“Why, thank you. I do have some pretty stiff
competition.”

I couldn’t help but feel flattered by his
compliment. I felt like the prettiest woman in the room. I realized
I felt that way a lot when I was with Simon, starting from the day
we spent together in the vineyard.

He took my arm, and we turned the corner to
the pensione. The day had been a slice of heaven, and I really
didn’t want it to end. The joyful hours in the garden had my head
in the clouds, and I wished we could travel back to where we
started. Or at least bottle up the wonderful feeling bubbling
inside of me.

Then like a cork on a champagne bottle
popping, my joy bubbled out as I saw a familiar face outside the
pensione. Cooper stood there thumbing his BlackBerry.

That peaceful feeling escaped, and in seeped
negative energy. I wasn’t sure why I felt the way I did, but
whatever the reason, I immediately knew it wasn’t normal. The sight
of Cooper should not have made my happiness dissipate. It didn’t
seem like a typical reaction for a woman who had just gotten back
together with her boyfriend.

My body tensed as I pulled away from Simon. I
placed a hand on my burning stomach and thought about Sal from the
vineyard. His words came rushing into my head. “
Il stomaco
never lies
.”

“Lucy, is everything okay?” Simon asked, with
a gentle hand on my arm.

I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the
eye. Instead, I nodded, marched two paces forward, and forced a
smile so big the corners of my mouth twitched.

“Cooper!” I exclaimed, once I stopped in
front of him. “What a nice surprise.”

Cooper’s head snapped up, and he looked us up
and down like we had just come out of Oscar the Grouch’s trash can.
I had grass stains on my pants from sitting in the grass, chocolate
on my shirt, and those were just the things I could see. God only
knows what sorts of sweat stains I had. Cooper, on the other hand,
was dressed to trade at the American Stock Exchange.