Chapter Five
chapter five
ISLA
As we walk through the lobby, impeccably dressed people filter through the front doors one after another. There’s already more people here than I had anticipated, and we haven’t even made it to the ballroom yet. I let out a nervous breath as we head down the hallway in the direction of the music and chatter.
Why did I agree to this again?
I shake out my hands as we reach the door and Marina talks to the bouncer.
May grabs one of my hands. “You ready?” She smiles at me. Despite the nerves, I can’t help but smile back at my best friend. This morning it looked like we might be spending the night on a park bench, not in a five-star hotel dressed in six-inch heels and walking into a ballroom.
I let out a breath. “Ready.”
The crowd in front of us parts as we enter the room.
“Wow,” May breathes from beside me as we gaze around the enormous space. It looks like most of the town must be here, with groups of people dressed up in glitz and glamor surrounding the cocktail tables dotted around the room. Glass jars sit in the center of each table with tea lights inside, illuminating the spirited conversations around the table.
“I thought you said this was low key.” I pin Marina with a look.
“Yeah, I may have underplayed it a little.” She smiles and waves at a couple passing by.
“You think?”
We make our way to the table closest to us, which is thankfully empty. I need a minute to adjust before I throw myself into more stranger-danger.
My eyes scan the room for Caio without my consent, and they find him far too quickly at a table across the room. He’s got a devastating smile beaming across his face while he laughs at something the woman in front of him has said. She lays her hand on his arm as she throws her head back, joining him in laughing.
They look well-acquainted.
As if feeling my stare resting on his shoulders, his head turns in our direction, and his eyes catch mine gawking at him.
Shit.
I look away as if that makes it any better.
My attention snaps back to our table as a server in a tux comes to our table, offering us all a flute of champagne off his fancy little tray.
I feel like Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries right now, thrown into a different world and not knowing which fork to use for dinner.
I may be over-exaggerating a smidge, but in my defense, this isn’t exactly how I saw this holiday going. Budget gelato and chick flicks in my brother’s spare bedroom was more of what I was envisioning.
I take a flute from the server and have to stop myself from curtsying at him.
I look over my shoulder to where I last spotted Caio. He’s since bid the beautiful woman goodbye and is heading straight in our direction.
“Good evening, ladies.” He smiles as he approaches us. Marina gives him a warm hug before he regards us. “You both look stunning.” His gaze lingers on mine a moment too long before flicking between the three of us again.
“Caio, this is kind of insane!” May gestures to the room around us. He laughs, putting his hands in his pants pockets.
“I like to go all out for the locals and give them an excuse to dress up once in a while.” He looks around the room with a warm look on his face before turning back to look directly at me. Those piercing blue eyes hold me captive, causing all of my body’s defense systems to shut down, and I’m just left here with nothing to do but stare back.
It’s fucking intense. And I’m not quite sure how I feel about it.
He gives me a small smirk before leaning in towards me, his manly scent invading my senses. He reaches around my side and then my drink is in his large hand in front of me. I take it from him gratefully.
“Take a lap with me?” He nods to the room behind him and offers up his arm. I can’t really say no, this is what I came here to do after all, and once this night is over, we can go back to our original plan—a girls’ trip.
May and Marina smile at me in encouragement as I rest my hand in the crook of his elbow and nod at him in agreement.
I feel like all eyes are on me and Caio as we roam the ballroom. Marina was right—I feel like I’m on the arm of a celebrity. Caio politely introduces me to every person we interact with, and there’s plenty of them.
We stop at every table and Caio makes sure not to miss anyone. He speaks to everyone like a close friend, shakes every hand and claps many backs.
He’s the catalyst to positive emotions—smiles and laughs just seem to bubble up when he is around. Some people speak in Italian but most swap to English when Caio introduces me. It should feel awkward, but instead it just feels…nice?
Usually this would be my worst nightmare. I’m not the kind of girl that really puts myself out there. I’m not a hermit, but this? You’d never catch me here by my own will, and that’s where May comes in. My outgoing best friend will drag me to anything and everything she can.
Example A: Italy.
“Doing okay?” Caio looks down at me as we leave yet another table. I nod. Surprisingly, in a sea of new faces, I feel completely at ease with him at my side. His reassuring smiles and encouraging glances make me feel calm in this completely foreign environment. A small smile escapes me as I look up at the man by my side.
“Oh, Caio, ragazzo mio! ” The words interrupt my thought as a small woman walks up to us with her arms out ready to grab the man of the hour. He unlinks his arm from mine as we get closer to the woman and pulls her into a warm embrace. She chatters to him in Italian with such a familiar comfortability. He lets out a chuckle before reaching his arm out to me without even looking my way. I step in closer to them and his hand rests on my lower back as he ushers me to his side.
“Nora, this is Isla. She and her friend are new in town.” He looks at me now. “Isla, this is Nora. She owns an art studio and gallery on Main Street.”
“A studio?” I ask. A hint of excitement sparks inside of me at the thought of a peaceful art studio in this town. I can just imagine the abundance of inspiration lurking right outside the window. I quickly smother the feeling before that spark catches alight. I’m painfully aware that I haven’t picked up a paint brush in weeks, and I remember exactly why.
The woman pulls me into a sincere embrace like we are old friends.
“Oh, you are just gorgeous!” Her eyes glitter up at me as she ignores my question. “Where did this riff raff find you?” she asks, throwing her hand in Caio’s direction. His head hangs as he lets out an embarrassed chuckle.
“That one’s a bit of a long story.” Caio runs his hand through his hair.
She looks between us curiously. God, how many times am I going to have to tell this story in one evening? Everyone wants to know how and when we got here, and honestly, I can barely explain it myself. Today has been a whirlwind. It’s been anything but what I’d expected, but isn’t that what we came here for?
“I haven’t been down to visit in a while. How is everything going at the gallery?” Caio changes the subject before she can ask any more questions.
Nora lets out a sigh. “You know how it is. People have busy lives, and they don’t have time to make it to the studio as often as they used to. I’ve been doing as much as I can, but the place just doesn’t get as much traffic as it used to.”
I feel a warmth leave my back as Caio grabs Nora’s hands in his. Was his hand on my back that whole time?
Another server approaches me, offering a second glass of champagne.
“Thank you,” I say, before returning to the conversation in front of me. “No one comes to your gallery?” I ask.
“Oh, people come, but people go too. People used to stay. I had many people who I’d see every week in the studio, who I spent hours painting with. I don’t know where those people went.” She sighs. “I guess life gets too busy sometimes,” she shrugs.
Sorrow rushes over me as I imagine this bubbly woman in front of me all alone in her art studio. Yes, sometimes studios are meant to be peaceful. I love painting alone. But sometimes you need some company, someone to fill the silence around you on the days when your creativity doesn’t flow quite the same.
I quietly sip on my drink, zoning out to the rest of their conversation as they talk about the event tonight. My eyes track the room and I spot Marina flirting with a handsome man who’s tending the rounded bar at the end of the room. She looks like she fits in a scene like this.
I’m dragged back to the conversation in front of me as Nora grabs my hand. “It was lovely to meet you, dear.”
I smile back at her as she gives Caio a juicy kiss on his cheek and makes him promise to go visit her again soon before she spies someone else and hurries off, leaving us alone again.
Caio puts his arm up again and I link my own through it without thought. It’s become our little routine.
“She’s a character.” I peer up at him.
“She definitely is,” he agrees, smiling back as we meander through the crowd.
“You two seem close.”
“Nora is someone who’s looked out for me since the first day I landed in town.” He chuffs a laugh. “She’s like my very own Italian grandmother.”
“Don’t you have one of those already?” I immediately regret the question, but the words have already slipped out. God, I can’t help but be nosy about this guy.
He sucks air in between his teeth. “No, actually. Uh, my mom...she is from a little bit north of here, but her parents died when she was young.”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
Well...that’s not entirely true.
“It’s okay,” he assures me before offering a genuine smile. “I didn’t know them anyway.”
I fiddle with the ends of my hair with my spare hand, waiting for him to continue.
“My father is from America.”
“Ah, the land of the free,” I joke. He smiles again as he looks down at me and I look away. That explains why he’s so fluent in both languages, swapping between the two seamlessly.
“So, my mom met him and moved there to be with him, and that’s kind of that.”
By the way his eyes dart around the room to avoid mine, I don’t quite believe that’s the end of the story, but I don’t press it.
“Now I get it,” I say.
“What?”
I shrug “Oh nothing, just that now I understand why you’re Italian is so shit,” I tease. It’s anything but.
The corner of my mouth twitches as he throws his head back in a laugh, and it catches me off guard. “Yeah, okay, little miss perfect. I’d love to hear you give it a go.” He quirks an eyebrow at me in a challenge. I laugh under my breath. I don’t know a single word of Italian. On second thought, it would’ve been a good idea to study up before we arrived, but again, no time for that.
“I’m anything but perfect,” I mutter under my breath.
Caio frowns down at me, but I just look ahead, changing the subject when he looks like he’s going to say something. “Did you speak it much growing up?”
“No, I actually only started speaking it when I moved here. Marina’s parents taught me. My mom was too focused on being the perfect American wife to teach me anything about that part of my heritage,” he sighs.
I softly squeeze his arm in response as we wander over to a table covered in absolutely delectable looking food. I remember why I thought Italy was a good idea again as my mouth waters at the sight of all this delicious goodness. Before I can compliment the spread, however, the sound of May’s voice interrupts our conversation.
“It’s not my issue that you're such an uptight prick about how people eat their food,” May spits out.
Oh shit. How the hell has she already found a sparring partner? She looks ready to square up against the guy standing behind the table with a white apron tied around his waist.
“Considering it's my food, blondie, I think I can say whatever I want about it.”
May scoffs at him and rolls her eyes before she opens her mouth, no doubt about to give him another piece of her mind.
“Uh…hey,” I say, catching May's attention and grabbing her drink from her before she throws it in this dude’s face. “What’s up?” I ask her with wide eyes that I hope are translating to “Why the fuck are you yelling at a stranger?”
“This guy here got unreasonably mad at me for eating one of these little meatball thingys.” She throws her hands in his direction in exasperation all while giving him her best death glare.
She looks wild.
I frown, looking between them.
What? I don’t know that her explanation clarified anything, much less why she looks ready to commit a felony over a meatball.
“Raf, really?” Caio asks the man with a somewhat sympathetic tone.
“That was mia nonna’s recipe and it is not supposed to be eaten on its own like that. You don’t get the full picture. It just—” He sighs in frustration before fixing his glare back on May. The guy has eyes dark as night and they’re currently shooting daggers at May, but she’s shooting them right back. She’s not one to back down from a fight with a man.
He breaks the stare first and runs a hand over his jaw, drawing my attention to his roughly manicured beard. It matches his dark brown mane that’s a bit longer, the ends of it brushing his nape. The guy is definitely handsome, albeit a bit rough around the edges and maybe a bit older.
God, the tension in the air right now is next level. And over a meatball?
“Okay.” I grab May’s arm ready to veer away from whatever this is when Marina waltzes up to us.
“Look at that, almost the whole crew is here.” She smiles looking between us all, obviously missing the awkward vibe that’s simmering between us. “Now all we need is Heath.”
“If he’s anything like this guy, I'll pass,” May retorts as she turns her back in the guys’ direction. Marina's eyes flick between us all once again, as if finally seeming to catch on.
“Okay...dance floor?” She grabs us by the hands and drags us out towards the center of the room.
“One thing first.” May holds up a finger before running back to the table and grabbing another meatball.
“Thanks, Raf,” she says in a sickly sweet voice, before winking at him as she pops the food into her mouth before strutting back over to us. “Ready,” she says with a devious smile as we make our way to the dance floor, leaving the guys behind.
We spent hours dancing before the night came to an end. Now we are the only ones still here, lying in the middle of the floor and puffing in exhaustion. I smile to myself. I haven’t felt so content—so light—as I do right now in a while. Our heels sit in a pile on the edge of the wooden floor where they landed after only two songs. The rest of the night was spent with us bouncing around in bare feet. Not my classiest look, but I didn’t have the energy to care. I’m sure I’ll regret it when my feet ache in the morning.
Staff are packing up around us, folding tables and cleaning glasses, yet I’m in no rush to go anywhere just yet.
May’s hand links with mine in between us, and I turn my head on the floor to look at her. She’s already smiling over at me and it's all I can do to smile back. I let out a happy sigh as I resume looking at the painted ceiling. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.”