Chapter Eight
Ella
It”s the first time since my surgery that Rhia pulled out her ”push-your-comfort-zone card”, and I pucker my mouth in displeasure.
”And don”t pout,” she says without looking at me. I suppress a smile, happy that she knows me so well.
Lex has already disappeared into the cave, the light of his flashlight moving around inside. Rhia is about to set foot through the opening, but suddenly stops, her foot half suspended in air.
”Wait, wait, wait,” she says in the same tone as earlier, her finger shooting up again.
Yay. She changed her mind and has realized what a stupid idea it is to go into an unknown, dark cave.
But no such luck.
”What is it, Trouble?” Lex asks, appearing by her side immediately.
”I need to pee before we go anywhere.”
”Good idea. We don”t know how long we”ll be in there for,” he says, before leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her eyelids, first the left, then the right.
She beams up at him, stealing a kiss from his lips.
”And you complain about Ade and me being sickeningly sweet,” I mutter as Rhia turns toward me, grinning from ear to ear.
”Come on. Let”s find a bush,” she says, taking hold of my hand in passing and dragging me along.
I look pointedly around us. ”There are bushes everywhere. Does madame need a particular one?” I tease.
Rhia doesn”t reply as she lets go of my hand and walks ahead, but I hear her chuckle. I tail her, noticing the men slipping away behind a nearby tree. Rhia keeps walking until we”re truly out of sight.
”Have you gone shy?” I ask. ”You know, Lex has seen, touched and thoroughly enjoyed all your bits.”
”That he has. But he doesn”t need to see me pee. Some things are better left a mystery.”
”But it”s okay for me to see it?”
”Of course, you”re my best friend. I hide nothing from you.”
”I”m sure that”s a compliment. But trust me, some things are better left a mystery between friends too,” I say, repeating her words back to her.
I choose a different bush, and we do what we have to do… separately.
Rhia is waiting for me when I emerge again, her eyes shining with excitement.
”El, I found something,” she says, pointing wildly behind herself. ”It looks like one of those geothermal pools, you know where the mud is really good for your skin.”
”Oh, it”s there, is it?” My navigational sense really is off. ”I knew it had to be here somewhere.”
”What? You knew about it? Why didn”t you tell me?”
Squinting, I try to see through the drooping vegetation.
”I only remembered when we were hiking through the forest,” I tell her as we make our way to the partially hidden rock pool to have a closer look.
”Did you have a hot and steamy mud bath when you were here the first time?” she asks, raising her brows suggestively.
”I wish. Tiero said we”d come back when we had more time… that it needed to be done properly, or something. Just that we never did. Turns out he had other plans for us that day.”
”I bet he did.” She smirks at me, and I roll my eyes.
But yeah, he did… and they, too, were hot and steamy.
We venture closer to the mud pool. Its surface is shrouded in a veil of swirling mist, but the mud isn”t bubbling. The air is heavy with the earthy scent of minerals, hinting at geothermal heat. The mud appears thick and gooey, inviting yet mysterious.
”El, this is amazing. I can”t wait to get in later.”
”Why wait? Let”s kick back and relax here while the guys explore the cave.”
”No way. We can”t let them have all the fun.”
”Fun? You realize there”s probably nothing in that cave, and it”s going to be utterly boring.”
”You”re not getting out of it, El,” she singsongs. ”Oh look, there”s a sign on that big rock.”
I turn my head and spot the wooden sign perched on a small ledge. I don”t remember seeing it. But then I was rather preoccupied with my hot Italian.
”What does it say?” I ask.
”It”s in Italian.” Duh. ”It says ”La Piscina dell”Eternità”.”
”Hmm, what does that mean?”
”Piscina is something like fish, isn”t it?” Rhia replies, scratching her chin. ”And Eternità sounds like eternity.”
”So I guess it means anyone who bathes here will never be short of fish,” I jest, and we both burst into giggles.
I run my fingers over the carved writing on the sign. It”s not as neat as I would have imagined; a little amateur, even.
Did Tiero make this himself?
There”s so much I don”t know about the man who gave me his heart.
How could I?
We were only together for a few weeks, and except for the first ten days, they couldn”t have been more stressful. Yet despite our short-lived relationship, he imprinted himself on my very essence.
”El, there”s something else,” Rhia says, disrupting my thoughts. ”It”s some sort of urn, an old-fashioned container hidden in a hollow in the rock.”
She pulls it out and inspects it. ”There”s something carved into the clay… ”L”olio essenziale”.”
”Essential oil? Is that to pamper the bather more?” I wonder.
”Amazing. They thought of everything?”
”What does it smell like?” I ask, curious.
Rhia takes the lid of the urn and peeks inside.
”Hmm, there”s a glass spray bottle inside. The label says the same thing. L”olio essenziale.”
Unscrewing the cap, she sniffs the contents and grimaces, scrunching up her nose.
”It”s not essential oil. More like some sort of olive oil. But I think it”s off. It really doesn”t smell that good. I don”t think I want that on my skin.”
She puts the bottle back inside the clay urn, replaces the lid, and puts the container back where she found it.
”I wonder how warm the mud is?” she muses before kneeling down on the edge to dip her elbow in the mud to test the temperature.
”Wow El, it”s perfect. I can”t wait to relax in here.”
”Let”s then,” I try again, eager to ditch the cave exploration.
”You”re not getting out of our it, El,” she smirks.
Jumping to her feet, Rhia unties her towel from around her waist and subconsciously rubs at her elbow with it.
”Argh!” I groan, not impressed that she can”t be swayed.
Rhia now seems distracted with her elbow. ”El, this stuff doesn”t come off,” she says, frowning and staring at the gray stain.
”I can see that. Come here and let me try. It probably needs water.”
She walks over to where I”m standing, and I pick at the mud coating her skin. Bit by bit, it eventually loosens and falls off.
”This stuff sticks like shit to a blanket, El,” she laughs.
Looking back at the mud pool, a devious smile spreads over her face.
Oh no, what is she concocting now?
”We should prank the guys,” she suggests proudly.
”What do you mean?”
”Well, we could tell them about the mud bath and suggest a dip, but then let them get in first. They”ll probably want to anyway to make sure it”s safe.”
”Right, but then they”d want us to get in with them.”
”Yep. So we”d have to wait until at least one of them had got out and found they couldn”t get the mud off easily. They could always just wash it off in the waterfall, but it would still be pretty funny, don”t you think?”
I picture Ade and Lex looking like mud monsters, jumping about to get rid of the mud. I grin. ”I like it.”
”Girls, where are you?” Ade”s voice booms from somewhere behind us.
Then he”s there in all his glory. Though he”s dressed again. I definitely prefer him with fewer clothes.
”Oh, there you are! What are you doing here? I thought you were just going for a pee.”
”We were, and we did,” Rhia replies. ”But we stumbled across this warm mud bath that”s carved into the rock. There”s even a sign, see?”
”Wow. That looks inviting,” Ade says, checking out this little piece of heaven.
”La Piscina dell”Eternità,” he reads out loud. ”I think it means ”The Pool of Eternity”. Damn, that”s romantic… even sacred. Tiero has just gone up in my estimation.”
I crack up laughing. ”Rhia thought piscina meant fish.”
”Not exactly, no,” he replies.
”Well, it was a good guess,” Rhia says a tad defensively.
She drapes the towel over her arm to hide her still slightly muddy elbow. I wonder if she”ll make an excuse to go via the waterfall to wash off the rest.
”Come on now, girls. Lex is waiting. We”ll have a mud bath after the cave.”