Chapter 25
Emilia
In spite of all my resistance, Giorgio wore me down…
And slowly won me over.
He came in every day, just like he said he would, radiating cheerful energy.
The first day, I was like, Great, here he is again –
But I was literally shocked when he left after five minutes.
Oh – he actually meant what he said!
He never overstayed his welcome. Five minutes or less, and he was gone.
While he drank his espresso, he would tell me one or two bad dad jokes.
I would groan –
But I liked it.
I liked that he wasn’t like other Italian men who made their humor all sexually charged. I’d had enough of that back in Milan.
He just said something to make me smile or laugh –
And then he left.
And…
Well…
I have to admit, his incredibly handsome face wasn’t too hard on the eyes.
Not to mention those big, broad shoulders in his impeccably tailored suits.
Before I knew it, I found myself looking forward to his visits.
I would catch myself glancing up at the door every time someone came in, hoping it was him –
And then my heart sank a little when it wasn’t.
Occasionally I would have my back turned to the door, immersed in whatever task I was doing –
And I would hear his voice behind me:
“Ciao, Biondina.”
Hello, Blondie.
Every time, my heart skipped a beat.
After the first week, I kept hoping he would stay just a little bit longer than five minutes… and invariably felt a tiny bit sad when he left.
On the days I wasn’t working, part of me longed to go to the café and hang out just to see him.
And the gifts –
I loved the gifts.
The little bracelet charms: a tiny golden angel… a small sun with pointed rays… an intricate spiral sculpture no bigger than my thumbnail.
The beautiful origami: a silver swan… a red rose… and a cute little brown bear.
I loved them all –
Even the gag gifts.
The little troll doll with the golden hair –
The keychain of David –
They were cheesy, but they made me smile.
Ever since I was a little girl, I loved gifts.
My father used to go out of town on business trips, and I couldn’t wait for him to return because he always had a gift for me.
It didn’t have to be expensive. That wasn’t the point at all.
It was that my father had been thinking about me…
And that was how I knew he loved me.
Now I knew that Giorgio was thinking about me…
Going about his day… seeing something he thought I would like.
I kept all his gifts on the windowsill of my bedroom, and every time I looked over and saw one…
I would smile and think of him, too.
But there was one thing I just couldn’t get past:
His job.
What he did for a living.
The people he worked for.
As much as I grew to love his visits to the café, I also began to dread them…
Because I knew what was coming. And when it did…
I also knew that it would all end.
The daily visits…
The cheerfulness…
Seeing his smiling face.
But I couldn’t go out with him.
No matter how hot he was, no matter how kind, no matter how charming –
I couldn’t.
Not after everything I’d been through.
Part of me was afraid of how he would react when I told him ‘no’…
But another part of me was more afraid of what he had said:
And if I still can’t change your mind, then I will walk away, and you’ll never see me again… except maybe in passing on the street.
I swear it on the lives of my mother and father.
I believed him.
Maybe that was what scared me most:
That he would keep his word.