Chapter 46
Luisa
Amalfi
At six-thirty, half an hour before she was due to meet Bel, there was a knock on her door.
Luisa knew who it was before she even stood up, knew exactly what was going on.
She hesitated for a second, glancing at herself in the mirror.
Her hair was still damp from the shower, her skin warm from the lingering heat of the day.
She was wearing a pair of loose grey-blue shorts and a matching tank top and not a lot else, in all honesty what she normally wore to sleep in when on her own.
.. she hadn't exactly been expecting company.
With a resigned sigh she opened the door.
Bel stood there, one hip leaning on the frame, an ice bucket in one hand with a bottle of rose wine inside, opened with the cork jammed back into the neck, two large glasses in the other.
The sun had started to dip towards the horizon out to sea, flooding the room with golden light, and there was something about her that made Bel look almost supernatural, something about the way in which the gold mixed with her olive skin.
Unlike Luisa she had dressed for a drink already, wearing a fashionable summer dress with a green and white pattern, and sandals.
"I thought we were meeting downstairs," Luisa said, not moving to let her in. She felt some of her bad mood from earlier starting to creep up on her again. For once she really didn’t have the time or inclination for Bel's games, not like she normally would.
Bel tilted her head, a faint, knowing smile on her lips. "We were. But then I thought..." She gestured with her head towards the setting sun. "What a shame to waste a sunset like this." She lifted the ice bucket. "I figured we could start here."
Luisa could have said no. Probably should. But it was the simplicity that did it, the appeal of not having to get dressed up or go out.
"One drink," she said sternly as she stepped back and Bel walked past her, grinning, into the room.
The balcony was still warm underfoot from the day's heat. The view was, Luisa had to admit, stunning, the golden sunset reflected off the endless expanse of sea.
Bel put the ice bucket down on the small table on the balcony, kicked off her sandals and sat down, tucking one bare leg under her. She took out the bottle and twisted the cork free.
"Rose ok?" she asked as she poured.
Luisa took the glass and couldn't help but laugh. Bel had somehow contrived to be given two glasses that were each large enough to hold half the bottle. "I guess I did say one drink."
Bel smiled. "To old habits," she said as she clinked their glasses together and settled back in her chair.
Luisa took a slow sip, letting the wine settle on her tongue. It was a nice wine, she had to admit, and knowing Bel absolutely not cheap. She took another sip and then they sat there quietly, their chairs at an angle to each other, taking in the view and unwinding from their days.
It was a while until they spoke, and Luisa appreciated Bel for that.
It was the nice thing about whatever they were: there were no ulterior motives, none of the fake emotive nonsense that came when you dated someone and they felt like they had to get angry about something on your behalf, even though you knew that deep down they didn't really care.
Luisa could tell that Bel knew she'd been having a bad day, but Bel also knew, she always knew, not to ask about it.
She wasn't there to be an agony aunt, and nor was Luisa there to be that for Bel either.
In many ways it was what they gave each other, another person who they could switch off from the real world with and pretend for a few hours it didn't exist. The day they started to move beyond that was the day that whatever they had would be finished.
As the sky got dark and the wine slipped down, the first stars winking into view, they started talking. About the shoot, about mutual friends, about Bel's next booking the following week in Morocco where she could visit a cousin, about whether Luisa should try her hair a little shorter.
They didn't talk about Amy, not once. And Bel didn't talk about this woman Clem, apparently not her girlfriend but someone she was close enough to that she got a distant look in her eyes when she’d mentioned her that one time. Luisa didn’t want to know either, that wasn’t what they did.
For the first time that day Luisa felt herself really relax and let go, helped no doubt by the wine, but also helped by having Bel there with her.
It was so easy. Bel didn't ask questions that complicated things, or questions that needed long answers or explanations, and nor did Luisa. They kept it simple.
The glasses emptied too fast, and then Bel was rummaging around in the minibar and made them something not particularly pleasant involving whisky, rum and an Italian mixer. Not good but it helped to take the edge off the day even more.
When they'd finished those, Bel put her glass down then stood, stretching as she leaned on the balcony rail.
She looked down at Luisa for a moment that stretched into more, then held out a hand.
"Come to bed," she said simply.
Luisa's hand tightened around her glass. She should say no. She knew that. But Bel was still stood there, hand out, waiting expectantly, and Luisa couldn't find the words, couldn't quite get the word no to come out. She’d never said it to Bel before and it didn’t come then.
Instead she reached out and Bel pulled her up gently, stepping closer, their faces just inches apart.
When Bel leaned in Luisa knew she should have pulled away, give herself the evening to think, but she didn't. She didn't stop her when their lips met, a slow, deliberate, gentle kiss. And she didn't stop when Bel's hand ran through her hair, holding her close.
And then something inside Luisa snapped. All her worries, her concerns, her frustrations, they hit breaking point and she committed, hungrily searching out Bel's lips, desperately sliding her hands over Bel's body, pulling and squeezing and stroking, while Bel did the same to her.
As always, Bel was Luisa's kryptonite.