Chapter Twenty One #2
My heartbeat kicks up as I board the train to La Musa.
It’s hot and humid. The weather’s warmed significantly in the two weeks I’ve been gone, and I’m drenched in sweat as the train pulls into the La Musa station.
I doubt Anita’s rented out my room to someone else already, but I still keep my expectations low as I go to the house, opting to knock on the front door instead of using my key.
I could use a shower and a meal, but I need to do this before I lose the gumption.
“Izzy!” Vincenzo nearly knocks me over with a bear hug as soon as he opens the door to greet me. “You’re back!”
“I’m back,” I say. “Is Raffaello home?”
“Indeed,” Vincenzo says, taking my rolling suitcase from me. “Signor is in the kitchen with Signora Sutton.”
Sutton. Of course she’s still here. A butterfly flutters in my stomach to realize that probably means Benito’s still here too.
He leads me to the kitchen where Raffaello and Sutton are camped out at the kitchen counter, both heads down in their laptops. “Hi,” I say.
They look up. They don’t really seem surprised to see me, just annoyed.
“Just the two people I wanted to see,” I say. Sutton’s eyes narrow and Raffaello scoffs. They’re not buying it. “I have a proposal for you.” I open my bag and pull out two stacks of paper, placing one in front of each of them.
Sutton crosses her arms. “Let me guess, you aren’t happy with Benito’s resignation.”
“I’m not,” I say, sure to keep my voice even and calm.
“But it’s not about that.” I readjust to make myself as tall as possible.
“Let the development deal go through under the condition that all the locally owned business in town get to keep their leases at the current rates when construction completes.”
“Do you have the authority to offer that?” Raffaello asks.
“Benito’s resigning, that means it’s your call.”
Raffaello perks up. He looks to Sutton. She nods. “And in return?” he asks.
“I’m prepared to offer something of value to you, but there’s another condition.”
Sutton sighs. “And what’s that?”
I take a deep breath. “You will free Benito from his promise to work for you in London.”
Raffaello and Sutton share another look. I can’t quite discern their energy, and my stomach is in knots while they wordlessly deliberate. Finally, Sutton turns to me. “Ok. And this mysterious offer of what we’d get in return?”
I adjust so I’m standing tall, confident.
“I will be the face of the town’s tourism ad campaign.
” Sutton raises her eyebrows and Raffaello leans in, interested.
“Using my image to attract tourists to La Musa will work,” I say.
“We have evidence of it, and I will allow Don and your other colleagues to use the mock-ups they showed me. For one year.” I point at the contracts. “It’s all laid out in there.”
Sutton’s eyes narrow. “You know, this is no guarantee that Benito won’t return to London anyway.” She stares at me pointedly. I don’t know if she always knew what was percolating between me and Benito, but she’s certainly clued in now.
“I know,” I say. “It doesn’t matter. The point stands. Your development plan can go through and I will be the face of it as long as Benito is free to do what he wishes and the businesses already in town will be protected.”
They’re silent for a moment, considering. “Benito has never known what’s good for him,” Raffaello says finally, his voice gruff.
“Raffaello.” Sutton nudges him with her elbow. “I’ll work on persuading him sans blackmail, but I think it’s a win-win. The monetary value of what Izzy’s offering. . . we’d be daft to turn it down.”
“Is that a yes?” I ask.
Sutton nods, ceding her approval, and gestures for Raffaello to make the final call. He looks down at his hands in his lap for a moment, but when he lifts his head, I know he’s made a decision. “Fine. Deal.”
I can’t hide my grin. “Great.” I temper my excitement to a professional level. I fish a pen out of my bag and hand it to them. “These contracts affirm what we’ve agreed upon today, guaranteeing neither of us go back on our word. I’m happy to wait while you read through the conditions.”
The door to the backyard creaks open, and when I turn, I see Benito walk through it. He stops when he sees me, frozen in the room like he’s just been hit by a stun gun. “What are you doing here?” he asks after an awkward moment.
“I’ll let you fill him in,” Raffaello says, taking the contract and gesturing for Sutton to follow him outside.
Benito continues to stare at me like I’m an illusion, like if he blinks, I’ll disappear. “You’re back?” he asks, his body stiff and statuesque, not giving me any indication on how he might feel about the fact that the answer is yes.
“I’m back,” I say. “And I have good news.”
Benito holds up his hand. “You should know, I had no choice when it came to resigning. I tried to compromise with my father on the development deal, ensuring the safety of the women-owned businesses, of all the locally owned businesses, but—”
“It’s ok. I know,” I say, cutting him off. “I took care of it.”
Benito lifts his eyebrows. Fair, considering as far as he knows, I’m still set on prioritizing an easy breezy life over everything else. “You said you have good news?” he asks.
I clap my hands together as if to zap away the tense energy in the room. “Yes. You don’t have to go to London.” Benito’s eyes widen. “I did what I do best, and I made a deal,” I say.
It’s so quiet, I can hear Vincenzo’s hearty laugh from across the house. Benito shifts from one foot to the other before eventually taking a step closer to me. “What?”
I fill him in on the details of the arrangement I made with Raffaello, all while Benito stares at the ground, thinking. “You were right,” I say. He looks up at me. “Not about me being mayor, but that I can’t do nothing. I do need a purpose. It’s who I am. You helped me realize that.”
The slightest of smiles emerges from Benito’s lips but he remains otherwise glum. “I’m surprised you’d enter into any such deal with my father, knowing how quickly he revokes his word.”
I cock my head at him and smile. “I said I’m taking care of it.”
Benito runs his hand through his hair. “So that’s it, then? I’m not going back to London?”
“Not if you don’t want to,” I say. I take a step closer and place my hand on his shoulder. “You deserve a chance to figure out where your heart truly lies.”
Benito casts his eyes into mine. They glow. My heart pumps warmth through my chest, my stomach, my head. “And what about you?” he asks. “Don’t you deserve the same?”
I think about the Beachwood house, DC, the coffee shop on Santa Monica, the cozy Italian place in Foggy Bottom, lunches at Anita’s, Benito, La Musa. “I’m working on that too.”
My stomach stirs as Benito maintains his eye contact.
After the long journey, I feel disgusting.
I’m hungry, I’m tired, but the way he looks at me makes me feel like he doesn’t see all of that, like he’ll always look at me with the same mix of understanding and awe.
He runs his hand through his hair again and his forearms flex.
I resist the urge to reach out and grab his arm.
He’s here now, but it wasn’t all that long ago that he was content to skip off to London and leave me forever.
“Your room’s still yours,” Benito says, his voice quiet. “Assuming you want it.”
“I do,” I say. “For now. Thank you.” There’s so much I want to say to him and yet, no words come to mind. Do I owe him an apology? Does he owe me one? Does it matter? “What will you do now that you don’t have to go to London?” I ask.
Benito takes a deep breath. “Well, considering I’ve only known that for a few minutes, I don’t have an answer yet.”
I performatively roll my eyes. “You mean you don’t make all your major life decisions on a whim like I have lately?”
I hear the scribble of pen against the countertop. Sutton gathers up the signed contracts and walks over to me. She grazes her fingertips over Benito’s shoulders, and I feel a twinge of jealousy. “Ben, did you tell Izzy about the big fiesta this Friday? The party?”
“Festa,” Benito corrects her. “And I didn’t have the chance yet.”
Sutton turns to me. “You’ll come, obviously. Practically the whole town is. It gives Benito the chance to formally announce his resignation and endorse Raffaello as his mayoral replacement, and now we can announce the development deal as well.” Benito’s eyes flash to me.
“I never say no to a party,” I say. Sutton smiles ever so slightly but follows up with no details. “Um. . . just tell me when and where.”
Raffaello clears his throat. “Here. Tomorrow. 5 p.m.”
“I’ll be there,” I say. I look to Benito but his eye contact has expired. There’s an awkwardness and I feel like it’s because I’m still standing here.
I start to walk out and rest a hand on Benito’s shoulder.
“See you around?” I ask. He nods. Or at least I think he does.
I walk out of the house to find food because I’m starving and I don’t want to spend another minute in the kitchen with Sutton and Raffaello.
I put on my sunglasses and hope no one recognizes me as I trek out into the center of town.
But then again, let them see me. Let them see Izzy Rhodes looking tired, disheveled, sweaty, and hangry.
It’s the truth. It’s who I am right now in this moment. I don’t need to hide.