Chapter 19 #3
“I remember these cookies she always had ready when I came to study.”
“Chocolate chip espresso cookies,” Alex said, looking back at her. “Those were her specialty. We haven't had the heart to make them since we lost her.”
“Grief changes you,” Aria said. “You realize what’s important in life.
At first, losing Nicholas brought so much fear and doubt to my life.
Who was I without him, you know? What was I supposed to do now that he was gone?
I have a wonderful counselor who’s helped me talk through so many of the emotions, like regret and guilt, anger, and disappointment.
For the first year, though, I was just numb. ”
Alex began rubbing his thumb over the top of her hand, making her relax even more.
“Same here,” Alex said. “After mom passed, I questioned every decision I made up to that point. Second guessed my choices for a long time. But in the end, what I know to be true is that she would have wanted me to be happy. And I’m certain Nicholas would say the same about you.”
Aria looked down at their joined hands, making him follow her line of sight. He pulled his hand away slowly and sat up, taking a few cookies from the bowl.
“So, you didn't end up working for your dad, then. I remember that he worked a lot of hours when we were all in school. I think I only met him once.”
“Yes, he still does. It’s called Aura Cosmetics. They moved their headquarters to Positano a little over a year ago, so we all ended up moving here.”
“Tell me more about your work. I saw some of your work online and it, it really moves me. It makes me want to go see all these places. What’s it like being out there, experiencing the world through your camera?”
Alex let go of her hand and turned to face her fully.
Lifting his eyes to the ceiling, looking for the right words, Alex said, “I want people to feel what I’m feeling in the moment.” Tilting his head back toward her, he continued. “I want to inspire people. Saying my photographs made you want to travel? You couldn’t give me a better compliment.”
Aria listened intently, leaning more toward him as he spoke, mesmerized by his words.
“When I take pictures of the beautiful people I’ve met, I want others to see into their eyes, their souls, and feel what they’re feeling in the moment.
The conversations I’ve had with these incredible people made me want to be better, do better.
What some of them have lived through…” His voice trembled, and he paused for a moment before continuing.
“I don’t know how they had the strength to survive widespread loss and wars.
They want me to tell their stories to others.
They want someone to see them, really see them. ”
Tears escaped Alex’s eyes, so Aria reached out to gently wipe them away. He caught one of her hands and brought it to his lips, gently kissing the back of it.
Aria was surprised by the gesture and powerless to pull away. He moved their hands down to rest on the sofa between them but didn’t let her go.
“There’s so much emotion in your photos. Hearing you talk about the people you’ve met makes me want to be a part of what you do in the world. Helping people, bringing light to the darkness in a way. You have an incredible talent.”
“Thank you, Aria. That means a lot coming from you. I’ve always admired the way you treated the people around you. Hearing you say that my photos moved you… That’s something I’ll keep with me for a long time.”
Alex opened his mouth to say something but stopped. After doing this a few times, Aria said curiously, “What?”
Looking back at his hand still covering hers, Alex said, “Aria, I have to confess something to you. I had a crush on you back in school.”
“Alex! You’re not serious,” she answered, her voice lowering an octave.
He tilted his head, so they were eye to eye again.
“I am. Why do you think Sofia always ended up as your study partner?” he said nervously.
“Wait. What? How did you get Sofia to do that? And why?”
“Let’s just say that, like now, I wanted to get to know you.” His face registered no humor and Aria realized he wasn't joking. She looked out at the now-darkened sky, the moon peaking in through her window, before turning back to him.
“Why didn't you say something?”
“I, I just never got up the courage,” he said with a look she couldn’t decipher.
His thumb had started its rhythmic movement over her hand again, almost hypnotizing her. She could hear the clock on her wall ticking off the minutes.
“I had no idea, Alex.”
After a long pause, he inhaled sharply.
“It’s true.”
Aria could hear the music change to a slow jazzy piece, the soft sounds of a sleepy saxophone echoing in the quiet room.
“There was a moment, a moment when I almost got up the nerve. You probably don’t remember it. But you were at my house, working on that Pride & Prejudice project with Sofia,” Alex said cautiously.
Aria looked intently at him, trying to remember.
“You were sitting on the floor, and I was on the sofa pretending to read a book. You and I talked about why you loved the book and movie so much.”
She smiled at his description. Then a flash of memory made her eyes widen.
Alex smiled as he saw the recognition on her face.
“You remember.”
Nodding, she pulled her hand away and held both cheeks with her palms.
“Oh, wow. I do remember. I remember thinking, ‘Why is Alex looking at me like that?’ I thought I was imagining it.”
“You didn’t.”
His eyes moved to her wedding photo, then back to her.
“The next morning, I found out Nicholas asked you out.”
Inhaling sharply, she whispered, “Alex.”
They sat wordless for about a minute, Aria unsure what to say.
“Well, enough of me embarrassing myself,” he said, pushing himself up from the sofa and walking back to the shelves that housed her colorful bottles. “Tell me about these,” he continued, holding up a small amber bottle etched with an intricate design.
Not wanting to make him uncomfortable, she sat up and answered, “Oh, I collect those. Some I’ve found in antique shops, some at the beach over the years. I always look inside the dark ones to see if there’s anything in there.”
Amused, he asked, “You mean like a pirate bottle?”
Laughing, she said, “Yeah, something like that. I read a story about a young girl who fell in love with a poor fisherman that her father didn’t approve of.
When he couldn’t convince her family to let him marry her, he set out on a long journey to find his fortune.
She waited for weeks and months for his return, but to no avail.
“After crying herself to sleep for all that time, she wrote him a note telling him to come back for her, that she would leave everything and everyone behind to be with him. She rolled it up and placed it in a bottle, sealing it with a piece of cork. Standing on the dock where he had left her, she prayed and threw it into the blue ocean, hoping it would make its way to him.”
She didn’t realize she had stopped talking, lost in her own story, until Alex spoke.
“So, did it work? Did her love come back to her?”
Aria’s eyes sparkled. “He did. He came back and they lived happily ever after.”
“I like that story,” he said as he carefully put the bottle on the shelf and sat back down near her on the sofa. “Tell me about your family.”