Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
The next morning before the sun came up, Aldo and Maria hugged and kissed Aria as they packed the car.
“You didn’t have to make so much for the trip,” Maria scolded.
“I learned from the best. Call me when you get home, please,” she said as she waved goodbye.
“Love you, angel,” Aldo said, sliding into the driver’s seat.
“Love you, too, Papa.”
“Tell Corinna we will see her next time and to behave herself,” Maria called out as the car backed out of the drive.
“I’ll try,” Aria yelled.
Waving until she couldn’t see them anymore, she stepped inside and closed the front door. She was so happy that her parents had liked Alex and that the feeling was mutual. He was a perfect fit, seemingly, into their brand of chaos.
Aria washed their coffee cups, grateful they had time for at least that before leaving. Grabbing her phone on the way to her bedroom, she sat on her bed with it on speaker.
“Hey, what time do you want me to come over?” Corinna asked when she answered the phone.
“That’s why I’m calling. They got called back to Rome. Plumbing issue at the restaurant but they sent their love.”
“Oh no. Shoot. Sorry to hear that.”
“Me too, but we had a great time last night. Want to meet me for breakfast since my day just opened up?”
“Already putting my shoes on. Susanna’s Cafe sound good? Back to the scene of the crime?” Corinna teased.
“See you there in twenty.”
“Good morning, Susanna. How are you doing?” Aria asked when she got up to the counter to order.
“Hey! I’m so glad you came in. I haven’t seen you in a few weeks. I have something for you,” the cafe owner said excitedly.
She reached for her purse under the counter and produced the business card Alex had left with her.
Aria took it and gave her a confused look. “What is this?”
“Oh, well, the handsome young man that you ran into a few weeks ago left this for you. Where have you been? Poor guy must have left town by now.”
Aria chuckled, answering, “No, we met again right after that. So he left this with you, then?”
“Sure did. The next morning. Said he needed to find you. Quite insistent.”
“Too insistent,” her grumpy husband Louie said as he swiped the credit card of the customer next to Aria.
“I’m glad he found you. If you didn’t show up, I was going to give this to my granddaughter, Loretta. She needs a good man.”
Aria’s smile slid off her face at the thought.
“Ah, okay, well I’ll keep this then. And I’d love a cappuccino and a raspberry lemon cornetto please.”
“Coming right up. I think your friend is already here. Boy, she’s intense, huh?”
“Indeed she is. Thanks, Susanna,” Aria said, waving the card before slipping it into her purse.
Corinna waved from a corner table, indulging in a large cup of coffee.
“Hey, girl,” Corinna said when she put her cup down.
Kissing her cheeks, Aria answered, “Hey. Sheesh, almost lost Alex to Susanna’s granddaughter.”
Aria sat in the cold metal chair opposite her friend with a huff.
“What? Oh, never mind that. Tell me about last night! How did your parents take the news? What did they think of Alex?” Corinna asked, her hands drumming the table anxiously.
Aria thanked the server when she sat her breakfast down before speaking.
“It went better than expected. Sorry I didn’t call after they went to bed. We stayed up late talking. Anyway, I had no reason to worry. They were so happy to hear that I was seeing him. He won their hearts just like I knew he would.”
Looking jubilantly up to the ceiling, her hands waving wildly, Corinna replied, “Ah, that’s amazing. I know you’ve got to be relieved.”
“I am. I knew they’d be happy but wasn’t sure how they’d react to our relationship moving so quickly,” said before taking a long sip of the delicious elixir.
“So, are you ready to admit you’re falling in love with him?”
“You know I am, I just. I’ve never told anyone I loved them except for Nicholas.”
“Look, I know that’s hard, but there’s nothing keeping you from telling him now that he’s not leaving anymore,” Corinna, a satisfied look on her face.
Aria dropped her pastry on her plate, the powdered sugar coating the table like snow.
“I, I don’t understand. You said something like that the other night that I wanted to ask you about today.”
Corinna’s face pinched in concern.
“He didn’t tell you?”
Sitting up straighter in her chair, Aria raised her voice.
“Tell me what, Corinna?”
“Aria, I thought he would have told you. I wondered why you hadn’t mentioned it. He canceled his next assignment to stay and spend more time with you.”
“What are you talking about?” Aria asked, her eyebrows hovering low.
“Well, the night I got his number from you, I called him.”
“What?” Aria screeched.
“Hey, hey, you know I was going to threaten his life at some point, right?
This shouldn't be a surprise to you,” she answered, her hands held up in surrender.
“Anyway, he told me that he wasn't going anywhere. To make his point about his intentions, he mentioned he had canceled his next assignment.”
“He didn’t tell me. He’s been waiting for that project in Argentina for months. When we first started talking, he said how important it was to him…” Aria said, her voice trailing off.
“I’m sure he meant to tell you. And I know you’ve been worried about when he’d leave so now you don’t have to.”
“I don’t want him to give up any part of his career for me. I'd never allow him to do that, as much as I’d like him to stay.”
“Shouldn’t he make that decision, though?”
“Corinna, he may feel that way now but what’s he going to do, huh? Not take any jobs outside of Italy? Don’t you see? He’ll grow to resent me,” Aria replied, her voice growing in intensity and volume.
Looking around, Corinna tried to calm her, reaching over and rubbing her hand.
“Hey, hey, listen. You’re getting ahead of yourself. Just talk to him.”
“If he wanted me to know he would have told me, not you! He obviously didn’t want me to try and stop him.”
Aria slid her plate and cup to the middle of the table, unable to eat.
“Aria, the man is in love with you. This might be his grand gesture. I understand what you’re saying but there’s more to this. Tell me what’s really going on.”
Aria’s mind was swirling with warring emotions. Excitement at the thought of him staying, confusion as to why he kept this from her, and then, as always, guilt swept in.
“I waited all these years to write again, to feel passionate about something that I created. Me, just me. And I don’t want anything or anyone to take that away. Why would I want to take that away from Alex?” Aria’s eyes were wide as they darted back and forth.
“You’re not taking that away. You didn’t ask him to give up the project.”
Corinna had moved to the chair next to Aria, trying again to calm her down.
“No, but he thinks I won’t want to be with him if he goes. That’s why he didn’t tell me. He knows my life is here. Being with me is forcing him to make a choice. I’m an idiot. How did I let it get this far? How did I not see how this would end?”
Aria stood suddenly, her chair squeaking loudly on the tile floor.
“I can’t let him do that. I won’t let him do that,” Aria said as she grabbed her purse and ran toward the door.
“Aria!”
Aria fumbled to get her car door open. Raindrops hit the windshield as she started the car, their staccato matching the drum of her heart.
Her trembling hands pressed Alex’s number on the dashboard screen the second her car sped out of the parking lot.
“Hey, good morning, beautiful. Didn’t think I’d hear from you ‘til tomorrow,” Alex said when he answered, his voice deep and warm.
“Hey, are you, are you home?” she answered, forcing her voice to stay steady.
She hoped the sound of seagulls she heard in the background meant he was home.
“Ah, yeah, I am. What’s wrong? Something happen with your parents?” Alex asked, concern coloring his voice.
“They had to leave early. Can I come over?”
“Of course you can, but you sound like you’re upset. Let me come and get you.”
“No, I’m already on my way. But I want to ask you this before I get there, and I want you to be honest. When does the Argentinian well project start?”
There was a long pause on the other side of the phone, but Alex finally said, “It’s been delayed, but it should start in a few days. Why?”
Aria gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Delayed. Because they’re looking for another photographer.
“Okay. I’ll see you soon.”
Aria hung up and ignored the phone when Alex called her back. She took several deep breaths, trying to order her thoughts.
The drive wasn’t long, but in that span of time, a decision was made. She knew what she had to do.
She dialed Natalia’s number next. It rang and rang.
“Come on, pick up, pick up,” she said as her thumbs beat the steering wheel.
“Hey, Aria. Sorry, I was in the backyard. What’s up?” Natalia asked, her breath coming out heavily.
Forcing her voice to steady itself, Aria said, “Hey. I, um, I need your help.”
“Name it.”
“I need to go see Santo. Think you can hold down the fort for a week or so?”
“Everything okay with him?”
“Yes, yes, everything is good. I guess he got a little jealous when my parents came into town, and he wasn’t here,” she lied. “He’s been begging me to come for a visit. Michael’s book is moving along nicely and of course, I’m available for anything if you need me.”
“I’m happy to do that. I’ve been saying for over a year you needed to get away.”
“I appreciate that. I’ll send you my flight information once it’s settled.”
“You sure you’re good? You sound upset.”
“All good. Thanks again. You’re the best. Gotta go, another call is coming in.”
She hung up and answered the call from Corinna, one of many while she had been driving.
“Aria, are you crazy? Where are you? I’m losing my mind.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m fine. But I need a favor,, and I don’t have much time. I need you to find me a flight to Madrid tonight.”
“What?” Corinna yelled.
Aria hadn’t noticed that the rain had stopped, and the windshield wipers screeching on dry glass made her jump.