My alarm goes off at eight in the morning and I squint my eyes open and push off my copy of The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid by Thomas Hardy from my chest. I put my polaroid bookmark back into the book and close it, placing it on my bedside table. I stretch out my arms and stand out of bed, moving to my chest of drawers, opening it and looking at the range of swimmers I have and I choose a pair of black high waisted swimmer bottoms and a triangle black bikini top that may be a little too small... but according to the stranger whose suddenly emerged into my life, apparently small swimwear is all the rage.
I throw on a white button-up top and a pair of cut off blue denim shorts with my black converse high tops and make my way to the kitchen where Shelley sits at her bowl and I chop up some strawberries for her at the bench. My phone begins to vibrate in my back pocket and Emelià's name lights up my phone and I smile.
"Morning!" I smile and honestly, I'm feeling pretty good about this morning. I suppose hanging out with a stranger is extremely out of my comfort zone but Emelià will be with me and it will go by smoothly. I haven't been to Angel's Kiss for a little while... How hard could it be?
"Morning, piccola." Emelià says flatly and immediately I know that something is very wrong.
"You sound terrible, what's wrong?" I ask her, still cutting the strawberries up on the wooden chopping board for Shelley.
"I think I've caught some kind of bug and I feel terrible." She says as she coughs and I hold the hold the phone in between my ear and my shoulder as I continue to cut the fruit up.
"Oh no... Well, we'll have to cancel. Oh well, I'll go down to the shops and-"
"No! You can't cancel." She says and I shake my head, moving the knife faster.
"Well you can't go in your condition, Melia. I'll cancel and bring you some soup and we can watch reruns of-"
"But you can go." She says through sniffles and I feel the knife slice through my skin, breaking it and blood begins to spill out of my finger as a heartbeat begins to surface through the pressure of the pain building in my index finger.
"Fuck!" I say, dropping the knife onto the floor and whining in pain as I hold my finger.
"What just happened?" Emelià says with panic in her voice.
"I'm fine, completely fine. Sorry, just dropped my um, breakfast on the floor." I lie as I throw my head back, cursing in pain.
"Promise?" She questions.
"Mhm!" I hum as I rush over to the sink and run cold water over it.
"Emelià I really can't go without you, it's too much." I plead and I hear her cough on the other side of the line.
"If you cancel, we're gonna look like complete bitches!" She says and I know she's right.
"Fine, but I don't even know his name!" I say, turning off the running water and holding a cloth to the cut to apply pressure.
I look through the first aid kit under the sink and find a band-aid to put around it. I unwrap the package and carefully wrap the band-aid around the cut which isn't bleeding too badly because of the pressure.
"Then learn it, B. You're going to be okay. I promise. Have fun." She says through more sniffles, her voice nazzy from being sick.
"I'll swing by later this afternoon, okay?" I say and she agrees.
I hang up the phone, sliding it into my back pocket, and pour some water into two large two-litre bottles and grab some snacks from the cupboard and throw them into the cooler bag with the sandwiches I made.
YOU ARE READING
Portofino // h.s.
Romance"There wasn't anything for me at home anymore, I guess. What about you? You're clearly not from around here so why did you come here of all places?" He asks me. "To escape." I admit. "And did you escape it?" He asks and I linger upon his words, ca...
