It could've been the worst day of our lives. Hell, we could've died that day. But it turned out to be the excact opposite. And that's one reason why I loved being around John. Everyday, yeah, every moment, was a big fucking surprise when you were around him. Yes, it's true, in that moment I was super mad at John because I was afraid to fucking die. And I still hold that against him. But meeting Carlo, Stefano and Luigi basically opened the door to the best time ever for us in Italy.
Not only did Luigi provide us with coke that had the best quality known to mankind, but these guys invited us to an amazing dinner with their family in Benevento and to a trip to Sicily. And that, at least to me, was worth more than anything. From that day on, all we did was a hundred percent italian and that felt absolutely great. They welcomed us like friends, not like tourists. And I learned to love Carlo's husky laughs and found the sympathy in his rough looks. These bad guys did have a heart of pure gold.
So many memories were made on that trip. And I learned to cook italian dishes. To John, that was another reason to stay with me forever. Apparently, even rock stars deep down love a good housewive. But I made sure to let him know I was a hundred percent not down to being a stay-at-home-mom. Never ever would I stay at home to clean the house and make my man dinner. If a set table is what he wanted, well, he better pay for a maid.
John would hug me from behind and whisper in my ear: "You know I love you just the way you are"
I squeezed his hands and smiled contently.
"We'd have a sexy maid to do the cooking of course", he added and my head popped around.
"A sexy italian maid?", I asked, imitating Tony's singing in you know which song.
"Yeah", John said and planted a kiss on my cheek. "Although I do like mexican food, too."
"Oh, John", I said and rolled my eyes.
"Okay.. how about.. an old, brutal, not at all sexy italian maid?"
I chuckled. "Sounds a lot better"
"Hey babe", he suddenly said and his hands moved from my waist to my belly and slowly upwards. "Wanna watch the sunset at the beach?"
I put his hands off me gently and turned around to face him. "You do know that we're in the middle of the island? We'd walk for hours to reach the beach."
He poked my nose and smiled. "We'll take the Vespa, silly"
"Which Vespa?"
John laughed. "Let me take care of that."
He left me to grab my jacket, a bottle of wine and some snacks and as I was stepping out a few minutes later, he was right there, waving keys into my direction.
Of course, Carlo and the bunch had expensive cars and other vehicles parked in front of their holiday home and were glad to share everything with their guests. I could definitely get used to their hospitality. It was simply amazing. And they didn't even do all this to us because we were famous. Well, John kinda was. But little did they know about it. They basically welcomed us into their space after we asked them to hook us up with drugs. What a crazy world. What a crazy country. I was still amazed.
I didn't have to think twice to hop on the back of this beautiful turquoise vespa. I slung my arms around John's waist and quickly became comfortable next to his warm and strong body. The vespa was gliding through the beautiful narrow streets of Sicily. Every now and then, a soft sunbeam was warming our bodies. I couldn't get the chorus of "Here Comes The Sun" from The Beatles out of my head as well as get that stupid smile out of my face. I was simply as happy as can be.
As we walked a small path to the beach, I was clinging hands with John.
"You do realize I can never go back to LA, right?", John said, like he was reading my mind.
I smiled widely. "You do realize I feel the exact same way, right?"
John was stopping me, putting his hands around my waist. And with one sudden, strong movement, he picked me up and spun me in a circle. I screamed, as I was so surprised and then started laughing. When he released me, I was so dizzy, I staggered. I couldn't manage to stand straight and was ready to fall into the sand. John was trying to catch me and we both ended up in the sand, laughing our head off.
I looked around and caught a glimpse of the beautiful sun that was slowly setting. John placed his hand on my cheek and stroked it gently.
"How come no one is around here, enjoying this beautiful view?", I asked him.
He shrugged. "Don't know. I guess this means, we should definitely move here. We could have this every day, for the rest of our days."
"You don't mean it."
John raised his brows and pointed to himself. "Me? Not serious?", he asked in a high pitched voice. "Excuse me, girl. I'm the most serious person that you'll find around here."
I looked around and chuckled, there was no soul around. "Also, you're the most silly one"
He stretched his body, rested his head on his hands and relaxed in the warm sand. "If it's silly that I wanna spend my days somewhere as beautiful as here with someone as beautiful as you... fuck me, I'm silly, yeah."
The waves rushed onto the beach and made such a beautiful sound. Just a few minutes here was worth more than two hours of meditation. I snuggled my body next to John's and enjoyed the sounds of nature.
I was welcomed by his protecting arms the second I touched his body. In fact, not only welcomed. His arms were holding onto me as if he was never gonna let me go again. We needed nothing else at this moment. Any other word would've destroyed the moment.
And as much as I wished we could just stay in Italy forever, it would never be our reality. And it made me sad, somehow. I loved living in LA, I really did. But the more time we had spend in Italy, the more I learned how I was strung out by my life. The city was vibrant, always moving. No intimacy, just superficiality. You were always gonna be a stranger. The city welcomed everyone, it really did. But it never took the time to get to know its citizens. I'd compare it to this big house party where there's hundreds of people. Everyone would bring someone. But you'd never really connect with them. It would always be new. No continuity. Endlessly.
Would John ever be willing to drop that to be with me, someplace else? Far away from his friends, his bandmates, this big, loud, crazy, interesting, exhausting city Los Angeles? I looked at him and tried to read his mind. He was just looking into the sky, his breath steady. Didn't we both have the two sides in us? The vibrant and the calm?
