The Priest, The Ghost and The Love

Chapter - 2 The Strange Encounter

The departing rays of the sun infused the colour of a blazing fire across the membrane of the sky. Stretching to the horizon, blossoming the beauty of the Basilica that stood ahead of her. A camera occupied a young woman's hands as she clicked photographs of the picturesque view the Vatican City gifted her eyes. The dark-coloured skirt she was wearing fluttered as the gentle wind brushed against her fragile-looking form. A smile danced upon her lips, yet its verismo could be questioned. She was compelled to smile because it was what everyone expected her to do, yet it never felt like something she wanted to do. The Vatican was foreign to her. She was all but another face in the crowd. The foreign land she stood upon infused a funny feeling inside her even though she was accustomed to the habit of it. But the Vatican filled a spontaneous zeal in her. It could be the effect of its spirituality that made her forget everything for a moment, or maybe it was the beauty of the old structures which enthralled the history enthusiast inside her. Appreciating the beauty of the past was one thing her family always found odd about her, but it never refrained her from pursuing the depth of what transpired before her time. Maya's family missed her, and so did she. She was no stranger to travelling, but never in her wildest dream did she envision herself in Italy. It was not a need, nor was it essentiality for her to take such a big step. Something inside her failed to deny the offer letter, which was dropped at her doorstep two months ago. The whole Deol family was enthusiastic until the actualisation struck them that it meant a distance of more than six thousand kilometres would be keeping them apart from their Maya. Yet they did not deny Maya what she deserved.

Taking a few more photographs for sending to her parents, Maya turned away from the Basilica toward the car she had rented to return to the place she had been calling a house for the past few days. It had been a week since her bright arrival in Italy, and all she had done was explore the beauty Italy and Vatican had to offer. Her house was near the border of Italy and Vatican City, with a breathtaking view of the holy city. Myriad cartons were still left unpacked and untouched, while the young woman was still confused with the switches. Luckily for Maya, her neighbours were a retired couple who offered help on her first night in this foreign land. When she knocked on their door nearly at one in the night to ask if they had any knowledge about any restaurant that would be open at this hour. The sweet couple not only invited her in and served her the best risotto she had ever tasted but they also helped her settle in and took her to the masses at Saint Peter's Basilica. Their company aided her in coping with the loneliness that was killing her inside. Maya's home was spacious, but to her, the house felt empty and hollow. Why wouldn't it? A two-storey house for a single soul felt a little exaggerated, but the people at her office informed her that no other housing was available, and now she was stuck in a house which felt like it was trying to mock her solitude. She had made no efforts in settling the interior, and the things, which did get settled were the grace of Mr Moretti, who took the task of helping this young lady as a duty he was obliged to perform. Maya, on the other hand, accepted the offer with tremendous gratefulness. Despite the young woman not being Italian, the Moretti couple held no prejudice towards her. The young woman vividly remembers how, on her second night in Italy, she was skimming through the menus of various restaurants when her doorbell rang, revealing the old couple who had arrived with dinner for her and she had been receiving various kinds of European delicacies every day since then. The heartwarming act melted Maya's heart, and shifting to this foreign land did not seem like a mistake to her any longer. But not every day the sun shone brightly in the sky and so were the dull days in the life of Maya when the judging stares of the people made her feel alienated, disconnecting her from the welcoming embrace of the beautiful country.

*

A two-storey Victorian house stood at the end of the Via Boulevard, offering a pristine view of the holy Vatican City from the elevated terrain. The bricked structure was well-maintained and furnished. The house had been the residence of families before, but now a single spirit occupied the elegant home. The publishing house Maya joined mistook her for a married woman and arranged a home accordingly, and to add to her distress, no other property was currently available that her company found suitable for their new employee. Only a few cartons had been opened since her arrival while the rest of those boxes stared at her with the hope that she might open them too, but Maya was always too exhausted to turn this house into a home. The hollowness she felt in the house was at times unbearable.