Somewhere in Northern Italy

Chapter 9

"Timothée it's okay it's not like I'm even gonna be on camera."

"It would be kind of embarrassing not knowing how to dance for a party scene but that's just me," he said, lifting his hands up, shrugging his shoulders.

"You know what fine, but what do you know about dancing?" I asked lifting my brow.

"Trust me I'm a professional," he said turning towards the car with a smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes at his response, " Guess that's the only answer I'm getting" I said buckling my seatbelt.

***

We got to his apartment which was on the other side of town. It overlooked the river and its lush surroundings which I had become fond of since we got here. The apartment was much more spacious than our apartment. Maybe it felt that way because he was the only one living there.

"Well, here it is," he said tossing his keys on the kitchen counter and opening up the fridge. "Do you want anything? I've got water, sparkling water, Diet Coke, tea, whatever you want."

"Water's fine, thank you."

"Here you go," he said handing me a glass of water and cracking open a Diet Coke.

The sun was beginning to set spreading beautiful orange colors over the horizon.

"So," I said turning to face him, "what did you have planned for my first dance lesson?"

"Well," he said, raising his eyebrows in thought, "the song for this scene is an 80s song called Love my Way."

"I don't know that song," I said monotonously.

"Yeah, I thought so," he said with a smile. He turned towards a small speaker and pressed the power button. "Here let me just turn it on and then you'll get the gist of the scene."

The speaker came to life playing an upbeat intro. Timothée turned towards me his face beaming and his arms held out towards me. I uncrossed my arms and returned a smile.

"You're so tense." He said snatching up my hands and pulling me close.

"I. Can't. Dance." I said sternly looking up into his crystal-like eyes.

"Just trust me," he said, and with a face like that how couldn't I? "Follow my lead okay."

"Okay," I said breathlessly.

He began to bounce to the steady rhythm and I followed. The bounce slowly grew into us both jumping up and down to the music. His hands still holding mine, he spun me around once while I couldn't help but giggle.

"Looove my waaay," he sang silently to me drawing me closer to him. His hand let go of mine and moving it down to my waist. He held me firmly against his body, both of us breathing hard from our dancing. My eyes wandered from his eyes to his lips and before I could even think of it, he kissed me holding he in a closer embrace. My hands holding the back of his neck while his held my waist and back.

"I love you," I mumbled, our lips inches apart.

Timothée held me farther from him so he could get a good look at my face, "I love you too... more than anything," he said with his eyes baring into mine. He leaned back in for another kiss and we continued dancing. The song had changed to a beautiful classical song. Time grew insignificant as we held each other in a gentle embrace as the sun fell over the beautiful Italian countryside.

***

"Good to see you again Eliza!" exclaimed Luca once Timothée and I stepped out of the car.

"Great to see you too Luca!" I said shutting the door and running over to help him with a large stack of scripts he was holding

I helped Luca with organizing the scripts and props for the upcoming scene. Once we were finished, a woman with a headset appeared behind me and ushered me toward hair and makeup. I rushed into the dressing room where I met the outfit I would be dancing in. Jean shorts and a navy and white striped short sleeve shirt. I stepped out of the tent allowing myself to be guided to my desired spot on the dance floor where I immediately began looking for Timothée.

Not long after I was given instructions, I noticed him step out of the dressing room in jeans and a brilliant blue collared shirt that didn't quite fit him right. I couldn't help but wonder how someone could make a plain outfit look so extraordinary.

I never really talked to the other people on set. I felt bad because they worked to get here, and I just happened to meet a guy who had the right connections but mainly because they all spoke Italian and I had no idea what they were saying. I could only hope they weren't talking shit about me.

"Okay everyone," Luca announced to the several extras on the dance floor, "remember we want to capture a lighthearted mood within this environment. This is a great scene to get creative, just don't do anything too wild okay. Have fun with it we're on in 3... 2..."

I heard a slow song turn on. I glanced around and noticed people already coupled up.

"Shit," I said to myself. This felt like middle school all over again.

"Excuse me," said a gentle voice, thick with an Italian accent. A dark Italian boy appeared beside me with one arm outstretched. "It looks like we're both without a partner, I was wondering if you wanted to be mine?" he asked politely.

"Sure," I smiled politely.

His hands were smooth and gripped mine tenderly which I saw as a sign of respect. I'm not sure how many people know of Timothée and I. It's not like we've talked of our relationship with other people or have decided to become a public couple; official with a seal over it. I would consider our relationship an intimate, private thing that we preferred to keep to ourselves. I liked it that way... I think Timothée did too.

I was looking around at all the other couples dancing as well as the beautiful lights and Timothée's performance over to the far left of us. My eyes wandered back to the boy in front of me and I noticed how he was staring back at me, eyes examining my face over as if he was looking for something. This made me uncomfortable, and I was relieved when I could finally escape his grasp around my hands which had tightened gradually throughout the song.

The familiar upbeat song began to play as I bounded towards the middle of the dance floor where I knew Timothée would be close by. I looked back to see the dark-haired boy staring at me across the crowed of people. I felt my stomach flip inside me. I turned around quickly and tried to remember the lighthearted feelings I was supposed to embody in the scene. I went back to the happy memory of being in Timothée's arms and dancing in his lovely apartment that smelled so much like him.

As soon as I was taken back to that memory there he was, not looking at me but close enough to touch. I knew he did it on purpose, I remained in my spot but continued dancing. He turned around in the slightest to give me a brief smile and turning again to rush in front of the main camera to dance as if no one was watching him. How? How could he make something so ridiculous look so good?

***

I helped Luca look over the scene and the several shots taken throughout it. Once Timothée was done getting dressed and ready to go, we started towards the car.

Timothée began back towards my apartment where we found time to talk to each other about the night. Of course I considered telling him about the strange boy but for some reason I couldn't find myself to do it. It was late and I was tired; maybe I wanted to save myself the trouble of a lengthy conversation.

"Timothée?" I asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"How do you make everything look so nice?"

"What do you mean?"

"How are you so perfect?"

He chuckled, "Oh Eliza, I am nothing compared to you."