𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

Elio Perlman - Picking Peaches Pt 1

8th July, 1983.

Elio, a boy in a small town in italy.
He spends his days playing the piano, writing and reading.
Until you returned from your trip of 3 years from Paris.

Your father and Elio's father were old friends, and you were supposed to settle in the room next to Elio's for the whole summer.

Elio didn't pay much attention to you, you were also very quiet and introverted.
On the second night, you and Elio were in the dining room doing your own thing.

You were surprised to notice his curious eyes watching you. You couldn't help but think he didn't seem to feel comfortable in your presence.
When he saw you looking over, his eyebrows rose slightly and he quickly lowered his gaze.

Your eyes meet every glance, he tries to avoid your gaze as he looks down.
Slight blush spreads over his cheeks, maybe he is embarrassed?
Your presence is slightly disturbing for him, but at the same time he's intrigued.

10 Minutes Later

You're drinking the coffee you had just made, and suddenly feel his gaze on you again, you look up, catching him off guard.
He looks embarrassed and quickly looks down at his book, once again, there was a slight blush covering his cheeks.

You feel a wave of heat sweep over you, it's like a tension that pulls you towards him.
You continue to drink your coffee, pretending not to notice, but it gets more difficult each time.

A few moments later, your eyes curiously follow Elio as he walks out of the room.
After drinking your coffee, you make your way outside to go sit in the garden.
Surprisingly, Elio is already sitting in the garden.
You pretend not to notice his presence as you walk over to a seat across from him before sitting down.

You notice that almost every time your eyes cross, his lips twitch imperceptibly.
He looks around as if he was looking for an excuse to talk to you, but he doesn't find it.
Each of your movements attract his attention, like he's completely focused on you.
He tries several times to meet your gaze without success.

Each time you catch him looking at you, he looks away. He seems to be just as shy as you are. It's almost like playing a game. You can never manage to look at him directly for too long, he avoids your gaze well.

Suddenly the window from inside behind us opens, It's Mr. Perlman, he smiles at us both before speaking.

"Why don't you two pick some peaches and bring them inside for us? It's a nice day to do so, and the peaches should be ripe by now."

You both look at each other for a moment, as if neither of you were aware someone else was present.
Elio smiles and nods at his father before standing up.
He slowly starts to walk towards the peach trees.
You smile at Mr. Perlman as you start to follow Elio towards the peach trees.

Elio picks up 2 empty picnic baskets from underneath one of the peach trees.
He walks over to you before handing you one of the baskets.

"Here, put the peaches you collect in here."
He finally speaks, you don't think you have ever heard him say more than a few words until now.

You smile gently at him.
You begin to start searching through the branches of the trees, looking for the ripest peaches.

After a few moments, you glance over at Elio.
Who already has his basket half full of ripe peaches.
He was fast, probably because he had been picking fruits for years. He probably knew all the places to look and what ones to pick.