Love Behind Door 8

Settling in

It was a quaint, minute apartment, four stories up, with a tiny balcony overlooking a small, busy street. One of many in Venice.

The room was dimly lit with an old, plain couch pushed against the wall to the right of the room and a box telly placed in front. 

A bed not-quite-fit-for-2 was pressed against the left wall with a cranky bedside table.

"It was surely a one-bed apartment! What was he thinking when he let me in? Did he do this on purpose?" I wondered. 

There was a small entrance at the foot of the bed, which I figured led to the kitchen and right next to the balcony was the bathroom.

I placed my luggage on the floor and gazed at him while pointing at the bed.

"Oh! Don't worry about it! I have a mattress to spare, you can take the bed for tonight," he stated persuasively.

"You sure? Well, I can't thank you enough," I began and he nodded with a hint of a smile, where right then and there, I found myself thinking that I could trust this man whom I had only met merely less than 10 minutes back. I was weirdly drawn towards him.

He left for the kitchen without saying anything and I passed onto the balcony to observe the environment. Night had dawned and people were rushing in and out of shops ready to finish off for the day and get home in time for a hot plate of dinner. This view brought me some sense of peace and relief as had it not been for this stranger, I wouldn't know where I would've settled.

I went in and asked him if I could dial back home so I could let my family know I was fine.

"My cell's on the settee!," he called out from the kitchen.

I grabbed the phone, went onto the balcony and called my stepmother.

"Hello! It's me, Emery. I am in Venice. I have a place for tonight, I'll be fine. Tell Papa too. I'll figure out something for tomorrow. I am fully capable of fending for myself." I stated, whilst climbing on to sit on the edge of the balcony.

"I do not regret my decision of running away. You should've known better than to promise my hand to Richard. I will find a job here and earn some money. I don't know if I'll return, I will call you again later. Bye!" I hung up just as he entered and hurriedly rushed towards me as to stop me from falling over. He had a look of surprise and I sensed immediately he did not expect me to be seated there.

"You shouldn't sit here!" he claimed as he grabbed onto my waist with one hand while holding a plate of cut-up fruit in the other. He pulled me down.

"Here! I suppose you're hungry, you can have this for now. I didn't cook dinner cuz I wasn't expecting any guests. If you want, we can go grab something later. There's a spot right down the street where I always dine. The food is excellent!" he claimed.

"Thank you and sure! Well, I climbed up here because I wanted to get a better view of the city," I said.

"Then you should've called me! Here, let me hold you while you lean over so you can get as much of a view as you want to!"

We both laughed as I leaned over, turning my head at all angles, soaking up the city view with all the bright, street lights and the gentle night breeze as he held me tight from my waist.

Then I turned over to him fast enough to get a glimpse of him staring at my neck as he instantly looked away when he saw me looking. I got down as we both played it off.