Smitten With You

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I can feel frustration in the air.

It's exactly ten am according to my iPhone which has been ringing over the hook for past forty five minutes. I have been ignoring all of it till now because all of them are from one person who is waiting for me at Tranquility Spa.

I can hear people yell and groan as the time ticks by. Coffee is all I can think of right now and every ticking second I am getting late. I am twenty minutes late for the stupid spa appointment. My phone rings again and this time I reach for it because I don't think traffic is clearing up anytime soon.

"You are twenty six minutes late." A voice shouts from other side and I cringe. And that would be my best friend Samantha.

We have a spa appointment today because she forced me to go with her. I have a conference call exactly four hours later before I leave for Verona and here I am stuck in traffic.

"I know and I am trying, okay?" I mutter as I look around.

"Oh God! This was supposed to be a relaxing, peaceful girl's day out before you go away to your wonderland." Chuckling at her last words I think about the days I have planned in Verona.

"I know, I know. I am getting there-- okay, okay. I'll be there in twenty. The traffic is clearing up." I see the cars moving and immediately step on the acceleration and take my first left.

Samantha has been around for as long as I remember. I liked her and she liked me since the first day. I spend half of my time at Sam's than I do at mine. Her parents are so wonderful to be around. Sam's mom and dad treat me as their own child. They even fuss about me and I love it. The first time Sam took me home for summer holidays, they were all over me, fussing about what I eat and wear and where I go. She was the rich kid in university but I don't think the rich things and money has ever gotten in her head or her parents'.

My parents spend nine to ten months of a year in Afghanistan doing surgeries. They have been volunteering in war-zones since I turned eighteen. They are usually working for some organization, spending time solving health problems. I have an elder brother who is a traveler. I never find him home. He is always on a trip to some place I have never in my entire existence heard of. The last time I saw him was two years ago on my birthday. He's already hitting mid thirties but I don't think he has ever had a serious relationship with any girl.

The emptiness of my house sometimes irks me, the silence irks me hence I don't like spending time at my home. It feels really lonely at times when nothing goes right. I won't have anyone to talk to about my achievements and failures so I live at Sam's when no one is home, which is almost everyday. But I do not want to invade anyone's privacy so I go back home every once in a few days, do the cleaning and the laundry, think about my life, make plans for the future and yesterday was one of those days.

I think all the loneliness and silence is driving me away to Verona tomorrow.
I want a break from emptiness and hustle and bustle of this city and perhaps everything.

"Hey!" I yell as I make my way to Samantha who is sitting on a leather recliner holding a wine glass drinking Châteauneuf-du-Pape I assume. She loves wines and she loves food.

"Finally! I have been waiting for more than an hour now. I thought you dumped me for some random guy you met on a seminar yesterday but looking at you..." She waves her hand around my disheveled hair and sweaty face, " ...You were really stuck in traffic."

I raise my eyebrow and she laughs, dragging me inside the spa through the bi-fold doors.

"Come on woman, you really need some pampering."

After pampering treatment including an exfoliation, warm body cocoon, head massage we head out to a small classic french restaurant just opposite the spa. Antoine's serves one of the best Pot-au-Feu in town. This place is always full no matter what time of the day but we make sure to eat from here once every month.

" Italian men are hot." She remarks as I chew on my food. I know where she is getting at so I just smile.

" Hmm..." I pick my wine glass up and look around.

" Italian men are hot. " She repeats and this time a little louder.

I look up from my food and find her staring at me in disbelief.

"You are impossible." Her tone louder than the previous and we catch attention of many people in the restaurant but Sam doesn't care.

Before I can pick my fork, Sam grabs my hand and look at her face.

"Listen to me woman, you are going to go there, find a man with most beautiful eyes, a chiseled jawline, a sexy grin, hair that female fingers die to get hold of, awesome abs and a perfect ass, in short a perfect Italian man and you will make him fall in love with you. By the time you are back I want you in a relationship with someone who is worthy of you. Okay?"

I stare at her stupefied. I try to digest everything she has said within a few seconds. She goes back to eating her Pot-au-Feu while I just sit there speechless.

"Wow!" It's all I can say.

"I just want you to live a little okay?"

"That is not how-" I am immediately cut in between.

"When was the last time you kissed a man?" That question catches me off guard.

" umm...uh...I just kissed Tim yesterday." I slightly shrug and she stares at me like I am a different creature.

"Exactly my point." She says and goes back to reply a message in her phone while I just think about the days to come.

Note. Tim is a two year old Pomeranian Samantha owns. I do think I need to live a little now.

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