Suited

Forty Five

My jet lag hit me like a truck so Signore, in glasses, dragged me to the patio to get some sunshine when I finally emerged from our bedroom at the smell of pasta. His mom had a pot of it on the stove with a cheesy red sauce that he brought me with my meds after I was seated. He said the vitamin d would help lessen the fatigue. I should have just asked Doc Bailey for a new supplement. The sun was bright.

The day was pretty much our own, even if I slept through half of it. Signore surprised me with a leather bound sketchbook and a gorgeous wood and platinum mechanical pencil after lunch. All he told me after that was to dress comfortably and meet him at the door in thirty minutes. We wished his parents well before we took the elevator down to meet the taxi he ordered. He helped me in before he sat down next to me with a paper shopping bag on his lap. I tried to peek but he mushed my face away, laughing as he said to be patient.

The drive wasn't very long but a smile consumed my face when I saw the lush trees at the entrance of the botanical garden and it didn't waver as we passed through the gates. Signore said that we could wander wherever I wanted to draw, so I grabbed a map and started walking toward the arboretum. Being surrounded by pollen probably wasn't great for me, but everything was so pretty and I was happy to be there. Plus it was warm and I was more conscious than earlier. Making the most of it was the best option, so I parked my butt on a bench, started sketching, and Signore sat with me.

We moved to another bench just outside the orchid greenhouse and I left him there while I went inside since it was busy. I tried to be quick so I wasn't hogging the space, took a picture of a bulbophyllum mastersianum, and came back out with a bare bones sketch to see Signore asleep. Naturally, the next step was to draw him too. There was a pretty shrub behind him too so that was another plus. I sat on the bench across from him and drew for about an hour until he woke himself up and started looking for me. I waved from about five feet away, directly line with him while he wiped the sleep from his face, and turned my sketch toward him once a group of people passed. He laughed when he came closer to see it.

Considering the place was humongous and there were over twenty five thousand specimens, we knew we weren't going to be able to get through everything in our singular visit, especially since they were only open for one more hour. Seeing every single thing would take several that we didn't have, so Signore picked a spot on a lawn and laid out the blanket he'd brought. He wanted to read and I wanted to try a rough landscape, so we did so until an employee told us we had five minutes before we would be asked to leave. I packed our things while he called a cab. I had never ridden one before this trip and it really wasn't that bad. Signore had to carry cash for tips and that was a little strange for a ride but I'd seen the same for valet service and bellhops. He wasn't phased by it, so I didn't think too hard on the subject. I had other things to think about, like dinner.

Signore and I stopped for a slice of pizza on the way back to his parents' house both to tide us over and because it was really my only chance to try it without him having to make it for me, which, in his words, wouldn't be authentic if it was made in Maryland because the water was different. I let him rant, and the pizza was better than most I'd had, but I doubted the water made that much of a difference. Regardless, I thanked him as we walked the rest of the way to the apartment, holding hands. The sun was just barely off its peak in the sky and we didn't have to be back for another few hours, so we took our time on the side streets, and I ended up buying a few souvenirs, mainly in the form of biscotti. Signore said that was also different here compared to the ones in the States.

A lot was different here. There were cars but there were also buses and a subway. I'd never ridden a subway before. Everything was so close together that it was almost claustrophobic and a bit run down but that didn't bother me much. There was so much color that it made up for it. Part of me wished we had more time here. There was so much to see compared to home.