Flames

Italian Vacation, part 2

"You're actually serious." Seth should have known. He and Becky had been friends for over ten years and when she got an idea, she ran with it until either she or the idea ran out of steam. Between the two, Seth had more faith in his wife, which was why he was dutifully zooming in on her looking bereft while holding a cup of coffee—a drink which, mere moments ago, she had declared one of the best things she had ever had.

"Yes. It'll work. Trust me." Then Becky sighed. "Now hurry up and take the picture, please, so I can finish my coffee while it's hot. It's so good."

"As you wish." Seth positioned the phone and waited until Becky was mid-sigh to take the picture. "Want a video too?"

"Yes, but...." Becky took a long sip of coffee, sighed—a wistful one this time, rather than her put-on display of dismay—and took a deep breath before resuming her forlorn stance. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Are you going to say anything," Seth asked, "or just... sigh?"

Becky shook her head. "No words. I don't want to dilute it."

"Of course not." He still wasn't sure if Becky's series of videos and pictures were going to have the effect she wanted, but she had a good sense for social media trends. It also meant they were doing a lot of sightseeing, and he would never complain about that. Normally the most they saw of their host cities was airports, arenas, and hotels, so seeing ruins and gorgeous architecture was a welcome change. "Ready when you are. Three, two...."

He had to give her credit. Becky managed to convey a range of emotions with her eye movements, a simple dip of her head, the way her shoulders slumped. He wasn't sure how well it would translate with the wrestling audience, but he thought it was pretty obvious: Here I am, in a beautiful place, with delicious treats, but I can't enjoy it. In contrast to Becky's bombastic in-ring or backstage rants, this was subtle, but Seth thought it was layered with meaning—and more true to Becky herself. She waited until he lowered her phone to take another sip of her coffee, clearly savouring this one. "So what do you think?"

"I still don't fully understand your... vision," Seth began, hoping Becky didn't notice his pause, "but I think it looks good. We got some of the architecture and stuff in the background, so people will know it's obviously Italy."

Becky savoured her coffee for another moment or two before grabbing her phone. Watching her watch her own video, Seth was struck by her ability to analyze her own work. "I think it's a good start," she said at last, tapping and swiping on her screen. "I'll start with a picture first and see how it goes."

A moment later, Seth's phone buzzed and he reached for it. He had notifications set up for all Becky's posts, and he was starting to think he might have to mute her for the next week or so. My Italian vacation is RUINED!!! (I can't even enjoy this juice), the caption read, above a picture of Becky sipping at a glass of fresh juice.

"I thought starting with the coffee first might make it look like an Amo thing, you know?" Now that she had dropped the facade, Becky was enjoying her coffee fully. "I don't want people to take it the wrong way. So maybe the juice, a meal, a landmark and then coffee? Just to establish a pattern?"

Even as Seth was reading the post, the hit count was skyrocketing. Likes, reposts, replies: the number seemed to increase each time he blinked. Some of the comments weren't flattering, he guessed, but he wasn't going to scroll through to find out. "Looks like it's making an impact so far."

Becky laughed. "Is that your very polite way of saying I don't get it?"

Seth leaned over and kissed her—and swiped a macaron from her plate, but only after making sure it wasn't likely to be mint chocolate. It was red, so he figured it would be strawberry or cherry, at least. "I already told you I don't get the vision, but I trust you. You were right with the fashion angle, so I've learned to trust your intuition. How many do you want to do?" When she gave him a sharp look, he added, "I'm not complaining. I'm just asking. Who's your next feud?"