Separated by the Sea

The Sweet Taste of Banana

Destiny POV
The next morning I woke up to the chiming of a text message. I picked up my phone, which was on a small table near the bed, and read with eyes half open, "Hey, I'm going to stop by in about 30 minutes. What is your room number?"

"I'm on the second floor, 240." I replied before heading to the restroom to get cleaned up. My mom was still asleep so I quietly changed my clothes in the restroom. It was early, so breakfast was still available downstairs in the lobby. After changing, I quickly ran down and grabbed a banana and a bowl of Fruit Loops before rushing back to my room, not wanting to miss Piero. I tried to eat my food fast, so Piero wouldn't catch me while I was eating, but it was impossible. I bit off a piece of banana that was too big and I accidentally swallowed it. It got stuck in the middle of my throat and I started choking, not being able to breathe. I went into a state of panic and scratched at my throat. I collapsed onto the floor with a loud thud and was about to pass out. All of the commotion must have woke my mom because she ran over to me, sat me up, and began to press on my chest. She knew what to do when someone was choking because she works at a retirement home and I guess old people choke a lot. It wasn't long before the banana came out, along with a giant pool of barf. I groaned and wiped the tears from my eyes. OMG I almost DIED. I can just picture it: GIRL CHOKES ON A BANANA AND DIES. I'd be famous!

"What the hell did you eat?!" My mom scolded me angrily. "Look at the huge mess you made!" She slid on her shoes and said, "I'm going to go down to the lobby and ask for some soap or something to clean that disgusting mess up. They better not charge me for it." She grabbed a room key before leaving and slammed the door behind her.

After she left, I went back to the restroom to brush my teeth. While brushing, I looked into the mirror and saw that there was barf covering the front of my shirt. I gasped in horror and ran to my suitcase. I only packed clothes for three days, and I had already worn all my nice shirts. All that was left was an old grey t-shirt. It was extremely hideous, but at least it wasn't covered in last night's dinner and an evil banana. I growled in frustration and slid off my dirty shirt, careful not to get any barf in my hair or on my face.

I tossed the dirty shirt into the trash and was thankful that it wasn't my favorite shirt. As I put on the ugliest shirt in the history of the world, my mom came in followed by a short Mexican lady. My mom showed her my puddle of glory and the lady grimaced. She cursed in Spanish and it ended in "gringas." Whatever that means. She left the room and quickly returned with a bucket of soap and water and her hands were covered with blue latex gloves. She kneeled on the carpet near the puddle and began to scrub violently, the whole time muttering to herself angrily. I scowled in disgust and was glad that I wasn't the one cleaning up the mess. Thank God for Mexicans. After she scrubbed the carpet clean, she told my mom with an accent,

"Do you need anything else?"

My mom replied, "No that's it. Thank you." She was so nice to everyone but me. Ever since my dad died she blamed all of her problems on me and claimed that I was the reason for my dad's death. He died in a car accident while driving me to the DMV to get my drivers license. Unfortunately, I survived and had to deal with the wrath of my mother and she still refuses to let me get my license. The only reason she brought me to the concert is because I promised to never ask her for anything ever again.

The Mexican lady grabbed all of her cleaning supplies and left the room. After few minutes after she left, I was going to text Piero asking him how much longer it would take him to get here, but a knock on the door stopped me.

I went over to the door and opened it. Piero was standing there, gorgeous as usual, but he must have thought otherwise about me because he gave me a "what the heck are you wearing?" look.

"It's ugly, I know. I look like a hobo. I didn't expect my trip to be this long, so I didn't pack as much clothes. And I kinda barfed all over the one I was wearing earlier."

"I see you're not having the best day so far," he grimaced, still looking at my hideous shirt.

"Stop looking at it!" I yelled in annoyance.

He quickly looked away from it and said, "I got to leave, but I just wanted to get your email first because I don't think you can call me from all the way over here."

"Ok, I'll write it on a note. Do you have an app for that on your phone? You might lose it if it's on a piece of paper."

I don't think he understood what I was asking for. "Sorry, I'm not the best at explaining things, I'll just show you." I ran to get my phone and unlocked the password. I searched for the app and showed Piero. He nodded in understanding and then raised his eyebrows.

"You have a picture of me as your wallpaper?"

I quickly pulled my phone away and tried to come up with an explanation, but I couldn't. "Just give me your phone," I told him annoyed. He smiled and handed me his phone. I searched for the app and typed my email into it. I gave him his phone back and a triumphant grin slowly spread across his face. "What?" I asked. He did a little dance and I began to laugh.

"I know your name now!"

That's when realization hit me. My name was in my email. I groaned and whined, "That's not fair! You tricked me!"

"Yes I did, Destiny." I loved the wat he said my name with that sexy Sicilian accent.

"Before I go, I just wanted to remind you, I'll be back in about a week. I'll email you the exact date."

"What if my mom doesn't want to go?"

"Let's ask her right now."

"She's in the shower and she'll probably be in there for another hour."

"Dez, who's at the door?" My mom asked while exiting the restroom with her hair tied up in a towel. Her eyes widened in excitement and she ran over to Piero, giving him a bone crushing hug. Piero grimaced, but quickly put on a smile when she pulled back.

"What brings you over handsome?"

"I'm here to see if you and your daughter would like to visit Italy. I will fund the whole trip."

"Of course we would!" My mom quickly replied.

"Ok, it's settled then. I'll email Dez about the details. Pack clothes for two weeks."

I narrowed my eyes at Piero while my mom ran into the room filled with excitement.

"Well that was easy," Piero stated. "What's wrong," he asked looking at my expression.

"Nothing. I'll see you then," I said while closing the door. He put a hand on the door to keep it from closing and asked, "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure." I stepped out of my room into the hall and left the door and cracked open so I wouldn't get locked out.

"I can't wait for you to be locked on my house for two weeks. It's going to be so much fun." He then leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Do you want to retry that kiss?" I did, but I was terrified. I was about to decline, but his lips were already on mine. This time I didn't pull back, but instead welcomed him and wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips were so soft and tasted like... cherry?

"Why do you taste like cherry?" I asked before I could realize what I said. "Ugh. Why did I just say that?" I muttered to myself.

He laughed and explained, "My lips balm is cherry."

He quickly kissed me on the cheek before saying, "I got to go. The guys are waiting for me in the car."

"Have a safe trip," I called as he neared the stairs. After he left, I scolded myself for telling Piero he tasted like cherry, before going back into my room.

Piero's POV
I quickly jogged to the car and got into the passenger seat.

"What took you so long?" Gianluca complained from the back seat.

"I just had to take care of some things."

"You mean you had to give her a goodbye kiss?" Ignazio teased with a sly smile.

I rolled my eyes and told Ignazio, "Just go already. Why are we still here?"

Ignazio started the car and we began our semi-long drive to the airport. Time to go home.