I was sitting at a table in Italy, drinking coffee and reading my book. The weather was perfect for the first time in two weeks. Before, it had been so hot, you just wanted to stay inside with the air conditioning on full blast. Today was different, the sky was blue and there was a light breeze. The temperature was around 23°c. It was a perfect day.
I flipped the page and looked up when I heard children laugh. I smiled at them jumping ropes and playing tag.
As I looked back down at my book, I noticed a woman sitting a few tables away from me. I looked back up, and at her. She looked back at me so I quickly turned back to my book. "Fuck", I whispered to myself.
I looked at her from the corner of my eye and saw her smiling. I chuckled to myself and started reading the next page in my book.
Three pages later, the woman got up and left. I closed my book and laid some cash on the table. I got up and followed her as I put my book in my bag. She turned around a corner and went inside this little bakery.
I waited around the corner until she came back out.
She walked up a hill and through a park. I just walked a few meters behind her, trying not to stand out so much.
A while later we got to the really old part of town. She just walked through the small streets, like she had nowhere to be anytime soon.
She walked around a corner. I waited for a few seconds and walked around the same corner when I didn't see her. I had lost her. I sighed and looked around me. "Where even am I?", I thought to myself. I kept walking when someone popped out from behind a wall.
"You're following me", she said. It was the girl. "Oh, I uh.. No..", I tried. She smiled. "Why?" I shrugged my shoulders. "It's better if I don't say anything. It'll all just sound stupid. I'm sorry to bother you", I said. "Wait", she said as I walked past her. I turned around.
"I want to know", she said. I chuckled. "Okay, well.. I saw you at the cafe and I thought you were cute.. and I wanted to get to know you, I think", I said. "You think? You want to know someone or you don't." I smiled. "I do." She nodded and reached out her hand for me to shake it. "I'm Martina." I shook her hand. "I'm Hailey", I said. "American?" I nodded.
"Let's go for a walk", she said. "Uh, sure." I followed her.
"So, American Hailey, what brings you here?", she asked. "I'm traveling. I've been here for two weeks now, and I'm off to France next week", I said. She nodded. "So you wanted to get to know me, just so you can leave me for some French girl", she said. "No.. no, that wasn't my intention at all.." She chuckled. "I'm joking. I thought you Americans liked jokes." I nodded. "We do, but sometimes I can't tell when someone's joking." She smiled.
We talked about our hobbies, our favorite foods, our jobs and more.
"So now you know me", she said when we got to a cafe. I nodded. "Is that really all?", I asked. She shrugged her shoulder. "Maybe if you buy me a coffee, and ask the right questions, you'll find out more", she said. I smiled and nodded.
We sat down at a table outside and I ordered two espressos.
"Give me a second to come up with some good questions", I said. She nodded before she took a sip of her espresso.
"What movie made you cry the most?", I asked. Without thinking she answered "Hachi: a dog's tale". "Come on, is that all you got?", she asked. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"Worst breakup?", I asked wanting to find out if she had dated girls before. "Hmm, I've had two pretty bad breakups. I don't know which one is the worst." "Tell me about both", I said. She nodded. "Sure." She put her espresso down on the table.
"The first one was when I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me and he blamed it all on me", she said. "Boyfriend", I thought to myself. "That's just cruel. What about the second?", I asked before taking a sip from my espresso.
"She fell in love with someone else and just decided to not talk to me for days. After asking multiple times, she finally came clean after the 8th time I asked." I looked up at her. "She?" She nodded. "Yeah, a girl. I'm bisexual. I thought you figured that out already", she said. I shook my head. "I'm not that good at seeing who's gay or not. I don't think the gay gods gave me a gaydar", I said. She laughed. "Cute and funny." I felt myself blushing.
After talking for what seemed like hours, we took a walk along the river.
"So, when will I see you again?", she asked. "Do you want to?" She smiled and nodded. "Definitely." "I'll be here for another week." She looked down at the ground. "What about after that?", she asked. "Well, if you want to keep seeing me after this week, we could figure something out", I said. "Like what?" "Well, I could come back after I finish my trip. Or I could stay a little longer. Or you could come with me", I said. She nodded. "That'll be nice." I smiled at her.
I searched for her hand and intertwined our fingers. She looked down at our hands and back up at me. "Sorry, is that too much?", I asked letting go. She shook her head and grabbed my hand. I smiled.
She stopped me and pulled me towards her. I felt my heart racing. She pressed her lips on mine. They tasted like fruity chapstick and coffee. She pulled back and looked at me. "Sorry, was that too much?", she asked. I shook my head and placed my lips back on hers.
