Dawn in Florence[ Sample] now available on Amazon

Chapter 1: End of the storm

"Wow, what an alluring beauty!"

I opened the window with the hope of sunshine and the mesmerizing view of the sun slowly rising over the lavender Aegean Sea took my breath away. I arrived in Santorini, the Greek Island with sheer beauty the day before yesterday. But due to heavy storms and continuous rain, I couldn't even step out of my room yesterday. Finally, the gleams of sunshine this morning proclaimed the end of that storm. I didn't imagine visiting this blue and white Island of Greece before bidding adieu to Florence, but a special friend of mine planned this solo trip for me as a farewell gift, and I am truly grateful to him for that. I wish Siddharth were here, his existence makes every moment so special and beautiful for me. But the truth is, some people can live in our hearts but not in our lives and the courageous step is to accept this truth and follow our own paths.

                                                                                  ......................

Before you get curious about my identity, let me introduce myself. I am Leena Shenoy, a 37 years old single divorced mother of two adorable kids - three years old Kaira and six years old Ansh and by profession, I am a civil engineer currently working in a multinational architecture firm. After my divorce from Ranveer, I had to fight a long battle for the custody of my kids but by God's grace, I won it. The decision of being a single mother was one of the biggest decisions of my life and I always fall short of words to thank my parents for supporting me throughout. I have never regretted my decision as I know I did the right thing. But, the life of a single divorced mother has never been easy for me, especially since the first year was very challenging and depressing. But I never gave up and all these experiences and lessons in life shaped me into a woman who is strong and independent.

When I got an offer for a six months long onsite opportunity in Florence, I rejected it at first. I couldn't even think of staying away from Kaira and Ansh for six months. But the project La'Bella was a big catch for my employer Welon Architecture and I knew, if I could manage this project successfully, it would act as the direct ticket to my next promotion. La'Bella is a commercial tower project for an Italian real estate company named La'Xoriental. Before making the contract for La'Bella with my employer, La'Xoriental had asked for a sample POC and I got the opportunity to design it. Luckily, La'Xoriental loved my designs and signed a contract with Welon Architecture for their next big project. Satisfied with my work, my employer offered me the opportunity to lead La'Bella. But I was also told that I would have to fly to Florence to avail of this opportunity as the La'Bella team was expected to work from the Florence office. Living away from my kids for six months was no less than a scary nightmare and therefore, I rejected it. But my boss convinced me somehow to accept this offer by repeating again and again how this could help me in my next promotion. I had been working hard for that promotion since long, as managing the education and all other expenses of two kids in an expensive city like Mumbai with my current salary was not easy at all. Therefore, just like an optionless money-making machine, I decided to grab this opportunity and flew to Florence leaving my kids in Mumbai with their grandparents.

During the first few days in Florence, I was so shattered and sad that nothing could cheer me up, neither this beautiful medieval city with mesmerizing architectures all around nor the beauty of river Arno with colorful picturesque houses on its bank. All I wanted was to complete this project successfully as soon as possible and return home.

I started counting days from the first day itself but never knew that destiny had some different plan for me. When I was about to complete one month in this foreign land, I met someone and his entry in my life changed my Italy diary to a Bollywood style love story. He is neither a hero nor a soulmate, but in the life story of Leena Shenoy, he will remain special, always and forever.