Authors: Lily Zante
Her excitement at looking around Montova
disappeared again as she looked at his watch. Once again she eyed him
suspiciously.
“Come? Where?” Her tone had lost some of its
earlier exuberance.
“To find products that your customers back in America are sure to love. Here in Montova are manufacturers and suppliers that produce some
of the finest products. I am certain you will find things here to sell over in America in your store, that nobody sells over there.”
“If you insist,” said Ava, walking slowly by his
side. Something was bothering her and she couldn’t keep it under wraps any longer.
“What are you here for Nico? What meeting could a
hotel driver have to make on a trip forty minutes away from his hotel?” She
could see that the question bothered him and watched his jaw twitch again. It
was a sure sign that something was up. She carried on, “I mean, your boss must
be a lenient man to allow you the luxury of travelling around all over the
place and doing as you please.”
Nico’s eyes narrowed and his face lost a little of
its former exuberance. “Is that what you think I’m doing – whatever I please?”
“Aren’t you?” replied Ava, then wished she hadn’t
started this conversation. She was beginning to feel foolish. Here he was being
kind and doing things that might benefit her and here she was, questioning his
every motive. Had she been like this with Connor?
Ignoring her direct question, Nico replied, “My
boss is a good man, for sure.” But he didn’t elaborate further. “Shall we go?”
he asked, taking her gently by the arm and almost leading her onwards.
She followed him reluctantly, knowing that he was
not being honest with her. Yet he seemed too excited and so eager to make this
a good day for her that she was torn. Torn between wondering what secrets he
was hiding and why, yet at the same time unable to contain the delicious
feeling of anticipation welling up inside her at the thought of being with him.
Nico seemed to be in a rush and Ava knew he had an
11 o’clock meeting and yet it was still only ten o’clock. He walked along narrow,
cobbled streets. The town was busy, buzzing with people. It was a manufacturing
epicenter. Nico pointed out lots of different factories and large stores along
the way as they walked.
Ava stared at a large warehouse across the street
that caught her eye. It was the lime, purple and yellow shop front that attracted
her attention at first. The simple sign said,
Andrea’s Home Supplies and
Furnishings.
“You like that?” asked Nico, coming to stop by her
side and following her gaze. “I know the owners there and I’m sure if you find
something you need, we might be able to get you a better deal.”
She could feel his presence so strongly beside her.
They were standing on the pavement, staring at the shop front ahead of
them. Yet Ava’s mind was a turmoil of emotions. Everything had turned
confusing all of a sudden. She was starting to find that Nico had this effect
on her more at time went by. She had preferred it better when she had been an
arrogant hotel guest who had believed him to be nothing more than a sullen
hotel driver. Now, she was starting to feel giddy and self conscious around
him. Knowing her feelings intuitively, Ava knew this could only mean one thing:
that she was attracted to him but her circumstances, and his behavior, for she
was sure he was lying to her, made her at once dubious and untrusting of him.
“Hey,” he said turning to her when she had been
quiet for more than a few minutes. His fingers lightly brushed hers. “What’s
the matter Ava?” His touch startled her out of her reverie and she moved her
hand away, holding onto her bag tightly for fear he might find it again. She
shifted her gaze from the shop front to his handsome face and searched his
expression for clues as to what was hidden beneath.
“Nothing’s the matter,” she lied, resting her free
hand into her front jean pocket.
“I think you will find a lot of things here for
your business. I want you to make the most of it Ava. You did say this was a
working holiday for you. No?” He tried to cheer her up but Ava felt more alone
and forlorn than ever. She couldn’t explain the feelings that were stirring
inside her. And she wasn’t sure if she was meant to feel guilty for feeling
them or not.
“Why do you care so much about my business?” she
asked, turning away from him and stepping down onto the cobbled street. She
didn’t look behind to see if he was coming. She started walking slowly towards
the warehouse she had been staring at. Yet two large strides was all it took
for Nico to overtake her and to stand before her, blocking her right of way.
This time his face was sad and he was quieter than
his earlier exuberant self. “I don’t mean to upset you but I can see that I
have. I’m sorry, even though I don’t know what I’ve done.”
Ava groaned. Now he was being too damn nice. It
wasn’t fair. He was always too damn nice. He took her everywhere and she knew
he could have any woman he wanted and yet he seemed hell-bent on making sure he
was at her beck and call. And she was nobody to him. So why did he care so
much?
“Stop apologizing Nico. You’re always so
apologetic and kind and gentle around me. Why?”
He stared back at her and she felt that there was
something he wanted to say, as if it was almost on the tip of his tongue, but
he stopped himself from saying it. “You are a good woman. You are a guest at
our hotel. I want you to enjoy your visit. Does it have to mean any more than
that?”
Ava cocked her head. No, there was more to his
behavior than this. She’d been to Italy before and nowhere on any of her
travels did any hostel or hotel owners ever go out of their way as much as this
man had. She looked at him guardedly.
“There
is
something you are hiding from me
Nico. I don’t know what, but I know there is something.” She challenged him but
he shrugged his shoulders, placing his arms by his sides. He was heart
stoppingly good looking and as much as she wanted to right now, she couldn’t
look away. Even as they stood face to face in the middle of the street, she
could see that he drew looks from other women as they walked past.
One woman in particular was heading towards him;
she was a petite, thin woman with a lush mane of almost black hair carelessly
pulled back into a ponytail. She walked quickly towards them and since Nico had
his back turned, he didn’t see her coming.
“Nico!” she cried happily, when she was almost
upon him. No sooner had she spoken his name than Nico turned around and gave
her a big hug. “Andrea. We were just talking about you,” he said
affectionately.
The
woman turned towards Ava with a smile and her hand outstretched. “Only good
things I hope,” she said, shaking Ava’s hand.
“Naturally,” replied Nico good naturedly, “Are
there ever any bad things to say about you?” Then turning to Ava, “Ava, this is
the owner of the warehouse. This is Andrea.”
“Aaaaah,” said Ava, returning the woman’s warm
smile.
“Some shopping for you? For the baby?” Andrea
asked, innocently enough.
Nico
scowled and barely managed a “No,” and Ava noted that he seemed almost
apologetic in his reply.
Ava took rein of the conversation. “I’m looking
for some new products to sell. I run an online store for babies and
children and I’m looking for new and exciting things from Italy – my American customers always want new things. Nico tells me that you have some beautiful
things.”
“He’s most certainly right. I do, come I’ll show
you.” She gestured for Ava to follow her.
“Will you be alright Ava?” Nico asked, running his
hands through his rich black hair. Ava glanced over at Andrea and then at Nico.
“I’ll be fine Nico. Good luck with your meeting.” It struck her that he had
been so concerned for her and her business, that he wasn’t at all worried about
his own meeting.
“I hope you will like the things I have,” said
Andrea excitedly as they walked the few yards down the street and headed into
her shop.
“I really like your shop front, especially the
bright colors,” said Ava, looking around her at the vast open showroom in front
of her. “I think I’m going to love your products!” she said walking quickly to
a corner that had already caught her attention.
It was a display of baby cribs. Her customers
loved these and had asked for so many bespoke types of cribs. She never found
ones she thought were good enough. Until now.
An
hour later, Nico walked out of the furnishings factory with the smug look of
satisfaction of a man who had successfully negotiated a better deal for
himself.
He
had ordered thicker and more luxuriant towels and 1500 thread count Egyptian
cotton sheets as well as high quality napkins and tableware for the Casa
Adriana. This meeting had been long overdue because he wanted to change all the
hotel bed linen, towels and robes to a more expensive brand. Ordinarily
Alphonso, the hotel manager, could have overseen this meeting but Nico didn’t
feel he could trust the man to do anything well lately. And Alphonso was still
off sick.
No
doubt his father would see this as yet another one of Nico’s new fangled ideas
but Nico believed that although these things were costly, they mattered. There
were the types of finer details that customers noticed. Those who paid
good money expected the very best.
He
had recently read a few online reviews of the Casa Adriana and all the comments
had been positive. People only made their views known when they were extremely
unhappy or extremely pleased with a service and luckily for him the Casa
Adriana was getting five star reviews for all the right reasons. He knew
he was onto something and knew he was doing the right thing with moving the
hotel forward. Yet at the same time he knew this was going against his fathers
business ideals. His father believed in squeezing out more profits by spending
as less as possible. Nico believed in getting the very best and going all out
on service, catering to the smallest of details. He believed this would draw
visitors back again and again. He knew this would work. He just hoped he had
enough time to prove it to his father.
He
turned his wrist and looked at his watch. It was just after noon. Time to head
back. As he walked out of the factory and along the street leading to Andrea’s
warehouse, Nico felt good. He saw Ava coming out of the warehouse then saw her
head back into it again; she was talking to Andrea in that animated way of
hers. He could only guess she had found something she liked for she was
gesticulating wildly, unable to keep her arms and hands from moving wildly.
He
leant against the brick wall of the pet warehouse, watching her from a
distance. Deep within him, he felt the mild stirrings of eager anticipation,
knowing he was waiting for her and that she would be over in a little while. He
liked the idea of that. Then with a jolt he remembered the morning and
how tense she had been. Something had made her tetchy and short-tempered. It
was almost as if she had been angry about something. Surely it wasn’t because
of him? He racked his mind, tracing back their conversation earlier and
wondered if he had said anything accidentally that might have caused her any
distress. But he couldn’t think of anything. Or maybe he had been too
nice to her? Too over the top? Or perhaps it was just her having another bad
day and still learning to come to terms with her grief.
As much as he found himself looking forward to
seeing her, for now he acknowledged that this was the case indeed, Nico knew
that Ava’s time in Verona was fast coming to an end.
Although it had been hard to hold back, he had
never overstepped his boundary. She was a widow and he respected the fact
that he needed to remain distant, no matter how attractive he found her. But it
pained him to see such a young and beautiful woman struck down by tragedy. Not
that Ava looked to him as someone who was displaying the classic symptoms of
grief.
He hoped she would find someone who would show her
love again.
And for himself, he hoped he would meet someone
like Ava; someone unassuming and interested in him as a person and not his
money or background.
He had found that in Ava but it could never be
anything more.
And now, the more he thought about it, the more he
realised that she had seen through his mask. She had started to suspect that he
was not just a hotel driver. She had known enough about him. He looked up
to see Ava walking towards him. The sunlight shimmered on her dark brown hair,
coating it with a veil of deep gold. He waited, poised, searching her face for
signs of unease, trying to second guess her mood. But she was smiling at him as
she walked towards him. He lent away from the brick wall and started walking
towards her, his eyes never once leaving her face.
It was at this moment that Nico decided he would
take her to Montagnano, the village where he had lived with his mother and
grandmother. For all of a sudden he felt the need to show her this place that
was so very dear to him; he had a feeling she would appreciate it.
“Did you see anything you liked?” he asked trying
to put on a more business like face. He noticed that the color of her eyes was
ever changing and now they were the lightest blue.