One day in Florence
The market was a bustling hive of activity everywhere you looked. She loved the aromas around her, freshly cut flowers, vegetable stands, cooked meats, fish, baked cakes, sellers talking to their clients, coffee aromas filling the air, laughter, good-natured jokes amongst the sellers and clients, music coming from the central stage in the square where a band was playing live.
People busying themselves with life, buying, selling or just looking, books, hand-made wooden furniture items, wicker chairs, tables, shelves, paintings, old vinyl records, everything. She loved it.
The city filled her with its energy, vibrant and rich with life and laughter. She walked through the market, saying hello-back, to people she did not even know. Everyone was friendly.
She laughed with the florist who offered her a daisy she graciously took and placed behind her ear.
"Bella signora, la luce nei tuoi occhi e il tuo sorriso splendido hanno illuminato la mia giornata," he said in Italian. She smiled and waved him goodbye. No idea what the man had said to her, but it sounded nice and flattering.
She reached a café and walked through the wicker tables and chairs, flowery in their design she picked one towards the side of the terrace.
The waiter, a young handsome man, very polite in his manners took her order and left, only to return a few minutes later holding a tray from which he elegantly deposited a cappuccino and a glass of water in front of her.
She took a book out of her handbag and started reading, enjoying the relaxed holiday atmosphere all around her.
Children, in full view of their parents, playing, running freely and uninhibited, chasing pigeons, unsettling the birds' promenade between the chairs making them fly up into the air only to come down again, feet away from the little terrors.
She chuckled as she watched.
Mixed languages, laughter, mothers admonishing their children, fathers responding calmly, no doubt reassuring their wives while reading their papers undisturbed and clearly used to the domestic chaos.
She took all that in, breathing deeply and inhaling the sweetness of the air.
Her eyes returned to her book and let herself immersed into the stream of words that submersed her into another world. A world from a different time and culture, with struggling characters battling to rise above hardship and fighting for love and freedom.
Lost in her book, she did not notice the man coming towards her table. He cleared his throat as to attract her attention.
She raised her head at the man standing in her light. She studied his face, taking in his features, piercing blue eyes, elegantly poised, a crooked smile on his lips, no doubt harbouring intentions towards the flattery start of a conversation that she did not wish to have.
"I am sorry to disturb you from your reading, my beautiful lady, but the wind took an important note from me and stashed it under your chair..."
She looked to check and indeed there was a small bit of loose paper underneath her chair, she picked it up. "There you go, sir." She said handing him the note her eyes returning to her book.
"May I buy you another cup of coffee seeing that I have disturbed your reading, as a gesture of my extended apologies?"
She looked up again, slightly irritated by his presence. She knew she was beautiful by all standards, her slim toned body attracted the eyes of men all the time. But her time was her own and her choice was her own, and she did not feel compelled to enter any conversations even when the others assumed, and very wrongly so that she would respond in kind because the unwritten rules of politeness said so. His body language told her he gets a lot of attention because he was pleasant to the eye and smoothed-talked himself into conversations.
"No, thank you, I have no wish for another cup of coffee, please return to your table so I can enjoy the rest of my afternoon. I mean no offence."
She saw his face lit up and a mischievous smile showing perfect teeth.
He bowed slightly from the middle taking an imaginary hat off in front of her. "Your wish is my command, my lady. Apologies, again for my intrusion. I consider myself properly scolded for imposing too long on your patience. I wish you a pleasant afternoon."
She watched him go, feeling a pang of guilt. He had been nothing but polite, however, she would not allow herself to psychoanalyze too much into the matter, that was her therapists' job.
Returning to her book, she read one more chapter, finished her drink, placed five euros on the table and left the café.
As she headed out, she put her book into her large flowery pink bag, sunglasses on, and walked anonymously through the alembicated streets of this utterly irresistible and romantic city.
She watched tourists taking pictures, friends hugging, lovers holding hands, Italian men turning heads after beautiful sensual movement of hips, all off this amusing her to no end.
She considered herself a sort of voyeur, and she liked nothing more than to sit in a quiet corner and watch the world go by.
***
The restaurant she picked was in Oltrarno, the modern side of the city, the candlelight type of dining, vaulted, with medieval heavy wooden chairs and tables, a soft Florentine music played in the background carefully tuned to relax but not stop conversations at the tables. Her spirit felt joyous from listening to the perky lithe verses and let herself carried by the strings of the instrument reaching deep into her soul.
For starter, she ordered mushroom risotto accompanied by a light creamy chardonnay. As she lifted her eyes, she noticed the stranger from the café sitting at a table close to hers, studying the menu and consulting with the waiter. His head nodded elegantly as if taking advice. She gathered her thoughts considering the best course of action. Had he followed her here? Was it purely by chance?
She picked her glass of wine and raised from her seat, one hand straightened her dress as if brushing an invisible crease. Maintaining eye contact with him, she walked slowly to his table.
He looked up and smiled. As the gentleman he was, he stood. The same annoyingly cocky smile from earlier this afternoon. "My fair lady, what an unexpected pleasure to gaze upon your beauty again."
She smiled back. "Sir, I do hope this is a chance encounter and not stalking. Please, excuse my perverse thinking."
He laughed and pointed to the table. "Will you join me, ma'am? I dine alone, you dine alone, I promise to be on my best behaviour and not inquire anything of personal nature."
She nodded, keeping the same cordial smile. "I think I will, sir."
They studied each other curiously. She sipped her wine. The waiter came to ask if she would like her second course served at this table. Yes, she would like that, thank you.
"So," he said after the waiter departed from their table, "Florence... How do you enjoy the city so far?"
"It's beautiful. I have been here before though, is this your first time here?"
He nodded. "Yes, I came here on business. My name is Elias by the way. You may keep your name to yourself, my lady."
"I think, I will sir."
"On a second thought, I think I would like to give you a name in my head, a name that I think suits your beauty and the mystery that surrounds you."
She could not help herself to laugh. "All right then, what is my name?"
"Mm..." he looks at her giving himself a reason to study her face in detail. "Let's see, beautiful large brown eyes, auburn hair, pale complexion, so, not very Latina... sensual lips and hips to ensure a raging hard-on to a pour soul finding himself at your feet in prostrate admiration... I would say you are of mixed origin, therefore, an exotic name."
She laughed again. "You are funny."
"I think I would like to call you Catherine. A little English in your ways, possibly of French descend, not Asian or American."
"I like it, it is a good a name."
Their conversation halted as the second course arrived at the table. They sipped more wine. He looked at her plate and nodded appreciatively.
"Caserruola alla Fiorentin'a" she recited the name of her dish. "I like pasta. Cliché?"
"Oh, not at all. Mine is a bisteca and a fairly rare one," he said cutting his steak and eating with obvious pleasure.
"I must say, Elias, I rather enjoy your company and must apologize for my earlier behaviour," she said quietly. "It is true that I don't like drawing too much attention, I keep to myself a lot..." she finished, looking down at her plate.
"If I looked the way you do, I would probably consider very carefully whom I meet too." His face looked serious.
It gave her the impression he knew what he was talking about. "Privacy, in this day and age is hard to achieve."
They finished their second course making light conversation. She gave a pass to dessert, and so did he.
He insisted on paying the bill and walked together out into the city. He stopped outside the restaurant and looking thoughtful, said "I hope you will not think of me too insisting, but would you care for a walk? I rather enjoy this evening and for reasons entirely selfish I do not wish it to end?"
She smiled and surprising herself she took his hand. "I have a better idea, let us pretend that we are lovers on a romantic walk. This way we will not feel like two embarrassed teenagers."
"Are you by any chance the same woman I met at the café?"
"It must be the wine," she joked.
"It must be."
They walked and talked, he told her about his family and his upbringing, she listened and at intervals she asked questions.
"My brother could not take over the family business, he is sort of an artist or that is how he likes to call himself. He has not produced anything artistry yet... but you get the gist. My mother, she forgives him everything, whereas I had to take the responsibility of running the business after my fathers' passing."
"Do you ever feel that you lost years of your life fulfilling family obligations?" she asked lightly as to not disturb the course of conversation. They stopped in front of a basilica and admired quietly the architecture.
"Maybe,... I have never taken much time to consider my feelings but I do know that something is missing in my life. I did not get a chance of starting a family. It somehow changed me, having to grow up fast, always a deadline, finish university, take over the family business, working hard at making an impression, no time for a private life... it all feels like I have been running and running but running towards what?"
"I feel the same," she said quietly. "My father, he was a businessman. Always traveling, never having enough time for me, always changing schools and countries, never staying in one place for too long, never making friends. Then I became too pretty, father became over-protective, hired me security, always following me around, never alone..."
