NOT GIVING UP ON FOREVER

Chapter 23

It was a real summer heat. The entire company, breathing heavily, wandered along the beach, searching for a saving canopy of some inexpensive cafe where you could buy ice cream or cold soda.

"Will he call anytime soon?" asked Bernardo irritably, exhausted from the heat.

"Shut up, Bernie, you don't have to be part of this trip at all unless you want to hold the candles when we..."

"Randall, how about this place?" Anna was happy to change the subject, seeing a cheap coffee shop ahead. "Let's see the menu prices?"

Randall was annoyed. They wasted three hours hanging on the Ligurian coast near Genoa, and his friend didn't call. On top of that, his phone was no longer available. Randall kept dialing the number that sent him straight to voice mail. His shirt was wet with sweat. He felt tired and angry.

"Randall," Anna called again. "Let's go to a café."

"What? Huh? No, Anna. We'll come there later. I need to reach Archie."

Bernardo cursed and separated himself from them. He lay down on the sand, ignoring the scorching sun and the hum of sunbathing tourists.

"Your Archie is the donkey, just like your under-mayor Pitti! And actually, you are as well!" he shouted to Randall, who pivoted and walked in his direction, clearly with the intention of physical violence.

"The only donkey here is you!" Randall cried out and fell on top of his friend.

"Randall!" Anna squealed and ran to separate them. "Randall, stop it. What kind of idiocy is that! He is not to blame! Enough!"

A pair of huge bodybuilders in bathing shorts in one movement separated two skinny guys fighting in a minute. Everywhere there was laughter and whispering. Randall and Bernardo tried in vain to continue the fight, but the goons threw them far apart, confirming that they were both indeed donkeys. Anna was full of thanks for the help, and then she ran to Randall and attacked him now with her fists.

"What's wrong with you!" screamed the girl, trying to return the blows to the guy's common sense. "Why do you always transmit your problems to others! Bernardo didn't deserve this. It's not his fault that your so-called friend turned off his phone and ignored you!"

"I know." Randall was breathing heavily. He looked toward his friend, who was standing in a group of some guys, probably explaining what had happened.

"Why don't we just go home? What's the point of hanging around the beach waiting for Archie? Maybe he won't call you back at all. Are we just going to stroll all day?"

"He'll answer. You just have to wait. He..."

"Delirium, Randall! I'm tired and hungry. I don't want to go to any villa anymore. I want to eat quietly and go to bed. This heat is simply unbearable. I don't understand why we've been walking around this beach with our luggage for hours!"

"We can't go home, Anna!" Randall bawled. "Okay?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's rented out. I needed the money to entertain you."

Anna was stunned by his manner of communication.

"Entertain me? Thank you very much, indeed."

Randall sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "Sorry, I didn't mean that."

"I think that's exactly what you meant."

"No. Listen. I thought the timing was perfect. While we are in the mountains, there are tourists from the 'Host Association' at my house. You remember that this is my buddy's house, and we would split the bill as we are all in one game. Archie promised to rent me his villa for a while. I don't understand what happened that he suddenly turned off the phone. I thought I'd give you a nice vacation at the bounty place."

"So there's no 'looking after the nest'..."

"Not exactly. Looking after, but for a fee. If you know what I mean."

Anna weighed down on the suitcase. She felt weary.

"What are we gonna do now?"

"I don't know," Randall confessed.

"Ah... Why cannot we..." Anna hesitated. "Why can't we go to your house? Not to a friend's, but yours? You have your place to live, right?"

Randall smiled.

"My house is very far away, Anna. I'm not from Italy. I'm just studying and working here. I'm Austrian."

"What?" Anna even got up from astonishment. Never had the question of his residency even flashed the girl. For some reason, she was sure that he was Italian.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Randall laughed. "Disappointed?"

"No. I just wasn't expecting it," she confessed.

Bernardo approached them. There was no trace of anger on his face. He put his arm around Anna and asked:

"What's decided?"

Randall rose and shook off the sand from his jeans.

"I don't know, Bernie," he hissed.

"I see. I'll be back." And Bernardo hastily withdrew, on the move dialing someone's phone number.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I know it's all a mess, and you're tired and hungry. Here you go. It's the last of the cash that remained. I'll find more later. Go to the cafe, buy something there."

"And you?" Anna took the money hesitantly.

"I'll wait right here. I'm dizzy," Randall replied calmly, kissing her hand.

She sighed and went to the coffee shop. It would be a hard day.