Mia Cara

Chapter 2 Volterra

Four days earlier

I hurried down the dim streets of Italy, cursing myself for staying out so late. I hadn't intended to, but I had become absorbed in sketching a particularly interesting balcony that was opposite the coffee shop I had situated myself at after dinner. Not even the sun setting had made me realize how late it was and I had sat there drawing until the shop owner came over and said in broken English that he was going to close the shop.

Now, I was ten minutes past curfew and I was going to be in serious trouble not three days into the art program. I only hoped that the fact that I was neither drunk nor high would help excuse my tardiness.

I had just turned onto a smaller, cobbled street off the main, lit street when I gasped as I tripped over the uneven ground and ran into what felt like a smooth stone wall. I knew it couldn't have actually been a wall since it had come around the corner in front of me but the force of the impact was such that it winded me and sent me stumbling back while all my books and papers fell out of my arms. My pencil case clattered open upon hitting the ground and pens and pencils rolled across the cobbled Italian street.

"Oh no!" I groaned to myself as I look down at the mess before looking up quickly as I remember the person I had bumped into. "Oh, sorry, er, um, ah, Scusa..."

I trailed off as my eyes rose to look at a rather broad chest before continuing to lift up to stare at the tall stranger I'd literally walked into. It was difficult because it was so dark and the dim streetlamp a few feet down from us wasn't really doing much to help. But from the little I could see, I could instantly tell this man - for he was indeed a man, not a boy - was absolutely gorgeous. Chiseled jaws curved up to high cheekbones and pale lips that were currently curled in a polite smile looked like they had been painted on they were so perfectly shaped despite being a little on the thin side. It was too dark for me to really see all of his face or get a good look at his eyes, but I guessed that he was anywhere between twenty-five to thirty years old and I could sense he was surprised as he looked down at me.

"The apologies are all mine, signorina."

He finally spoke, breaking the sudden and awkward silence with his smooth but faintly accented English. That was not what had me blinking rapidly though, and my heart thrummed at the heavenly chime that seemed to be layered into every syllable his soft voice uttered. I was so startled I had to scramble back down when I realized he was already bent down to gather my things for me.

'Get a grip! You'd think you were meeting the Cullens all over again.' I scolded myself while grabbing pencils haphazardly.

The thought had me pause briefly as I wondered if this man could be... but then I shook the thought out of my head. Vampires, non-vegetarian ones especially, as far as the Cullens had described were not exactly known to randomly bump into humans let alone help them. And I'd definitely gotten the sense that this man had been surprised when I'd almost run him over, which was impossible with a vampire. Not only would he have heard me from probably a mile away, he would have smelt me too.

"Thanks, but I can get that." I said quickly as the man helped me pick up my notes, drawings and pencils.

"It is the least I could do." He responded before he paused as he glanced at one of my drawings that he'd picked up. "This is very good."

My cheeks flushed at his compliment and I muttered awkwardly, "Thank you, but it's still very much a draft."

"That does not detract from the fact that you have a skilled hand."

His answer only made me blush even harder. I was eternally grateful to the darkness that hid my embarrassment; I was still very uncomfortable with people looking at my drawings. Being passionate about the subject, I was quite the critic with my own work and that often made it difficult to take compliments at face value.