La Serenissima

Not A Date

Have you ever had that one friend who you keep running into not on purpose but by total accident and yet you don't really mind? Ally was certain that fate had something to do with her doing just that with Austin. By the university, by random bridges, by the ferry to the mainland...everywhere she turned lately, he was there too. But she didn't mind...not one bit. If she had to run into anyone, she'd definitely like it to be him and this was Venice. You were bound to run into the same person over and over again over the course of one day. Especially if you were always around the same places at the same times.

It had only been a week since officially meeting Austin, the musician who she hadn't known about before that day. After leaving Santoli's later that night, Ally had quickly searched him on her computer after getting his full name from Suzetta. She knew that she knew him from somewhere, but from her nose being stuck inside books for the past two years, she couldn't even tell you what Julia Roberts looked like anymore, let alone who Austin Moon, a very hot up and coming musician who was said to be the answer to all our rock n' roll prayers, and what tweens dreams are made of, was. Ally laughed at the last review she read before going to bed last night and even listened to some of his hits. The reviews were right. It was all sugary pop and meant for the ears of tweens. But that being said, it was the type of music she would be all into if she was still that age; and in all honesty, she had to admit that "Who U R" was still stuck in her head.

Ally slowed down her run as she rounded Piazza San Marco, bouncing up and down to keep her heart rate up as she spotted him at the ever popular Cafe Florian, which had some of the best coffee in the world. He was alone, with headphones on his ears, sheet music spread over a tiny table and a little crowd of teenagers standing just ahead of him. Ally watched them glance back and forth, fiddling with little sheets of paper and camera phones and then watched him, trying to drown himself in the music even though she saw him notice the girls.

Zipping up her hoodie over her cold run pullover, Ally pulled her own headphones out of her ears and headed straight to him, ignoring the protests of the host about waiting her turn. "Sono con qualcuno! Lui e proprio li," she argued right back, not caring about her appearance for the cafe, or him. She didn't even care about the sweat dripping down her brow. She pulled out the spare chair and sat down, even though she knew it was going to screw up her heart rate immediately.

"Hi," Austin did a double take at her. "Hi." This time a smile emerging on his face as he pulled his headphones down.

"Thanks for saving me a seat, honey," Ally said a little bit louder to sell the sight to the group of girls. "What did you order?" She eyed him, trying to get him to play the part so he wouldn't be bothered by the fans and he could get back to his music.

Austin glanced up ahead at the fans, who were starting to put their sheets of paper away. "Oh, I ordered the usual," he told her in his normal voice before he leaned forward and started to whisper instead. "You didn't have to do that. I actually like my fans."

"I can get them back, if you want." Ally suddenly felt horrible. He liked his fans - of course he liked his fans. He seemed like that type of popstar who was actually sincere about everything he said and did and when it came to fans, would do anything for them. "I'll get them back," she tried to get up when he pulled her back down.

"Ally, it's okay. They're always around and I'll get them later."

"If you're sure. Sorry about that. I just assumed..."

"A lot of people do. It's really okay," he reassured her, and pushed his sheet music aside for a moment. "I see you did your research though."

She bit down on her lip, and looked away for a moment. "Yea, I did. I got your full name out of Suzetta. I'm the stalker fan that you're probably warned about."