THOSE SUMMER NIGHTS

[40]

[40]

- EDEN -

-

KELDAN CALLED ME; And by the way Atlas watched me as I rushed to pick up the phone and disappear away from the group, he knew who was calling.

We had settled into our place in Italy a few hours ago. The house we had Airbnb'd was beautiful. The path that led up to the villa was wide and dirt, giving the building a vintage farmhouse look. Bushes blooming with bright colors of pinks, yellows, and whites lined the paths. The perfumey smell the flowers emitted graced our senses in bliss.

We walked up the steps of the house and if the Spanish-style roofing and the colored glass looking cladding wasn't impressive enough, the house made my heart expand with joy. My fingers itched with the need to take pictures of every little thing my eyes landed on. 

The floors were covered with cool dove-colored gray and with each step, your feet met the woolly feel of the antique rugs. A beautiful set of couches sat in each room and dozens of knicknacks lined the walls, abstract statues of animals and people, little paintings of the horizon and a couple of other things.

Behind the house was a wide backyard that had a wide pool that shone fluorescent blue in the dark and a picnic area. A little table shrouded in a red tablecloth and surrounded by white chairs, caused Julia and Leah to gasp and exclaim that they would have dinner together later at night. The stretch of grassland and flowers that rolled beyond our eyes could see left us breathless.

As my phone rang in my hand, I quickly padded my way to the backyard and kicked my shoes off, taking a few steps onto the cool grass. With a deep breath, I answered his call and pressed the phone to my ear.
I held my breath, waiting for him to say something first.

He was calling because he wanted to know my answer. He wanted to know if I would be meeting him or not. I know it's stupid to even be turning over his proposition, but I had to. I needed to see Ethan and Keldan promised me he would be there.

"Hey, Eden?" The voice I had once loved to hear every morning and night said.

I sucked in a breath, "Hey,"

I wanted to get done with this phone call as soon as humanly possible. Keldan let out a small sigh on the other side of the phone, "Hey, how are you?" His tone was warm.

I nodded, "I'm good– great. How are you doing?" I asked, even though I had no intention of asking. He told me about how his new job is going back at home and about how pressed he is for money because of his car repairs. Digging my toes in the grass and dropping my head back, I let out a small sigh, hoping that his story was going to end soon. But, really, it was my fault I asked in the first place.

When I replied with "That's crazy," for the fifth time in a row, he seemed to pick up on my lack of interest and switched the conversation. "So, you never told me if you were coming to the restaurant or not..."

Club del Doge, I recalled. I've been searching up the name of the restaurant for the past two days, my skin itching with nervous energy and fear. I've read the directions to and from the place at least a hundred times and was sure I could get there without the GPS.

A soft breath puffed out from between my closed lips. Atlas had expressed his concern with me going and meeting Keldan and Ethan. He had said it wouldn't be safe and that it wasn't a good idea to spring this up on him like this. Maybe he was right. Ethan had made it clear that he didn't want me to be a part of his life.

For fuck's sake, he was married! If that wasn't a hint enough that he didn't want me around, I don't know what would be.

I squeezed my eyes shut, "Yeah, I know. I'm just– You get why this is so hard to decide, right?" I asked, aggravation prickling the ends of my words.