The Pilot

Chapter Twenty Two

Eyes wide, cheeks turning hotter than the sun with embarrassment.

"Yes Stefania, yes, I speak Italian" Danielle said, laughing uncontrollably at the expression on Stefania's face. "Dio mio! I'm so embarrassed. Quindi significa che hai capito cosa ho detto al cameriere?!" Stefania groaned as he covered her face with her arms. "Don't cover up that beautiful face of yours" Danielle laughed as she tried to grab hold of Stefania's hands. "But yes, just to clarify, I did hear you telling the waiter that you are hoping I'll be your girlfriend one day" Danielle winked. "OH. MY. GOD! That also means that you know what I said to you yesterday?!" Stefania was now starting to panic slightly... "hey, hey, Stef it's ok. Don't stress. I do know what you said and it's fine. To be honest, the feeling is definitely mutual and please believe me when I tell you that it took every last ounce of willpower to walk away. I stood on the other side of the door with my hand on the doorknob debating whether to grant your wishes or not" Danielle smirked. Stefania didn't respond, she just lay there staring at Danielle with wide eyes and her cheeks still flushed. Danielle slid closer again giving Stefania another tender kiss. "You're really ok with what I've said." Stefania asked. "I'm really ok" Danielle smiled, giving Stefania's lips another quick peck. "I really like you Stefania and if you meant what you said earlier about taking it one slow step at a time, then I'm happy to give it a shot." She said as she brushed some hair from Stefania's face. "Oh, Bambina, I really like you too and I absolutely meant what I said. I'm happy with taking whatever you're willing to give me. Whether that's friendship or something more, only time will tell I guess. In the meantime though, I am perfectly happy going at your pace, especially if it means I keep getting kisses like this" Stefania replied as she placed a soft kiss on Danielle's lips. Danielle smiled and wrapped her arm around Stefania's shoulders pulling her in closer.

They continued to lie there looking at the stars content in each other's embrace for a while until Stefania spoke "I can't believe you didn't tell me you could speak Italian..." "well, you never asked" Danielle chuckled. "Ah, touché" Stefania responded "but ok then, how are you so fluent?" She asked. "Hmmm, well... I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you the WHOLE story yet. I promise I will eventually, just not right now. I have some things to work through and I need to know that you're not going anywhere before I bare my deepest, darkest secrets to you" she kissed Stefania's hand before continuing "I will tell you part of the story though. But can we take a walk while I do?" She asked. "Of course we can Bambina, whatever you want" they packed up the blanket into the backpack that had been left for them along with the food they hadn't eaten and gathered all the rubbish for the bin.

Danielle took Stefania's hand and led them further along the beach to where there was a cove and the rocks came to a point. She took a deep breath before starting... "my Dad died when I was 5. He dropped me off at school one morning and never came home because a drunk driver ran him off the road. His car flipped 3 times and he died at the scene. His name was Tony Savre and he was the best man in the whole world. He was kind, funny, always made time for games with me. He never missed a dance recital and was so in love with my mom. He'd bring us both a bunch of flowers every Friday and we'd always spend weekends together as a family. It's him that I got my blonde hair and blue eyes from. He was so handsome and he was only 32 when he was killed. He was my best friend and I miss him every single day. The tears had started to fall down Danielle's cheeks at this point. "I've brought you here to this spot because this is where we scattered his ashes. I used to always come here whenever I needed to feel close to him, which was every other weekend during my teenage years!" She smiled. "We used to come here on hot days. We'd spend the whole day playing on the beach and splashing in the sea. Just the 3 of us against the world..." she trailed off as her tears started to catch in her throat. "Oh, Bella, I got you my sweet girl. It's ok, let it all out" Stefania said as she smothered Danielle in a hug. Danielle stood there for a few minutes just letting herself be held. It felt good to have someone take care of her, Stefania really was an angel. Danielle eventually spoke again "so that then leads to me speaking Italian. About a year after my Dad died, my mom met someone new. He's Italian. His name is Matteo and he treated me like his own daughter. They got married just before my 8th birthday and I didn't want to have a different name from my Mom so he officially adopted me. But, I started to rebel at about 13 or 14. I hadn't processed my Dad's death properly and so when I hit puberty, I started to act out. I was a right little shit to my mum, to Matteo and to his whole family. I was horrible even though they all treated me like I was their own flesh and blood. Things all came to a head when I was 17, so I took off. I didn't want to hurt my mom anymore and I needed to get as far away as possible from Pau... from eh... from people. I left town, I changed my name back to Savre and I've not been back here since. But for about 10 years or so, I spoke Italian with the family and English with my mom and my friends." "Oh Danielle, thank you for letting me in and telling me that and thank you for bringing me here, it's a beautiful place." Stefania said as she continued to hug the blonde.