AGAINST THE TIDE Book #2

Chapter Forty Six: A Good Streak

Vittoria's POV
It's a quiet stroll.

Nerina isn't saying anything and I'm wondering what to say.

My mind has wandered already. I'm thinking about last night. I smile every time I think of it. We made love. My heart is exploding with a strange contentment over my decision. I don't regret it. I would like to see him though, just to be sure nothing has changed between us.

The ring is still in my finger. It's the kind of thing that is hard not to look at. This had to be the most expensive thing he has given to me.

When I ran away from Naples, I arrived in Manhattan with a few coins in my bag after buying two plane tickets with all my savings. I did not know what I will find in Manhattan. Prior to that, Marcelle had asked me to stay away from him. I was worried about the outcome. If he rejected me, it would have been a waste. I had no intention of going back to Italy. I would have probably found work in the city. When I told him how I felt, what I wanted and he let me stay, I was happy about taking a leap of faith.

I came into his life with nothing but a heart willing to love him and he repaid me a thousand times over, not just materially but by making me a parte of his life. I think, gratitude alone will never be enough. I don't have to worry about money anymore. He clothes me, he feeds me, he spoils me and the least I can do is love him like I have never loved before. Everything I am today is because he got me here.

"It's a pretty ring. Did I ever apologize about nonna's ring?"

"I already forgave you bambina." I squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

"You are a nice person. I see why daddy likes... loves you." She looked towards the sea. "I haven't apologized to him yet. I wrote it down..." She unfolded a sheet of paper that has been folded one too many times. "Can you please read my apology and tell if he will approve?"

I unfolded it and looked through the words. I can tell she's not expressive when she speaks but when she writes, it's full of depth. I stopped walking and sat down on the sand, my eyes studying every word penned down. The sun is above us, hot but soothing. She too sat on the sand, paying attention to me. Her story is not as complicated as she thinks. She is caught between her father and mother and while Marcelle strived to keep his children out of his ugly divorce, Reina dragged them into the crossfire and forced them to take sides. Nerina is a victim of taking sides. She loves her mother and obviously wanted her to win. She loves her father and she thought he wasn't the victim and he didn't need her support. Now she's reeling from the pain of choosing the wrong team and trying to make it right with the winning team.

"What do you think?" She asked me as soon as I was done. I folded it and gave it back to her.

"I think it's honest and your father appreciates honesty." I ran my hand through her long hair. "You should give that to him."
She pulled her knees up to her chest. I began drawing circles on the sand with my fingers. "I also have someone I need to apologize to."

"Who?"

"Her name is Emilia. She raised me. She's a nun. She used to take me to the beach. Only me, no other children from the orphanage got that privilege. She would use her savings to buy me a meal I didn't have to fight for a and a pretty dress. We did that once every month. At the end of the year I had 12 pretty dresses. They were not new but they were better than the tattered ones I owned. I would hide the dresses to keep them safe, only wearing them when adoption days came along."

"Why were you never adopted?"

"Back then I used to wonder the same. After the families who came to adopt left, I would cry my eyes out. I would be so miserable and I would ask myself what I did wrong. Then one day, a nice couple came to the orphanage. They had a white dog. It was small and very noisy. They said they wanted a daughter. I was so discouraged from not being picked that I didn't dress up. I was in my old clothes... a white t-shirts with paint stains and a pair of shorts... I was in a corner all alone. The woman came to me and asked me my name. I told her. She asked me if I would like to go with her. It felt like a dream." I frowned. "A dream I rudely woke up from when Emilia told them something and she led them to another girl. That girl was adopted by the couple."