La Rosa Gialla

Chapter 15

December 2017/ January 2018

I was beginning to suspect that my mom was a being from another dimension. I took her speech about Damiano to heart and wow, it worked. I've decided that Charles is just a guy I'll hear about on TV every once in a while when he wins a race and that's it. The end. Nothing more. And it was fine. I finally started appreciating Damiano the way he deserved. I opened up to him and decided to finally fall in love with him fully.

"How about we don't talk about it today?" I suggested to Damiano, who brought up the subject of university applications for the one hundred and ninety-eighth time this month. I had almost made up my mind, but I was still giving myself time and wanted to send the applications just before the deadline. "I just..." "Dami, please," I cut him off with a smile and took a sip from my Aperol spritz. "Let's just enjoy the evening and leave this stuff to me, okay? I'm almost decided now and I'll tell you the final verdict soon." "Okay," he smiled.

We sat in a bar that was packed to the ceiling and excitedly awaited the arrival of the new year. The year in which a couple of high school students living with their parents were to become university students living in a shared apartment. Damiano introduced me to his friends from Parma, and even though I felt a little guilty that I wasn't helping out at the guest house with the party, I was happy to fit in with the group.

As the evening progressed, everyone's blood alcohol levels rose, and I, too, slowly blurred the lines between what was and wasn't decent behavior. Of what was and what wasn't right. So when midnight struck, we shouted in unison: Buon Anno!" and Damiano kissed me, I immediately thought I just had to call Charles and wish him a happy new year. But I searched for his number in my contacts in vain. A wave of sadness washed over me, which turned into a wave of relief the next morning when I sobered up.

Damiano and I spent January 1st in bed in his childhood room watching movies lazily. "I will apply to the university here. I want to study physiotherapy," I said to Damiano as if it was nothing. He turned his head sharply at me and supported himself with his left hand.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "I've been decided for some time. I look forward to living together."

"Adri!" he cheered and pounced on me. He squeezed me in his embrace and reassured me that this boy didn't have a single bad bone in his body. If someone is this happy to have you live with them, they must be the one.

After arriving home, despite my conviction to leave it to the last minute, I actually sent in an application for the field of physiotherapy at the University of Parma and, just to be sure, an application for a nurse, also in Parma. However, I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to get a physiotherapy course with my grades. I shared my decision with my parents, who were mostly happy that I had applied for something. I guessed that somewhere deep inside they wanted me to stay in the guest house with them, or to study something that would be beneficial for their business and I could take over the business one day. But they were ready to support me in whatever career I chose.

I started to run again and take care of my health and mental state better. I didn't want to start university as a dumpling who couldn't move properly. I read books about movement and therapy and massage and rehabilitation. I got into it so intensely that it was hard to think about anything else. I was simply determined to do the admissions test at any cost.

"Aaand, if I press here, you should feel a lot of relief," I told Damiano, repeating the movements I'd seen on many instructional videos. "Ow," he screamed and held back, but after a while, he relaxed again and exhaled. "That was...good. And you only learned that from books and videos?" he asked.

"Yeah," I shrugged.

"Maybe you don't even have to go to that school," he laughed and I laughed with him. I stared at his bare back for a moment. His skin was pale, the tan from the summer long gone. I ran my fingertips down his spine, he shuddered and turned to me. He looked longingly into my eyes and bit his lower lip. "Adri, I..." Before he could say anything else, I kissed him and ran my fingers through his hair.

That day we made love for the first time. For me, it was the first sex in my life and it was great. No one else occupied my thoughts even for a second. It was just me and Damiano. 

Thank you all for the reads ❤️

And I should probably tell you that I don't know much about physiotherapy, so If any therapist is reading this and find this horrifying, I'm very sorry 😁.

-B.