Siena

5|The Letter

These past few days have become routine. Each morning I would have breakfast with my fiancé in the lobby and by noon I'd be dressed and walking over to Celeste to meet Juliet's secretaries for another session of writing response letters. I enjoyed being in all of the ladies' company immensely, but I bonded more with Bella since we both tended to stay after hours.

Everyone successfully responded to the first batch of letters Bella collected earlier in the week, and I went with her to mail them. On our way back from the postal office, we decided to stop at Shakespeare's balcony to see if there were anymore letters for us to pick up this week. From our conversation, I learned that Bella normally visits the balcony on Mondays and Fridays, but she felt particularly drawn to the site on this late Wednesday afternoon.

"You know, you never told me why you came to Verona," Bella points out during our walk to the balcony.

I thought I could dodge her question by pretending I didn't hear her over the city noise, but Bella wasn't having it. She gently nudges my side with her elbow to coax me into talking, and I force a smile. I prepare to recite the same old story I told to my boss Jerry before allowing myself to speak.

"Well, Zayn and I wanted to go on a mini vacation before our wedding. He's closing a deal with a big client of his this Friday, and I'm hoping we'll be able to spend more time together afterwards. The next few months are supposed to be very hectic for us," I try my best to make it sound believable.

I'm happy sunshades are covering my eyes at the moment because people tell me I'm like an open book. I don't want Bella to be able to see how uncertain I'm feeling about my relationship deep down and ask me more questions. The silence lingers between us longer than it did the last time, so I was convinced that my response satisfied her.

"Hmm. That reminds me of something I meant to ask you before. Why aren't you wearing a ring?" Bella breaks the silence with another question once we walk under the arch leading to Shakespeare's balcony.

I fight the urge to laugh as I glance down at my left hand where one would expect my engagement ring to be. Zayn couldn't even wrap his head around my reason for not wanting one. I've just never been much of a material girl and believe the love two people share should be enough to signify their commitment to each other. I tell Bella those exact words and wait for her to laugh because that's normally the reaction I get.

"You know, I don't think I've ever met a woman quite like you before," Bella tells me while gazing straight ahead.

Her confession makes me smile, a real genuine smile.

"And what kind of woman do you see me as?" I inquire, hoping she'd elaborate.

"You're very thoughtful and humble. I don't know too many women like that," Bella says as she brings her hand to rest on my shoulder. She gives it a light squeeze before adding, "Still, I believe a pretty girl like you should have a ring."

My smile widens naturally because of her words. As we leave the arch and enter the courtyard, I notice a few letters are posted under the balcony and make sure to draw Bella's attention to it. She suggests that we divide the wall into two halves and retrieve letters from our individual sides.

"Okay, I'll take the left and you cover the right," I tell her before walking to the far left side of the wall.

Bella is carrying the basket, so I make small trips over to her side of the wall periodically and place my letters inside the basket. Within five minutes, my side of the wall is cleared, but I do one last inspection to make sure I haven't missed anything. I peak between the cracks of the stone wall and feel around a bit when a loose brick suddenly falls on the floor.