Siena

6|Rude Boy

Ever since I mailed the letter to Clarice, I've been anxious. I had to do a little digging on the internet to find out where she moved to after graduating from Cambridge University and found a lead through the school's Alumni network. Even then I wasn't one hundred percent sure it was the correct place, but I sent it to the address I found nonetheless.

So far a few days have passed since I mailed the letter, and I haven't gotten a response yet. Bella told me not to worry since mailing something out of the country can take awhile to arrive at the desired location. Her words calmed my anxiety a bit, but busying myself with reading and writing more letters and going into town with Zayn helped to take my mind off it.

After he closed his deal on Friday, Zayn has been more relaxed and more willing to vacation instead of work. However, I quickly learned that his definition of vacationing is a lot different from mine based on our trip to town this afternoon. We went on a private wine tour arranged with one of Goldman Sach's partners and visited a variety of wine vineyards in Verona.

I had a nice time tasting the different wines at first, but by the time we visited our fifth wine vineyard, I was dying of boredom. Zayn looked like he was having a great time, and I didn't want to ruin his happy mood, so I tried to be a good fiancé and suck it up. I couldn't hold on for much longer though, and it didn't look like we were planning on leaving anytime soon.

"Babe," I whisper, tugging on Zayn's sleeve to gain his attention as we walk through the wine house together.

He looks over at me with an excited smile. "This place is incredible Sofia. We have to come back before we leave to buy a few bottles," Zayn emphasizes.

I internally cringe at the idea of coming back to another wine vineyard but plaster a smile on my face and nod my head enthusiastically for his sake.

"Yeah, that sounds great," I tell him, smiling even wider. "Um, do you know how much longer this wine tour is going to be?" I ask.

Zayn glances down at his Bulova watch before looking back up at me. "We have two more locations to visit so my guess is about an hour and a half or so." My stomach drops at the news. "Why? Is something the matter?" He immediately asks me.

I shake my head and manage a small smile. "No, no, everything's fine. I was just feeling a little tired, but I'll hold out just for you," I promise him.

"Hey, if you're tired, you should go back to the hotel and get some rest," Zayn suggests, completely taking me by surprise. "I can have the driver take you back."

My eyes widen in shock as I take his hand in mine. "Are you sure? The hotel is a half an hour away from here," I remind him.

My fiancé squeezes my hand and brings it up to his lips where he places a kiss on each of my knuckles. The gesture makes my heart flutter.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I don't want you to overexert yourself, Sof," He assures me with a sweet smile. "Go take a nap or something."

I release my hand from Zayn's and bring it up to his face to caress his cheek, feeling his beard hair prick my fingertips. He leans into my touch, and I close the gap between our mouths by placing a soft kiss on his lips. I let them linger there for a few seconds before pulling away with a smile.

"Thank you for being so understanding," I whisper merely a few inches away from his mouth.

Zayn nods his head and pulls out his phone to call the driver. I stand off to the side and take one more look at all the different bottles of wine in their casings before walking over to the exit. When Zayn finishes speaking on the phone, he joins me by the door, and we wait for the driver together.