Whirlwind (On Hold-Will Be Back Soon!)

Chapter 7

“Victor! What are you doing here?” Alexandra cried.

“I told you, bella-I had some business to attend to in Rome. This is the hotel I usually stay in. Now if you don’t mind, I would like to pose this very question to you. So, Ms. Alexandra, what exactly are you doing in Roma, instead of your hotel in Florence?” Victor questioned, his eyebrows raised.

Alexandra knew she had two options-a) To lie again or

b) To tell Victor the truth

She could tell him that she had come to Rome to do a bit of sight-seeing and had stopped at this particular hotel for lunch. Or that she had shifted base from Florence to Rome early that morning. But her heart told her to stop with the lies and come clean with the truth-however embarrassing it may be. Something told her that he was definitely not a stalker; that she could trust him.

Her heart had already made the decision for her and she hoped with all her might that it was the right one.

“Would you like to sit down? It is a slightly longish story.” Alexandra told him nervously.

Victor accepted her invitation and pulled up a chair.

Alexandra began telling him about how she was in Italy for her two-month long break, her research, her trip to the Casa-di-Giulietta, her car breaking down and how she had worried about stalkers and criminals and her consequent lie to him to safeguard herself, just in case he turned out to be “one of them”.

As she ended, she expected Victor to burst out into a slew of curses and expletives and all sorts of insulting stuff. Instead, he let out a roar of laughter! She stared at him confused-Was he hysterical? This was definitely not the reaction she had expected.

“What’s so funny?” she asked him, timidly, of course.

“You are adorable! Did you really think a criminal would be driving a convertible?”

Alexandra scowled. “Why can’t a criminal drive a convertible, Mr. Drago? He will rob people and use that money to buy himself a sexy car. I really don’t see what is so funny in that. And I will have you know, I was terrified and alone in a foreign country. I am sorry if my brain refused to separate sense from nonsense!” she huffed.

“Si sono pazzo, miei cari. Ma in un modo accattivante.” He said, smiling and shaking his head. You are mad, my dear. But in such an endearing way.

Though Alexandra did not get a word of what he said, she was sure it was not quite flattering. “What did you just say? Translate!”

Victor ignored her question and instead countered teasingly with a question of his own-“So, is your name actually Alexandra or was that a ‘safety-net’ too?”

Alexandra was offended, “Of course it is my real name. Alexandra Hastings. Happy?”

“Molto.” Very.

Alexandra wanted to be angry at him, she wanted to not talk to him and deny him the pleasure of teasing her. But damn those twinkly eyes of his! Attracting her and soothing her smarting ego!

“I apologize for laughing at you and pulling your leg, Alexandra. I should not have done that. And I completely understand why you did whatever you did and there is absolutely no shame in it. One has to look out for oneself these days.”

He seems sincere, Alexandra thought.

“Apology accepted. I am sorry too. I guess I overdid it a teensy bit. Just a teensy bit, mind you.” She said smiling.

“What are your plans for the rest of your trip? Will you remain in Rome?”

Alexandra chewed her bottom lip. “I really don’t know. At first I had planned on shifting base to another city after say ten days in Rome. But now I am having second thoughts. The distances are reasonably okay for me to travel to a different city every day, explore it and return to Rome. The only problem is it might lead to fatigue and exhaustion. But I can’t help it! Rome is such a marvelous city and there is so much to see here. Two months have started to seem less to me. What do you suggest?”

“You are underplaying the distance, time and above all, the tiredness it will cause you. I think the best thing for you would be to shift base to a city in the north for some time, explore all surrounding areas from there, come back to Rome, explore a bit more of central Italy and lastly, shift to a city in the south and use that as a base to explore regions like Sicily.”

When Alexandra did not say anything, Victor continued.

“In the north, you could stay at my place in Verona. You can save on hotels and I am sure my father would be delighted to have such lovely company as yours.”

Alexandra hesitated. “Victor that is really nice of you, but we hardly know each other. It just wouldn’t seem… right.”

“Oh come on! Won’t this be a way of getting to know each other, then? And really, staying with an Italian family will be the best form of cultural exchange you can hope for. No? You will get to experience our lives first-hand. Our home-made food, wines, everything.”

Alexandra considered what he had just said. It was a tempting offer, no doubt, but it could also go wrong at so many levels.

“Okay, I will stay with you and your father.” Victor was about to cheer when she interrupted him-“But I have a condition.”

“What condition, bella?” he asked suspiciously.

“You will let me contribute some stuff in the form of supplies-vegetables, fruits, wine, anything. But you will let me contribute.”

Victor sighed, “This is not a good condition Alexandra. Very unfair. Why should a guest “contribute” anything? You are coming on my invitation. It is not like you forced yourself into my house, demanding my hospitality. However, I can see from your firm expression that I cannot talk you out of this. Alright. I accept your condition.”

Her face broke into a huge grin. “Wonderful! This is going to be fun!” I hope, she added in her mind.

“I have some more work to wrap up here in Rome today. We leave for Verona early tomorrow morning. Around 8am. Will that be enough time for you to get packed and ready?”

“Of course. My plans for today don’t involve venturing out of the hotel anyway.”

“Why don’t we have dinner together tonight?”

“Sounds good to me,” Alexandra said smiling.

“We are going some place special. I will be here to pick you up at 7.”

“Wow, I hope it’s nothing fancy. Do I need to dress formally or something?”

“No. Just wear whatever you are comfortable in. We are going to eat dinner, not to a fashion show!” He said with a smirk.

“Ha ha, very funny.”

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