The Fates

Part XXIV: Reunion

"Damn it! Did Benjamin forget to pass my message?"

It has been a month since I settled in Pisa, six to seven hours from where Marcus was. I felt my heart flutter and my stomach crunch. Ten months wasn't enough to disperse the sacchariferious memories of Marcus.

When I was applying to colleges I thought of his kindness to me, offering his house. When I was about to sleep I remembered his soft voice and it lulled me to sleep easily.

I easily fell for him. So, I was brought back to Volterra by my gratitude and a need for familiar company. I still had not made any friends yet.

He was unavailable when I called him yesterday, but I managed to get a hold of Benjamin. He promised to tell Marcus to meet me at the Priori dei Palazzo at twelve p.m. sharp. I grabbed a cup of Java and a little Italian croissant, with raspberry jam in the middle.

It was a snack that lingered in my thoughts as I waited by the Palazzo. I waited for thirty minutes. Should I call Benjamin or the reception? But then if I call the reception I risk being answered by Donatella. I groaned. And I held my face in my hands.

"What's up?" a low voice said.

I jumped. I looked up and found a person, in front of me. There was a guy who was 5 ft 11. He had thin lips and rich umber skin.

"Hi, Makayla." he said with a smile.

It was Benjamin, in the flesh. Iwas so excited by the prospect of seeing Marcus that I gave him a huge hug.

"Eeeeh! How are you?"

He laughed.

"I'm fine. You've come for Marcus."
He smiled from ear to ear. The way he phrased it made me embarrassed.

"Yeah, I just thought I'd thank him. But after the day I got home I could never get a hold of him, whenever I paged the reception...and you always said he was busy."

Benjamin shrugged.

"I don't know. It's okay. I'm sure despite that he will be thrilled to see you again. I'm sorry for the late pick-up; he couldn't be here to meet you outside. Some matter came to his attention last minute."

I looked at his back as he turned to lead me into the villa through Etruscian tunnels, hidden in the quaint, red-walled city. We came into the reception from the cold, cobbled streets and archways.

I breathed out a sigh of relief as I entered the warm, flowery reception. couldn't help but smell the white roses and daisies in the vase close to the desk. Only then did I notice he had a hood over his face. He pulled it down. He had a woolly blue jacket on.

"I'm afraid our receptionist is off today so you'll have to wait here alone for Marcus."
I nodded.

"Do you want to eat anything?"
I sat on the sofa.

"Can I get croissants or something?"
He nodded.

"I will order from a nearby cafe. It should be here in a few minutes."

He left me alone to my thoughts. I took the purse I held and put it on the floor. It felt like a dream being back where I started. I heard the staccato stops reverberate through the carpeted hallways.

I felt a thousand possibilities flutter in my heart at the thought of it being Marcus. Don't be foolish, I chided myself, it had to be a guard patrolling...but I did crane my head and keenly wait for a face to match to the footfalls I could hear.

A man of imposing height strolled in; a merry smile on his long face. It looked out of place as if he had not smiled in years. His coal hair was in a frail ponytail.

I gasped, leaping like an excited mountain lion and bounded to the man. I enveloped him in my brown arms, contrasting to his pallor.

"Marcus! I'm so glad to see you!"
He embraced me in return.

"So am I! You have returned? Not satisfied with two tours I see."

I was surprised by his good mood but not to ruin it. I said:

"Castle Volterra is a treasure cove I barely delved into; I thought it was worth another peek."

He smiled, agreeable. Was that really Marcus?
"Your journey must have been tiresome."

I shook my head. It was actually was; to make it here by noon I had to wake up at five and skip breakfast. Then the little nibble I had before waiting for Benjamin was only enough to keep me from fainting; I was unsatisfied.

"I live not too far off."

His eyes became bulbous.
"Is it? Well, tell me more of this in the drawing chamber."

We went past the reception, down the cold marble corridors that had initially creeped me out, but it was as if the bad spirit had been exorcized by his presence. We paused by a white door. He pushed it open and we went in after it opened resistantly.

It closed shut quickly after I entered. The room was clean and refreshing. Warm air came in through the window but it did not receive direct sunlight, that much I could tell since the room was not flooded by golden water poured by the sun's yellow-jacket streams. It had stout shelves with picturesque figurines of glass and stone and books with spines of numerous tones.

A fern tree in a buttercream pot was in the corner, near the balcony doors. He invited me to sit on sinless sofas. I almost felt guilty to sit on them, as if they were not made for those photoshoots encapsulated in celebrity magazines.

I appeased him, regardless and he sat on the other side.

"You live in Italy now?"

I looked at my shoes which I was sure had shamed me by tracking mud onto the white floor.

"Well, yes temporarily. I'm studying law here."
"Which institution are you registered under?"

"Sant' Anna."

His eyes became jaded.
"Pardon, I have never come across that school."

"It is not close by, so you wouldn't know it."
Benjamin came and he blessed me with the freshest confectionaries of the day.

"Bon appetite." he said as a farewell, before leaving me and his master in privacy.

The acerbic coffee, and fruity scent made my mouth water. I was about to dig in and then I saw Marcus looked at the food with a strange, hollow longing. An embittered glance was on him. I spread my hands in my lap.

"Let's eat, there's more than enough for us both."

He looked at me. I held up a crisp piece of the pastry with jam slathered in between. I had to take care not to salivate like a hungry dog on his share. He looked and looked with that empty, far offness he usually embodied.

I stood and placed it near his face. His one hand grabbed my hand and I jerked in surprise, it was so precise and swift I didn't anticipate its coming.

His lips grazed my thumb, almost as if by accident and it was gone. He bit into the croissant and it fell apart in his mouth as he crunched on the deceptively hard exterior. He swallowed after a few chew chews.

"If you insist. Let us eat."

He purposefully traced his slender digits past my dainty hands then he took the breakfast pastry. He closed his eyes and smelled; the food was a little away from his nose.

"Delectable."

He snapped his eyes open and those brown puppies appeared blacker. I blinked and they were the chicory colour I remembered. I shook off the daze he imposed on me.

"I hope so," I muttered taking a croissant and scenting it.

The crispness wafted in my senses.