Florence: Where It All Began

Chapter 5

Shutting the door to your hotel room, your mind immediately starts spinning. What in the world was that? He's never looked at me quite like that before. And that kiss. It was... different.

You walk back to your bed and turn off the light before crawling in. The room is silent so you just lay there in your thoughts and wonder why in the world Tony asked you here. You remember him saying he wants to get to know you better, but what does that mean? Are you being too presumptuous to assume this is a romantic "getaway?" You begin to think that if this was any other man, that's exactly what it would appear like, all the signs are there. The only reason you're hesitating to think that with him is because of who this man is. Is it really too bizarre to think a famous actor might be interested in me? Like he said the day we met, he's only human, same as me. Too exhausted to continue thinking, you roll over and turn the tv on for background noise before falling asleep.

The next day you wake up to find it is late in the morning. You lay there for a few minutes to adjust to being awake and then get up and hop in the shower. Now that you're all dressed and ready you head down to eat brunch at the hotel restaurant before heading to the spa. The only thing you can think about is that kiss last night and the way he makes you feel. To say you're attracted to him is putting it mildly. You're still unsure of his exact intentions in bringing you here but you hope it's because he's just as attracted to you.

You finish your meal and head to the spa, quickly learning Tony was right. This is exactly what you needed to feel completely relaxed after your trip halfway across the world. You enjoy pretty much all of the treatments they offer and then head back to your hotel. By this time it's early evening and you are feeling relaxed and sleepy so you lay down for a nap, thinking you'll need it if you're gonna be up late for dinner with Tony. You get startled out of your sleep by the phone ringing so you sit up to answer it and it's him.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's Tony. How was the spa?"

"Hey! It was amazing, just what I needed. Thanks again for setting that up for me."

"My pleasure. So I'm calling about tonight. I'm afraid that we won't be done in time for dinner but I was just gifted some pastries from a local baker and I was wondering if you would want to join me in my room later tonight to share them. I can make us coffee or tea too, depending on what you want. I know it's not exactly what I promised but at least we will get a little time together."

"Oh yea, I'd love that! I'll be waiting, just call or come get me when you're ready."

"Ok great," Tony says. "I have to go now, they need me back on set. So I will see you tonight, hopefully not too late."

"Sounds great, see you then, goodbye."

After hanging up, you decide to end your nap and head out to the city to walk around and soak up some of the experience of being in Florence. You find a few stores to browse through and that ends up taking up more time than you thought it would. You start to make your way back to the hotel and pass a pizza place that you can't resist stopping at because everything looks and smells so good. So you stop for a slice and eat outside just observing the busyness of the city. Even with as hectic as it is, there's also a just a relaxing feeling that you get from being here and you're not sure why.

Hours go by and you find yourself getting butterflies in your stomach because you know that you will be seeing Tony soon. You're also kinda nervous because you don't know when to expect him and a knock on the door could come at any moment. But you just sit there reading, reading, reading your book, trying to wait as patiently as possible. After a while you look up from the book and check the time. 11:21 you see. Wow it's getting pretty late. I wonder how much longer he will be. You turn the tv on to give your eyes a little break and about 15 minutes later you hear someone talking out in the hallway and immediately shut the tv off. Is that him? You quietly get up and go take a peek through the peephole in the door and you see that it is in fact Tony. You stand there for a moment just watching him talk and laugh and feel the butterflies start up again. He is so handsome. You walk away to check yourself in the mirror and wait for his knock.