Through Her Eyes (9 page)

“Okay? You want ice cream? I’ll get you some. What’s your favorite?”

“Cookies and cream.” Moments later I was happily eating ice cream in bed.

I shook myself from the memory. I file away my sadness and finally answer. “I always loved cookies and cream. I’m not much of an ice cream eater anymore. But now . . . with this gelato—” My tongue darts forward and licks the smooth hazelnut gelato that threatens to spill down the cone. Chase lets out a ragged breath. His pupils begin to dilate as he watches me with . . . desire. His reaction makes me feel something other than sadness. His reaction makes me feel something I haven’t felt in days—playful. I’ll take that over sad any day, and I decide to go with it.

“What are you doing, Aria?” His voice is raspy.

“Who, me?” I smirk, and he smiles at the look I’m giving him.

“You know what they say about playing with fire?”

“I just like to lick it.” As the suggestive words leave my lips, I can’t suppress the giggle that teeters on the brink of erupting.

“I’ve got something you can lick.” My eyes grow as wide as feasibly possible, and I swat at him, but he dodges me and dashes toward the Spanish Steps behind the Fontana. Dropping my remaining gelato in the nearest garbage, I take off after him, weaving in and out of the crowd that’s formed around the fountain. I can see its cascading water as I make my climb.

My lungs burn as I try to catch up to him.
God, how many steps are there?
The crowd muffles the sound of my feet hitting the pavement. As I reach the top of the Spanish Steps, my body lurches forward in a series of desperate exhales. My shallow breaths come out in gasps while my heart beats erratically. The gelato I had before this silly climb to the top was not a great idea as my stomach wants to revolt against the sugary thick cream. With effort, I might make it to my destination before my feet give way under my own weight. And I thought I was in good shape. What a joke! Better start back up with the yoga.

Then I eye the scenery before us. My eyes skate across the distance, and I see everything. The view from the top of the steps is awe-inspiring.

“Beautiful, right?”

“It’s magnificent!” I marvel at the beauty.

“Yeah, it is.” But he isn’t looking at the view or the distance. He is looking at me.

We stare at each other, panting heavily, our gazes locked. Then Chase coughs once and breaks the connection.

“So, Aria, what’s the plan from here? Where you going? What’s your destination?” I bite my bottom lip as my eyes wander across the distant scenery, looking out into the great unknown.

“I’ve no idea. I’m searching for something, I’m just not sure where to find that something yet.”

“I’m a pretty good detective. Do you have any clues to give me?”

“I have this silly idea that I need to go somewhere, and maybe once I’m there I’ll find myself.”

“I’ll get you there. Wherever
there
might be.”

“How do you know?”

“Will you trust me? I know everything.” He winks.

Reaching into my souvenir bag, I don the children’s bunny ear headband I bought at the souvenir store. When I bought it, I really had no intention of ever wearing it. I thought it would be funny to watch Chase stare at me like I was insane. But seeing him saunter through the streets of Rome with such self-assurance, I can’t help but make an ass of myself.

“What the hell are you doing?” His eyes flicker with amusement, and he bursts into laughter. Seeing him so entertained makes me bring my hand up to my mouth to stifle my own laughter, but I fail miserably and burst out in my own fit of giggles.

“What?” I mock playfully. Chase shakes his head as his thunderous laugh rings through the air.

We continue to stroll through Rome, Chase with his head held high, me wearing my bunny ears. We really are quite the pair. I believe my companion secretly loves it. I can see the pride in his eyes as I openly embarrass myself. It’s as if he knows this is out of character for me, and he loves it. As we make our way further into the city, I notice how vibrant and full of life it is. The picturesque streets are a living, breathing work of art. We lose ourselves among the interweaving lanes of the historic center. As we make our way along a cobblestone path to enter the piazza, I take in Chase. His gait is graceful, his swagger confident. He carries himself with a calmness I envy. His hair is ruffled, and his face looks like he hasn’t had time to shave for days. He turns his head to look over his shoulder and waves his hand to hurry me up.

As we navigate our way, I fall in love with Italy all over again. Rome is a complete contrast of Tuscany. No rolling hills spanning in the distance, just cobblestone and history—hundreds and hundreds of years of history. Each building is remarkable. When we finally make it to our next destination, I’m speechless. The Colosseum. To think so many died here. So many gladiators lost their lives during the time of the Roman Empire, and in such a barbaric way. So many lives were changed because of this structure. It’s dark and ominous, and evokes a feeling of dread, a foregone conclusion to all those who enter. Death is all around, its murky imprint left for ages as a reminder of the past.

We make our way inside, and I walk further into the pit. Looking down, I study the dirt and imagine the death. Had they known that this was the end for them? Does anyone really know when the end is near? My eyes well up at the thought. Chase’s voice is soft as he lulls me out of my dark thoughts.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, Princess?”

“Do you ever wonder why? What’s the reason for all this . . .?” I move my arms about. “What’s the reason for all this death?”

“Sometimes there’s no reason. You just have to have faith that everything will right itself in due time.”

“How can you say that? So much evil happens. So many bad things that shouldn’t.”

“The water will rise, the tides will come, but eventually it will recede. Life is a cycle. Things happen for a reason.”

“How do you live like that? My mind won’t let me.”

“Just keep telling yourself there is a truth intended for you. Don’t let life become routine. That’s not the life intended for you.”

“How do you know?”

“Didn’t I already tell you? I know everything.”

I bend at my knees to scoop some dirt into my hand. It sifts through my fingers like the sands of time, reminding me of history. The history here and my history back home. I stare as time slowly passes through my fingers.

Snap

Snap

I place my hand back on the ground to give me leverage to stand back up when Chase speaks.

“Hey, don’t move, okay?”

I suddenly have an immense desire to do just the opposite of what he says. So, what do I do? I pose . . . bunny ears and all.

I turn and glower at him as he snaps another series of pictures. My lips pout and my chin is lowered.

“You should be a model.” And with that I roll my eyes, and my lips part as a small smile forms.

“Oh, God,” I groan. “Do these lines ever work?”

Lifting the camera again, he snaps a few more shots. “Yeah, they kind of do, actually.” He smirks.

That smirk right there?

Yup . . . hook, line, and sinker. His lines work. So what do I do? I throw the bunny ear headband at him.
Real mature, Aria.
My reaction seems to amuse him tremendously, but then his eyes narrow and grow more serious.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just wondering, would you like to spend the day with me tomorrow?

I bow my head and think for a moment. Today has been a good day, a really good day. What harm would it be to spend one more day with him? “Okay. I would love to.” His lips part into a big grin at my response.

“Great. Let’s head back to the hotel. I have a few shots I need to hit up tonight. We can meet first thing in the morning. Say, eight?”

“Sure. That works. Any idea what you want to do?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I hate surprises,” I scowl.

“You’ll like this one. Promise.”

Thirty-two days since I spoke to Parker

“N
O WAY! YOU MUST
be insane if you think I’m waiting in this line. Holy hell, Chase, it wraps around for like a mile.” My eyes widen as I peer over Chase’s shoulder to see just how far it goes.

“No fear. You really think I would make you do that?” When I didn’t answer right away, he busts out laughing. “Yeah, I just might. Come on. I booked us a tour.”

He grabs my hand and ushers me down a long cobblestone street and away from the crowd. As we get closer to the structure, I point in front of me.

“Oh my God! Are we really going? I’ve always wanted to see the Vatican.”

“I knew you’d love it.” The early morning sun flashes against his steely blue eyes, making them twinkle. “Come on. We need to hurry. The tour starts in fifteen minutes. If we miss it, it’s back to the end of the line.” he gestures behind us, and I shudder.
That would totally suck.
We make our way into St. Peter’s Square, and my breath leaves my body as I take in the architecture before me. St. Peter’s Basilica stands proud as the most prominent building in Vatican City. I want to peek inside and see the treasures that lay within, but I feel Chase’s hand tighten and pull me faster.

“I promise we can check it out afterward. But we’re really running late, and I had to call in some major favors to get us on a small VIP tour today.” My pace picks up and by the time we reach the side entrance to the Vatican museum I’m huffing from the exertion.

Chase speaks in Italian to the Swiss Guard watching over the door. We’re let inside and run straight into a small group of about six individuals. Three couples, with us in attendance, now four couples.
Not that we’re a couple.
My faces blushes at the thought.

An elderly man with gray hair and tiny bifocals hands Chase two sets of earphones and starts showing us down a long, dimly lit corridor that leads into the museum. It smells of old mothballs and reminds me of the odor in the section of the library that houses the first editions.

“Make sure you pay very close attention. I would hate for you to miss any of the important historical information.” His eyebrows twitch slightly, and he bites his lip to stifle a laugh. I have no clue what’s amusing him, so I place my earphones in my ears and follow the group through a set of doors that leads into a courtyard. As we walk further, I turn up the sound on the listening device they provided to hear the tour and catch the word Belvedere. Ahh, we’re in the Belvedere courtyard.
As we step closer to a large fountain that looks a lot like a giant green pinecone, I realize what is so funny. The tour guide has begun to speak, and I have no flipping clue what he’s saying. Pulling my earphones out, I turn to Chase, who’s now in full hysterics.

“Mature, Chase. Real mature.”

“I never claimed to be, Princess.” Damn smirk. Works every time.

“So, you mind explaining what’s going on?” My hands gesture to the guide.

“Yeah. Well, apparently the only tour I could get was in Finnish.”

“In Finnish?”

“Yes, Finnish. Like from Finland.” Placing my hand to my eyes, all I can do is just shake my head and laugh as well. Of course, the one place I’m dying to visit, and I won’t understand a word.

“How am I supposed to understand?”

“I’ll give you the tour.”

“You know the history of the Vatican?”

“Sure do.” My head shakes back and forth at the smug look on his face when he speaks, but no matter how arrogant he looks, I keep smiling.

“Very well, have at it.” I gesture to the green statue in front of me.

“This is actually a pinecone.” At that I actually snort. “No, seriously, Princess. The statue is of a pinecone. No big mystery or deep meaning.”

“Well, that was pretty anticlimactic.”

“Right?” He nods as he pulls me toward the group that has started walking to another statue in the courtyard.

“Let me guess, this statue is a globe?” I take in the bronze statue in front of me that resembles a ball.

“Actually, this one I know. This is
Sphere Within Sphere
. Pretty cool, right?”

“Yeah, totally.” As we continue to walk and enter the museum, neither of us speaks, and the group is completely silent as they take in everything they are hearing . . . in Finnish.

“This is boring,” Chase whines, and I swat at him.

“Shh. I’m pretty sure it’s sacrilegious to call the Vatican boring. I think you just bought yourself a one-way ticket to Hell.”

“I’m pretty sure I secured my spot years ago.” He gives me a lopsided smile, and all I can do is roll my eyes at him.

“Well, if you’re so bored, let’s talk about something.”

“Great idea, let’s play twenty questions.” He turns and stands directly in front of me. I groan in response.

“Oh, come on. No. What are you five?” My voice sounds nasally and makes me cringe.

“I’ll start,” he offers as he ignores my objections. “Hmm. If you had to cook dinner for me, what would you serve?”

“Wait, really? That’s your question?” To evade hearing the answer to my question, I move to the right of him and then further into the room and stand directly in front of a marble pillar. He quickens his pace and catches up to me.
So much for avoiding the question.