"Everyone needs to like, get a room" Betty whispered to Gio in disgust.
He grinned at her, then stood up abruptly. Betty followed his gaze and saw an elderly couple entering their car. She jumped out of her seat and gestured for them to take it. The woman smiled kindly at Betty and nodded in thanks. Betty smiled widely and nodded in return, taking a step backwards and tripping over Gio's foot. He caught her and held her steady until she could grab a handhold in time for the car to start moving again. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and huffed a sigh.
Gio's dimple began to appear, "Having fun?"
"Ugh," Betty turned away from him and pretended to neaten her blouse. As she raised her head she came face to face with another young couple, neck deep in one another's throats, oblivious to the people around them. "Gross…"
Gio raised one eyebrow, "I say if they wanna kiss, let 'em kiss! They're not hurting anyone."
Betty scanned the car to gauge the reactions of the others, looking for someone to back up her disapproval. All she found was a middle aged man, slumped in his seat half asleep, two young girls chatting excitedly, and no less than four couples, equally preoccupied with one another. Finally, she looked down at the little old couple next to them. They were snuggled into one another, the man holding his wife's hands tenderly and gazing at her face as she talked quietly. They were in their own world.
She avoided Gio's gaze. "How much longer?"
"Just a couple of stops," he was enjoying her obvious discomfort.
As the car became more crowded, Betty moved closer and closer to Gio, partly to avoid bumping others, and partly to shield her eyes from the lovers that seemed to surround her. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and bent to kiss her cheek.
She shrugged him off, "Gio!" she hissed, "It's called public transport for a reason."
"Come on, B." He whispered in her ear, "Haven't you heard the saying?"
"Get a room?"
Gio locked eyes with her and curled one side of his mouth into a smile.
"When in Rome"
"Yeah bu… mmmm"
For a minute all she could register was the taste of his breath, his scent, his warm lips, and the firm muscles of his chest and arms cradling her as the train rattled along. Then sense kicked in and she pulled away, her shoulders tensed and her face flushed. She looked away in embarrassment and saw the elderly woman grinning in her direction. Betty hid her head in Gio's shoulder.
His smell was intoxicating, she had to admit. He kissed her ear and began to hum a little melody to her. Her shoulders dropped and softened, her breathing slowed, and she had an urge to kiss him again.
"This is our stop"
"What? Oh. Um okay."
Gio led her off the train and up the stairs towards the sunlight.
Betty scuttled after him, trying to keep up with his brisk, long strides and figure out where they were at the same time.
"Here we are…"
Betty looked up from the steps and was awestruck for the second time that day.
"Oh my God! They put a Metro station right next to it?"
"Well, you gotta admit it's convenient" Gio shrugged his shoulders.
"You said we were going to some Flavvy thing!"
"The Flavian Amphitheatre, yeah. This is it."
"This is the Colosseum, Gio."
"Uh, I know, Betty." He spun her around and pointed at the name of the station they'd just emerged from. Colosseo. Ah.
She turned again to take in the view. Across the bustling street, with hundreds of tourists lined outside, and somewhat less bright and shiny than it had been in Gladiator, was the iconic circular building. To her left stretched a long road, more ruins either side of it into the distance. Gio led her across the street and the walked silently around the arches, occasionally pointing out an inscription or a sculpture. Once they'd done a full lap, Betty headed towards the line of tourists. Gio pulled her away.
"Not today B. I'm getting a little tired. And that line doesn't look like it's going anywhere fast."
"But we're here now!"
"We have a month remember – let's not rush it."
As they headed off along the via dei fori imperiali, they passed a large and very finely sculpted triumphal arch. Gio translated what he could of the inscriptions, deciphered the sculpted scenes and told Betty of its history. The large ruins that flanked the long straight street were, Gio explained, the remains of the Roman forum on the left and the Trajan forum on the right. Betty quietly admired the different shades of stone, the remaining columns of a circular temple, a large soaring column with sculpted battle scenes set on a huge pedestal. And then,
"What the hell is that?!"
From a distance it had looked like a large white building, but as they came closer Betty realised that the huge white monstrosity at the end of this street was a single monument, set into the hill. It was adorned with garish sculptures, a series of stepped terraces, a large colonnade and a massive equestrian statue.
"That," Gio said with a pompous air, "is the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, built in 1895 of pure white Brescian marble to honour the first king of a unified Italy. It houses the Museum of Reunification and is generally abhorred by Romans and foreigners alike."
"Wow. It's kindof garish."
"Huh. I'll say."
"Daniel would love it."
Gio scoffed and looked at Betty, unconvinced.
"Think about it. It's big, white, waaay over the top, and completely useless!"
"True. A custom designer monument gone wrong."
"Absolutely."
They stood staring at the Wedding Cake (as Gio began to call it) for a few minutes, then wandered the few remaining blocks back to the hotel.
The heat was actually beginning to ease, but Betty felt tired and droopy. Her hair was frizzing in the humidity, no matter how often she smoothed it down. Her skin felt clammy and she longed for the air-conditioned room. The shadows of buildings were much longer now, and the traffic was picking up. More people emerged onto the street, and Betty couldn't help noticing with slight annoyance that all the women seemed as primped and pretty as they had that morning. Their clothes were perfectly fitted, their hair shone smoothly, and they moved with effortless grace. When they reached the hotel foyer Betty ignored the greeting of the concierge and began to clump up the stairs.
Gio paused by the desk, "you head on up, I'll just be a minute."
Betty opened the door and flopped onto the bed, stretching her legs over the edge and kicking off her shoes. She gazed out the window and wondered what her family were doing. She pulled out her cell phone and dialled the familiar number.
"Hilda!! It's me!"
"Oh my god, Betty!" Hilda squealed down the phone and Betty had to move it away from her ear a little, "How's Rome? How was your flight? Are you having a good time? Did you…. you know, yet? How's Gio?!"
"It's so beautiful here, Hilda, and kinda crazy at the same time. The flight sucked but I'm here and the room Daniel got us is beautiful. Gio's fine, he… we…" Betty paused, "can I talk to Papi please?"
"Betty! You are not getting away with that! Details girl! I want details!!" Betty heard a commotion in the background and Hilda's voice fading to a distant squeal,
"Hello mija, I miss you so much!"
"Hi Papi, I miss you too." Betty relaxed at the sound of her father's voice.
"I hope that boy is taking care of you… He seemed pretty tired when he called us."
"Yeah we just came back to the hotel for a siesta"
Her father's tone changed "Betty, have you thought about what I said…"
"Ay Papi, leave her alone! She's old enough to take care of herself" Betty heard Hilda in the background.
"It's fine Papi, we're… fine. I'm okay."
"Well, have a good time okay? And don't forget to eat."
Betty laughed, as though she could forget to eat with Gio around…
"I won't, the food here is amazing, and we haven't even had a real meal yet"
"Don't you come back skinnier than you are, mija"
"no chance. Hey… could I talk to Justin?"
"Sure, he's just heading off to school…"
"Justin, get down here! Your aunt's on the phone!" Hilda's voice was unmistakeable.
She heard quick footsteps
"I love you Betty, take care of yourself."
"You too, Papi."
"Aunt Betty?!" Justin had inherited his mother's squeal, and Betty had to move the phone away from her ear again.
"Hi Justin! How are you? How's school?"
"I'm like, totally jealous, but otherwise I'm good. Are you having an amazing time?"
"Yes, but there's something I wanted to ask you, could you do me a favour?"
"Sure! What's up?"
"I need your help, you see…"
Betty tried to explain quickly, before Gio returned. She knew Justin would be able to get the information out of Antonella, plus some hints about what she wanted for her own birthday. Betty realised they hadn't got off to the best start and she felt guilty for taking Antonella's big brother out of town on her special day.
Justin agreed excitedly and she promised to call again the next day to get details. They said goodbye, sent virtual hugs to one another, and hung up just as Gio opened the door.
"I booked us a table for tonight at a really nice place a few blocks away. Not too flash, just really good food and good music."
"Oooh, that sounds nice." Betty greeted him with a hug. He kissed her forehead and then moved away towards the bed. Betty, distracted with thoughts of Justin and Hilda and Papi began to undo her blouse. She looked up to see Gio about to pull his shirt over his head. Their eyes met, and both froze awkwardly.
"Uhm… I think I'll just pop in here" Gio gestured to the bathroom, then slipped his arm back into the shirt and grabbed a singlet from his bag.
Betty looked at him and stood, frozen, for a few more seconds.
She shook herself and remembered her father's words. As she changed into a singlet and boxers, she began to doubt the wisdom of sharing a room. She really hadn't known him long. But the thought of not waking up next to him was just as uncomfortable now. Last night she'd just collapsed and hadn't thought about it.
Gio looked at himself in the mirror.
"Snap out of it," he told his reflection, "you've got a month. No need to rush anything. If she doesn't want to be in the same bed we can sort something out."
He washed his face with cold water. Dammit.
If only they'd been drunk. It was different going to bed with someone when you were stone cold sober in the middle of the afternoon. But he was getting tired. He took a breath and walked back into the room.
Betty was sitting at the table in the same clothes she'd slept in. Her hair was tied back and she was fiddling with her nails and looking out the window. Gio broke the silence gingerly, "Hey. Um, I was just thinking that if you're not okay with the whole same bed thing we could organise something else?"
Betty looked surprised and then her face settled, "No, no, it's fine. I'm fine with that."
"Because I wouldn't be offended if you just…" liar, he thought to himself, then shrugged, "because Daniel booked this room and, well, I'm not Daniel and you're not one of his ladies and…" he began to ramble. He sometimes did this when he was nervous.
Betty had to stifle a laugh. Why was he so nervous?
"Gio, it's fine. I just need a nap, and I trust you not to jump me."
Gio's nodded silently, "Not that I don't want you to jump me. At some stage. Um…" Betty blushed for the umpteenth time that day. Now it was her turn to ramble. "I'm twenty four, Gio! It's not like I'm a virgin!" Hilda?! Betty thought… how did you get into my head?!
"So it's not only virgins that get uptight about PDAs? Really? You coulda fooled me" Gio teased.
"Just because I don't see the need for excessive public affection doesn't mean…"
"It's okay, I get it." Gio cut her off and held his hand out to usher her toward the bed. He folded back the covers and helped her climb in, then tucked the duvet over and kissed her forehead. Betty watched in amusement as he scampered around to the other side and slipped between the sheets. They both lay with only their heads exposed, staring straight up at the ceiling for a few minutes.
"You tired?" Betty spoke.
"Very. But not sleepy yet."
"Neither." She rolled onto her side and looked at him. Gio turned towards her and lifted one arm out from under the sheet, settling it on top of the cover.
"Why is this weird?"
"Because we're sober and it's…" Betty reached out and took Gio's wrist, checking his watch, "three in the afternoon."
Gio propped himself up on his elbow, resting his head in his palm, "Perfect time for a siesta"
"So siesta."
"I intend to" Betty giggled at the dozy half-smile he gave her and hid her face under the cover a little. "I just want you to know that I am a fairly vivid dreamer, and I cannot be held responsible for my actions whilst asleep."
"I won't hold it against you" she replied, diplomatically.
Gio's eyes began to droop. "Hmmm… thanks"
Betty watched the curve of his shoulder tense and then loosen as he rolled back off his elbow and snuggled back into the pillow.
"Gio?"
"Ya huh?"
"Can I have a cuddle?"
"Only if you promise not to molest me in my sleep."
"What does it matter? You'll be asleep." she teased.
"Dreams, remember? I respond to stimuli even whilst asleep." He opened one eye and peered over at her, "I'll know…"
She rolled her eyes and he reached over, pulling her under his arm and enjoying the smell of her hair, her soft body next to his.
Betty smiled and kissed his shoulder under her head. She felt the breeze through the window and his hand stroking her shoulder as she drifted off. She felt safe.