Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Hours left until the wedding: 27
Miles left until Venice: 230
When they finally arrived at Varzo on the snowmobile, there was almost no snow on the road anymore. Turned out that Varzo was a picturesque valley hidden between the alps. Mercedes was grateful that there was still some snow on the ground, otherwise, they would have to carry the snowmobile. Funny how the problem one hour ago had been too much snow, now, it was almost the other way around.
They got everyone's attention when they came sliding into the valley, and Mercedes wasn't surprised at all. They really did look ridiculous: Three grown up people on a small snowmobile with a stretcher full of dirty luggage.
Mercedes grimaced under her helmet when she saw how people retrieved their phones and took photos.
Unbelievable how the weather could vary at different places. When she looked back up to the pass, she saw how dark clouds were surrounding the alps, the mountains were covered with glittery white snow.
The valley, on the other hand, was not that white, the sky was blue.
They stopped on a wide lawn, Mercedes' muscles were aching when she got up and put down her helmet. Kurt looked at her in a pitiful way.
"Helmet hair", he commented and brushed away a strand of her dark hair that was sticking to her face. "We need to take you to a stylist before you meet your future brother in law for the first time!"
Mercedes threw him a killing glance Behind her, she could hear how Sam bit back his laughter what made her more pissed.
"Can I tell you something?" She tried to sound calm and noticed with satisfaction that he braced himself.
"Just insult me if you have to", Kurt sighed. "But I am right. A woman's hairdo is her biggest asset."
"Really?" Mercedes narrowed her eyes. "Not her mind?"
Kurt threw her a 'Oh, come on, you know what I mean'-glance, but Mercedes was not in the mood.
"Considering me, Kurt, the great Sergio Bellucci is nothing more than an extraordinarily happy man that will marry my sister tomorrow. And I don't care whether I will look like a scarecrow if I meet him."
"But you should care", Kurt answered her back, slightly offended. "The first impression is the most important one."
"No, it isn't!", Mercedes yelled. "At least not for normal people. Yes, Sergio is a celebrity in Europe, and that's great for him. The only thing that counts to me is that he is a good guy."
"Of course, Mercedes", Kurt confirmed in a soft tone, but she wasn't done talking.
"And I am looking forward to finding it out myself. If he comments my hairdo after all the crap I experienced only because of his wedding, I will know exactly what kind of person he is."
Kurt gulped before he said: "I just thought, you would feel more at ease if…"
"Oh, and there's something else!" Mercedes was still not done. She saw the grin on Sam's face who was checking the stretcher – what didn't make it better. "He may pay that dress, but you know what? That's his privilege. It's his wedding gift to my sister. If you believe that he is a high and mighty man for me and I need to look great just because he will be around, I need to disappoint you."
"Alright." Kurt bowed his head.
"And something else!"
"What else?" Kurt looked over to Sam, seeking help, but he just shrugged as if he wanted to say: Sorry, bud, but you need to get through this alone.
"I am from Ohio. And the girls from Ohio know that there are more important things than hair."
"Clothes, for example?"
The quiet remark came from Sam and Mercedes wasn't even sure whether he had said it. Slowly, she turned to him, searching for a snarky comment so that he would never ever piss her off again.
"Let me tell you something", Kurt blurted out with a forced smile. "I will go search for the post office and you will wait here and relax a bit. I don't trust your French; god knows where we will land if you ask for the way."
Before Mercedes and Sam could say anything, he had rushed away in a hurry.
Mercedes turned away from Sam and tried calming down. While doing that, she looked down to the stretcher. To be fair, she needed to admit that her luggage was not as dirty as she imagined it. The majority of the snow and the hey had been blown away by the wind on their way down.
Nevertheless, she couldn't wait to open the zipper of the dress bag, not only to check whether the dress was still okay, but also because she wanted to see it. It was weird how they carried around the dress without having looked at it even once.
But they couldn't do it now, publicly, with all the dirty hands and Sam who stared at her and who would destroy the moment with a sarcastic comment.
"That was close to a disaster.", she said to him, still not looking at him.
Sam checked the snowmobile.
"Really close" She held her breath and waited for his reaction.
Nothing. No apology. He seemed to ignore her.
"Sam?"
"Yes?" He still didn't turn around.
Mercedes took a deep breath and spat it out. "I wish you would have fixed the stretcher properly – you almost ruined everything!"
He froze and turned around slowly. His face expression was unreadable. "Really? What a world-shaking catastrophe!"
"Save your sarcasm!"
Again, they stared at each other like two fighting cocks, their hands on their hips. Sam's face was filthy, his hair was sticking to his face – but for some reason, she found it attractive – compared to how disgusting she must look.
"It's just a dress, Mercedes, a stupid dress!"
"Stupid?", Mercedes hissed. "How dare you calling it stupid – what a horrible word."
"You called me stupid up there!", he retorted.
"I didn't."
"You did!"
"Really?" Mercedes bit into her lower lip. Did she?
He nodded.
"Oh." She couldn't even remember.
Sam waited for her to say something.
"Well…" The apology was stuck in her throat and she stayed silent. Instead, she looked at the spectators on the street next to them.
Annoyed, Sam shook his head. "Come off it, Mercedes. I know that it is a wedding dress. But I think that you and your sister take this more seriously than it is."
Mercedes was outraged. "Oh, really? Since when do you have the right to judge me and Coralee? Probably because you know us so well."
He shook his head again. "Of course, I don't, but it's unbelievable you are so scared of her. It almost sounds like she was a princess that makes a fuss about a garment. She should be more worried about you arriving in Venice, safe and sound."
"That dress makes her happy, Sam, and I am sorry you can't understand this." Mercedes tried her best to sound formal and disappointed. "I just try to make sure that this is going to be her perfect day."
"To me, it looks like you wanted to prove her something."
Mercedes narrowed her eyes. "What?" How the hell did he find out?
"Why don't you just call your sister?", he suggested. "Tell her about all the burning wheels you need to jump through?"
"I…I don't want her to worry." Mercedes was unable to look into his eyes. How could someone who didn't even know her that much be so right about her relationship to Coralee?
"Okay, and what's the real reason?"
All of a sudden, Mercedes wanted to tell him everything, the problems with her sister, how she didn't properly process the breakup with Anthony yet, everything.
But she wouldn't cry.
"I…"
"Adventurous!" Kurt came back. "They are speaking such a weird dialect; I don't understand them." He looked back and forth between Sam and Mercedes and crossed his arms. "What now? Are you children still fighting? Sam? You first, please."
"Everything is alright. Mercedes just thanked me for having brought us down the pass safely."
Mercedes threw him a disdainful glance. "In two parts. Your contrivance fell apart, do you remember?"
"Shall we?" Kurt clapped his hands and went ahead to cross the street, Mercedes and Sam followed him like pouting kids.
Their appearance made the people look twice, not to mention their dirty snowmobile they dragged behind them with the stretcher in tow. They passed a bakery with good looking bread, cafés and a couple of shops where people could buy skiing equipment.
When they passed a hairdresser shop, Kurt nudged Mercedes. "We could take half an hour if you want to", he teased her.
"Haha, really funny", she growled but smiled a bit.
When they walked past a bank and heard people talk, realization dawned on her. The shops, the price tags, the language…
"People here talk Italian, Kurt", she said quietly. "Not a rural weird dialect. I think you are living in Paris for too long."
"Yes, you are right!" Kurt looked around. "I didn't notice we already passed the border. They should mark the borderline with red color or something." He facepalmed.
Mercedes patted his arm. "My mother lives in Italy for a few years, or else, I would have been confused as well."
"You don't need to make fun of me. I should have noticed it. After all, I once had dinner with Gianni Versace."
"No!" Mercedes halted in her tracks.
"Yes!"
"How was he like?", she squealed.
"Oh, extraordinarily adorable" Kurt beamed when he remembered that night. "It was at his mansion in Miami. Of course, we all spoke English, how could I notice we…"
Sam cleared his throat loudly, and Mercedes almost forgot that he was with them as well. "Look what we have here."
In the meanwhile, they arrived in front of the post office.
"It's closed", Mercedes realized.
Sam looked back to the snowmobile behind them. "Shall we just bring it to the garden and go to the bus station?", he suggested when he looked into the window. "Nobody's there."
"Wait" Mercedes had spotted a doorbell, so she pushed the red button.
A couple of minutes later, nothing had happened until they heard steps. An elderly man in a suit came into view.
"Whether this is Alexandre?", Mercedes whispered to Sam.
"That's me", the man answered in English. Despite his age, his hearing was still excellent. "And you must be the adventurers my friend told me about – I already expected you. Did you have a nice drive down?"
"Yes", Sam answered politely while Mercedes answered with an earnest "No".
Alexandre looked at them with a smile. "Damages on the snowmobile?"
"None", Sam answered.
"Really?" Alexandre looked at the snowmobile closer. It was dirty as hell and Mercedes felt kind of ashamed.
Sam followed his gaze. "Erm…Of course, I will help with cleaning it up. But it's not damaged, I am serious."
"There's no need for it, I will just splash it", Alexandre answered. "Take off your luggage and I will show you where to bring it."
The put off their luggage, Mercedes pulled the dressbag closer to herself despite all the dirt. She and Kurt sat down on the bench while Sam and Alexandre brought the snowmobile to the backyard.
"Did you also think about that we will never make it to Venice?", Mercedes asked.
Kurt nodded. "A couple of times."
"I should be there by now, get a manicure or drink a glass of Cider with Coralee and reminisce about our childhood where we…well…" She trailed off, thinking about how impossible that scenario was even if the plane would have landed in Venice as planned.
Without a doubt, Coralee would have been fixated on every detail on her wedding. Since she and Sergio got engaged, micromanagement had been her full-time job. Yes, she had always been neat and petty, but this was close to obsession. The probability of having time to talk about childhood memories were slim.
"It's…something else", Kurt agreed. "I had a weird feeling about that trip from the beginning on, not only because of the flight."
When she was about to ask what he meant, Sam and Alexandre returned with triumphant face expressions.
"It's done", Sam beamed and pumped his fist in the air.
Mercedes almost jumped up to hug him, she was so relieved. But she composed herself in time. Now, they would continue their trip with more civilized means of transport.
"Venice, we are coming!", Kurt sighed. "Finally."
"Is it far away until the bus stop?", she asked.
Alexandre's face fell. "Bus stop?", he repeated. "No, it's not."
"Awesome", Kurt said, good tempered. He got up.
"But why do you want to go to the bus station?", Alexandre asked.
Mercedes looked at him with a frown. "To take the bus", she laughed because of his stupid question.
"But it's Sunday", Alexandre pointed out.
Her stomach sank.
"Today, there are no busses", he explained.
The three of them froze.
"Oh no", Sam finally groaned.
"Are you sure?", Mercedes asked, deflating.
Alexandre nodded apologetically.
Kurt only shook his head in disappointment. Sam sat down so close next to Mercedes she could feel the warmth of his body. Alexandre stepped from one foot to another and bit his lower lip.
"How far is it until Domodossola?", she asked after a while. "We could catch the train to Venice. Are there taxis at this place?"
"That's out of question" Alexandre rubbed his hands and smiled at them. "I have to get to that city anyway and can give you a lift."
Mercedes' face lit up again. "That would be great!"
"That's so nice of you", Kurt agreed.
"No problem", Alexandre said. "I have to deliver something important on the way, but there is enough space for you in my delivery van."
He pointed at the other side of the street where a big post van was parked and looked at their luggage.
"A suit?", he asked, pointing at the dress bag.
"A wedding dress", Mercedes corrected him. "My sister will marry tomorrow."
"Oh, how wonderful! Congratulations to her."
"Thanks."
He frowned. "Would you let me pack it into a box before we put it into the van? It would be more protected."
"I am thrilled. The more protected the better. It experienced a lot by now." She nudged Sam while Alexandre carried it into the building. "Isn't it great that people are treating other people's things right?"
"Okay, I got it", Sam muttered.
"Little joke", she added when she noticed his discomfort.
"I already heard better ones", he answered.
"I already told better ones", Mercedes mumbled.
Fifteen minutes later, they were all sitting in the van, the luggage and the dress were in the trunk and they were driving across the valley.
"Someday, I will return and look at all that unhurriedly", she said, gasping when she looked out of the window.
"So will I", Sam agreed.
"Maybe, I will learn how to ski as well."
Sam just shrugged.
"Does Jasmine ski?", Mercedes asked. Not that she we interested in the answer. For sure, Jasmine was an Olympia-winning skier. And had perfect hair and great teeth.
Sam threw her a weird glance. "No", he answered. "Where she comes from, people don't really ski."
"Yes, of course", she nodded. In Hollywood, there were not that many alps to ski. Maybe Jasmine was a tanned, New Zealand surfer beauty. Or a sexy Hawaiian hula teacher. But she would never find out.
She was about to torture herself and ask more questions about her when the car stopped in front of a cozy looking house.
Alexandre turned around and beamed. "That's the house of my son."
"It's pretty", Mercedes said happily.
He smiled at her. "Thank you."
The entrance door opened and a happy looking couple exited.
"My daughter in law, Penny", Alexandre introduced them. "And her husband, my son Giovanni."
Penny came rushing over to them to hug her father-in-law. Mercedes needed to smile because of that. It was heart warming how close they seemed to be. It made her miss her own mother.
She looked into the house and spotted balloons that were floating up. A girl in a purple dress was jumping around in the hallway.
Alexandre explained everything to his daughter-in-law in Italian. In perfect English, she shouted to the trio: "Please, enter! You are more than welcome."
A quick exchange of glances with Sam and Kurt confirmed to Mercedes that they were all thinking the same. They really didn't have that much time.
"Thank you very much, but no thanks", Sam answered. "We need to…"
"Grandpa! Grandpa!"
The little girl came running out of the house and threw herself into the arms of her grandpa. Alexandre happily kissed her forehead, whispered something into her ear and pointed at his guests. "That's Vanessa, my grandchild, and today is her sixth birthday."
"What a pretty girl", Mercedes exclaimed. She knew that Alexandre liked to hear that, but she was serious. That girl was just lovely.
"Happy birthday, Vanessa!"
Coyly, the girl hid her head behind her grandpa's leg.
"Please, enter!", Alexandre insisted. "Eat just one piece of cake with us."
Mercedes felt Sam's and Kurt's nervousness. She decided to take the initiative, got out of the car and went to Alexandre. "Thanks a lot, Alexandre, but we don't want to disturb you and your family. Please go inside and celebrate with your granddaughter. Would you be so nice to give us the phone number of a taxi company? After that, we will leave you al…"
Alexandre facepalmed before she could end her sentence. "You are in a hurry, I should have known it. Let me just bring Vanessa her present and then, we will drive off."
"I don't want you to miss the party", Mercedes answered him back.
"It won't take long, it's not far away. Let me do that favor for you."
Mercedes didn't know what to say for a while. "Thank you so much", was the only thing that came into her mind.
She got into the car while Alexandre took the present out of the trunk and carried it into the house. They could hear how the girl screamed delightedly and the laughter of her parents.
"Is it only me, or do you also find this kind of embarrassing?", Sam asked in the round.
"One little bit?", Kurt confirmed. "We shouldn't be here now. That's not how we travel to weddings in Paris. Or Yorkshire."
At that moment, a smiling Alexandre exited the house and got into the car where he turned on the engine.
"I really wish you could stay with your family", Mercedes tried it one last time.
He shook his head. "No, no. It's only twenty minutes until the train station. I will be back in a flash."
"But…"
"Even though there were no teddy bears back then when I was a small boy like that one Vanessa will unpack soon." He patted Mercedes' arm. "I will be back when she shows it to everyone. Please don't worry about me, that will be a beautiful day for me."
Again, she thanked him and relaxed a bit when they drove across the valley and to the train station.
One day, she would find a way to return his friendly favor.
But now, she was just glad they were on their way!