"An avalanche starts with one pebble. A forest with one seed. And it takes one word to make the whole world stop and listen." '
- Jay Kristoff
After living in italy for a month and a half, quite a few things had changed.
I no longer avoided people on the street, but smiled and said hello if I recognized someone. When I arrived at work in the mornings, my co-workers didn't stop talking or turn away. I was always neatly dressed, my long ginger hair carefully brushed. I would smile at nothing in particular. My skin was getting more and more freckles from the constant exposure to the sun, and had gotten a certain kind of glow that I had only seen on models in magazines. I had found something work-related I could do (and do well) that was not related to sports at all.
And of course, most importantly, I had a pet cat – one that was an expert climber and loved chewing at my expensive shoes.
I told Lana about him over the phone when she called unexpectedly while I was at work – luckily it was on my lunch hour so I didn't get any ugly looks for it. Nevertheless, I went outside to the small piazza to talk. It was windy outside, but the air wasn't cold, just soothing. The sun was just hiding on the other side of the white stucco building that was our office, the sun bearing down on the large fountain and the other buildings across the way.
"You definitly sound happy." Lana commented and I smirked, leaning against the stone wall behind me.
"And I didn't last time?" I asked and she laughed.
"Well, not really to be honest. I wonder what could have caused such a big change..." oh no, I knew where she was going with this. I tilted my head back and rolled my eyes.
"It's not a guy Lana, you know how I feel about that." It was true, that while Lana and I had known each other, I had only dated a handful of guys. The reason I'd told her was that I simply didn't need anyone else like that, which was true most of the time.
"Do I?" she asked playfully, taunting.
"Well, the people I work with have become a bit more friendly." I said, which was also true. But Lana wasn't buying this, not completely.
"Is one of them possibly an attractive italian male?" she asked, her voice coy and knowing – I was always bad at hiding things from her. I relented, sighing as I turned around to lean my head againt the wall, my hair framing my face in a long red curtain.
"Maybe. But he's much older and besides, he's also kind of my boss. " I said, my voice much quieter than before as this was not really something I wanted my other co-workers to hear – even if most of them dispersed at lunch hour, they could return at any moment and overhear me.
"Ah, I see. And you don't want to be the gullible assistant falling for an older man's charm. You have a point there, I guess." Lana said, managing to sound sly, dissappointed and bored at once. Not that I blamed her – I wish my life could be less complicated.
"But we're friends. Sort of." I continued, which was in retrospect, the wrong thing to say, because that made me realize that we were NOT in fact, friends by any normal standards.
"Forgive me for asking but what does sort of mean in this scenario?"
"I don't know. I'll tell you when I figure it out."
Something else that was different though was the number of co-workers. Earlier this week, I had noticed that Marion's desk was suddenly empty – cleaned out. And I hadn't seen her around for at least a week. And the weird thing was that everyone else at the office didn't seem to notice her absence all. Helen walked past as I was sitting by my own desk, so I thought I'd ask her about it.
"Hey Helen, did Marion quit or something?"
Without pause, Helen continued walking to sit by her own desk, all the while giving me her answer.
"She was offered a better position somewhere else." she said, sounding a bit distracted. I noticed that her face looked a little pale, and there were dark spots underneath her eyes.
"Really, where?" I asked, just out of curiosity. Helen looked up at me from her computer and shrugged, her eyes straying to the empty desk – where her gaze lingered for a long moment.
"I don't know actually, I wasn't here when she picked up her personal belongings."
Later that same day, I ran into Aro on the steps outside. He told me that he had a meeting to attend, but that he'd rather show me something first, if I didn't mind. Curious, I agreed.
We went inside the building with the dome, down a set of stairs I was familiar with by now since they led to the floor with the library. But instead of going in there, we walked past it and came upon a large wooden, heavy looking door facing the south side of the building. When Aro opened it, a lush garden was on the other side. Stunned, I slowly walked outside.
It was not very big, but the overgrown trees that stood there made it seem much bigger than it was. Their leaves hanging like vines down to the ground. Roses climbed the wall outside, and a thick green hedge surrounded the garden, protecting it from the outside world. And beyond that, one could glimpse mountains on the horizon, the ones that surrounded Volterra. There was a stone bench underneath a poplar tree with a lions face carved into its side. I let my hand skim over it, it was smooth and worn to the touch.
" I didn't even know that this was here!" I exclaimed, my eyes wide as I took it all in. Aros mouth quirked into a small smile as he watched me.
"That is because this garden is privately owned. But I thought you might like to see it." he said as I walked out to sit on the bench, bathed in sunlight.
"Do you own it?" I asked as I leaned in to breathe in the smell of pink roses growing next to the bench. The smell was strong and fragrant, and reminded me of fresh honey. Aro paced close to the wall of the building, in the shadows.
"The company does. It belongs to all of us here."
I shook my head as I stared out at the amazing view below the garden, the steep cliff and the untamed nature beyond it, the olive trees that grew far from each other and the plane trees that seemed to cover every other surface, their bright green leaves shiny, reflecting the bright sunlight. It was almost like the wilderness back home in Forks, except here it really and truly felt wild, deserted almost. I liked that part the best.
"It's so beautiful here." I said in the quiet, my voice small and breathy, and at first I wasn't even sure I had said anything.
"Can I give it to you?" Aro asked, his voice uncharactericstically light and hesitant – his words coming fast, like he didn't have patience enough to say it at a normal pace. It made me turn to him abruptly, a frown on my face.
"Why do you say that? I thought it was for everyone." I asked, and Aro blinked twice, like he hadn't expected me to answer with a question of my own.
"I lied. Only two other people usually come here, but they don't appriciate it. I assure you, they would not miss it."
I breathed out a short, incredulous laugh. He really was too much sometimes.
"I can't just own a garden like this sir, besides I am sure it needs a lot of care to keep it this way." but Aro waved away my logical concernes like it was nothing. He walked a few paces closer to me, but was careful not to step into the sunlight.
"It is well cared for, no need to fret. You own it, you decide who enters here. " he said, then let his red eyes drop to the ground, making them glitter as they reflected the sunlight – turning them into the same color of a deep red sunset.
" And that includes me."
I stared at him, confused.
"I don't understand."
He looked up at me again, eyes moving quickly. His voice grew darker now, less hesitant. My eyes watched his chalky hands as he talked, and it was like watching a marble statue come to life.
"There has been people in your life, I think, that have betrayed your trust in many things. I can see it in your eyes. I want to give you this place as a sanctuary, if you will. A place where only your rules need apply." he said, and the way he said it was definite, but careful. Good thinking. What did he know about me exactly, to say these things? Had the school contacted him somehow – I had visited our school councelor twice, but nothing good ever came of it. Had that information travvelled?
But no, he couldn't know – not that. He wouldn't respect me as much, and he definitely wouldn't give me a garden. What does he want in exchange? That's the real question here Rebecca.
I didn't say any of this, instead I fixed him with a long, dark stare as my nails rasped at the stone beneath me.
"That is a big assumption, Aro." I said, and he tilted his head to the side, ducking slightly. His dark hair slipped over one toned shoulder at the movement, and for a second I was distracted by it.
"But I suspect it is an accurate one Rebecca. Correct me on this if I am wrong."
Angry, and partly because he was right, I didn't say anything. I heard his footsteps as he moved closer to the door.
"I can leave, if you would like." he said, sounding sincere. After a moment I shook my head quickly, not looking at him.
"No, I don't want that."
"Then what do you want? "
That was a good question. What did I want? As per usual for us, any good conversation usually became some sort of argument. He pushed me yet he didn't – it was like he knew something vital that I did not. But what that could be I didn't know.
But I did know that I could start to feel his presence, whenever he was near. I felt it like the heat of the sun, something that warmed me up from inside, and went away whenever he did. That feeling became stronger everyday now. But it wasn't like a crush – those never felt this intense. I brushed some hair behind my ear, my mouth opening and closing a couple of times as I was trying to figure out what to say to him.
Because as nice as this feeling was – it also frightened me. I didn't know what he wanted from me.
"I don't want you to go. But maybe you want something, that I can't give you." I said, voicing my fears.
"It's just as I told you before – I only want your friendship."
I rolled my eyes at him, since I think we were both past that label by now as it was obvious for both of us that was not the case.
"I think it's more, you want more from me. Correct me if I'm wrong." I said, parroting his earlier words.
The sun had been moving in the sky, allowing more and more of the shadows to overtake the garden. Aro moved with them, just a foot away from me now. His dark clothes clashed with the pastel flowers, his burgundy suit absorbing the dark rather than the light. His approach was accompanied by a strange sort of predatory look, one that was full of heat as he stared at me for several moments in silence. It made me sit up straight, watching his movements carefully as he got closer. I almost flinched back as he moved out his arm towards me. But then he ghosted a hand – not on my cheek, but right over my heart – never touching, just hovering over that part of me like he could feel my heartbeat. Like it was a power of its own. When he spoke, his voice was sinuous and dark, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. When I dared to look into his eyes, I saw them burn.
"Smart girl. Yes, I do want." he said, almost making me shudder. Even though he was physically not warm, something about that gesture was so full of heat that it made my heart pick up its , he removed his hand and turned away from me, like whatever we were just doing was too much, too soon.
" But those rules are the same – only you decide what you want to give." he continued, his voice now devoid of whatever had come over him a moment ago. The whole garden was in shadow now, the forest below and the mountains now bathed in light instead. I shifted on the bench, my mind made up.
"If this garden is mine, than you have to promise me. My garden, my rules." I said as he turned around on the spot, and for once he was the one that looked confused.
"Promise you what?" he asked.
"Promise not to hurt me. Ever. "