Thank you all for reviews I am delighted !

16

For Maria, the last three days were madness. Every time she saw him, she felt a rush of anticipation wash over her and set her body on fire. She knew from the start that she was in trouble but she ignored it.

It was easy to pretend that the palpable energy between them did not exist, to put it aside, to forget.. Of course, she had noticed his appearance and how handsome he was, but that did not appeal to her, as there would always be good looking male specimens. Not that she saw many of them, silly Maria. But when he had begun to challenge her, to confront and tease her with intelligent, witty remarks, then she had really started to pay attention to him.

And then every day he had become more and more involved in children's lives, using every situation to attract her attention, or just ribbing her or involving her in their easy banter. Again, she wasn't alarmed. No, she was stubborn and had mistakenly assumed that it was just an easy friendship and nothing else.

However, now that she had thought better of it, remembering all the funny and not so funny developments between them, she realized she was unconsciously attracted to him. And finally after the kitchen encounter it all came together and everything made sense that happened between them, she had fallen in love. Hard. Irretrievably. Oh, Maria what fool you are, she scolded herself in her bleak mind.

Nevertheless, the encounter in the kitchen terrified her, it left her with serious dilemmas and continued for the next three days. She felt a strong physical reaction to him. Simply said, before her mind craved for him, to see him, talk to him, joke with him or just be in his presence even in her embarrassing situations. But now her body longed for him and after that fateful night she felt constantly aching and some kind of hungry need for him. Worst of all, she showed her feelings and revealed herself, which left her completely exposed and vulnerable in front of him. Which made her even more angry at herself.

It was total madness. It must be that damn whistle, she thought.

All in all, she didn't sleep, barely ate, had low spirits and generally she cursed her fate for meeting him and ruining her plans, or to be more precise making her doubt her life decisions and perspectives. And on top of that was the heat all over body in his presence. It was enough to smell his cologne even in his absence, her hormones came roaring to life all over her body. He had woken something wild in her, or that damn book.

Finally and the last proof that she had totally lost her mind, there was her imagination and of course, the main reason for bringing her in current trouble: a boundless curiosity! That stupid curiosity, she tried to justify herself. Every time she saw him immaculately dressed, she imagined him shirtless, with his nice built chest, fine hairs and their directions to his bulge.

That was the worst of all.

Every time she looked below his stomach to try to see if it was the same as that night, she would find different angles and imagine different scenarios like an obsessed maniac. She no longer saw his suit, she saw his bare chest, fine body, muscles, fine hair arrowed in the direction to look down. Madness. She had to stop this.

After comprehending everything she made the decision to talk with Reverend Mother to ask her for guidance and be honest about her doubts. Even though she had spectacularly failed in her vocation, Reverend Mother always had been understanding with her torch of wisdom.

As soon as she left the villa she somehow felt better. She liked the distance and contemplated things from different perspectives. As she came to the Abbey the Sisters gathered around her because they hadn't seen her for a long time. Although she spent most of her time with Sister Margarita, she did not want to reveal anything about her troubles, until consulting with the Reverend Mother.

The first minutes of the audience were spent in an exchange of pleasantries, but soon focused on Maria. Yes, she always had a soft spot for Maria and knew her very well and that's why guided her gently like own child. She was aware that the other Sisters were a little jealous of her and criticized her often but it was impossible to not love her caring and bright nature.

At first she started tentatively, she couldn't look Reverend Mother in the eyes from shame and embarrassment of her failure and then she forgot herself and told her everything.

From the first clash with the Captain, then the second, his change to showing love and caring for children, then about her clowning and throwing in the lake (there RM smiled and nodded in understanding) then how easily the of light-hearted banter grew between them, the way he liked to provoke and tease her, and finally the kitchen encounter. She confessed everything to Reverend Mother, also how that was much easier to comprehend with his rudeness and arrogance, instead of his taunting amusement or sparring and finally how his verbal and nonverbal provocations left her impulsive nature craving for more.

She explained how her studious attempts to avoid him didn't help at all. She was reasonably successful, but completely unprepared for his reaction. Maria also explained about his relationship with the Baroness and her wish to not mess up the Captain's life and leave the villa as soon as possible, despite the fact that she loved him.

Reverend Mother had been silent for a long time, or so it seemed to Maria. She felt so ashamed, willing to accept any punishment but she didn't expect a solution. To her great surprise she did not criticize her, on the contrary, she seemed to know all the time in which direction her life would turn. It turned out everybody knew, except her of course, even all the Sisters in the Abbey and that insufferable Captain, she mused.

Fulfilled by her wise words and a new life path or precise arrangement, she was bursting with energy and independence. She would always remember what the Reverend Mother said to her: "God never gives you more than one you can bear!". Finally she realised that her destiny was to meet him and mess up her path in life, so she decided to go to the mountain to clear her head and look for answers.

xxx

The mountain had always been her refuge. There she always felt closer to God as it seemed to her that he could hear her better there. She could see and feel God in everything around her in the green meadow grass, the scent of wildflowers, the hills around her, the white peaks of the mountains or the sun and the wind caressing her face. That's where she felt truly alive.

Maria danced, turning like a dervish and sang with full lungs some of the children's and her favourite songs. Eventually she lay with outstretched arms above his head then rolled down the slope of the hill, while screaming and laughing like a child until fatigue overcame her. After three days of nightmares and struggle, Maria fell into a restful sleep.

Maria dreamed of being on the mountain and having a picnic with the children and Captain. Everyone was happy, the children were enjoying themselves, the Captain was grinning blissfully and she felt fulfilled. She had never felt so content and peaceful as if she had waited her whole life to experience such a perfect moment. Yes she loved him with all heart.

They were left alone. Barely noticed, they continued laughing and teasing each other. Again it was built, that well-known bubble, she had become accustomed with him. Words were not needed; the heated looks were enough. Soon the teasing grew into tickling and tickling into touching. Suddenly their heads were close, they breathed the same air, their gaze melting from closeness and desire, one after another. He brushed his lips gently against hers, but that was not enough, she reached for him. Kissing him with all heart, she felt such a powerful connection that all the colours in the world melted and she shivered. Slightly trembling she woke up, dreamily realizing she had slept too long and was actually shivering from the coldness.

One look at the position of the sun was enough for Maria to start descending the slope in a full sprint. She knew she was always late but this was definitely her record. She had said she would be back by lunch and it was late afternoon. Of course, as it usually happened with her, nothing ever went as planned. She hoped to catch a bus to shorten the time to villa, but as she was late for the bus schedule, she decided to go on foot, aware that she would be even later.

Halfway home, a small truck with the inscription "At pirates!" stopped by trumpeting. It was Luca, Maria was elated.

"Caio bella!" Luca greeted Maria in a pleasant mood, greeting her with a wide smile. He was casually dressed again, like when they first met, the pirate suit long forgotten.

"Oh, Luca, I'm so glad you came," Maria said, aware of the potential to shorten the journey, but too shy to ask. Luca, as if understanding her tentative behavior immediately offered a lift to the Villa.

They spent the rest of the trip in pleasant conversation, revealing the events of the previous period and anecdotes with children. Maria felt really comfortable in his company, they simply had the same view of the world and the tendency to always look at everything on the bright side of life. He told her about life growing up in Italy, his parents and his fiancée who was waiting for him. They both had the impression that they had met in other circumstances to be true friends, they simply understood each other.

Soon they arrived at the Villa. Luca parked in front of the gate and asked her to wait, to help her out of the car in gentlemanly style and escort her. Of course he did all this in a dramatic and pompous way that Maria couldn't stop giggling. He was really funny.

Their farewell involved a friendly hug and a shy kiss on Maria's cheek with best wishes as Luca intended to return to Italy.

Maria turned and hurried toward the back door of the house, leading to the kitchen. She was glad there was no one, she would be able to silently enter and go up with some excuse for being late. Jumping up two steps in a hurry, she almost collided on the threshold with the person she wanted to see most and the least. Maria cursed herself for her bad luck and carried on in good spirits, said grinning:

'Hello Captain''

His icy and stern gaze erased her smile from her face. She immediately froze. She had never seen such an expression on his face before, a mixture of their first clash, second, from patisserie and double all that. In his eyes was a dangerous combination of anger, a murderous look, and a hurt. But why?! Oh God, what had she done now?

"You are late!" he said sternly and authoritatively, piercing her with his gaze as if accusing her of something, barely moving his stiff lips.

"I am really sorry, after the Abbey, I went to my mountain, and and lost time. It was such a beautiful sunny day and..." she continued babbling trying to soften him a little, but she was cut off by his sarcastic voice.

"And had a marvelous time, didn't you?" again there was that look she couldn't understand. The only thing she realized at that moment was that they were again at the beginning and that this time it would be brutal. Luckily, Reverend Mother had arranged a new job for her, otherwise either she or Captain would have ended up in the black chronicle.

"Oh, yes it was divine..." she tried again, but was stopped by his cold and irritable expression.

"I don't care!" he said abruptly, surprising both of them with his raised voice.

xxx

So, Luca is back :-)