The road trip

Ryan and Marissa made their way back on to the motorway and headed south to Lyon and then from Marissa's small map she decided that they would head for Geneva skirt around the lake and then go through Milan and Verona to Venice. It looked fairly straight forward. Even with the constant rain they made quite good time and reached Geneva just before noon.

After stopping for gas, they decided to take the scenic route and drive along beside the lake but due to the weather the scenic route wasn't too scenic … just wet. They were getting hungry and after some discussion they decided to stop for lunch before they got back on to the main road.

Ryan pulled up in front of a small café on the edge of the lake, that due to the weather was basically deserted and so he felt that it would be safe for them to have a quiet lunch at.

"How about here?" he asked. "It's not too flash but at least we'll be able to get something to eat and there aren't too many people around."

Marissa shook her head. She wasn't prepared to take any chances with someone recognising them and selling them out to the press. At the moment the paparazzi all thought that they were in Paris and she wanted to keep it that way … at least until after the wedding. Too much planning had gone into it to risk something spoiling it at this late stage. "I'd rather just get something to go and continue on." She suggested.

"But we've got plenty of time. It doesn't matter how late we get there tonight." Ryan replied not quite understanding her eagerness. Surely they could just enjoy the trip.

"I'd rather get there in daylight." Marissa said searching for any excuse that would make them stay in the car as much as possible. She knew that Ryan didn't want their location to be revealed either but for him the paparazzi would just be an annoyance. He didn't realise that they could completely destroy all the plans that she had carefully made. "Plus … I'd still like to stay completely incognito if it's all the same to you. People around here are likely to know who I am." she explained.

Ryan thought that she was being a little over cautious. He had thought that she may have liked to have a nice meal where she was waited on for a change after they'd been cooking for themselves for almost a week but if she didn't want to then he was happy to indulge her. "Okay. Are you sure that you're just not scared of getting wet?" he teased as the rain started to come down even harder.

She smiled looking outside at the torrent that was now coming down. "Actually I'm looking forward to you getting wet. Then you'll have an excuse to take off your clothes."

Ryan laughed. "As if that's going to happen. You know that normally I have no problem taking my clothes off for you but even I draw the line at driving on the motorway starkers. However …" he thought for a moment "I could get some take out and then we could find a deserted spot along the lake shore where perhaps some of my clothing could be shed … as long as yours was being shed at the same time." He suggested.

Marissa smiled.

"Well?" Ryan asked. "No comment?"

"Just get us something to eat and we'll see where we go from there." Marissa replied the smile on her face telling him that the idea held some attraction. In truth, the idea was very appealing. After all … they were used to their lunch times including making love out in the open air … this wouldn't be quite in the open … it was too wet … but it also wouldn't be in private… so that would have to do. It was as close as they were going to get.

---

After their 'lunchtime interlude' they made their way back onto the main road.

"Do you realise what the time is?" Marissa asked. "I can't believe that we were there for so long."

Ryan smiled. "Well you were the one that insisted on seconds of dessert." He replied casting a quick glance at his beautiful wife still with that post coital glow about her.

Marissa blushed as she thought back to what had happened in the car. Thank goodness for the rain. It had managed to muffle out her cries of ecstasy and also provide a watery curtain that provided them with some privacy. She had never been so thankful for heavy rain before in her life. "Are you complaining?" she asked.

"Never." Ryan replied.

"You do know that's the first time I've ever done that in a car. I didn't think that I was 'that sort of girl'." She laughed. "See what you've done to me?"

"If you keep looking at me like that … I'm likely to pull over and do it to you again." Ryan suggested.

Marissa was surprised by just how much that idea appealed to her. Would she never get enough of him? "I wonder what Emma would say if she knew exactly what we were using her car for?"

"Perhaps that's something we should keep to ourselves." Ryan suggested and then asked. "How much further do we have to go?"

"We've barely even started." Marissa replied. "We just got waylaid."

Ryan smiled. "I'm happy to get laid with you anytime."

"Very funny. But we really need to just keep moving or we'll never get there." Marissa responded eager to get to their destination.

---

About an hour later they drove over the Alps and in to Italy.

"You do realise that I feel like we are doing 'The Italian Job' in reverse. A red mini going over the Alps and in to Italy … we should be going the other way." Ryan suggested.

"Yeah. And I should be sitting beside Mark Wahlberg." Marissa replied.

Ryan looked at her taken aback. "Well sor …ry. But maybe I should be with Charlize Theron." He replied.

Marissa looked horrified. "You wouldn't?"

"I don't know. Would you?" Ryan asked teasing her.

Marissa laughed. "No!"

"Then neither would I." Ryan assured her.

"Plus … we're only trying to elude the press … not the law." Marissa remarked.

"True." Ryan replied "so maybe not too "Italian Job" after all."

"Maybe not. But it's a nice thought." She said as she yawned and settled her head back looking out the window at the passing scenery.

Ryan caught the sight of the yawn out of the corner of his eye and said to her. "Why don't you have a snooze? I need you to be rested and in fine form for me tonight." He teased.

Marissa looked across at him puzzled.

"You did promise me that it's even better in Italy than France." He explained.

She smiled. "Yes I did. Maybe I will close my eyes for a minute then if that's okay with you?"

"Sure. It's not like I can make a wrong turn on a motorway."

---

It was about 2 hours later and Marissa was fast asleep in the car when Ryan noticed some large exit signs on the freeway. He looked at Marissa wondering if he should wake her but ... she seemed so peaceful that he was reluctant to do so. It seemed that if he stayed on his current road then he would go straight to Milan but there was an alternate route through the Italian lakes. He'd often heard about Lugano and Como and as the weather had improved and the rain was only now the occasional shower he decided to take the alternate route hoping that it may be a little more scenic than the grey asphalt of the motorway.

---

Marissa awoke a while later and wondered why they were no longer on a freeway. "Where are we?'

"We're just outside Lake Como." Ryan replied.

"What are we doing here?"

"Well you were asleep and I was bored with the freeway and I thought that we'd take the scenic route instead." He explained.

Marissa looked at the small map again and then at her watch. "You do realise that this is out of our way?" she asked. She wanted to be angry at him because this would make them even later but she felt guilty that she'd been asleep for so long and hadn't kept him company.

"It can't be that far out of our way. Is it?" he asked.

"Roughly an hour there and another hour to get back on the right motorway again." Marissa explained.

Ryan glanced at the clock. It was almost five and the rain had started to come down lightly again. "Sorry. I didn't realise that it would be quite so far."

Marissa glanced over at him as he rubbed his neck. She knew that he was probably feeling stiff and tired and here she'd been blissfully sleeping while he'd had to concentrate hard on driving through the pouring rain. "It's okay. It'll just be really really late by the time we get there. I might call Cathy and let her know so that she doesn't worry too much about us." She said as the Lake came in to view. It was beautiful and Ryan pulled the car over so that they could take it all in.

Ryan glanced up at the road sign in front of them for the next intersection. To the right was the road to Milan that would take them on to Venice. But to the left was the road to Bellagio. The town, that had given the hotel in Las Vegas where they had started their marriage, it's name. He hesitated for only a moment before pulling back out again and turning left.

"What are you doing?' Marissa asked in shock.

"You know I'm a big believer in fate. It's what made us meet in the first place. It's why I decided on that Ferris wheel that we needed to get married then and there. And now I have to think that … just maybe this is some sort of sign. Why were you asleep when I needed directions? What brought us here? It seems only right that since we're so close we should at least go and investigate. It's only just up the road."

"35 kilometres." Marissa stated looking at the sign. "We're already going to be late."

Ryan shrugged. "You were going to call Cathy anyhow. Why don't you just tell her that we won't be there until tomorrow and we'll find somewhere here to stay for the night? I must admit that I'm looking forward to getting out of the car and stretching my legs. The thought of another few hours behind the wheel isn't exactly appealing."

Inside Marissa's head her mind was exploding … and her stomach was churning. She didn't want this to happen. How could she get him to turn around? She sat there trying to think of something that would make sense without actually giving away her secret. But she could think of nothing and the longer she took the further they drove in the wrong direction. But she had to admit that it was beautiful. They were driving along the edge of the lake and there was a part of her that had to admit that the idea of staying here held more than a little appeal. Plus Ryan was tired. And she did have to call Cathy anyhow. She guessed that it would be all right … but she had to find some way of making sure that they left early tomorrow. She couldn't risk Ryan falling in love with the place and wanting to stay another night. "Okay. But you have to promise that we'll get going early in the morning. I've had Cathy organise reservations for us at this exclusive restaurant tomorrow evening and there is no way that I'm missing out on it. It's almost impossible to get in there. Even if you love it here, we're leaving first thing in the morning. If you want to stay longer then we'll have to stop in again on the way back."

Ryan smiled. "Sounds good to me."

All Marissa could think about now was getting in touch with Cathy. She had imagined that she could have excused herself from Ryan to go and catch up with her friend after they had arrived and that then she'd be able to do a last minute check that everything had been taken care of but now there would be no chance for that. She was just going to have to keep her fingers crossed. She took a deep breath and sat back …trying to enjoy the view. Then … as they rounded a bend a rainbow came out over the lake. It was so beautiful that it literally took her breath away and she knew that it was fate's way of telling her that in the end everything would be all right.