"Maria," Izzy sighed as Maria sat down at the table with their Gelato. "I don't think this is a good idea. My aunt will freak."
She felt badly Maria had already bought the Gelato, but she hadn't been able to get a word in edge wise the whole trip! It was question after question after question, half of which she didn't even know how to answer. It was hard to tell through the ear-piercing squeals, but she was pretty sure Maria even asked her something about a wedding dress. A wedding dress. She was definitely regretting telling her about her new found crush.
Maria placed Izzy's watermelon Gelato in front of her and sat down, crossing her legs and looking like the picture of elegance. "Relax," she waved her hand before taking a giant bite. "It's just gelato, plus she loves me. You'll be fine."
Izzy stared at the gelato. It did look really, really delicious, her aunt did love Maria, and she was hungry, having slept through breakfast and missed lunch in the mad dash for class. She nodded, sighing, "Fine, but just this once."
As she reached for her beautiful gelato, the dark pink ice crystals glistening in the light of the sun like tiny gemstones calling her name, Maria snatched it away, ripping it out of her reach.
She stared at her in shock before making a few wild grasps for it, but with the height difference, it was no use.
Maria shook her plastic pink spoon at her. "Story first." She then took another big bite of hers, as if to prove a point.
Izzy frowned, but agreed. She started to tell the story, but of course she had to start at the very beginning, which meant what she wore that morning. Izzy told her to look up, motioning at her body, but Maria claimed the story had to be told right. She even interjected, changing her whole outfit. Now Izzy was running down the Piazza which sparkled in the sunlight, with a rainbow overhead, and flowers' scents filling the air, in a sundress, and high heels.
"Why the hell would I ever wear that?" Izzy sighed, taking a bite of the sweet, icy watermelon Maria had finally relinquished. "Plus, it was all muggy from the torrential downpour last night. There was water everywhere, and no flowers."
"Tell the story right, or don't tell it at all!" Maria banged her fist on the table as if she was decreeing a new law.
"Ok." Izzy grabbed her gelato, holding the spoon in her mouth, and rose out of the seat. As she began to fake walk away Maria reached over and pulled her back into her seat by the collar of her shirt.
Looking over, one eyebrow raised, she found Maria was giving her the puppy dog eyes.
"Fine, fine. So I was wearing a dress…"
"A sundress, with pink flowers-"
"Yeah, that."
She recalled the rest of the story, this time without any interruptions besides her occasional bite of watermelon. That was until she mentioned his eyes…
"They were, teal?" Maria whispered, her eyes as wide as saucers.
Izzy nodded, taking another bite and savoring the sweetness as it melted away on her tongue.
"Are you, sure? Like, teal, or just blue-green?"
"No, teal, like teal teal. Well," She motioned with her spoon, "They were a bit lighter, a bit bluer, like that sea glass necklace I got last summer."
Maria suddenly looked worried.
"What, is that, bad?"
Maria laughed, smiling. "No, I've just never seen anything like that. It sounds too good to be true." She leaned closer, grinning evilly. "So what else? Don't tell me you only remember his eyes."
Something about the way she said the last line made a shiver run up her spine. It was probably a good thing she would never see him again. "Umm, he had dark hair. Like, not quite brown not quite black."
She rose her eyebrows. "And?"
Izzy sighed, her eyes subconsciously sweeping the patio, like he would show up at any time and hear her.
"He was pretty tall, like, over six feet?"
"Seriously? That's it?"
Izzy stuffed gelato in her mouth as an excuse not to reply. Maria said something, but a giant icy storm quickly covered her brain.
"Brain freeze?"
"Yes." Izzy choked out in between coughs.
After it passed she added, swirling some of the liquid left on the bottom of the cup to hide her disappointment, "I only saw him for a second. It's not like I'll ever see him again."
Maria stood up, taking both of their empty cups and spoons. "Probably not, but at least your starting to get interested in boys!" She gave her a wink before walking to the garbage can.
Izzy tried to unravel her thoughts, to figure out why she was so stuck on this guy. In the past five years she hadn't been interested in anyone, and then he showed up. She hated what it did to her brain, like a thousand thoughts were swirling around at once in a giant, chaotic mess, and yet, it was nice…She blew a piece of hair out of her face, turning to watch the sunset.
A giant splash of red covered the sky, streaks of pink and yellow intermingling. It looked like it belonged in the Sistine Chapel, not in the temperamental sky where every second changed it further. She took it in for a few minutes, trying to imprint it on her brain before she realized Maria was taking oddly long. Looking over, she saw three guys circled around her. Rolling her eyes, and knowing she was probably drinking in the attention, she turned back. Within a minute or two of watching however, something caught her eye.
Two, bright teal eyes were staring at her from a table by the water, right under the sunset. Izzy's heart leapt then caught up for missed time, her stomach twisting in knots. She slowly stood up, but as she took the first step forward, she realized her mistake.
It was a woman, probably not much older than herself though she looked like a model. Even with the big floppy hat and newspaper covering most of her face, Izzy could tell she was gorgeous. Bright red lips, dark hair in perfect, glossy waves, even the dress she had on, which looked like it belonged in the eighties with its abnormally large geometric triangles, looked amazing on her, hugging every curve perfectly. Izzy's skin suddenly felt itchy, and her cloths seemed much too baggy and frumpy.
When their eyes met, the woman seemed to freeze, gasping and covering her mouth before jumping up and quickly walking away. Izzy began to follow after her, her quick stride rapidly turning into a run as she wove out around tables. People gave her weird looks, but she ignored them. There was something there. It couldn't be a coincidence, that teal. She yelled for the woman to wait, but it only spurred her to run.
She ran past a few street vendors and a performer, then down an alleyway. The woman was too quick though, and Izzy constantly found herself stuck in the dust. A swish of dark hair turned the corner, but within the few seconds it took to catch up, the woman was gone.
All that was left was a dirty, empty, brick alleyway. A gust of wind blew by, pulling up old flyers and newspaper from the ground. The only way out was into an open piazza, but when she ran into the light, the woman was nowhere to be found. Instead, a large, marble fountain gurgling, a few elderly people talking, and children running and laughing were the only occupants. She was gone. Izzy couldn't quite wrap her head around it, but somehow she had just, vanished. Biting her lip she turned around and began to walk back. Did she just, imagine it?