Chapter 19
I liked the Christmas concerts. The stages had beautiful decorations, with huge Christmas trees, white Christmas lights, and festive red and green curtains. The beautiful arrangements allowed for creative photography, and I liked being able to incorporate the Christmas props into the pictures. The boys handed out candy canes to people in the crowd during the concert, and the people at the concerts were always cheery and loved to sing along with the familiar songs.
I also loved being back in the U.S., my home, and I liked always being somewhat familiar with where we were stopped. Being from Florida, I was accustomed to hot summers and mild winters, so when we stopped in Colorado and snow started to fall, my breath was taken away by its beauty.
I loved to go out and get pictures of the different places we stopped in the wintertime, though the cold was bitter and harsh to me. I would bundle myself up and go out with my camera, tolerating the cold as I ran on foot through the freezing cities and countrysides. My fingers would go numb, my cheeks and nose turned a bright red, and my breath would be apparent in the freezing winter air, but nothing could stop me from getting my landscapes. My laughter and the sound of my lonely high-tops on cement and crunching snow echoed throughout the quiet cold atmospheres of the cities in the early mornings and late evenings.
I captured the cold, bare beaches in Florida, the white-tipped mountains in Colorado, Christmas tree forests in Michigan, and the extravagant holiday decorations in Las Vegas. The winter landscapes and decorations made for brilliant photography, and Ignazio was always eager to welcome me back from my outdoor winter romps with blankets and hot chocolate. We would sit together as I defrosted and reviewed my photos, storing them and letting him look through them, savoring his wonder at the scenes I had captured.
In December we stopped for several for several days in New York, and I secretly made arrangements and agreements with a printing company, anticipating receiving my T-shirt and poster prototypes. On the day I was to pick them up, I woke up early, excitement coursing through me as I passed the printouts of my designs on the hotel kitchen table.
The boys would soon be going to the concert theatre they were performing in, and they expected me to go to it sometime during their rehearsal to observe the stage and find some good places for concert photos. I got dressed and pulled on my red coat and scarf, slipping out of the hotel with my camera before any of them were probably even awake. I walked down the gradually lightening street in the cold morning air, my high-tops tapping briskly against the cement. The city was busy despite it being so early; cars, taxis, and bicyclists rushed by noisily as I hurried along on my mission, focused on getting to the printing company.
I hopped out of the taxi and ran up to the theatre rising up above me into the sky. I ran up the steps clutching the packages to my chest within my coat, my high-tops a brilliant red blur as I dashed forward. I pulled open the heavy front door and ran inside, my shoes echoing in the hallway as I sprinted into the huge theatre.
I was surprised to find it mostly empty, except for the men moving around on the stage setting up for the evening concert. I looked around and started toward the stage, hunting for the boys or Michele or Barbara.
"BOYS!?" I called breathlessly, pausing to listen for an answer.
One of the stagehands straightened and pointed toward the backstage, and I nodded and started forward again, hurrying down the aisle and up the stage steps. I paused at the top, watching a stagehand setting up a Christmas tree.
"Move it over there," I directed, pointing to another spot on the stage. "It'll make for better photos."
"And who are you?" he asked condescendingly, raising an eyebrow at me.
"I am the photographer!" I declared, smiling at him for a moment before I whirled around and ran backstage.
"Boys!?" I hollered, and heard Michele call back, "Over here, Tamzin!"
I raced excitedly through the hallway, following the sound into a huge lounge where the boys were sitting, yawning and drinking coffee as they talked. They jumped and looked up when I burst in, breathless and beaming eagerly at them.
"My goodness, Tamzin!" Michele exclaimed, his hand on his chest, "You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days!"
"Sorry!" I said, quickly setting down my packages on a table and stripping off my scarf and coat. "I have something to show you guys!"
"Ooh, great! Is this what you've been working on?" Ignazio asked eagerly, sitting up straighter and setting down his coffee. I nodded enthusiastically and grabbed one of the packages, ripping off the wrapping and moving it where they couldn't see what was inside.
"It's so great! Are you guys ready to see it? You have to be ready!"
Piero yawned as he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
"It's too early for this, Tamzin," he said, and Gianluca smiled as he sipped his coffee.
"Aww, poor baby," Ignazio teased, shoving him, "Come on, Piero, pay attention!"
"It's too early for you, too," he said groggily, shoving Ignazio back, "But okay, Tamzin, I'm listening."
"What've you got?" Gianluca asked curiously, eyeing the wrapping on the floor.
I reached behind me and took the poster in my hands, feeling the cool paper in my palms.
"Ready?" I asked again.
"Come on, Tamzin!" they all exclaimed, and I laughed and brought the poster around me to the front, unraveling it with a flourish. "THIS!...is what I've been working on!"
I held up the poster in front of my face for a moment, then lowered it eagerly to see their astonishment when I heard their surprised gasps.
"Wow!" Piero said, suddenly wide awake, and Ignazio jumped up from the couch and moved closer.
"That's amazing!" he said, smiling brightly at the poster, than at me. "I love it!"
"It's great, Tamzin!" Piero said, nodding in approval, and Gianluca got up and came beside Ignazio to study it, prompting Piero to follow. The three of them crowded around me, pointing out the things they liked and complimenting me on it.
"Can I see?" Ignazio asked, and I handed it over to him, watching him jubilantly as he held it up for them to admire. They marveled over it, looking over at me and smiling.
"It's great, Tamzin!" Ignazio said as Michele came beside him and reached out for the poster. Ignazio let him take it, and then he smiled brightly at me and came beside me. He moved to put his arm around my shoulders, but I ducked away and smiled playfully at him as I grabbed the second package from the table and jumped onto a chair for my even greater announcement.
"Oh, but that's not ALLLL!" I said in a radio-announcer voice, and the boys, Michele, and Barbara looked up at me, surprised and smiling. "I've also been working on something else! Something so great that it has occupied my thoughts at least since the Christmas CD party! I have been planning this…designing and re-designing this-"
"Come on, Tamzin!" Gianluca laughed, "What is it?"
"What is it, you ask?" I said dramatically, turning to him on the chair and looking down at him. "Why, it's THIS!"
I pulled out a bundle of fabric from the package, then threw my fists into the air as the paper fell to the ground, letting the T-shirt unroll in front of me.
"TA-DAAA! Great, huh!?"
They laughed and exclaimed their admiration as I peered out from the side of the T-shirt and laughed giddily at their excitement.
"Wow! Cool!" Piero cried, bounding forward and grabbing it from me, turning it to see the back, and the three of them laughed when they read the quote. I watched eagerly as they touched and turned the shirt and admired my project.
"I love it!" Gianluca said, taking it from Piero. He smiled up at me and pulled it over his head, pushing his arms through the sleeves and turning around for us.
"How do I look?" he asked playfully, and we laughed with him as Ignazio held out his hand and helped me down from the chair.
"When did you get these printed?" he asked admiringly as Gianluca pulled it off carefully and handed it to him.
"I picked them up this morning!" I said, watching his excitement triumphantly, "I came here straight from the printing place!"
"We've got to print some more!" Piero said, taking it from Ignazio and holding it up again to see it. He flipped it around, then turned it again and held it in front of himself. "I want one!"
"Me too!" Gianluca and Ignazio said, and I clasped my hands together and laughed excitedly. Ignazio took my hand and pulled me to him so he could put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close so he could kiss my cheek.
"They're amazing, Tamzin! You did a great job!"
"He's right," Michele said, and I looked over at him and watched him and Barbara studying the shirt. "In fact, Tamzin, do you mind if I look into selling these?"
"Of course not!" I said, laughing, "That's what I had in mind, too!"
"I think they're gonna be a big hit!" Piero said approvingly as he and Gianluca got close to Michele to admire both the poster and the T-shirt.
"Absolutely!" Ignazio said, then smiled playfully at me and exclaimed, "They're going to be all the rage this winter!"
I laughed, and he hugged me tightly, making me realize suddenly that I was shaking in excitement.
"They're great, Tamzin," he said, and then leaned forward to kiss me. I took his head in my hands and kissed him back exuberantly, and then pulled back and happily watched Michele, Barbara, and the other boys fawn over my project as Ignazio stood dazed beside me, smiling faintly as he watched me.