AN: Thank you to all who have stopped by to explore this story. All reviews and comments are much appreciated. Now off to the city of Florence and the discoveries it holds in store. Enjoy…
Chapter 4 Fervid Yearning
"It is not how much you love someone, but who you are when you are with them." Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist
Eight a. m. came early. Somehow Red had managed to get three hours of sleep once his adrenaline and desire cooled. Now he was out of the bed and dressed quickly. He had decided to forego his usual three piece business suit in favor of beige linen slacks and a crew neck, hunter green pull over shirt. The day would be very hot and he needed to blend into the throngs of tourists. Yes, he would still be wearing his light beige fedora and amber tinted sunglasses.
About 8:45 Liz arrived on the patio. "Good morning, Red. I hope this is a stiff cup of coffee. I need a caffeine jolt."
"Morning, I hope you got some rest. We have a busy day ahead."
"I'm looking forward to sightseeing in the city today. Will you be my tour guide?"
"If you think you can put up with this ogre once more, well…yes, I have managed to clear my schedule to include some time to introduce you to the magic of Firenze. There's no other city like it. Too bad I won't be able to show you all of it. That will have to wait for another time." Liz felt a tingle pass through her…another time. She liked that idea.
She sat down across the table from him and began to eat one of the bombolini that was on the breakfast tray. Red continued to read the newspaper while she ate. Soon he was fascinated by her attire. He didn't often get to see her dressed in anything except her drab work wardrobe. The hem of her turquoise top hit just below her bottom as the blouse floated around every curve of her slim body. Her shoes were fashionable yet appropriate for all of the walking they would be doing and her hair was pulled into a ponytail. She had added dangling earrings and a bangle watch on her wrist as she carried a woven shoulder strap handbag and sunglasses. Red cocked his head, smiled then nodded in appreciation of her choices.
Liz took the last bite of her breakfast pastry then began to lick the sugar off of her fingers adding sound effects, "Mmmm." Red was already captivated yet the day had barely started.
"Time to go, Lizzie! Before we go I need to tell you that you will have security with you wherever you go while we are here. We still have to remain vigilant especially when we are among crowds of people. "
He took a phone out of his pocket, as he handed it to Liz he allowed his hand to linger a little too long on hers.
"Use this if you need to get in touch with me or Dembe. Use it only in case of an emergency. I had a tracking chip installed in it as an extra precaution."
He paused, waiting for her to object to the tracking device, but she simply took the phone and placed it inside her handbag.
"Now come on, it's time for us to enjoy a visual feast. Ciao, Firenze!"
~X~X~
Red and Liz were traveling on foot because cars were restricted in the city center. They walked across the Ponte Vecchio as they crossed the Arno River and entered the old city. The interesting old medieval bridge was very narrow and had shops lining both sides of the span, unusual for a bridge. Red held her hand as they walked, guiding her through the crowds of tourists crossing with them. While they moved along he pointed out the Vasari Corridor, a raised covered passageway that was built above the shops on the bridge.
Liz was assailed by the scene as she gazed at both sides of the river. Everything looked so old wearing a fine patina of age. She felt as if she were entering the streets of a former age. Her eyes took in rows of unadorned, rectangular shaped multi-story buildings crowned with clay tiles. The main colors that met the eye were various shades of yellow, muted gold, beige, light brown and a light burnt orange with mildewed orange clay tiles atop the roofs. It reminded her of rectangular building blocks set on end side by side. Her ears detected the sounds of people speaking in various languages as their feet scurried along the cobblestone streets. Red had explained that Firenze was actually a small city in kilometers but immense in culture and treasure. Theirs to discover!
They hurried through the numerous groups of tourists in the streets because Red had managed to get tickets for the Uffizi Gallery. As they approached the well loved art museum they passed long lines of people waiting to enter the large building. After entering the Uffizi Liz was dumbfounded. As she walked through the magnificent building, Red had to remind her to keep looking up. The ceilings of the corridors were adorned with awesome frescoes. The gallery contained one of the best collections of Renaissance paintings and statuary known to the world. Red explained that well known artists such as Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello among others were represented here.
Red was on a mission! He immediately directed Liz up the grand staircase to the second floor. His goal while in the museum was to find the 'Birth of Venus' painted by Sandro Botticelli. He had always been fascinated by the masterpiece painted on canvas about the year 1485. He wanted Liz to see the painting and to hear her opinion of it.
After spending about forty-five minutes ambling through the gallery 'oooing' and 'ahhhing' over the artwork they finally arrived in the rooms where the Botticelli paintings were displayed. They waited for a tour group to move along so that they could view the masterpiece unobstructed. As Lizzie's eyes collided with the object of Red's desire, she suddenly realized that she had heaved a very audible gasp. Yes, the time they had spent to find this beauty was definitely worth the effort.
He stood very close to Lizzie and watched her as she absorbed the beauty of the 'Birth of Venus'. Her eyes focused first on the large clam shell at the foot of the painting that had emerged out of the blue-green sea bearing the beautiful, chaste, nude body of the most beautiful goddess of love. She then let her eyes sweep upward as she studied the goddess. Botticelli had depicted Venus as a modestly nude figure of perfect beauty. Her hands attempted to cover her breasts as her long gracefully flowing auburn-gold hair covered the most intimate part of her body. The artist had given the goddess of love long delicate lines emphasized by her long neck and torrent of long hair. Her skin was a pearly white, almost translucent. Then Lizzie let her eyes wander to the humanized male Zephyr wind that was blowing Venus to the shore. On the right side of Venus a female Nymph waited to cover the goddess's nude body with a cloak once she landed on the shore. All of the elements of the artwork seemed to be in motion.
Red gave Lizzie plenty of time to study the painting, then he moved closer to her and putting his mouth close to her ear asked, "Elizabeth, what do you think of this Renaissance masterpiece?"
She noticed that he had called her Elizabeth, the name that he used only when he had removed his facade and become Raymond. "Venus is gorgeous. I love the stance of her body and her innocence as she is obviously feeling vulnerable because she is beginning to realize she is naked and exposed. I can relate to that feeling."
He agreed with everything she had said, "Very beautiful and definitely vulnerable and exposed." He needed to touch her so he put his arm over her shoulder to acknowledge her vulnerability, as if he was unconsciously offering her protection.
Her instincts told her that Red was commenting about the painting, but he was also speaking of her. With that statement she now realized that Raymond Reddington had truly seen through her weak defenses. He knew her better than she knew herself. He had identified her imperfections. She was exposed.
He stood before the painting tapping his fedora on his leg. His deep voice continued in a dream-like reverential state, "The first thing you notice about Venus is her earthly physical beauty. That must fill many with physical desire, lust. But she has a divine spiritual quality about her too that encourages the mind to rise to more divine thoughts."
Soon there was a very long pregnant pause in their conversation, each being lost in their own thoughts. Now as if someone else had control of his mouth he said, "Elizabeth! That is how I feel about you."
Elizabeth let her mouth drop open as her heart began to beat faster. She was so shocked by his admission that she was utterly speechless. This was not the man she had worked with over the past months. That man had been closed off, afraid of feeling. She couldn't move or respond. All she could do was stare at him with a look of disbelief on her face.
Red noticed the look on her face. He immediately placed an arm around her waist and waited to see if she would pull away; then he spoke quietly to her as other couples and groups of tourists stopped to take in the beauty of a goddess.
Speaking in his deep rich voice with a tone of adoration he said, "Last night I watched you swimming in the pool. In my eyes you were just as beautiful as Venus; when you rose from the water it was as if a goddess was born. Yes, seeing you like that arouses me physically, being with you makes me want to be a better person. You enrich my life. I know I'm a monster as you have reminded me on more than one occasion, but there is always a reason that I become a behemoth; a reason that is justified by my desire to protect and avenge the ones that matter in my life. Elizabeth, just being near you makes me want to strive to be more human. It has been a very long time since I have felt alive."
She continued to cling to him as he spoke. Was that really Red Reddington saying those things? He had never spoken so freely before especially in a public place other than the day in the park when she had gone to warn him that the FBI was coming to arrest him.
In her mind's eye she was suddenly there once again. He had said nothing was worse than losing her. She could still hear the story he told her and see him kneeling before her with …what? Devotion. Adoration. No. She couldn't let her mind go there…
After a few minutes, she really didn't know how long, she said, "Please don't put me on a pedestal. I can't live up to that. I have too many flaws."
"This painting has flaws too. Recently it underwent a careful cleaning to remove layers of varnish that had been applied to the canvas. Over time the layers of varnish had yellowed and dulled the original colors of the paint. Today we are once again able to view the painting as the artist originally intended...bright colors and all. Yes, there are still minor flaws, but they are not visible from here."
He continued, "We both have flaws, but when we were in the grove you said that those flaws gave us strength. They make us unique. Elizabeth, I am fascinated by you because of your uniqueness and in spite of your flaws."
Elizabeth thought about their imperfections and the strength required to live with them. How many flaws had they struggled with?
"Lizzie, it's time to move on. I have allowed you to bask in the presence of the works of great artists and let you get puffed up long enough." She just smirked and thought…how typical of Red to lighten the mood when the feeling gets too intense.
She reached up and put her arms around his neck, lightly kissed his lips and said, "Molte grazie! Now we need to get something to eat before you really find out just how human I am. My inner monster might come out with claws."
~X~X~
Once again the two found themselves outside looking for a place to eat lunch. "This is not the place to get the best Tuscan food, but we have tickets to the theatre tonight so we need to eat quickly because I want to stop at Gucci to get you a treat before we have to leave." Ah, she recalled the time she had asked him if he brought her something following one of his many trips and the answer had been, 'Yes, the next name on the Blacklist'. She grinned. What a difference a year made.
They walked by the Palazzo Vecchio on their way to the café where they would eat lunch. Liz suddenly came face to face with a statue of David. She knew enough about Michelangelo's works to recognize the statue without being told what it was.
Red did tell her that this statue was a copy of the original. Then he quipped, "I used to have curls like that when I was a boy, a slingshot too…remember my survival training? Slingshots come in handy. And I'm sure my grandmother made me cover my family jewels with a fig leaf."
"I think he would look charming with a fedora on his head," she quipped.
Liz wanted to know more about this David, but Red rushed her on through the square and into the small café where they would eat lunch. She decided she would ask him more about David after they had ordered their food. She wanted to hear more about his views of his similarities to the biblical shepherd.
Lunch had been excellent as far as Liz was concerned. She had ordered a pizza. Red grimaced at her although he knew she was not an adventurous diner. She would not try the new foods on the menu, but he did manage to talk her into trying a local Tuscan wine. When Liz tried to engage him in more conversation about the boy David, Red was long past that line of thought so all he would tell her was the location of the original statue.
After Red had settled the lunch bill, they walked on over to the local Gucci leather shop. She noticed that he easily knew the way to the store so she surmised he must have shopped there before. Along the way Red explained that the Gucci handcrafted leather works was established in Florence. As they entered the store he immediately greeted a sales clerk who was working behind the counter.
"Lizzie, this is Giovanni. He knows the Gucci products well. He is going to help you find exactly what you want, aren't you, Giovanni?"
"Of course, sir. How may I help you today, signorina?"
Liz replied that she was looking for a clutch. Giovanni led them to the shelves where the clutch style handbags were elegantly displayed. Immediately Red interjected, "Lizzie, I see the one I like. We will take this one." It was the Soho red leather clutch. No question, Liz knew exactly why he picked that one.
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Do you see one you would like better? Or maybe you would like something else…an iPad case, luggage, shoulder bag?"
"Let's take the red clutch. I really like it."
While they were waiting for Giovanni to complete the sale and wrap the handbag Liz moved closer to Red and spoke quietly, "There is one other thing I would like. I've always wanted to try on a pair of black leather pants. I know they don't have them here, but we just passed a little leather boutique down the street. I really don't want to buy them I just want to try them on."
He could never deny Lizzie any request that she made except the ones he felt she wasn't yet prepared to handle concerning her family. Red looked at his watch and replied, "We don't have a lot of time so we'll have to hurry." Giovanni walked over and handed Liz her package nicely wrapped and placed in a shopping bag. They thanked him and rushed out the door.
As they exited the shop Liz caught sight of Dembe waiting across the street. She had been so engrossed in the day that she had forgotten about security. That was not like her, but this whole day had been unlike her typical day.
When they finally arrived at the leather boutique and entered the door they were greeted by the scent of tanned leather hides wafting in the air. The fashionably groomed man who approached them asked in Italian if he could help them find something. Red explained in flawless Italian that they were looking for a pair of black leather pants.
The sales clerk introduced himself as Armando, turned to Liz and asked what size she wore. He waited for Liz to give him her size. He then went right to the clothing rack where the leather pants were located and pulled two pairs of pants off of the shelf. He handed them to her and in broken English he told her that he thought she might find one of them suitable. Armando then pointed Liz in the direction of the dressing room and showed Red to a chair to await the fashion show. Red's eyes lit up in anticipation of the show.
He relaxed into the soft leather lounger and said, "Well Lizzie let's get on with the show."
Entering the dressing room, Liz struggled to get the first pair of pants on her body. Soon a female salesperson asked if she could give her some tips on how to more easily put on the pants. Of course, Liz agreed and soon left the dressing room for the first showing. As she walked to the wall of floor to ceiling mirrors Red's eyes got darker and bigger. Liz gathered up her blouse, slowly turned in front of the mirrors and looked back at her backside. She noticed that the low cut lace panties that she was wearing were very obvious. She told herself that had she known she was going to be modeling form fitting leather pants for Red she would have worn something different.
Liz was ready to move on to the next pair of pants. Looking over she noticed that Red was chewing on his cheek and then when he saw her watching he gave a slight nod, patted his heart and let out a sigh. "Ah, sweetheart, fits you like a glove. Venus personified."
Before Liz put the second pair of pants on the female salesperson again entered the dressing room with a large dress size box in her hands. She said, "I brought some lingerie for you to select from. These styles will not ruin the line of the leather pants." Her mouth dropped open as she was not aware that this was a service offered by a leather shop. Liz made a selection, quickly donned the skimpy panties and then the next pair of leather pants. As she once again walked out before the mirrored wall Red's eyes went immediately to her backside and she knew he noticed that the panty-line was no longer there.
They discussed the fit of the leather pants that were a little too long and then before she returned to the dressing room he placed his mouth close to her ear and whispered in a deep ragged voice, "Where are your panties?"
"That's for me to know." The imp in her just smirked and walked back into the dressing room to change back into her clothes.
While she was changing Red paid for the first pair of black leather pants she had tried on. As Liz exited the dressing room he was pacing, ready to go. When he attempted to hand her the shopping bag she stopped in her tracks and said, "I told you I only wanted to try these on. They're much too expensive, I can't accept this."
Red replied, "Consider them a consolation for all of the times I returned from my travels without bearing gifts for you. Oh, I ask that you only wear them when I'm with you."
She knew that when he made up his mind there was no changing it so she reluctantly accepted the bag and started toward the exit.
Liz happened to glance out the shop window as they were leaving and looked right into the eyes of a familiar woman. She drew in an audible gasp of air.
Red was lost in lustful thoughts as they walked out the door and did not see the woman as he blurted out, "What did you mean by that comment about your panties? I want to find out…did you have…?"
Dembe suddenly appeared by Red's side. He did not say anything aloud, but motioned for Red to take notice. Then Red looked up and saw her…Madeline Pratt. Madeline was hurrying down the street ahead of them as if she had not seen them. Soon she turned left and disappeared into a narrow alley.
Red did not say anything, but his mask fell back into place instantly and the whole atmosphere changed. The lighter, fun loving mood they had enjoyed all day disappeared immediately like snowflakes on a hot sidewalk.
AN: This chapter is a little long, but I hope you enjoyed it. A comment from you would make my day!