Rome, September 2005
It was a complete shock to see her in Rome out of all places. He didn't want to let on how delighted he was just to be around her but if he had to guess, she never suspected anything. He's had years of practice to turn his affection to what seemed like loathing.
Ah, Rhonda Lloyd. The woman of his dreams.
Annoyingly, he was the stuff of her nightmares.
Even when he had climbed their high school's social ladder, he knew she was still out of his reach. It was still apparent in the way she talked to him. As if she had stepped on something disgusting with her expensive shoes.
But there was this one afternoon, he remembered, after study period where she had been cordial to him. At least, at first.
"I saw you at Shelly's party. You looked like you were having a good time. Who was that blonde you were with?" she asked, tucking a strand of ebony hair behind the delicate shell of her ear.
She never talked to him unless he approached her first. This was new. He couldn't help the happy glow that spread in his chest.
Blonde? Farrah Romero?
Was she jealous?
He had to know.
"Why? Jealous?"
She laughed. He loved that sound. It was music to his ears. He put on a smirk to give an air of nonchalance.
"No, curious. Curious as to why anyone would want date you."
Ouch. That hurt.
She must have noticed that her comment upset him because she recovered quickly.
"Hey, I'm kidding." He almost flinched when she touched his arm. "I just… I wanted to say you guys look good together."
He covered the pain with a smile. "Thanks."
She paused before saying, "So, you're probably going to ask her to prom, right?"
No. He wanted to ask Rhonda to the prom. However, judging from her earlier insult, he expected the answer to be no.
"Yeah…"
She smiled. He noticed that it was real. Not the one that she flashed when someone was annoying her but she had to be polite. This was the smile she has on when she's hanging out with her closest friends. The smile that lit up her whole face and filled the world with possibilities.
"That's great," she glanced at her watch. "Oops, I'm late for my next class. I'll see you around...Thad."
Not Curly. Not anymore. But Thad, the name she had refused to call him by for several years, now uttered so easily just when they were about to graduate.
Suddenly, he had an overwhelming urge to throw up or punch something.
…
That happened about a year ago but as he watched her sleep at the corner of his eye, the memory came back.
She was still every bit the spoiled heiress that she was when they finished high school. Out of touch with the real world and helpless when left alone. He wondered what had brought her to Rome. She mentioned that she had a tour guide. Maybe she was on vacation?
Whatever it was, he knew her purpose would immediately separate her from him. And then, maybe he'd see her in a couple of years during a reunion. His first love still out of reach. Beside him, she let out a soft snore. He could only savour the moment.
He smiled.
…
"Weird, huh?" she said, staring up at the hotel.
"Yeah, weird," he mumbled.
He tossed the keys to the valet who caught it with a practiced ease.
It was weird and such a great coincidence. Never in a million years could he dream up a scenario so crazy. First, she shows up out of nowhere. Second, she's staying at the same hotel as him. Has fate finally thrown him a redemption card? To make up for all the failures he's had with her when they were younger? Whatever it was, he wasn't going to let this chance slip through his fingers.
"Since we're both staying here…" he started.
"What?" she asked, quite waspishly. It occured to him maybe it wasn't just her usual attitude with him. He saw the exhaustion on her pretty face. There was dark shadows under her eyes and her usually glowing skin appeared paler than normal. The jet lag was hitting her hard.
"Nothing. I just thought you'd want to eat lunch. I know a place. It's already one o'clock. I know you're hungry. I've been hearing your stomach growl in the car."
"Oh dear god," she muttered, clearly embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it. Kept me awake. Driving can be really boring," he joked.
She started going up the steps of the hotel. He fell into step with her. "Driving in Rome? Boring? Are you blind? There's so much to see."
He shrugged. "If you've been here long enough it gets boring. You of all people should know how restless I could be."
She nodded. It wasn't really a secret that he has ADHD. When he got diagnosed, it finally explained his lack of focus when it came to anything menial. However, the condition also gave him hyper focus when it came to things he was passionate about like science and mathematics. History and art required more effort on his part.
Those were the two things Rhonda excelled at. Not that he noticed.
Just as he opened the door for her, her stomach growled again. She groaned and he laughed. She shoved a finger in his face and her chin tilted up. She looked every bit as much as the rich girl that she was.
"No laughing. Yes to the lunch. I'll meet you here in the lobby in ten minutes. I need to change my clothes. If I'm not here in ten, ask the concierge to ring me up. I've probably face planted on the bed out of fatigue."
After her grand speech, she marched up to one of the open elevators and disappeared from his view behind the golden doors.
He wanted to let out a whoop. Rhonda was having lunch with him. Instead, he settled for a wide smile.
…
She was so exhausted.
Rhonda pulled on her clothes to remove them. She tossed the dirty laundry into the cloth bin provided by the hotel and grabbed the most casual thing in her opened suitcase. It was a deep green sundress. Nadine always said it brought out the emerald in her eyes.
She put on and then thought about spritzing some perfume. Why did she care what she smelled like all of a sudden? It's not as if it was a date. She sprayed some on her neck anyway. The gentle flowery scent filled the room immediately.
There might be some handsome Italian men at the restaurant Thad's taking her.
So maybe she decided to swipe on some nude lipstick too. Nothing wrong with looking good.
She sat down on the bed to remove her hightop sneakers. Maybe she could wear her new black pumps. It was still in the box it came in when she bought it yesterday.
When her feet was finally bare, she laid down her bed and closed her eyes for a second. The cold, smooth white sheets felt good against her skin. How much time does she still have left? The sharp ringing of the phone gave her an answer. She groaned before crawling to the side table.
"Hello?"
To her surprise, it wasn't the front desk that greeted her.
"Are we still on for lunch? It's been twelve minutes," his deep voice travelled through the phone.
"Sorry, I was about to doze off. Yeah, I'll be down in a minute."
She owed him a meal, at the very least, for helping her out. Even though the bed was screaming for her to stay. Her stomach growled again.
Definitely go for lunch.
"I know you're tired so if you want to cancel, it's fine."
She was touched by his concerned tone. Even though he gave her a lot of crap for being an arrogant bitch in high school, Thad always thought of her well-being. In the ways that counted.
"Let me help you with those books…"
"Sure, I can give you a ride home."
"Do you need help with Algebra? I could tutor you. I heard from Mr. Sellers you weren't doing well."
She sighed. "Let's go for lunch. I'm so frigging hungry. I also have a lot of questions to ask you. Sleep can wait."
Rhonda hung up and quickly grabbed the black heels before dashing for the door. She made a quick stop by the full body mirror. After checking that everything was passable, she couldn't spare more time to do a good job with the concealer to hide the bags, she snatched the card key and opened the door.
When she reached the lobby, he was sitting in the lobby talking to an American woman who looked like she was asking for directions. Just as she reached them, the woman was thanking him.
"What's that about?"
"Just a tourist who was lost." He gave her a pointed look.
"It's everybody's lucky day. Thaddeus the Tourist Saviour is here," she proclaimed. She was scared he'd be offended but was relieved when he cracked a smile. He stood up and gave her whole body a scan.
He smiled when he noticed she made an effort. It made her skin feel hot.
What the fuck? Get it together. He's not interested… And you're not, as well. We are two classmates, catching up, having lunch together. In Rome.
In her heels, she was almost as tall as him. It was easier to see his wide brown eyes. The eye contact stole her breath away. He was too close. Too tall. Too…
Urgh, he smelled good too.
Fuckity fuck.
There was something that Rhonda had always tried to ignore. She certainly did a good job of it in school. Why couldn't she now? It was the fact that Thaddeus Gammelthorpe had grown up to be kind of handsome. Being in track gave him a lean physique and although he still wore glasses, it did nothing to hide his striking face.
She gulped before noticing he'd gotten rid of his backpack and changed his shirt. He must have gone to his room as well.
He extended a hand to her, "Shall we?"
She sniffed and walked past him. He chuckled behind her.
"This place better be good."
He caught up to her. It was so easy for him to do since she was walking in heels. "Authentic Italian cuisine. What more could you want?"
"This is Italy. Everything is authentic Italian here." Her heels made satisfying clacks they went down the stone steps.
"Not as authentic as the place we're going."
As they walked, they made small talk. Stuff about their high school and what they had been up to since graduation. She noticed he steered clear of the reasons why he was in Rome. She didn't reveal hers either.
When they reached the place, the smell of Italian cooking hit her. If she was hungry before, she was starving now. She was surprised how he knew the place. It was a little out of the way and you had to walk a bit from the main roads. The building was old but it wasn't falling apart. It was charming and everything she had dreamed of before coming to Italy. There were tables outside covered with checkered tablecloths. A huge wooden sign that boasted the word Ristorante was hanging by the side. There were a few people enjoying their espresso in the sun, reading their paper.
It was a very laid back atmosphere. She decided immediately that she loved this place.
Thad lead her inside. The head waiter appeared to know him and greeted him in Italian. The boy she had known since childhood responded to him in perfect Italian before they were whisked away to a booth.
Only when they were seated and given their menus did she speak.
"Okay, you're going to have to run this by me again but you speak Italian, right? I wasn't like dreaming or anything when I saw you with the maître d' just now. It's not a hallucination brought on by the fatigue, right?"
He laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He adjusted his glasses. "Yeah, I do. Why?"
"I just, wow. I never knew," she said. It was all she could say, due to her surprise.
"There's lots of things you don't know about me," he said. The words were spoken in such a deep, intimate tone that it made her heart race just a tiny bit. He was incredibly serious when he said it too.
"Ah, yeah, well… You made sure of that."
His brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
She fiddled with her napkin but forced herself to look him in the eye. "I don't know. When we entered middle school, you became, sort of guarded? Like really focused on everything else, school, track. We barely talked. Of course, there were a lot of things I missed."
He didn't know what to say to that. It was obvious she caught him off guard with her answer. It was extremely honest and she didn't know where it came from. She chalked it up to her exhaustion. Or brain damage from hitting her head on the car window.
"Doesn't mean we can't catch up," she said. "Why are you here in Italy?"
And just like that the easy-going Thad came back.
"Why are you here?"
She groaned. "This is becoming like our discussion at the Colosseo. Fine, I'll go first. This is sort of an educational trip for me. I told you that I'm an Art History major."
He nodded. She decided he didn't need to know the real reason she was here but she was extremely curious about his.
"So, I want to learn more about classical Western art and that requires actually looking at the artwork. Now you go," she insisted, grabbing a breadstick from the basket.
"Nuh-uh, I never said I'd reveal why I'm here once you said your reason. Plus, it's not as interesting. We should order now."
He was definitely avoiding it. He can change the subject all he want but it doesn't mean she'll stop poking around. But for now, she let it go.
"Okay, what's good here?"
"Everything," he replied quickly, glancing at the menu.
"Real helpful," she said in a dry tone that made him grin as he read the menu. "I'm asking what you'd recommend. If there's one thing here that I have to try before I die, what is it?"
"The seafood spaghetti with pomodoro sauce."
"Then I'll have that," she said. His head snapped up, there was a slapping sound when he closed the menu.
"Are you sure? Don't you want to order something like a Risotto?"
She knew what he was implying. Rhonda had been obsessed with calorie counting since they were thirteen. She always went for the low-fat option for everything.
She shrugged. "I'm in Italy. I'll risk the carbs. Also, do they have tiramisu? I'm craving for something sweet."
"Uh, yeah. They do. If that's all, I'll call Alfredo."
He raised up a hand and the man he was talking earlier to proceeded to come over.
"Oh!" she said as she saw an item on the menu. "Let's have bruschetta as well! And wine. I'm thinking white"
At that, Thad smiled. "So you are starving and taking advantage of the drinking age. I'll order a Neapolitan pizza that we can share."
For the first time in a long time, Rhonda wasn't ashamed that she was salivating at the thought of all the food they were going to order. It was going to be a feast. If she overate, she can always run it off later.
When Alfredo reached their table, Thad started ordering in Italian. It irked her that he sounded much sexier speaking the language than in English then she cursed herself for thinking such lewd thoughts. For God's sake, he was only reciting dishes.
I'm going mad.
But the language sounds so passionate and full of life that Rhonda thought it suited him. In their younger days, Thaddeus had always been, well, theatrical. Everything he did had to be big. Even if it was just a school prank. It's what set him apart from the others.
After he finished taking down notes, Alfredo filled their wine glasses with water before hurrying off to the kitchen. A sudden realisation hit her after the two had finished their conversation.
"I get it now."
"What do you get?" he asked, thoroughly confused.
"You're Italian," she said.
"What? How di–"
It all made sense. Why he was so at ease. Why he never stopped to ask for directions. Why he spoke Italian like a local.
"Geez, you speak the language fluently. You have a driver's license. Is it your mother's side or father's side? I'm guessing mother since Gammelthorpe isn't really an Italian name."
He was stunned. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again.
"I'm astute," she said, tooting her own horn. It felt great to finally catch him off guard. Twice. Back in high school, that was his job, to throw her off balance as much as possible. On good days, she fought back with as much as she could. It was all antagonistic.
"I like to keep the fact that I'm smart hidden," she revealed.
It wasn't something he'd known for years but he still smiled at the revelation.
"So people will leave you alone?" he fished.
"Exactly!" she said, pointing at him in excitement. Finally, someone who gets it.
"Well yeah, no shit. Damn. I wouldn't want to face you in court. And you're right about the mother's side," he finally said.
She smiled. "Is that why you're here? To reconnect with your roots?"
His face grew somber again. "Partly, yes. Why'd you want to know so badly?"
Rhonda didn't know the answer to that too. There was a hesitance in his voice. She shrugged. "I'm just curious. Really. It's not like I'm going to use the information to blackmail you."
He still kept quiet, just drinking his water. She shouldn't press on. Instead, she decided to play with him to cheer him up. There was always another time to find out why he was really here.
She leaned in, conspiratorially.
"Why? Is it something dangerous? Are you part of the mob? Is that why you're so secretive? If you tell me, will you have to kill me? I promise I won't blab. I'm not a snitch," she said in hushed tones.
He glanced around the restaurant before he gripped her hand. It was warm and bigger than hers. "I didn't know how to say this but… yes. The FBI is after me and I needed a place to hide. Now that they've seen me with you, your life may be in danger. Run away with me, Rhonda. It's the only way we can survive now."
There was a moment of silence. They gazed into each other's eyes, holding hands. Then they both burst into loud laughter. Rhonda wiped a tear from her eye and said, "Oh, that was great. I've forgotten how good of an actor you are."
At first, she wasn't sure he'd go along with the joke...
She let out a breath, noticing he'd already released her hand. The place where his skin touched hers tingled from the absence. He was still chuckling, oblivious to what she was feeling.
There's a flutter in her chest.
This is stupid. I just haven't had a boyfriend in a long time.
Thankfully, Alfredo came back with their meals. The spaghetti was gorgeous and smelled incredibly fantastic. The bruschetta was laid in the centre and the pizza rested in all its cheesy deliciousness beside it. She grabbed the tomato-rich appetiser and popped it in her mouth.
When the tang of the ripe tomatoes and the sharpness of the basil hit her tongue, she heard herself moan.
"This is so good," she said with her mouth full, years of etiquette class forgotten.
His eyes lit up as he laughed. "You can slow down, the food's not going to run away."
She ignored him and attacked the pasta with the same gusto.
"Or not," he said before digging into his own food.