Rome, October 2005
They left the Galleria Borghese totally famished. It was closed on Mondays so they decided to be there at 9 am, on the dot, on a Tuesday morning. Breakfast consisted of only coffee and bread that they bought when they went grocery shopping on Saturday. They have moved out of the hotel two weeks before and rented a small apartment nestled in Navona. It was beautiful. The Piazza was only four minutes away. Every morning they would take a walk together, admiring the fountains.
The apartment itself was a steal. She couldn't believe how cheap the place was for its size and it was pretty massive for an apartment. It was how she imagined an Italian home would be like. Red brick floor, cream walls, and high ceilings with arched doorways. It was beautifully furnished too. Sheer white curtains flew in the breeze against intricate grille windows, antique wooden tables had ornate vases, and the upholstery for all sofas were covered with Napoli grey. The kitchen was modern though. There were black countertops, a sleek new stove, and a breakfast nook in front of a long window with the view of a basilica.
Italy had been a good choice. She had been learning more about art than she had in a year of school.
It was interesting. Her living arrangement. Her and Thaddeus' relationship was odd, to say the least. They were strictly platonic, living in a two bedroom apartment, and they had absolutely no plans until the semester starts in January. They had three months to kill and they had been filling it with board games, conversation, wine, and Italian television. Life was good.
Rhonda knew it wouldn't last. She cherished the time anyway.
The independence she had been craving for has finally been fulfilled since she was free to do whatever she pleases whenever she wants. They only hang out together when they were both bored which had been happening more recently, she had to admit. Only because he was so easy to talk to, she convinced herself.
There was a problem though. The arrangement was highly domestic. She realised this one day after they fought with each other in the produce aisle on which tomatoes to get at the supermercato. Rhonda was so spooked by it that she didn't speak to him until they got back to the apartment. He was so confused by what ticked her off that it made her laugh in the end.
Some mornings, he would come to the dining table without a shirt, forgetting that she lived with him. He'd been doing it more often after he found out it made her blush and quite uncomfortable. He liked pissing her off. That Tuesday morning was no different, he came into the kitchen in only his blue pinstriped pyjama bottoms while she was making coffee.
She did a double take as he greeted her with his defined torso. Again.
He had a small smile on those wide lips.
"Dio mio! Will you please put on a shirt? How many times do I have to tell you I don't want to dine with you half-naked. I need to maintain my appetite."
He laughed. "Dio mio? Picking up some Italian, aren't we? And I'm not ruining your appetite, you're just afraid you can't resist me."
Rhonda grabbed a mug and poured some coffee in it. This fake flirting had to end. She looked at him over her cup with her cool girl glare that scared the freshmen in high school. He yawned.
Her voice was dripping with icicles. "Trust me, I won't be jumping you anytime soon."
"You say that now. Girls always resist my charms at first. Did you make coffee for me too?"
She snorted. What a joke. Guys.
"Yeah, yeah. We got to hurry. Grab a mug and get dressed. Seriously. We cannot be late. I want to see everything."
"Relax, would you? You will. We got plenty of time."
It was already quarter to eight. Even though it only takes about a fifteen minute drive to the museum, she wanted to be punctual. Be ahead of the tourists.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when he came closer to her to take his brown coffee mug over her head from the cabinets. He pretended that she wasn't there and she was hit by his masculine smell made up of deodorant, Head & Shoulder's shampoo and a scent that was completely his. She was a sucker for well-groomed guys. She liked that clean, boy scout smell but Thaddeus was never a boy scout. He was the troublemaker that got sent to the principal's office every week for pulling pranks.
She resisted the urge to dip her nose into the crook of his neck to get more of the smell and breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped away from her to get the coffee. The curls of pleasure in her lower abdomen had been growing larger in the past two weeks. She didn't want to imagine what would happen in the following months if this continued. These were dangerous thoughts that she wanted to push out of her mind.
"I already took a shower and because I'm considerate, there's still some hot water."
"You're a saint," he said flatly, scratching the back of his neck. The action made his muscles contract.
Oh God.
She bit back a moan and took a quick sip of her coffee, forgetting that it was still too hot.
"Motherfucker!" she yelled.
He shot away from the counter he was leaning on as if he was the one who got burned. There was a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah… just burnt my tongue. I'm fine." She wasn't. Not since she said the words with a slight lisp.
She watched him rush to the refrigerator and retrieved an ice tray. He cracked it to loosen the ice cubes.
"Thanks," she said, holding out a hand for him to give the ice to.
He didn't.
"Open your mouth," he ordered.
"I can do it myse–"
"Open your mouth. Let me see your tongue."
She relented since she just wanted the pain to go away. He peered at her closely then placed the cold cube against her tongue.
"It's swollen," he said softly. "But it'll heal."
Rhonda could only look at him. His brows were furrowed in concentration and his eyes were trained on her tongue, inspecting the damage. Never had she been part of something so intimate. She's had sex before, sure, but this feels almost too personal, too vulnerable.
He continued to rub the cube against her painful tongue. She took over and withdraw her tongue causing the ice chip and his fingers to go inside her mouth. Their eyes met.
She held her gaze as she sucked the ice and his fingers.
His pupils dilated and his lips separated. He snatched his hand away.
"Uh, I hope your tongue feels better," he mumbled.
Rhonda swallowed the ice which had already turned to water. "It does. Can I have some more?"
The question stunned him, his brown eyes were still on her lips. "Huh?"
"Ice chips. More ice chips," she clarified, pointing at the tray. It gave her great pleasure to see him so nervous. So, she had dropped her voice a couple of notches to project bedroom talk. He had been playing with her with the whole shirt off routine. It was time for payback.
"Oh, here," he said with a nervous laugh, handing her the whole tray. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Like you said, we might be late."
Rhonda had never seen him ran away so fast from someone before. She snickered when he was out of sight and then sucked on the ice cubes to drive away the pain.
…
"I'm starving."
"Stop whining. It's not attractive."
"I'm literally staaaarving," she whined even more in a Valley girl accent just to annoy him.
He rolled his eyes.
They decided to drive around Rome in his beat up Fiat. Even though it was old, it grew on Rhonda. It was such a cute car. It even came in one of her favourite colours, turquoise. The windows were rolled down and her now mahogany hair flew haphazardly. She had dyed it out of a box a few days before and was surprised it turned out great. They budget their money so she couldn't have it professionally done. She was proud of her spontaneity and thriftiness.
"I'll take you back to Alfredo's."
She put her hands up in celebration. "Yay! Could we do take out? I want to eat at home since I'm pretty beat. We could go out at night."
"Sure."
She didn't realise she had regarded the apartment as their home until moments later.
He parked the car on an empty slot. They got lucky. Parking in Rome was hell.
She hopped out of the car and didn't wait for him since she already knew the way. For the month they had spent in Rome, they had become regulars of the first restaurant they visited.
"Buongiorno, bella!" Alfredo greeted as soon as he saw her. He didn't even bother handing her a menu. She had already memorised it by heart.
"Ciao, mio cara," she replied.
The old Italian man gave a hearty laugh and a kiss on both her cheeks. She always greeted him in a melodramatic fashion.
"I'll prepare your favourite, yes?"
She smiled at him. This old man had more charm than a lot of young guys she'd met in university. Plus, he fed her.
"We actually want a take out."
"Nonsense! Eat here, I'll give you a free bottle of Soave."
That was her favourite white wine. She hugged the head waiter and owner of the ristorante. "You're a man after my own heart, Signore Alfredo. Deal."
Alfredo patted her back with a chuckle before leading her inside. Thaddeus came in a few moments later.
"I love this place. I'm going to miss it when I leave," she said as he sat down.
"Then visit."
"I will. I intend to."
He nodded, leaning back on his chair. "How many more weeks are you planning to stay?"
She blinked at him. She thought he knew then remember she hadn't told him. "My semester starts in January and until then, I'm free."
He appeared contemplative. "Hmm."
"What hmm? What was that hmm?"
"I'm just thinking that that's a long time."
She narrowed her eyes. "It is. What about it?"
"Don't you want to see your friends back home? Nadine?"
"I saw her before I came here."
"Does your parents know you're here?"
"Does yours?" she shot back.
"Of course. They're not worried about me. I'm an Italian citizen and we have family here."
She knew what he was implying. Are her parents aware of what she's been up to?
"They know. It's none of their business what I do with my time."
And with that, the conversation ended. He must have sensed she didn't want to discuss it further by the hard set of her mouth.
"Where's your family?" she asked. She felt awful about bringing the tension.
"My family here?"
He seemed surprised she was interested.
"Yeah."
"He's bringing your lunch over," he said, pointing to Alfredo.
She gave an incredulous gasp. "You're related to Alfredo? So it's not because he thinks that I'm charming that he's been giving us free stuff?"
"He thinks you're charming."
"But that's not why we've been getting free meals."
"I think you're an incredibly charming young lady," Alfredo said from behind her, making her jump. "But this birichino over here is also my grandnephew."
"I cannot believe it. How can such a wonderful gentleman be related to this vermin?"
"Hey!" Thaddeus yelled in protest. "I can have you thrown out of here."
"I would never do that in a million years, signora." Alfredo beamed at her, placing down her favourite plate of pasta in front of her.
"Traitor," Thaddeus muttered before thanking his granduncle in Italian.
The older man rubbed his hair, which Thad protested against, before attending to the other customers.
"Wow, never would have guessed," she said before grabbing her fork and twirling her spaghetti.
"That Alfredo is my prozio?"
"Uh, yeah. He's incredibly handsome and nice whereas…"
He ignored her.
"So, let me see. She's your mother's uncle?" she continued.
He nodded.
"Is there anyone else in here related to you?"
"My cousins are all in school right now. They're young. I don't think you'll meet them. And also, they live in Florence."
"Oh. I heard it's beautiful there."
"It is. Can we talk about something else besides my family?"
He always did this. Whenever she got to close or pried too much, he shuts down.
"Nah, I'm interested. So, the cousins and aunts or uncles that live in Florence, are they Alfredo's children?"
He squinted before sighing. "Yeah. Why are you so interested anyway?"
"I'm bored and I'm curious. There's another half of your family living here. You never mentioned them before in school."
"Nobody ever asked."
"I'm asking now."
"Doesn't mean I have to answer."
He had crossed his arms like a defiant child. It made Rhonda want to giggle but she knew he's in a mood right now and he wouldn't appreciate it.
"Yeesh. You have issues. I'll drop it. For now."
"Good. Because I came here for lunch not an interrogation."
They ate their meal quietly and complimented the young chef, Salvi, once again before they left. Their quiet meal lead to a quiet walk back to their car and then a quiet ride back to the apartment.
They both retired to their own rooms. Rhonda took a nap and woke up just as the sun was beginning to set. She went downstairs to find Thaddeus with a stemless glass of wine. The bottle was on the coffee table. It was the free one Alfredo had promised her.
"My Soave!" she cried.
"Our Soave," he corrected, draining his glass and pouring himself some more.
"That's it. I'm getting a glass."
"Suit yourself."
Rhonda headed to the kitchen to retrieve it. She couldn't understand why he was so angry at her for asking a simple question. Then it hit her, if Alfredo was his granduncle, where are his grandparents?
She walked back quietly to the sofa and sat at the furthest corner away from him. She too, poured herself a glass. The setting sun had turned the cream walls orange.
"Where are your grandparents?"
He became still, staring into space.
"Thaddeus?" she placed a hand on his arm.
"Why are you asking?"
She took note of the way his voice had gone devoid of emotion.
"Since Alfredo is your granduncle I just wonder why we haven't met your grandparents," she explained.
There was a long pause and Rhonda wished she could take back the words. She really had no right to pry. Maybe this time she had gone to far. He stared at the wall. His hand gripped his drink tightly. Under her had, she felt his muscles tighten.
"This was my grandparents' place," he said. She couldn't help but look around after he said the words.
Was…
Oh no.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
He closed his eyes and sighed. This was what he had been avoiding, she realised.
"Tell that to my mom."
She didn't know what to say to that so instead she focused on what else the revelation had uncovered.
"So there's no landlord? Where has all my rent money gone?"
"To pay for our groceries," he revealed. "And the electric bill."
"So I'm the only who has been paying for everything?" she asked and knew right away he would never do that. He would have paid for his equal share. But she wanted to distract him from the memory of his grandparents' death, which she, idiotically, brought up.
"Yes. But you're filthy rich. You can afford it."
He was clearly lying. She let his arm go.
He got off the sofa, trying to escape their conversation. She followed him. However, his legs were longer than hers and he was a track athlete. It took a while for her to catch up.
"Bull. Probably just been paying for my share since you know I wouldn't accept a free offer. Why didn't you just tell me the place is yours?"
She knew the answer to that too but she wanted to hear it from him.
"It's not mine. It's my mother's."
He has lead her to his bedroom. She almost hit his back when he came to a sudden stop. He turned around to glare at her.
"Do you mind?" he asked.
"Not at all" she said.
He groaned.
"Just get out, Rhonda."
"Not until you tell me why."
"I don't know why."
"You know why."
"No, I don't!" he growled. This was the Thaddeus from high school. Fierce and on the defence. Prickly whenever she was around. Antagonistic even when she hadn't done anything wrong.
"Yes, you do."
"You clearly know the answer already, so why don't you just spare me and tell me all about it?"
"I'd rather hear it from you," she said.
Lloyds never quit. She got that stubborn streak from both sides of the family. She was not backing down.
"I don't know what you want me to tell you."
"The truth."
He laughed. It was a hollow sound. "The truth? Alright, here's the truth for you. I brought you here because I couldn't face this house alone. Too many memories. After my grandmother died my mother was devastated and asked me to handle it. She didn't go for the funeral, said she couldn't see her mother like that, and sent me here to take care of the property transfer. It took a while so I stayed at the hotel while everything got sorted and you came along. A few weeks later, you said you wanted to get out of the hotel and have a place to stay so naturally, I offered."
He released an unsteady breath.
"You remember that first day? You were by my side and when I opened the door to this apartment I stopped thinking of my grandmother for a while. Like she didn't occupy the space. It made me breathe a little easier. I didn't want to tell you that. It isn't right to drop a bomb like that on you."
He was shaking when he was done. It's as though he's bottled everything up and has now released it in one big go. His grief was devastating. His grandmother must have meant a lot to him. However, Rhonda knew this was good for him. He needed a release.
"Do you want a hug?" she offered, shrugging her shoulders, unsure of what to do. She's never been there for someone mourning before.
He nodded hesitantly. The gesture brought to her mind a lost child. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He slowly hugged her back. She felt him breathe deeply and steadily.
"You're so weird," he whispered.
"Puh-lease, nobody can beat you in that category."
She patted his back before letting him go. He gave her a shy smile.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"Pssh, no problem. Now let's go finish that wine."