I'm not going to think about the future.
Or the past.
We've made a deal, yesterday, that these days we wouldn't say a word, wouldn't talk about it and not think about it. Both of us.
Probably that's the only way how I can still go on without freaking out.

Stop it.
You're here now. Forget everything else.
Her hand is resting at my thigh and her head at my right shoulder while I'm driving. When I asked them if they could borrow me a car to get to Verona, they instantly gave me one and told me where to take it. I guess, there are drugs hidden in here, somewhere. Don't care. It's just a drive from that town east of Venice over to Verona. They won't bust us within these two hours. Stick to the speed limits. Pay that strange Italian toll. Everything will be fine.

Today I dropped her of at a nice little restaurant, right by the seaside. I gave her the last bit of money and told her to wait for me there, while I brought back the boat. Everything went well. They paid me for the trip from Turkey to Venice. Five thousand. Cash. Right away, I gave them back three hundred in exchange for a clean gun. And seven hundred more to rent one of their apartments over in Verona. We need a place to stay, one where nobody will find us, where there are no video cameras and no nosy people. Once you're in the criminal world, it's just best if you stay in there. The Italian mafia has its own net of supplies. You can stay in this world and live there, forever. If it wasn't for Audrey, I wouldn't ever get out.
I just can't take her to a hotel around here. They have cameras. Who knows which video feeds the NSA will catch up. One photo of her face – or mine – could already give our location away.

We'll be staying at a safe house.
Once they find out that I brought the former first daughter of the United States into their safe house, they'll sell it right away. Or even burn it down. And I'll be forever on their blacklist. They guy who dared to compromise everything.

Stop it. Forget it.
I thought about these few days for long enough now. Everything is planned. Stick to the plan, then nothing will happen. When they'll find out that I compromised their location by bringing Audrey there, she'll already be on a plane back home. I'll be... Stop it. I promised her yesterday, not to think ahead or back. We owe each other these few last days.
How much better do I want it to be? I have more than I ever dreamt of. She's here. We're quite safe. Have enough money to get through these days. Put on a smile. A real one.

Where are we going? Not to Venice? Audrey curiously asks me, as she sees the road signs fly by, which told us to take the exit, if we wanted to go to Venice.

Nope. I told her already that it's going to be a surprise.

Treviso? She asks.

You really make me laugh. Stop reading the road signs.

I can't not read. They're everywhere. And I love to guess.

We're still on the highway, and we'll be for quite a while. I take her hand and kiss it. Then keep guessing.

Padua?

No.

Vicenza?

Nope.

Rovereto?

No. There are no other city names on the road signs for now. But no matter which city name she had said, actually they all sound like good options. I've come to know all of these cities. They're old. Nice. Warm. A little crowded. Have good food. Nice people. Italian.

Give me a hint… she teases.

As I say no again, she pokes into my side. Come on!

There's a big smile all over her face, as we're playing that childish guessing game. What the hell shall I give her as a hint?
Here's one… a wonder, that I still know that one. Must be over thirty five years that I read it for the last time.

But soft… what light through yonder window breaks?

She still stares at me, her eyes wide open tell me that the hint didn't really take her closer.

Huh? Yonder?

There's only confusion in her expression. The words hang in the air, but she stares at me with a puzzled look, admitting she isn't quite sure of that quote's meaning. That's Shakespeare, Audrey. You wanted a hint.

That's not a hint, she growls.

That's a good hint, I laugh back and turn to the street again. You wanted to play the guessing game.

Yeah, but that doesn't really help. We're looking for an Italian city and no matter how yonder I look I can't see it. She stresses the word yonder as if it was an alien word to the sentence.

You're thinking way too practical.

You gotta give me one more. She pokes into my side again. It tickles.

Alright! Stop it – or I'll crash the damn car! Okay, I'll give you one more. But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Her confusion hasn't immediately become less, but her thoughts are racing. I hear her mumble Shakespeare, then Romeo and Juliet, finally she puts the pieces together.

Verona.

A second later, another road sign flies past us, writing it with bold letters: Verona.

Well, that was too easy. You just read the sign, I tease her.

Don't you make light of my… of my….!

We're both laughing by now, she's laughing so hard that she can't even finish the sentence.

Verona. Fuck Venice. That one's just crowded. I've been here so many times throughout the past years that I started to love that city. You told me ten days ago that you never had the chance to do a quiet city trip without the press and without the secret service at your heels. That's the most beautiful city around here. Probably that's our both last chance to stroll through the streets and act like we were a normal couple, like everybody else. Normal.

I hope you'll like it, I silently say to her, after her laughing has calmed down again and she's leaning over again.

I already do, she answers. Her hand is back at my thigh. I could continue driving like this forever.

95 kilometers to go, the road sign says.
We'll be there in an hour.

.

.

.

Okay, that's a really short chapter. Sorry.
But, I'd like to see it as an interlude, for a few hours of joy, which they really deserved, after so much drama.
Regarding Jack quoting Shakespeare: has it ever occurred to you that his bio says he has studied 'English literature'? Doesn't really fit the picture, imho…