My Summer Romance Read online

  Alberto often visited me among the vines to check how I was doing and to make small talk. Though being more involved in the winery and having such a heavy workload, I rarely saw Alberto even in the evenings.

  It soon became apparent, while I pottered about the villa that I had free run of the place. Ordinarily I’d be ecstatic, if only I had some company.

  Even during the weekends, I failed to make proper use of my spare time as I had planned. It was as though I’d fallen into a rut, a negative spiral of boredom, defeatism and dare I say it; depression. Only during the first weekend here had I visited the nearby town of Poggibonsi and not once had I ventured beyond to some of the places of interest such as Firenze, Sienna or San Gimignano.

  It was the beginning of my fifth week, having only completed a third of my time in Chianti. At five o’ clock, I wheeled the cart up towards the winery and placed it next to the cart I’d wheeled in a few hours before. Another full evening of solitude awaited me. For whatever reason, I’d just had enough.

  I flipped open my laptop and sent an email to Patrick. ‘Hi babe, sorry I’ve not been in touch often. I’ve not been having the greatest of times here, I’m missing you lots and I’m thinking of returning home.’

  I stared ashen faced at the screen, wondering if I meant the words I’d written. Then I clicked send.

  Shutting the laptop screen, I then collapsed backwards on the bed. I laid still for several minutes – What else was there to do? There had to be something around here.

  I went downstairs and made my way through the stone tiled hallway toward the living room. Another room that I’d only been in a couple times before lay beyond the living room. It contained a billiard table, an antique chess set and a large storage chest of which I had no idea what was kept within. Since the room appeared to be some sort of a boy’s games room, I envisioned the chest would be filled with toys or at the very least something of interest to pass the time, something to liven up what I had decided would be my final Monday here.

  Approaching the chest, I saw a small key, in position. I turned it and felt the click. I opened up the heavy wooden lid, almost straining from the effort.

  Wow. This was truly a boy’s games room. The chest contained a selection of radio controlled cars, boat and even a plane. An old retro Nintendo from the days before I was born along with a selection of games stacked neatly to the side. I leaned inside the large chest and rummaged further through the goodies. If only I’d known about this before. I shifted aside a pair of rollerblades, obviously too large for my little feet and found what I knew I’d be playing with tonight. A Scalextric set for whatever reason was kept at the very bottom. I’d played on my father’s Scalextric as a girl and used to delight in beating him. This would keep me entertained for hours on end. I shifted more stuff aside, grafting for the box. My fingers clawed beneath it and as I pulled the box toward myself…

  …”Who are you and what are you doing in my house?” A shrill feminine voice called from behind, aimed directly at my rear end which pointed straight at the voice.

  I dropped the Scalextric, straightened up and turned round.

  A young lady stood in the entrance to the room, perhaps anticipating the need to run for help as her foot which stood furthest away pointed outwards in preparation. Yet in stark contradiction, she stood bolt upright in apparent opposition to me, like she was unsettled but tried not to show it. She wore grey jogging bottoms and trainers along with a sleeveless sports vest and I wondered if she’d returned from a run as small beads of sweat pricked at her forehead. While she waited for an answer, my thoughts turning to mush, she placed her hands on her hips, showcasing a slender figure with toned arms. Her dark hair was tied into a ponytail yet still hung down past her bare shoulders. I knew who this girl was, since she looked similar to her mother, big green and piercing eyes which now stared a hole through me.

  “I’ll ask you one last time, before I call the police.” She fired off in quick Italian and for a moment I needed to think about the translation. “Who are you? And what are you doing going through my family’s possessions?”

  “I’m sorry. I was just looking for something to do.” My voiced sounded higher pitched than usual.

  “Why? Who are you?” Any former impression of fear had now vanished, doubtless because now I was the one who felt afraid.

  “I work here. I’m on work experience. I’ve been here for a month. I live upstairs in the guest bedroom.” I watched as she trod further into the room, her feet now pointing toward me. “I’m sorry, I just wanted something to do.” I said with a little more force.

  The expression on her face was still anything but friendly, but she no longer looked as though she would call the police, and I doubted very much she would jump on me either. Being attacked by a fiery Italian was the last thing I needed, especially considering she was the daughter of my host. I would have given anything for just a small indication of friendliness from this girl.

  “The Scalextric…” she nodded toward the chest, “…I broke that last summer.”

  “What?”

  “I broke the thing last summer…Accidentally of course…But it doesn’t work anymore, so if you bring it out from there then my dad will find out.” The tiniest hint of a smirk grew on her face.

  I exhaled deeply. “It’s our little secret then. I won’t tell.”

  “Good.” The smirk curled into a full on smile, relieving the tension between us.

  “But you have to promise not to beat me up, because if you beat me up, then I’m going to tell your dad you broke the Scalextric. I really wanted to play on that.” I wondered if I was jumping the gun by being too playful so soon after feeling more than just a little threatened by her.

  “We can play on the Nintendo instead.” She said, making her way toward me and the chest of toys. The sweet smell of spice mixed with jogging sweat sailed up to my nose as she invaded my personal space.

  She bent over, leaning into the chest which was when I noticed the curves of her slender body. Her slim waist gave way to wide hips which gifted her with an impossible hourglass figure. She was her mother’s daughter - That much was for sure. My heart rate increased and for some strange reason my right hand trembled. I clutched my fingers into a fist, stopping the sensation while she pulled out the Nintendo. As she stood up straight, her bare arm brushed against my breast. Had I been stood too close? I really wasn’t sure. It was she who’d approached a little too close and I was pretty certain all I’d done was remain rooted to the spot. Anyway, why was I thinking such stupid, meaningless and irrelevant thoughts, I wondered, as my nipple still tingled from the contact of her arm. Oh no - I had small nipples, but they really did stand to a point when stimulated. I prayed my breast wouldn’t make a show of me through the thin layer of flowery fabric which had divided our flesh.

  She held the Nintendo and a couple of games cartridges under her left arm as she extended her right hand toward me, filling the tiny gap between us. “I’m Alessia, by the way.”

  I took her hand in mine as we shook hands. I was surprised by the firmness of her grip, which contrasted with the softness of her skin. All except for the faint roughness of callouses at the base of her fingers, evidence perhaps that she lifted weights. For sure that would have explained her firm handshake and subtle appearance of feminine deltoids, but then again, I often suffered from callouses from hours holding a fencing blade.

  Again, my thoughts went fuzzy as I became aware that several seconds had gone by and not only had I not told Alessia my name, but I found my thumb was lightly stroking the area of skin between her thumb and forefinger.

  “I’m Dayna. And it’s nice to finally meet you.” I blurted out, a little embarrassed. As she let go of my hand, the feeling of self-consciousness washed over me as my nipple still tingled. I needed to look down to ensure my hardened nipple wasn’t poking through my dress just so I could end these paranoid thoughts. The problem was that she still stood close, too close, and I wondered if she had no con
cept of personal space or if she was just being polite and friendly.

  “Well then Dayna, let’s go set this thing up. I’m unbeatable at Bubble Bobble.” She turned and left the room as I watched where her slim waist met her broad thighs.

  Why did my knee shake? Was I attracted to this girl or was my body simply recovering from the shock of our initial meeting? I had indeed been frightened out of my skin when she startled me – It had to be that. After all, if I was attracted to Alessia, then that would mean I was a lesbian, and I was not a lesbian. I had a boyfriend back in England who only moments before I had emailed to tell I was returning home to see him.

  As I followed Alessia out of the room, I looked down at my breasts.

  My nipples, stiff and pointed, were thrust hard and visible through my dress.

  Alessia

  Alessia set up the games console and we took seats on the couch facing the TV screen. I sat down after her and was careful to leave a large gap between us, but not so large it would look like I was deliberately creating a void. It was nearly seven in the evening and with the last of the day’s remnants still filling the sky with light, Alessia had closed the blinds so that only a fraction of light shone into the room. The effect gave a radiant quality to her skin and further brought out her bright eyes. While she was setting up the games console, I used the time to take a bathroom break and sort myself out. I tied my hair into a rather unflattering ponytail while intentionally leaving errant strands in front of my face. I didn’t leave the room until I was satisfied my nipples wouldn’t show me up either. I also gave myself a stern talking to, reminding myself I was in a relationship with a guy I loved, even if that was stretching the truth a bit.

  When I returned to the room, she had brought out some chilled wine and a couple of glasses which sat on a table in front of the couch.

  “Merely to become acquainted.” She said while filling my glass a little high for what I was used to.

  “Well it would be rude to play an old classic without doing it properly.” I said almost more in politeness than anything else. I really did not want to be drinking wine right now. I did not really know this girl and I felt uncomfortable around her, especially considering what had just happened and her overall confidence and demeanour was a little strange for this English country girl. My head was already swirling around and I didn’t fancy adding alcohol to the mix, even if it was Vino di Giordano, which made saying ‘no’ that little bit harder as it’d be doubly insulting if I turned it down.

  Alessia slid a glass of wine in my direction. “There you go, Dayna.” Then lifting her bum from the couch, she scooched closer toward me, halving the gap between us in one not so smooth motion.

  “Is it just the two of us here tonight?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t take the question as my wanting confirmation we were alone.

  “Huh?” She said, leaning forward to take her glass from the table. The tight tank top she wore did not prevent her breasts from leading the way. Her bra strap bulged from the back of the stretchy grey top. She took a small, lady sized sip before returning the glass to the table and plonking herself back to return parallel to me on the couch.

  “Are your parents around tonight?” It would certainly have made me feel somewhat more comfortable if I knew for sure they were.

  “Yup.” Alessia said, more interested in starting up the game as the starting music came to life. “Dad is anyway - He’s making a meal for later.”

  “And where’s Maria?”

  “Mum? She’s up north somewhere…not sure where.” She was dismissive, like she didn’t care for the answer.

  I took hold of the control pad and began pressing the buttons as some little green dinosaur shot something from its mouth at what looked to be tin cans, but were probably some sort of prey. Honestly, I’d never seen this game before in my life and the graphics were a throwback to the early days of gaming. For whatever reason, my little green dinosaur wouldn’t respond to my commands and I thought about asking Alessia if the control pad was broken. The theme tune was more than just a little catchy and I feared it’d be in my head all night long. But seriously, if Alessia had been with her dad beforehand then I found it impossible to believe that she wasn’t told of my presence here in the house. Was she playing a game with me earlier? Did she usually acquaint herself with people by causing an argument and a scene? No, of course not, because that would be absurd! My mind continued swirling with paranoid thoughts while she tapped away on the control pad.

  “Aren’t you touching your wine?” She asked, turning her head toward me for the briefest of seconds before returning to pay attention to the screen.

  “Um, I don’t think this controller is working. This green dino thing isn’t moving where it’s supposed to.”

  At that moment, Alessia snorted so hard she needed to put a hand over her nose to cover whatever the heck had just come out from it. “Oh my God, that’s too funny.” Running to a cabinet in the corner, she pulled out some tissues and blew her nose.

  “What? What did I say?” I was genuinely confused by whatever had caused this girl to laugh so hard she caused herself a near accident.

  Alessia dabbed her nose in front of the mirror and threw the tissue in a waste paper basket. “You really shouldn’t make me laugh like that, I tasted wine.” She sat back down, again a little closer than what made me comfortable and turned to face me.

  “Will you let me in on this joke or what?” Now I felt more self-conscious and tense than ever.

  She raised her right hand and placed it on my bare arm. It was cold, doubtless from the chilled wine glass she’d held and I felt a small shiver run down my back.

  “Oh Dayna, you’re the blue dinosaur. I’m the green one.” She now smiled at me, perfect white teeth contrasting against her tanned skin. This girl really was beautiful, so much so that for the first time, I wondered if it was the source of my present insecurities.

  She rubbed my arm as the smile grew into a broad grin and in the moment, I saw the funny side – How could I not? I laughed. I laughed hard and much of the tension I had felt dissipated into the small amount of air that lay between us. It felt good to laugh, perhaps I had been a little too silly, within my own mind and I knew I really should learn to be less paranoid, more accepting and definitely more chilled out.

  “Well that totally explains why my green dinosaur wasn’t responding to my commands.” I really did feel looser in the moment and I reached forward, took the glass of wine from the table and took a large sip. As I swallowed my head felt a fluster, but in a good way.

  Alessia gave my arm a final rub, picked up her controller and paused the game, bringing the catchy tune to a stop. She turned back to face me and looked into my eyes. “You are silly, Dayna.” She said, while raising her hand toward my forehead. I wondered what she was about to do, then the errant strands of hair that lay over my eye were swept aside. “You forgot some.” She laughed again and I rolled my eyes.

  I realised that this was most likely Alessia’s nature. Confrontations with people she didn’t know, the invading of people’s personal space, breaking Scalextric sets, playing video games from years ago and shooting snot from her nose. She was a tomboy of the most obvious. Most of the girls I knew, especially the Italians back home, were all girly girls but Alessia was something different. It was clear that this was why I’d felt uncertain within myself, but I’d now found the route cause and I wouldn’t let it affect me anymore. What’s more, I was now actually quite intrigued by this girl.

  She continued looking at me and a silence hung in the air for a few seconds, a few seconds which really should have felt uncomfortable, but for whatever reason, did not. She really did have the most perfect skin, doubtless from a lifetime of living in a hot climate with fresh country air.

  “You really are tense aren’t you? Here, let me…” She jumped up from the couch, walked round the back to the headrest and disappeared from my view.

  Then two hands placed themselves on my shoulders and I
was pulled back against the couch.

  “Oh my…” I uttered as she worked my neck and shoulders with her palms and fingers. The feeling was indescribable, like tension evaporated with each movement of her hands. Weeks of manual labour, harvesting grapes, carrying heavy boxes and pushing carts had taken their toll in ways I hadn’t realised and her touch released something from me that I didn’t even know I had.

  “You really are all knotted up aren’t you? You see, I knew it. You really do need to learn to relax more.” Her reflection was visible in the TV as she worked over my shoulders, her slim midriff about level with the back of my head.

  I prayed she wouldn’t stop. Closing my eyes, I dropped my head back and felt it rest on her wrists. Heaven.

  “Ikari Warriors!” Alessia shouted in excitement and ran back round to the front and over to the Nintendo. The screen went fuzzy as she turned off the games console and exchanged cartridges before turning it back on again. The TV blared out some new theme tune which I didn’t think sounded anywhere near as catchy as the first.

  I brought my head, which had been dumped on the leather headrest, back to a level posture just as Alessia made her way back to the couch with a plonk and handed me the control pad. Now she sat back to where she was originally, with a large gap between us, which I thought could possibly have been even wider than before.

  “Now, you’re the red warrior.” She said with mock patronisation.

  “Um thanks.”

  Confused - That was the best way of describing things. What had just happened? Why was she hot one minute then cold the next? Either this girl was, after all, playing some kind of game on me, or she had a low attention span and was unable to stay rooted to any one spot for more than a minute.

  And not knowing what drove me crazy.

  *