| Rome was waking up. An insolent ray of sunlight tickled my left eye inviting me to stand up and enjoy my new life in the eternal city, but I was too tired after a week of travels. I felt the world could manage without me for one day. What if I just spent Saturday in bed? It took me twenty minutes to decide me to get up. After putting on my glasses and combing my hair with my fingers in a casual ponytail, I found myself preparing a cup of coffee in my loft’s eight square feet kitchen. One chocolate biscotto, a too hot Cappuccino between my hands and I addressed myself towards the patio for enjoying my breakfast with the view of Rome’s roofs. It was probably the tinniest, but most charming patio I have ever seen. Two French doors invited you from the kitchen to this ten by ten Italian terracotta tiled patio. One stoic table, two chairs with white and blue striped cushions, and a gorgeous background was more than enough furnishing. During winter nights I used to go out in the darkness with a glass of wine and stay for hours just observing the constellations. My Italian Ex-boyfriend had taught me (or at least he tried) the secrets that his father, an ex captain of the navy, knew about the stars. He used to guide my right index finger from one star to the other plotting the constellations shapes. Most of times, was very difficult for me to distinguish those unique forms in the middle of such a uniform mass, but the one I always was able of seeing without any help was the one which was exactly over my patio and used to keep me company many nights, Orion Constellation. The sun was almost burning my face and awoke me for the second time. The Cappuccino was still hot. Damn it! I will never learn the exact timing; one of these days my lips are going to fall off burned after my first breakfast Cappuccino’s sip. I couldn’t avoid smiling with the image of myself as a Mrs. Potato head without lips. My cell phone started ringing. After looking for it in several places, side table, couch, dining table, and finally in my purse, I answered and heard Paola’s voice from the other side of the line. “Buon giorno bella! Come va?” “Ciao Paola! very good thank you, I was having breakfast, I arrived yesterday night very late, sorry I couldn’t call you, but the plane was three hours late and by the time I arrived home probably you were leaving the party.” “Oh, It’s okay, don’t worry, it was more or less like always, same people, same food, same music. The only novelty was that you were not there and that Barbara has a new boyfriend.” “Com’on Paola, that is not a novelty at all, she changes boyfriend every week.” “Va bene. Listen, I am calling you from my Vespa and there is a police looking at me rare, I have to hang up, do you want to have a lunch together? I will pick you up at half past noon. Ciao tesoro!” The beep.beep.beep in the other side of the line let me know that she had just hang up the cell phone. The image of the hipper active Paola in the Vespa with her big silver color helmet running from one side of the town to the other, made me think about the cartoon “Atomic Ant”. I came back to the patio, the Capuccino was already drinkable, so I drunk it. What time was it? I tried to look for my watch over my side table, over my dining table, and finally I found it over the sink in the bathroom. “Oh my gosh! It is noon!” By the time Paola arrived I wasn’t ready so I made her come up. She arrived without breath. “Bella, you should move to an apartment with elevator or your poor friend Paola is going to suffer a heart attack one of these days!” “Vieni dentro Paola, come in and sit down. I need just ten more minutes. This morning I am too tired for doing anything in a hurry, do you know that my flight arrived at three pm to Rome-Fiumicino airport? I was so angry at Alitalia.” “So, how was your week-trip, did you have fun? Did you make lots of business?” My heart started to bit faster. There was something that I wanted to talk about the trip, something that I couldn’t take off of my mind since then, and that I was not sure how to interpretate. I sat down next to Paola combing slowly my still wet hair. It took me some seconds to put my thoughts in order. I wanted to make sure Paola would understand the dimension and the context of the story. Maybe the best way was just starting from the beginning. “Listen Paola, something very strange happened to me yesterday.” “What do you mean?” “I am telling you, something happened to me yesterday, but promise me that you are going to take it seriously.” “Ma certo! Of course, have I ever not taken you seriously? Com’on tell me everything.” “Okay. All this week I have been as you know traveling for business. Monday and Tuesday I was in Paris. Everything was pretty normal without counting a couple of incidents, a four hour flight delay in Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris and a guy that jumped over me literally when I was coming back to my hotel after dinner. Nobody helped me, can you believe it? People were so afraid of getting involved with a crazy guy that I had to stand up and pick up my purse by my self! Next day, Wednesday, I flew to Brussels where I sent all day and I slept in an inexpensive hotel because everything was full in town. The Price of Belgium’s wedding is next week, and the city is already celebrating. Thursday I had to go to Denmark…” “To Copenhagen?” “No, I had to visit a potential distributor in Billund, a very small village in the west of Denmark that has an airport only because Lego factory is there as well as Legoland. When I arrived to Billund airport, my luggage had not arrived. Perfect. And I was leaving the next day. The only possibility that my luggage arrived that day was the afternoon flight. They told me as well that my flight back for the next day had been canceled, so I had to book for the next one. I was going to arrive later that I expected to Rome. The potential distributor was waiting for me outside with a piece of paper in his hands with my name misspelled on it. He was a very big and strong man with an army-like hair cut, very blond, and blue eyes; The classic Viking. After shaking hands and introducing our selves, he guided me to his car. Our first stop was in Legoland. After a whole surrealistic morning of numbers and notes written over a horse in movement, in the middle of little Italy, inside a cup of tea turning around and over a Lego cocodrile, we went to have dinner with his family and other friends and colleages. When I arrived to my hotel bedroom It was so late, I was so tired, and my luggage was still missing. I went to bed with all my clothes on. Next day the front desk awoke me up. My luggage had arrived last night, but the delivery truck had already left the airport so it came in the first one that morning. It was very cold. I could barely see from my window the lake because of the flog. The previous night, at dinner, everybody was talking about the phantastic wheather they are having this year, usually in November there is snow everywhere. I looked in my luggage for something warm. The beginning of November in Rome is never that cold. Actually this year I haven’t had time of shopping winter clothing so when at last minute I had to organize my trip to Denmark, I just put in my luggage a long tight wool dark green skirt, a tight sweater of the same color, and then my summer beige shoes and purse.” “Aaaaaah!” “I know, I know Paola –emphasized to my guest- summer shoes with very winter clothing is the antithesis of good fashion, but I had nothing else, and besides, I was going to visit a potential distributor, not a client. However, I prepared myself and I left the room. The Viking was already waiting for me. Our first visit was his office. He introduced me to all the personnel that were working for him, we walked around the building and we left for our second visit, his main client, a big international fashion group named “SAND”. The owner received us. He was a very attractive man, dark hair, blue eyes, very smiling and very interested in the information I could bring him about the new trends in high packaging. Paola, I promised, he was every two minutes looking at my shoes, I was so embarrassed.” “Com’on maybe he just though it was so cool, you are charming bella, no one would every say you don’t know how to dress even if that pair of shoes in winter,…you overcame fashion limits.” “Okay, but let me finish. I had to take a flight that afternoon Billund-Brussels, and make a flight connection in Brussels to Rome. Yesterday was Friday as you know, so after saying goodbye to the Viking, and seeing him crossing the airport’s doors towards the parking, I felt my week end had started. I was going home after a week full of trips, negotiations, and not lot of sleep hours. I was thinking about the party we were going to have by Federica. Even with the change of flight I would be able of arriving at least to the last part of the party. I had one hour before the flight, so after check-in my luggage and crossing the security line I spent next minutes walking up and down from one corner of the airport to the other in a very monotone and rhythmic walk with my sight lost looking at everything and nothing at the same time. There was a kid playing around his sister. Many business men working with their portable computers, people making last minute shopping at the Lego shop, and suddenly my eyes stopped on one man. I could see only his back and a little of his profile face. He was wearing the classic Burberrys raincoat in beige color. He looked medium age and was analyzing, observing, reading, and studying a little Star Wars Lego box. I thought he was so cute this business man so interested in a Lego. But guess what happened one second later…” “Nooo, don’t tell me…” “Exactly, just in that moment, when I was looking at him with all these thoughts in my mind, He turned his head back and looked at me directly. It was like he had felt someone was observing him at his back and he wanted to know who was it. He put face of surprise and I was so embarrassed that I just took my cart and left in the opposite direction with face of: “So what, what are you looking at, idiot?” However, I continued walking around up to the time of my flight arrived. I waited some more minutes in my gate and I entered in the plane. The flight was packed, everybody was seated down already, but I was lucky enough of having the place next to me empty. Perfect. This way I could have more space for working during the flight. I was already opening my agenda for writing down some dates that the Viking said to me and that I didn’t want to forget when the captain started giving the welcome. Suddenly, I hear someone was arriving at last minute. I could observe from my position that a man was coming, stopped in front of my place and after leaving his had luggage in the top compartment, he was going to seat down next to me when our eyes crossed again.” “Ahhhhh, no, don’t tell me it was him!” “Yes, believe it or not, it was the guy of the airport.” “Aaaaand? Com’on continue!” “And nothing, when we recognized each other it was such an embarrassment that we wanted to disappear. We just said a very short “Hi!” and we didn’t talk to each other again. I tried to work and he started to read a book, but I couldn’t concentrate at all. The point is that when the hostess asked us what we wanted to drink, we both answered at the same time: “Diet Coke”. The flight attendant laughed, and we had to laugh as well, more embarrassed if possible. He started the conversation when dinner arriver. “Dankes are very nice people but food it is pretty bad, isn’t it?” I was thinking exactly the same, so I agreed with him. He introduced himself, his name was John Martin Fedorko, he is American, from Texas, but right now he is living in New York working for a big law firm. The reason of his trip to Denmark was an interview with a Danish company which produces wind turbines. He was intercoming for a position as President for United States, Canada and Central America subsidiary. He has always believed in changing the world and his dream is doing it working in the wind energy industry. The flight lasted only forty five minutes but it looked like at least two hours. I talked about my life in Rome, about how difficult was being a twenty-five years old female manager in Europe, about the many prejudices that still exist and how though could be things like having a dinner by your self in a restaurant without anyone to bother you. When we arrived to Brussels, he had to take a flight to New York and I had to take a flight to Rome, so we went together to look for our gate number in the screen. He was so surprised about me waiting for him to check his gate number that he said: “thank you very much, you are so kind!” When we were walking together through Brussels’ Airport he made a comment about my shoes, “Hey, those are summer shoes!” I wanted the earth to open under my feet in that moment. I just smiled and said “No, it is just very popular in Italy (NOT!)” The moment of saying good bye arrived and we had to go in opposite directions. After changing business cards, he said “Well, probably we will never see each other again, but it was really a pleasure to meet you” we shook our hands. For one moment, I desired him to kiss me, our flights to be canceled, or that something film-like happen, but nothing happened. He just crossed the gate door and left without looking back. I couldn’t move from that place for fifteen minutes. People were walking around me on a hurry but I was in a bubble. I couldn’t hear clearly anything. I felt since then, and still do today literally like when the Pink Panther gets full of air like a balloon and starts to fly and go up and up against gravity law. When my flight number was announced, I started to walk towards my gate like if I was on drugs. A human flow was coming on a rush in the opposite direction that I was going to and every single person looked at me like, “Is she okay? Is she drunk or something?” During my flight back, I couldn’t stop thinking about this guy, but you know what? I didn’t feel sad, I didn’t care if I would see him again or not, I just felt happy of knowing that someone like him could exist in this planet. This is the purest feeling I ever had about someone. You know Paola, I am not a “butterfly-person”, so it is amazing to me being like this just for talking with a guy for forty five minutes.” “What are you going to do? He lives in New York! What a pity, if he was from here you would have the chance of knowing him more.” “You know what Paola, I don’t care, I am just amazed of this feeling, I am flying, you can’t see it but I promise I don’t feel my feet over the floor.” “Okay Bella, your story is amazing, but we have to go now or Salvatore is going to close the kitchen.” We closed the door behind us and went down stairs as fast as we could. I still remember that November’s day. Paola and I crossing the city in her Vespa going to “Il Miraggio”, my favorite Trattoria, next to the Tevere River and close to Saint Peter’s Basilica. The noisy cars, the claxons and people talking to each other, the cold air against my face, the unique smell to pine that is always around the city, and the feeling that something great was coming into my life. Tonight is a very cold night. Winters in Texas are very sunny but quite cold for a Spanish woman who is used to Mediterranean climate. Next to me in my bed is the man I married 3 years ago. Yes, he is that American guy that I first saw in an airport and destiny wanted Him to be guy who was next to me in the plane. This is one of those nights that you just can’t sleep and all the memories come to your mind without leaving you one second. I stand up and go out to the master’s bedroom’s balcony. I can’t see the sky, too many trees. I go to the kitchen, I take a glass of cold milk and with it between my hands I walk around in the great room. I don’t know how, I find myself in the drive way and I loop up to the sty again. My heart starts beating strongly. There over my head, I see my Rome’s constellation and I feel once again my patio in Rome, the smell of the pines and the promenades in Paola’s Vespa. |
WHERE ORION SMILES
