Fragments (44 page)

“The love that moves the sun and the other stars.”

Paradiso
XXXIII;
line 145

Alex

Four years later

The winter sun gently beats down against the cold ceramic pavement. Amongst the terracotta tiles, we make our way through the narrow streets and alleyways while being captivated by this incredible city. We have spent the day walking around on occasional slippery pavement that was completely foreign to us. Snow. We were not used to it but found that even in an already beautiful city, it still made it more majestic. Holding the map away from Bea’s eye, I quickly check to see that we are on track. I have roughly penned in the path so I wouldn’t be stuck searching for it, while fighting Bea’s gaze back. 

“Are we there yet?” she jokingly whines, tucking loose strands of her hair away under her beanie. She has a bright blue beanie with diamantes and a pompom on top. Evidence of a recent market we raided. She couldn’t scream “tourist” more if she tried.

“Patience,
Beatrice
. We are almost there.” 

She huffs but smiles. As much as she can pretend that she isn’t a fan of her full name, she secretly loves it. Especially during moments that get heated.

We continue walking further, with our hands intertwined and our cheeks red from the cold. It has been three weeks since we first flew over here to Italy and we are having an amazing time. The cold itself took a bit of getting used to, but once we landed, we didn’t care. We were in Italy! From the sights and the food to the exhibits, we have been having an unbelievable time.

It doesn’t matter how much I try speaking to the locals, Bea would gently tug me away. My butchered version of Italian often gets a laugh and an eye roll from Bea. All the more reason to keep mispronouncing words and occasionally using a Super Mario accent. Tip—copy the accent and watch every Italian in earshot try to shoot you down. Bea describes it as nails twirling in her eardrums.

So far, we have visited her relatives who live close to the top part of the country, and now we are enjoying spending our days travelling alone and discovering amazing sights. Since we built our house two years ago, we had planned on taking a trip once her schedule at the club had slowed down and my physiotherapy business could take a breather as well. I had a studio out the back built so I could run my appointments essentially from home. During football season, I assisted a local sporting team during the week; that tied in well with Bea’s dance classes. Thursday nights, she taught a bunch of women how to dance provocatively for their husbands with a few glasses of champagne for Dutch courage thrown in. It was constantly sold out.

Her duo with Hazel was über successful, while Robbie continued to bring in other acts to continue adding flair and spontaneity. He had also made it family-friendly since becoming a father, as his world was his son. His wife, Hazel, worked on Saturday nights, so he would stay home to look after the kid then. Robbie’s kid had passed the troublesome toddler stage and was veering straight into being a “threenager.” We all took turns helping them out so they could get a break once in a while. Robbie hated missing out on Hazel’s gig, but from what he let slip a few times, he got his own performances at home. Much the same as what I was getting as well from Bea. Lucky man? Yes, I was.

While Bea and Hazel continued to create more business for the club, Trinity’s costume designs were a direct hit. More clients approached her to design personal corsets and other raunchy outfits to go under dresses they’d had designed. In the past few months, things have slowed down as her final trimester drew to a close. She wanted to keep going full throttle, but her overprotective partner, Theo, put a stop to it. Out of all of us, he seems to be the only one able to rein her crazy in.

Taking another quick peek at the street map, we continue to walk past the aged apricot rendered buildings with green wooden shutters that adorn the windows on the top levels. Rust-covered bars line the windows of the bottom floor. Reaching the street corner, I indicate to Bea to walk down the path under the iron street lantern, to the second building that is not rendered like its neighbour. Instead, it had musty brown worn bricks that reach up to two storeys with two sealed rotund windows facing outwards. Beneath the windows on the first storey is a doorway with a tiled wooden roof sitting up on it. The brown wooden door itself is covered with metal lattice. A single iron lantern dangles from underneath the centre of the pointed roof. I’ve managed to avoid Bea seeing any signs of this place until now.  

“Are you ready?” I ask, looking down at her face.

She returns my gaze with an inquisitive smirk. “You’re not giving me payback from yesterday, are you?”

My shoulders shake as I chuckle. “Definitely not. Thanks for reminding me though—I’ll sort out the payback later.”

Yesterday, we had visited L’Accademia, or the Academy, where many works of numerous artists were held. Bea had spent a bit of time mapping out whom to see while learning about most of the art pieces. Once we were in the great hall, she’d told me to keep my head down as she had a surprise. I felt ridiculous staring at the ground while she guided me through. Once we had arrived at the base of the statue, she told me to close my eyes and visualise the beauty of art. Fuck knows how to do that. So, I amused her and followed along. After a short minute, she told me gently, “When you’re ready, keep your eyes closed but tilt your head up. When you open your eyes, I want you to tell me the first thing you see.”

Following her instruction, close eyed I looked up, and waited for a short moment. Opening my eyes, I was struck numb. We were at the base of the statue of a very naked David. What was the first thing I saw? A marble pair of testicles and dick in my face. I’d scrunched my nose as Bea burst out laughing beside me. I’d shaken my head and muttered, “Smart arse,” and continued to laugh with her.

Needless to say, since then the joke has continued to haunt me as close-ups of David’s ‘manhood’ are plastered all over aprons, posters, clothing and just about everything else all over Florence. It feels as if his dick is constantly slapping me in the face.

              Today is definitely not a day of payback. She is going to get the shock of her life.

I motion for her to follow me through the wooden doorway into the cool church interior.  We have entered into the church of Santa Maria dei Cerchi. The brown terracotta floors and sparse antique pews line the edges of the chapel, while a simple ceramic altar stands at the front and centre. The white walls are mostly bare, apart from an occasional painting. I watch Bea as she walks around, admiring the small chapel.

“I like how it’s simple, yet unique,” she muses. “Oh! Look over there!” 

My heart thuds in my chest as she makes her way slowly to what I want her to see. To the left of the alter, stands a small marble tomb. 

“Oh, my God! Alex! It’s Beatrice!!” She motions for me to stand by her as she reads the inscription declaring the tomb of Beatrice and her family. Today, a single orange rose has been placed along the flat surface of the tomb. 

              Bea continues to observe the tomb while I get my camera out to take a photo.

“This is my namesake! We have to take a photo for Mum. She will love it!” 

I can’t help but smile at her goofiness.  Little did she know that I had already taken a few pictures of her while she’d looked the tomb over. One more would be perfect, though.

“Bea.” I smirk. “Turn around and I’ll take a picture. But you have to hold this.”

She turns towards me and sees a letter in my hand. Quirking her eyebrows, she looks at me then my hand and reaches for it.

“Open it,” I tell her.  She turns the envelope over in her hands and starts to take the letter out.  There inside is a handwritten letter from her nonna.

“Alex,” her breath catches. “How did you …?”

“I’ll explain later; just read it, Bea.” 

Before she’s even read a single word, I watch a teardrop cascade down her face. 

“It’s in Italian … I’ll translate it as I go…” 

Dear Beatrice,

I give you my granddaughter, Beatrice. I ask that with this ring that she wears, that she will always feel the protection of your love over her and Alex. I want them to forever know and feel the love that they share for each other. I also ask that you grant protection over any future children, while I too, will be looking over both of them from above.   

              With love,

Emanuella.

I hold still as I watch Bea read over the letter several times. Her fingers trace the letters as the tears roll freely down her cheeks.

“But how did you get this? She’s been gone almost two years.” 

Sadly, we lost Nonna a while ago. Thankfully it was peaceful and in her sleep, but it still hurt her family.  I reach out and draw Bea close to my chest.

“You remember when I had to go home to see my mum, as she wanted to catch up with Lily and me? Well, the truth is, it wasn’t that. I went to see your folks instead, and Nonna was there, too.” 

Bea tenses in my arms and lifts her head up to look at me. Sniffing, she lifts the letter up and unfolds it again.

“
This ring …
What ring, Alex?”

I stroke her cheek and step back. Reaching into my pocket, I grab out the brown antique ring box from my pocket. “This one, Bea.”

She stares at my hand and the box. She tilts her head up at me and raises her eyebrow.

“Oh, my God … Alex?”

I kneel down in front of her as her hand moves to cover a gasp from her lips.

“Beatrice.” I smile. “This is the church where Dante met Beatrice when he was nine. She inspired him to love and immortalise his love for her. What I feel for you is stronger than any of his words. I wanted to ask you here, where you were given your beautiful name, and where we could redefine love. I no longer walk through the depths of hell. With you by my side, it is only paradise.

“Marry me, Beatrice. You are my
Bea,
and I will always be yours.”

She squeals and stares at the open box. Her chest heaves in deep breaths as she stares down at Nonna’s engagement ring. It’s a simple princess cut, set in rose gold. Delicate, but beautiful. Just like Bea.

“She wanted you to have it, but if you don’t want it as an engagement ring we can …”

She’s shaking her head at me, while garbling a few words. Eventually, I hear her making some sense. “I love it, Alex!” she cries.

“Um, you still haven’t given me an answer though … This cold tile is making my knee freeze …”

“Oh! Alex, you idiot! Of course, it’s a yes! Yes! Yes!”

I leap up, take the ring out, and grab her left hand. Looking into her tear-filled eyes, I feel my cheeks dampen, too. I slide the ring along her finger and kiss her gently on the mouth. She pulls me in close and wraps her arms around my neck in a tight hug. We stay that way for a few moments until we hear a loud cough nearby. Turning, we see a few parishioners frowning at our public display of affection.  I smile down at her and indicate the wicker basket that is near Beatrice’s tomb that is filled with letters.

“Shall we?”

Bea nods and holds the letter to her lips in a kiss, and closes her eyes for a moment. As she pulls it away, she lightly says, “
Ti amo
, Nonna. I miss you,” and she places the letter back in the envelope. We take a few steps towards the basket and Bea places it amongst the others. Grabbing my camera, she turns it towards us for an epic selfie before strolling out into the alleyway. 

              With our hands intertwined, we stroll down the streets.

“You know, she always wanted me for you.” Bea chuckles as we make our way to the city centre. I tighten my grip on her hand while I lean down and kiss her forehead. 

“Let’s get out of the church’s way. I want to kiss you like a real fiancé!”

We both laugh as we stroll peacefully down the cold tiled streets. Our future together is in sight and I can’t wait. 

Trice

Glancing over my shoulder to that chapel, I whisper, “thank you.” A thank you for the honour of bearing a name that was inspired by true devotion, of a love that I wanted desperately that finally led me to Alex. My heart beats with the same intensity as his. My heart is no longer torn into fragments, as the happiness I now feel with Alex has bound all the pieces back together. My nonna saw it, and my heart swells with pride as I take a quick glance at her ring.

These moments intertwined are what make this point in our journey seem worthwhile. Our past held moments of pain and loneliness, but it also held precious memories that dampened the hurt and replaced it with love. These beautiful moments will forever be imprinted on my soul. With Alex, he made every new and old experience take residence in my heart. I had always planned my future carefully. I never knew that he would be the unexpected tornado that would redirect my journey into my life-long dream. This powerful journey is ours to take, and no matter what, we’ll take it together. 

End of Book One

Coming Soon in 2015

‘Splinters’

Robbie and Hazel’s Story.