After the shower, I was feeling much better. The hot water seemed to clean the effects of the alcohol and that drug from my body, and I felt renewed. Antonio had also given me an aspiring, so that was helping too. Antonio, I finally knew his name. He had said that we should maintain distance, and yet, he had saved me. He had told me his real name. And he hadn’t denied that he liked me.

This all felt like a victory to me.

I washed and dried with the hair dryer my underwear, and dressed myself into Antonio’s clothes: some short pants and a black t-shirt. Everything looked enormous on me, but at least that would kept me covered until I had my clothes back. I looked myself in the mirror. I had bags under my eyes but seemed fine otherwise. I didn’t looked like an almost raped-almost drowned person.

He really had saved me.

Just before leaving, I noticed a blue pulp on the floor. I came closer. Was that what I thought it was…?

“The mask”, I whispered. Giulianna’s beautiful mask! The water had ruined it. I had been very stupid, trusting so much in a stranger. This has all ended like this because of that.

Giulianna! She must be worried sick! I had to call her immediately. I needed to find my cellphone.

When I went out of the bathroom, I found Antonio in the table, drinking coffee. Apparently the food had arrived, as there were scrambled eggs, cheese, ham and bread, plus coffee and orange juice. Simple but delicious.

“Sorry I don’t have smaller clothes.” He said, trying to hide a laugh after seeing me. I was practically swimming in his clothes; I had made a knot on the T-shirt so it wouldn’t look so big on me but for the pants I could only hold them.

He looked at me with those beautiful green eyes, so soft and expressive. I wanted to get lost in them.

“By the way, breakfast is here”, he told me, inviting me to the table.

But this was not the time. I hadn’t noticed how hungry I was, and so I moved towards the table and felt my mouth watering.

“I was told that our clothes will be ready soon,” Antonio said. “After we get them, you should go back to your place. I am sure there are a lot of people worried about you.”

“Yes, I want to call them right now. Have you seen my cellphone?”

“Oh, yes, let me search for it” he stood up and searched into a drawer, then came back. “I turned it off after the fall, I hope it survived.”

I tried to turn it on. Nothing happened.

“Dead.” I sighed. How was I supposed to communicate now? And I had all the maps in my cellphone too. Going to any place would be a pain from now on.

“I am sorry,” he said.

“It was my fault for trusting so much in that guy after all.” I said.

Yet here I was, trusting in another guy I had randomly met. I knew nothing about Antonio either. He had done his best to keep me blissfully ignorant about his life. But I didn’t regret it at all. He had been so good to me, all this time. Even when he ditched me, he had appeared when I needed him. I trusted him, and now that I was seeing him without the mask for the first time, I felt all my feelings back.

We ate in silence. Antonio was too quiet, too thoughtful. I kept the silence, wondering what he was thinking. And my own mind started drifting to his words from before. Why would being with him be dangerous? Maybe he had a wife, and was telling me our relationship would never surpassed her wife’s. That it was dangerous for me to develop feelings for him. Or could it be something darker?

Our thoughts were stopped when someone knocked the door. Antonio went to see who it was, and returned with our clothes from the laundry. I wanted to ask him so much things but I needed to come back to Giulianna’s. If only I had her number!

“I will dress up and go,” I told him. He just nodded.

I changed in the bathroom, and left his clothes folded on the bed. I was ready to go then. But there was this last thing I wanted to say.

“Hey…” I started meekly.

He was still seated in front of the table, lost in thought again, and my voice draw his attention.

“Are you ready?” he said.

“Not yet.”

I walked towards him, and stop right in from of him.

“I… just wanted to say… thank you. Thank you for saving me, and for taking care of me.”

He smiled, and his smile was so beautiful that I lost my breath for a moment.

“I will do it again whenever you need,” He said softly.

My head moved by itself, and I kissed him. A soft, innocent kiss.

“We shouldn’t”, he whispered into my lips.

“I will come back tomorrow”, I told him. “I have to go now. We can talk then.”

“You shouldn’t,” he repeated.

“I know,” I smiled to him “I still will though. We need to talk, and I really need to go now. So, good bye until tomorrow, Antonio.”

“Good bye, Katherine.”

I left the hotel feeling victorious over what I had discovered about him. I had seen his face, and I had his name now. There was still the mystery of why he said we shouldn’t see each other anymore, but I was going to discover that the next day. I just had to be patient and I would have the answers I wanted.

I didn’t notice the eyes that were watching me as I left the building.