We headed down the road to Garda Village, which is twenty miles from the city of Verona, and is one of the smallest towns in the whole province.
My CD player was playing Tears in Heaven while I was replying to a fan mail.
“Brandy,” Ivo called me, but I didn’t even look up. I pretended to be engrossed with my music and whatever I was doing on my PDA.
Our trip should have let me sit back to enjoy the beautiful scenery and marvelous views of Lake Garda, from the rocky cliffs in the north to the olive groves and lemon houses lining the Gardesana Road and the wild natural panoramas. However, I was not in the mood to enjoy the view.
“Brandy,” Ivo called out again a little louder.
“Are we there yet?” I looked up and frowned a little, removing my headphones.
“Just a couple of miles away,” he answered. “What are you doing?”
I avoided looking at him and putting my headphones back on.
Ivo pulled my headphones out of my ear. “Vacations are a lot more fun if you experience them at the moment rather listening to music or doing something on your phone.”
“Mind your own business. I’m responding to fan mails,” I glared at him placing my headphones back.
“You can do that some other time. You’re supposed to be enjoying the sights. Why the need to work all the time?”
“I’m not a country girl, Ivo. You know what interests me? Partying, guys, motorcycles, loud music, and car racing. I find this trip really boring.”
“What has gotten into you? You don’t sound like my sweet Brandy.”
“Oh, please, Ivo. Don’t give me that shit.” I remarked, squinting my eyes at him. “I can’t believe you talked me into this trip. This is really a waste of time for me.”
Why on earth was I acting like this?
“You’ll love Garda. You’ll see.”
I rolled my eyes at him, and he returned it with a teasing smile.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back immediately.” He winked at me, and I shuddered.
“No hurry, just enjoy your trip to Rome with…” I paused, “with your friend,” I continued putting emphasis on the last word.
“Of course, I will. This case really interests me a lot.”
“Duh! Whatever case.” I muttered to myself giving him another roll of my eyes.
“Stop rolling your eyes at me or I’ll fuck you in here!”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I just thought, since you’re leaving me alone with Agata, I might entertain someone else.”
Ivo’s brows furrowed and his jaw clenched as he exhaled harshly.
I was struggling to hold back a smile.
“So enjoy your Rome escapade with your special friend and I’ll do my own thing here with mine.” My voice was falsely casual, and my eyes were sparkling in amusement. He narrowed his eyes at me in warning. I guess he didn’t like what I was insinuating. “What?” I scoffed, faking innocence.
“Do what you want to do, Brandy. I don’t give a damn.”
I felt a strange sinking sensation in my chest when he said it. I raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
Soon we arrived at their house in Garda after driving up a bumpy hill. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car, staring in awe at the house.
“Andiamo , Agata!” I heard a cute little girl’s voice scream from inside the house.
“Oh Dio mio, perché ti sempre mi affrettarsi?” I heard Agata huffed.
Agata’s face beamed when she saw us standing in just a few feet away in the corner of the veranda, leaning against the railing. “Oh, you’re here!” Agata almost jumped at me and gave me a suffocating hug.
She followed my gaze back to the three girls hiding behind her.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“They’re our sisters.”
“Ciao,” The girls spoke in unison.
“Presentatevi” Agata told them.
“Ciao, mi chiamo Assunta,” Assunta introduced herself first as she walked closer to me. I bent down my knees and smiled sweetly at her.
“Do you speak English?”
Assunta nodded. “You’re beautiful just like brother said.”
I blushed. “Thank you. You think so?”
“Si.”
“And you, young girl come here.”
A cute girl with a short brownish hair came forward and gave me a tiny little rose. “My name is Rosetta, questo è per te.”
“Oh? Is this for me?” I asked, instinctively smiling at the cute sight in front of me.
Rosetta bobbed her head up and down, and I gently took the rose from her small hands.
“Grazie.” Leaning forward, I brushed a small kiss on her forehead.
The curly-haired girl tugged at Agata’s hand while bouncing up and down behind her older sister. I motioned her to come. She raced forward on her little legs, nearly tripping over her own feet.
“Stare attenta, Tina.” Ivo caught her just in time. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
Tina giggled as she looked at me, her brown eyes dancing with joy as she walked over to me. She took the rose and gently placed it in my hair.
“Grazie, Tina,” I said and ruffled her curly hair. “Are they triplets? They look exactly the same.”
“Yeah, they are. You can only distinguish them by their hair. Assunta’s hair is long, black, and shiny. Rosetta has short and brownish hair while Constantina’s is curly.” Ivo explained.
“Let’s go inside,” Agata gestured us to follow.
“Dov’è papa?”
“Papa is sleeping in his room right now.”
“Girls, can you show Brandy our guest room?”
Their faces beamed, “C’mon, it’s over here.” The little girls pulled me to the guest room.
“Attente bambine!” Ivo exclaimed as we tripped on the stairs with my luggage.
We reached our destination and Assunta pointed at the door next to mine, saying “Fratello.” Most likely telling me that was where Ivo stayed when he was here. I nodded and thanked her, a light pat on her head as I opened my door. I was surprised by how nice the guest room was.
I crashed down onto the bed, kicking off my boots in the process. I thought what a weekend this is going to be.
The children plopped down on the bed with me and started their flood of questions.
“How long will you stay here?” asked Assunta.
“Are you dating our brother?” questioned Constantina.
“Are you his girlfriend?” inquired Rosetta.
“Are you going to leave him as well?” was Constantina’s follow up question.
“W-wait girls one at a time, okay?”
They nodded their heads and eagerly waited for my reply.
“Assunta what’s your question?”
“Are you dating my brother?” she asked in her cute Italian accent.
“Um... yeah if... if that’s what you call it... dating I guess,” I answered quite hesitant to undergo this interrogation process.
“Do you love him?” Tina interjected.
“Oh... love is such a strong word sweetie, and you’re too young to understand it.”
“But at least, you like him? Are you going to leave him like Bitchina?” Rosetta inquired.
“Rosetta!” Agata called from behind and motioned the girls to go outside the room. “Sorry, Brandy. Let her rest. Come on, you three.”
They all ran down the stairs while laughing. Agata slowly shut the door behind her and gave me a warm smile before leaving.
I thought of calling Ken to tell him about my weekend getaway, but I couldn’t find my phone.
I went down the stairs, walked right over to the kitchen, and saw Ivo having a serious conversation with Agata.
“Um, excuse me, Ivo have you seen my phone?”
Agata walked out of the kitchen and started putting away clutter in the living area.
“I think you put it on your back pocket. Let me see.” Ivo walked toward me and grabbed my ass.
“Oh!” I squealed. “Naughty!”
“See, here it is!” He tossed the phone over to me. “Hey, Brandy, I gotta go. I have a train to catch.”
A frown crossed my face, but I quickly replaced it with a passive expression. “Sure, go ahead. I have the kids and Agata for company so I guess I’ll be fine here.”
“Good. I’m going.” Ivo took a step closer and cleared his throat. I assumed Agata got the message and left. “Will you promise to be good?” he asked, closing the distance between us and lightly kissing my cheek.
“I’m not going to promise anything. Remember the arrangement? It’s only for as long as I’m here and so are you. But the moment you leave or I leave, it’s over,” I said as I moved my lips toward his.
Ivo kissed me deeply, then down my neck, to my collarbone. I groaned while my hands fiddled with his belt buckle.
“Hey, wait the kids might see us.”
We both chuckled at that thought.
“Seriously, Ivo, I’m not going to promise you anything.”
“I know. That’s why I took you here so that Agata will keep an eye on you while I’m away.”
I nudged his chest. “That’s unfair! You held me confined here while you rest your case with your ex!”
“Huh?”
“Oh c’mon, Ivo. I know you, and that Bettina will meet at the train station going to Rome today,” I said and turned my back on him.
“How did you know that?” he asked laughing.
I crossed my arms and squinted my eyes at him. “I read her message, and I asked Marge what it means.”
Ivo laughed, turned me around to face him, and cupped the side of my face. When I looked up at him, he kissed me. At first, I didn’t kiss him back, but I eventually gave in to my desire and kissed him back with so much passion and hunger. Our lips molded together perfectly. I wrapped my arms around his neck to make it easier for him to hold my waist. We kissed for a while until I gave him one last sweet kiss on the lips, on the side of his neck then on his nose.
“You shouldn’t be jealous,” Ivo smiled and winked at me.
“Excuse me, I’m not!” I retorted. “Well, I can’t blame her if she wants to come back to you. You’re such a good kisser.”
“Brandy, it’s okay. Jealousy looks cute on you, actually.”
“Dream on, Ivo,” I continued denying that I was jealous and let go of the embrace.
“I need to go now. I don’t want Bettina getting in the way of my case. I’m not going to take her with me to Rome, okay,” Ivo whispered as he brushed off some strands of hair in my face. “I’m no longer that foolish guy who will take her back again after having her break my heart several times, Brandy.”
“You need not tell me that, Ivo.”
“I have to.”
“You don’t,” I scoffed and slapped his shoulder hard.
“Admit it,” he teased.
“Admit what?”
“That you’re jealous of Bettina that’s why you’re acting like that.”
“Yep,” I blurted, and his eyes gazed at me. ”You just got tricked.” I chuckled.
“Of course, you’re Brandy Curtis. I should’ve known.”
I marched back to my room, but before I went upstairs, I told him, “Get back here tomorrow night or you’ll see someone else in my bed.”
***
My heart sank as I looked at him driving away from the window. I had never wanted to feel anything like this for someone again. I hated having these feelings of longing, aching, and caring for someone I barely knew.
For a moment, I had the maddest urge to watch him as he disappeared into the horizon before my brain kicked in and I remembered that it was probably not something I should be doing.
I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker. I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t spent most of the next few minutes thinking about Ivo. I knew I shouldn’t spend so much time fretting about this, but I couldn’t help it. I really wished I didn’t have to feel like I did, worrying too damn much about things I had no control over. It was part of the reason I was so good at my job because I was capable of just advising but always being able to detach myself from the situation.
I grabbed my old tattered journal and started writing. This journal has been with me since college. I never want to trade it for anything new. It holds memories of my past and my present. It will tell it to me in the future when I lost those memories.
Dear Journal,
Something strange definitely happened to me. I never would have thought that our nights of pleasure would turn into something I feared would happen. I knew how much this heart wants to love again, but I have a robber in my head stealing my memory. Why must I indulge myself into something that I would forget eventually? Why should I drag someone into this miserable life with me? When my mind finally quit remembering, my brothers would send me to the center, and I’d be with Mom and Gran. That simple. No one had to suffer. I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. I couldn’t be selfish. I didn’t want to be selfish, but I wanted to be happy. I missed being happy. I missed Ivo.
After writing the last line, I heard soft knocks on my door. Agata poked her head in and said, “Brandy, C'mon down. I’m preparing our lunch. You may want to learn how to cook an authentic Italian dish.”
I quickly covered my journal with the sheets. “Sure, I’ll just respond to a fan mail. This is going to be real quick. Thanks, Agata.”
“Bene, we will wait for you,” she said and closed the door behind her.
***
I learned a new dish today! It’s called grilled antipasto with speck and asiago. It is a great dish for sharing. There is a wide variety of vegetables including eggplants, tomatoes, speck alto adige, asiago, and olives.
We finished preparing our lunch and sat down at the table to eat.
“Where’s your father, Agata? Why don’t you ask him to eat lunch with us?”
“He’s now sleeping. It’ll be a lot difficult if we have him eat lunch with us.” Agata shook her head, avoiding eye contact.
“I know how difficult it is,” I replied and held her hand. “You’re such a loving daughter for not sending him to any institution.”
Agata gave me a weak smile. “There are times that I would rather have him stay in an assisted living facility where he will be fully taken care of but the cost is very expensive. I’m glad that Ivo hired Alberta, she’s his caregiver, and she will be here later,” Agata said with a subtle smile on her face.
“Brandy, do you like the food?” Tina asked. I’m grateful that the kids are around. They made everything light and easy.
“Yes, it’s delicious. This is the first time I tasted something like this.”
“Don’t you have this kind of food in America?” asked Assunta.
“We do, but the taste is really different. It’s very authentic.”
“Let me talk! Let me talk!” yelled Rosetta. “How long are you going to stay with us? You can pick olives with us. We can go to the beach. We can ride horses. We can go to the festival!”
“I could stay until tomorrow night,” I said and their faces beamed in delight.
Agata lined up our activities for today. When Alberta came, we immediately piled into Agata’s car and headed to our first stop, the Lago di Garda where we visited one of the many wine cellars in that part of the country. We were treated to a complete explanation of the winemaking and the unique grape-drying process.
After that, we went to Rock of Manerba, where we explored the medieval castle called Castello degli Scaliger and viewed fascinating displays of geological, botanical and archaeological finds. Then we visited an olive oil mill where we didn’t only get to taste the sumptuous Lake Garda oil but also learned about olive oil production.
Luckily, there was a wine festival in Bardolino on the shores of Lake Garda where I enjoyed wine tastings, regional food delicacies, music, a parade, and even a fireworks display.
While the kids were having fun dancing around as the country music was playing, I asked Agata about Bettina’s text. I really needed to get this off my chest before I lose my nerve.
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