2015 Prompt Responses - 13. Prompt 403 - The Wish

Travis was incensed. “What do you mean there are only single rooms left? I reserved a double when I called!”

The manager was apologetic, but firm. “I’m sorry, sir. I would be more than happy to give you a double if I had any left, but they’re all occupied.” His English was impeccable, thank goodness, since neither Travis nor I were fluent in Italian.

“Well do you at least have a roll-away we could use?”

“Roll-away?”

“You know, an extra bed.”

The manager looked confused. “Perhaps this is an American thing. We have no extra beds. Single only.”

“Well what are you going to do for us for the inconvenience?”

The manager shrugged. “I can offer you a free night for the mix-up.”

Travis snorted. “We’re here for two weeks. I think you can do better than that.”

“I’ll have to talk with the owner and see what else we can do. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience.”

Travis grudgingly accepted the key to the room and we rode the elevator in silence. The thought of sharing a bed with Travis wasn’t exactly unappealing to me. I was scared to death, though, that he would find out my secret.

We entered the room and Travis stared at the single bed that dominated the space in the small hotel room. “Can you believe this, Simon?”

“Trav…is it really that big a deal? I don’t snore, I promise!”

He set his suitcase down and sat on the bed. “I’ve never shared a bed with another guy before.”

I laughed. “Well, I don’t bite, you know.” I winked. “Unless you want me to.”

Travis paled and sat up straighter. I laughed. I was shocked at my bold statement, but it was too late to take it back.

“Relax, I was just joking.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. We set about unpacking. I finished first and sat at the desk, watching my friend. I thought the room mix-up was kind of funny, since I had fantasized about and wished for this exact scenario. I had a huge crush on Travis from the minute I met him. We were in our third year of college and had met during orientation our first semester as freshmen. We became immediate best friends, even though I had always hoped for more.

While most of our classmates decided to head south for Spring Break, Travis and I decided to spend a couple weeks in Italy. We saved for a year to be able to afford the trip.

Travis lay back on the bed and closed his eyes. “What do you want to do for dinner?”

I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see me. “We can always ask the manager to suggest a restaurant.”

Travis snorted. “He couldn’t even get our room right.”

“Well, we are in Rome. I guess there’s probably a ton of restaurants around.”

Travis still lay with his eyes closed, giving me the perfect opportunity to check him out. He was so adorable. He had chestnut hair and a nice body. Not a sculpted body, but he was nice and trim with the build of an outdoorsman. I imagined all sorts of things I would like to do to his body. On second thought, maybe sharing a bed wasn’t such a good idea.

“Si?”

I was jolted out of my reverie. Travis was looking at me quizzically. I turned bright red and looked away.

“I asked if you’re hungry now or if you wanted to go later.”

“I can eat anytime, so whenever you want to go is fine by me.”

He nodded. “Let’s go now, then. I’m starving.”

After cleaning ourselves up, we headed out and found a nice restaurant where we experienced our first taste of authentic Italian food. It was every bit as amazing as we’d thought it would be. The atmosphere was very romantic, with soft lighting and music playing quietly in the background. I wished for the hundredth time that Travis returned my feelings. I wanted to hold his hand and kiss him as we walked down the Roman streets.

A few blocks from the hotel, we encountered a large fountain that was brightly lit. There were quite a few people congregated around it, throwing in coins. Travis grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the basin of the large fountain.

“Oh my God, Si! This is the Trevi Fountain!”

I looked at him blankly.

“From Three Coins in the Fountain?”

I continued to look at him blankly.

“It’s only one of the best movies ever made!” He dug into his pocket and pulled out three coins. “C’mon, Si. You’re supposed to toss three coins into the water and make a wish.” He closed his eyes and used his right hand to throw the coins over his left shoulder, a big smile on his face.

I pulled out three coins and motioned to throw them in, when Travis grabbed my arm.

“Wait! You need to use your right hand and throw them over your left shoulder.”

I raised an eyebrow, but did as I was told. My eyes were on Travis as the coins sailed over my left shoulder toward the fountain behind me. Travis’ chestnut hair was backlit by the lighting from the structure behind us, giving him an angelic glow. He looked like he was wearing a halo. My eyes drifted further down and I wished that I could see him naked as I heard the faint ‘plop’ of the coins hitting the water.

A woman screamed and I snapped my head in her direction. She covered the eyes of the two children she was with and ushered them away from the fountain at a run. More shrieks and laughter erupted all around me and I followed the stares and pointing of the bystanders to behold a very naked Travis standing before me in shock, covering his privates with his hands.

“Travis! What the hell are you doing?” I shrugged out of my jacket and handed it to him. He was bright red and wrapped the jacket around his waist.

“What am I doing? I was standing here, minding my own business and the next thing I know I’m standing here stark naked! What the hell happened?”

I thought back to the moments prior to the outburst and my eyes widened as I realized that my wish had come true in a very literal sense. Travis narrowed his eyes as he beheld the look on my face. We were hurrying down the sidewalk in the direction of the hotel. It was a good thing it wasn’t that far away.

“What did you wish for, Simon?” he asked.

“It’s bad luck to tell wishes,” I mumbled, turning bright red. There was no way I was going to tell him what my wish was.

The hotel was right in front of us, and we burst through the door and ran up the stairs. The shocked manager stared after us, open-mouthed. We stopped in front of our room door and I was thankful that the key was in my pocket instead of Travis’ missing one.

Travis plowed his way into the room ahead of me, flinging open the drawer and grabbing the first pair of pants he found. He sat on the bed and sighed in relief. “That was the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me! What the fuck, Simon? One minute I was watching you make your wish, then the next thing I know I’m standing there stark naked!” He looked at me with a funny look on his face. “Si…what did you wish for?”

I leaned against the desk, looking at the floor. I couldn’t meet his eyes. “I don’t want to say,” I whispered. I looked up when I felt Travis standing in front of me. He was smiling gently.

“I’ll tell you mine,” he said softly. “Or rather, show you.” He stepped closer to me, putting his hands on either side of my face. He leaned in and kissed me.

“You didn’t need a wish to do that,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him.

He smirked. “And you didn’t need a wish to see me naked.”