ARROW - 38. Chapter 38

Arriving back at our hotel, I sent a message to Carmella telling her I would be arriving tomorrow afternoon. I asked the hotel clerk if he could arrange a car to drive us to Grottaferrata. I picked up our clothes which we left in the morning for cleaning and headed to our room. I was excited to see Carmella and her daughter, Teresa again.

“How long did you spend in this village?”

“Three weeks. I would have liked to stay longer but I needed to get home for school.”

Morning seemed to come quickly. I didn’t want to get out of bed but Colin threatened to pour a glass of cold water on me. “You are up early. Come back to bed, we have a couple of hours before our car will be here.”

He leaned over to give me a kiss when I pulled him back into bed. “Now I’ll have to take another shower.”

“I’ll make it worth well,” and I did.

Suitcases packed, breakfast at the hotel, we were ready to go. I stopped at the desk. paid our bill. The clerk at the desk told me our driver was here. He was in the dining room having a cup of coffee.

Walking back into the dining room, there were two men drinking coffee. The other guests were eating breakfast.

“Which one is our driver?”

“That one.”

“Why?”

“Watch, he keeps checking his watch.” I walked over to the man I thought was our driver. “Are you the driver the hotel has arranged to take us to Grottaferrata?”

His smile was the answer, I told him to finish his coffee and we would meet him in the lobby. Colin wanted to know what I said as I had spoken to our driver in Italian.

“I’m going to learn Italian before we come back.”

“How about French and Spanish?”

“No, one language is enough.”

“OK. You learn Italian and we will speak Italian when we are home.” He smiled.

Colin makes my heart smile.

We arrived at the village a little before noon. It’s only an hour drive, however we stopped at several places for Colin to take photos. After the first stop, our driver got into it and started to point out sites for Colin to take photos. I did notice Colin taking a few photos of our driver.

Arriving in the square, I thanked the driver, paid him and told him if he wanted something to eat, he should visit the shop where two men were sitting playing a game. Colin and I picked up our luggage and headed to a house facing the square. I knocked on the door and then I was in the arms of a short woman. “Carmella, easy you'll crack my ribs.” I said that in Italian.

She wanted to know who Colin was, I told her and she grabbed him for a hug. In Italian, she told Colin he was a lucky man to have a friend like me. We were invited into her home, we had to have something to eat and drink. I told Colin it was an Italian tradition and to just sip the wine, it was homemade.

Sitting at the table, she wanted to know everything that had occurred since I was last here. I included Colin as much as I could while answering her in Italian and translating for Colin.

We must have sat there for at least several hours. Once Carmella caught up on my activities since the last time I saw her, I had to catch up on what happened here since my last visit. “Does Angelo still own that tavern?”

“Yes, you remember Geno, his son? He is taking over for Angelo.”

“He must be 17-18 now.”

“He’s 18. He is like Angelo when Angelo was his age.”

“Where’s Teresa? She must be a young woman now.”

“Ahh find Geno you’ll find Teresa.”

“I remember Geno was always chasing her. One time I was with her when Geno saw us and he was mad, Teresa told him I was her boyfriend. He was ready to fight me. I was twice his height.”

As I was translating this to Colin I heard the door open and then this pretty young girl was sitting on my lap. “Do I know you?”

She laughed and kissed me on my cheek. She whispered, “Who is that?”

“My boyfriend. Who is that man giving me dirty looks?”

“My boyfriend.” “Geno” “Yes” “He looks angry.”

“Because I’m sitting on your lap.”

“Maybe you should invite him over and he can sit on my lap also.”

Before anything more was said, Geno came over and took Teresa’s arm, pulling her off my lap. I grabbed him and pulled him to my lap where Teresa was sitting. The expression was priceless. “Teresa, gave me a kiss when she sat on my lap, are you going to give me a kiss as well?”

Teresa dared him, he looked at her and then he surprised me by kissing me on the cheek. I grabbed him in a hug, whispering to him, “You are a lucky man. Treat her well or I’ll take her away from you.”

I watched his expression when I released him from my hug. I wasn’t sure if he believed me or not, I hadn’t introduced Colin to him although I did tell Teresa he was my boyfriend.

He whispered something to Teresa, she smiled and gave me a wink. I was happy for them, she was a pretty girl and if she is anything like her mother, Geno would be a happy man.

Carmella said something to Teresa, the next thing I saw, Geno pick up our luggage and head to the second floor, following Teresa. When they came back down, Teresa had a drawing I made of her when I was here. She showed it to Colin, he smiled and handed it to me with a pen. I put an arrow in the lower right hand corner. She looked at the arrow. Before I said anything, Colin said it’s my trade mark. She looked at me with a confused look. I repeated what Colin said in Italian. That caught me another kiss on the cheek. Then to everyone’s surprise, Geno came over and kissed me exactly where Teresa kissed me. The message was delivered and received. He couldn’t wipe the kiss away but he could cover it up.

I wanted to take a walk around the village, refresh my mind and show Colin where I wanted him to take photos. Teresa and Geno joined us, Carmella decided she would stay home.

The first photos I wanted was the church. I told Colin to take shots from different angles. Several of his photos had young models in them. We spent the rest of the afternoon shooting photos , mostly of Teresa and Geno. As the sun set, Colin took photos of the sky over the church and the plaza. Returning to Carmella’s, I was surprised to find Angelo there. As soon as Geno saw him, he kissed Teresa and left in a hurry. Teresa and Carmella started to laugh. It seemed that Geno was suppose to be working.

“Armand, dinner is almost ready. I have invited Angelo to stay for dinner.”

“That’s great. We were going to stop over tomorrow. I want Carlo to teach Colin how to play that card game.” Carlo and Luigi have sat in front of Angelo’s playing cards for a long time. Both men have retired and spend their time on the square, mostly playing cards and drinking wine. Angelo feeds them. I had the impression that the three of them were best friends for a long time.

Dinner was exceptional. I watched Colin, he would take a bite, savor it, swallow and smile. Sitting beside Carmella, I nudged her when ever Colin tasted a different food on his plate. If a cook wanted to know if her cooking was appreciated, Colin’s expression said it all.

Carmella would offer a second helping of one of her dishes, Angelo and I would decline but Colin would make room on his plate. There is nothing more one can do to show an Italian cook how you appreciate their food, but to eat until you can’t eat anymore. Colin won Carmella’s love.

After dinner, Teresa and Colin took a walk with Angelo. I stayed and help Carmella with the dishes. I did this when I stayed with her several years ago. We would talk, she told me about her husband and how he died and I told her about my schooling. Now we talked about Teresa and Geno. She asked me to be in the wedding, I would take the place of her husband. I felt honored and said yes. “Carmella, when the wedding is over, I want you to come and visit Colin and I.”

“We will see.”

I knew she was concerned about Teresa and Geno.

The rest of the week I had Colin take photos of the village. When he wasn’t taking photos, we were playing cards and drinking wine at Angelo’s.

The night before the car was to show up to return us to Rome, I told Teresa and Geno we would be back for the wedding and my wedding present would be a trip to America, my home. “Don’t tell your mom, but she will be coming as well.”

I slept well that night. GG came and said I did well. I will have a surprise when I get home.” I had learned for GG, a minute could be a year. I knew I would have a surprise coming only I didn’t know when.

Our driver arrived after lunch. In a way I was happy to see him and sad that I was leaving. I booked a hotel at the airport in Rome, our flight was in the morning.

Saying goodbye was hard for me. These people where my family. Even though I knew I’d be back in a couple of years, I’ll miss them.

Our driver must have sensed my mood. The drive to the airport was quiet. Even Colin was quiet. He would look at me and then squeezed my hand, I would respond with a smile.

Arriving at the airport hotel, I paid the driver, and we checked into the hotel.

That night I slept in Colin’s arms. In the morning I felt better. We had breakfast at the hotel. Our flight left on time, we were heading home after a fantastic honeymoon in Europe.