“Where are we going?” I asked excitedly.
“You’ll see when we get there. It’s only a short walk away,” he replied with a laugh and putting his around my shoulders.
It was a ten minute walked filled with laughter on his end at the wonder on my face every time he pointed something out. But when we got to where he wanted to take me, I felt tears in start to well in my eyes. Never had I seen anything more beautiful than what we were finally standing in front of.
“Trevi Fountain,” he said with a slight bow.
I stood in the center of the architectural masterpiece taking it in in silence and brushing away a stray tear.
Alejo chuckled and gave me a quick squeeze before sitting on the small concrete wall that divided the waters and the visitors to the fountain.
“So, this is the story of this fountain. Apparently a long time ago, in the BC era, there was a young virgin girl who found some thirsty Roman soldiers and led them to a source of pure water. One of the Emperors, I think Augustus, had this built and named it Aqua Virgo to honor the girl. I’ve never seen it before because I’m not interested much in legend and folklore, but I thought that you would enjoy it,” he explained with a shrug.
I kept my eyes on the fountain and the splendor of it all. Moving forward, I rested my hands on his shoulders and he chuckled as he put his hands on my sides. I just stood there and stared in awe at the craftsmanship of Ancient Rome. That looks better than most of the stuff you see these days.
Alejo patiently sat there while I spent the next half an hour just staring at the Fountain with tears streaming down my face in happy silence. I hoped the three people I had sent a picture of me in front of the Colosseum would one day get to come see something as beautiful as this. I think that was the reason for my tears, besides the obvious beauty of what I was seeing. That I was here and they weren’t with me.
“I think I’m good now,” I said with a laugh when I snapped out of it. “Was there anywhere else we were going?”
“The Sistine Chapel,” he replied getting to his feet. I bit my lip because I wanted to see the Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica desperately but I had already promised someone else I would see it with them. Still, I let Alejandro lead me away from the crowds of people by the Trevi Fountain before I tugged his hand to get him to stop walking.
“I can’t,” I said making an involuntarily sour face.
“You can’t what?” he asked raising an eyebrow.
“Go to The Sistine Chapel with you. I just ... I promised someone else that I would see it with them first,” I explained in a rush.
“Ohhhh,” he said, a knowing smile crossing his face.
“Not Mitchell,” I replied rolling my eyes.
“No explanations are necessary, Olivia,” he replied as he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it softly. “We should probably go back to Venice then. The ferry will be leaving soon and we can get back before the sun goes down.”
I nodded and he hailed a taxi. When we got in the back seat, I turned around to look at the Fountain as the driver pulled away and felt a sense of serene happiness again. Something about that damn fountain made me feel like everything would be okay, no matter what I decided.
The ferry ride back to Venice was silent on both of our ends. Alejandro sat on one of the benches that were along the railings and I stood at the front of the ferry, leaning on the rail watching Rome disappear, almost entirely from view.
I had spent this time with Alejandro thinking about what life could possibly be like if I stayed with him. Would it be trips to exotic locations whenever I wanted? Would it be fancy clothes and cars, even though he himself was very humble? Or would it be the love that I was craving; the love that filled you so much it made you want to cry. The love that told you that nothing would ever be wrong with the world no matter how terrible a place it could be as long as you stayed together. The love that promised forever and a day and would never let you down.
I didn’t know yet.
I felt something for Alejo, but if it was love, I couldn’t say for sure. I like to believe that he knew it too. As I glanced at him over my shoulder and saw him watching me with a curious smile, I felt a small flutter deep inside of me. The only way I would know for sure if he was my soul mate would be after I went back to America, back to Mitchell.
Seven
“How was Italy?” Sofia asked, a few days later when we arrived at her home.
“Pretty gorgeous, honestly. I’ll have to box you up one day and UPS you there,” I replied giving her a hug.
Alejo smiled as he stepped in behind me and dropped my bags just inside the door. I put my hands on my hips and glanced around the room.
“Where’s Mitch?” I asked her curiously.
“He’s on his way,” she replied with a mysterious smile.
I gave her a suspicious look and she grinned but said nothing further. She told us both to have a seat as she took my bag and headed to the laundry room.
“Hey, Liv?” she called out.