Hearts On Fire Episode 29
Julia sat beneath the awning of a café in Perugia.
Tomorrow she would fly home, but for now she was waiting to meet someone very special.
She gazed across the paved square, past the tiny fountain and on to the huge, ancient buildings.
This time tomorrow she’d be back in her tiny flat.
She hadn’t even managed one week in the sun.
She could hear Justin, her ex, in her head.
“I told you it would be a disaster.”
Julia rolled her eyes.
“None of it was my fault!”
“Talking to yourself? Isn’t that the first sign of madness?”
Julia’s heart skipped. To her right, Mark leaned on a chair.
She smiled.
“I was telling my ex to go away.”
Mark gestured to the chair.
“Can I join you?”
“You’ll have a fight on your hands if you don’t.”
Mark grinned and sat down.
“I know nothing about your ex. You’ve spent a lot of time listening to my troubles, but none sharing your own.”
Julia’s fingers fiddled with the base of her water glass as what felt like a sackful of mice scampered about her insides.
“Mine are behind me. At least, Justin is.”
Mark raised an eyebrow.
“You still talk to his ghost and tell him to go away.”
“It’s a long story.”
Mark gestured to the waiter, a lean man with a typical white apron who was clearing another table.
“We have the rest of today and half of tomorrow before our flight home.”
Our flight. Julia liked the sound of that.
“And a wise person once said, ‘A trouble shared’ and all that,” he continued.
“Was that me?”
Mark nodded.
“Now look at me. Better than I’ve felt in months. I even contacted work and told them I’m coming back.”
“You’re all better? Truly?”
“I wouldn’t say that. But Villa Davide proved to me I can do my job. There’s no reason not to go back. I have you to thank for that.”
“Me?” she replied.
Mark smiled.
“Yes. You listened to me, helped me sleep and get things in perspective.”
His eyes met hers.
“You were the reason I stayed at Villa Davide when I wanted to run away.”
He reached across and caught her hands in his.
“You are wonderful, Julia, you know that?”
They had reached a special moment.
How different from Justin he was. How encouraging and positive.
As Julia sought the words to express how delighted she was that he had stayed, the waiter finally appeared.
Mark released her hands and sat back in his seat.
“Una spremuta mela, per favor.”
“And for the lady?” The waiter turned to her with his order pad ready.
She gestured with her glass of water, told him she was fine, and he moved away.
She pursed her lips and looked at Mark.
“For one who couldn’t speak a word of Italian a few days ago, that was very impressive.”
“That all depends on whether the waiter brings me a glass of apple juice or not, doesn’t it?” Mark replied with a grin. “But stop changing the subject.”
“I did?”
“We were going to talk about you. Despite what we’ve been through, I feel like I hardly know you. And I’d like to. Very much.”
Julia gazed into his eyes, warm with hope.
Her heart thumped.
Why shouldn’t she tell Mark about Justin?
She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.
“My ex was a negative person. If I suggested going to Italy in summer, he’d point out how hot it’d be.
“Or if I suggested we drop everything and go for a walk, he’d check the forecast and tut a lot.”
Mark nodded.
“That can be wearing.”
“He had good points, too. But one day I realised I’d stopped taking risks.
“My life choices had become safe,” she explained. “Every time I considered something new, Justin didn’t need to say anything any more.
“His voice was in my head. I would warn myself of what could go wrong, and tell myself maybe I wasn’t good enough to succeed.
“Take the retreat at Villa Davide, for example,” Julia went on. “Four weeks, all expenses paid, teaching the subject I love. What’s not to like?
“But before we split up, I wouldn’t have even considered such a commitment stuffed with dreadful ‘what ifs’.
“Even on the flight here, I was fretting about what could go wrong.”
Mark smiled ruefully.
“Then Charlie turned up. She must have been one of your nightmares,” he said.
Julia nodded.
“One month of a difficult customer who resented me being there.”
“Yet you won her over.”
Julia had. Both Wizzy and Charlie had sought her out to wish her well and hope that she’d return next year.
Julia’s chest swelled with pride and she beamed.
“Penny for them?” Mark asked.
“I’m telling Justin to stuff that in his pipe and smoke it. Because I am good at what I do.”
Mark caught Julia’s hands once more.
“I have a good feeling about us, Julia.”
She raised one hand to her lips and kissed it.
“Me too.”
His eyes burned with a heat far removed from wildfires ripping through parched forests, igniting something within her, too.
How on earth would she part from him for an entire month next summer?
Love would find a way.
The End.