Chapter Two
Lily • Rosa • Jeanine • Park
"WE are going to vacation!" He announced.
"Wait..." I stopped both of us, thought about what was just happening, not believing a single word he said.
"What?!" I literally yelled at him, scaring him and even myself. I was just...I found myself in a neverending and everlasting feeling of euphoria. Looking at him like I just saw a ghost, I ended up absolutely without any words to say. Absolutely stunned to speak. And still I added. "What do you mean?" I asked with closed eyes and raised eyebrows.
He laughed at me and asked. "What do you mean, what do I mean?" Teo answered my question with another question, forcing me to answer.
"Well, what do you mean by 'WE are going to vacation'? Are the only 2 of us going? You have never taken me to a vacation, ever... or are we taking mom, or Renée with Han-seok, or Anne-Marie with Luca, or even with Léo with us? Where are we going? I hope we won't stay somewhere on the street... Are you sure, it's okay? Do you have enough money?-"
"Stooop, Stop, STOP!" He suddenly snapped me from my words. Literally screamed at me, his hands placed on my shoulders, stopping me to continue talking and taking a deep breath before looking in my eyes and speaking to me.
"Lily, one by one" he said, slowly, looked at me, convinced. "I'll answer them all, just ask one by one, slowly" he added, I agreed and slowly started to ask. I couldn't help, I was shocked, not sure if he really meant it, worried, but still happy and really looking forward to it, at the same time. All of those, and even more emotions were flowing through me. Inside out.
"Okay," I said, slowly looking at him.
"First question; do you really mean it, are we really going somewhere?"
"Yeah, I mean it; I want to enjoy some of the time with you, while you're still here; still near" he said, and I immediately realized the time that remains me; till I'm leaving to South Korea. I looked at him. He was so precious. So warm-hearted, so caring. "Tell me, what are you gonna do, when I'm gone?" I asked, laughing at him. "Miss you," he admitted, I looked at him, suddenly feeling sad as he continued. "Call you every day, to make sure you woke up, ate your breakfast, came to work and arrived home safely." He said, bringing tears to my eyes. I immediately hugged him. "I'm gonna miss you too. I'm gonna miss you so much that I'll be the one calling you every day." I blurted out. He was touched. "But I'll come home visit you after my first semester ends. I promise." I added lastly, already missing him.
"I'll wait." He said and we finally broke the hug. We looked at each other, and I broke the silence, as I wanted to avoid the continuation in the emotional situation. "Okay, next question." I finally let out. He smiled and nodded.
-after a few questions-
"Okay, 2 more questions. Really. Last two." I announced, seeing how relieved Teo was. "Are we going alone? Like, the 2 of us?" I asked, curious, because, I just needed to know.
"Just the 2 of us. I don't want anyone to ruin my plans, we're gonna do a lot of fun things, I won't let anyone ruin them." He pouted, crossing his arm like a little child.
"Okay, okay." I said, laughing.
"Last question; where are we even going?"
"Nowhere far at first. Just here in Italy, visit places we've never been at, explore the beauty of Italy...and then, I would like to take you somewhere. I won't tell you yet. You'll soon find out-"
"NO!; No more secrets!" I stopped him, fake crying, not ready for another surprise.
"No, no; don't worry, I'm sure you'll like it," he assured me, even though, he still saw, that I didn't quite believe him yet. So he added. "Really, just trust me."
Okay, he convinced me. I admit. Those eyes.
Those eyes convinced me.
• • •
Matteo took me to a two-week long vacation. We traveled to the every bigger city, here in Italy. From Palermo in Sicily, where I live, through Catania, Naples and Rome, San Marino, Florence and Venice to Milan. We traveled all these cities in a full two weeks. We took a plane, or a bus, so we could come into the city in the morning, to have time to do all the things Teo planned. After we were done with the exploring, in the evening, we got to the place where we were supposed to sleep; spent the night at. We slept there for one night, woke up, then left, often before the sunrise, so we would get to sleep a little bit in the plane or the bus, and then in the meantime, arrive in the late morning. It was tiring but effective and abnormally enjoyable. I enjoyed it, like I've never had before. We just did what we wanted. We went where we wanted. We had so much fun. It was awesome. It was simply perfect. Unforgettable and massive experience with the best person in my life. Compared to the experiences I've maintained so far in my life, this one was just like a dream. An experience you dream about...undescribable, yet still wonderful.
• • •
~the 'last'/14th day of our vacation~
~current location= Milan~
~current time= 7:40 AM~
"Lily," Matteo caught my attention by calling my name. We just walked out of the restaurant where we had breakfast, so we were on our way to the place we were staying at, me walking in front of him, a few steps ahead. I turned around to look at him, caught him looking at the floor. I could see he was strongly thinking about something. I was still looking at his direction, when he slowly started to turn his gaze from the ground up to me, meeting my curious eyes.
"Are you ready for the surprise?" he asked, an evil smile appearing on his face.
To be continued...