Am I in love?

WAKE YOUR DREAMS

Am I in love?

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Venice is a city where life is basically on the water. Everywhere one looked could see the amazing views of the city's canals.

Kiyoko liked the city and all its dreamlike moments, like when she looked out of the hotel window and could watch the gondoliers and small boats casually passing by.

When all the cities are crowded by taxis and subways, Venice is the only one using the boat, gondola, bikes and foot for transportations.

Many gondolas were parked above the canal; Kiyoko chose the one which had a red velvet cushion gondola for their ride.

The gondolier was a charming man who was wearing a blue and white striped shirt and a blue hat. That was the dress code for all gondoliers in Venice.

The gondolier paddled them into the Grand Canal while he was singing some Italian song.

Kiyoko glanced at the aqua-green waters. The water glistened as the sunshine spilt onto it.

"Don't lean too much…" Zehan said pulled her closer and wrapped his left hand onto her right hand.

The gondolier used his Italian accent and pointed out the Rialto Bridge and some historic landmarks.

Kiyoko could not understand all of the word he said, but she enjoyed the moment. She could feel the warmth of the sunshine and the slight smell of the sea.

Kiyoko enjoyed the artistic beautiful houses by the canals which had a touch of the Medieval and that of the Renaissance.

Zehan took out his camera and clicked as many pictures as he could.

"Don't take so many…" Kiyoko yelled. "Don't take mine! Hey! I was not ready…"

Zehan sneered and continued clicking Kiyoko's pictures paying no heed to Kiyoko's words.

The gondola took them to the Saint Marks Square.

Kiyoko and Zehan bid farewell to the friendly gondolier before walking towards the square.

Although, the place is known of floods, there was no worry since it floods only during the winter. And it was summer time at present.

The visited the museums and the campanile on the street. One thing that was quite interesting to notice was that there was the ever present pigeon flocking within the square.

Next they visited was the church which was covered with Byzantine mosaics. From the church's balcony, one could see a view of the Piazza.

After a great dinner, they moved back to their hotel.

On the next day, they visited the Venetian Arsenale.

The place used to be an old shipyard for building artistic machinery. The historic maritime museum showcased the history of Venice and nice artifacts such as gondolas, vast collections of model ships and the canons.

They took a vaparetto to tour the great canals within the city. After exploring the canals they moved at the lagoon city to lunch.

The city was famous for its unique restaurants which offered safe sea foods. Some of the meals offered there required an open minded person who was ready to experiment.

Kiyoko felt her hunger vaporizing on seeing the names of the dishes.

After a somewhat satisfactory lunch, the pair moved forward to the Doge's palace to see the museums and palaces.

The palace was built in the 9th century and later rebuilt late 12th century then 14th and 15th century respectively.

The palace was a gothic masterpiece in marbles. The beautiful decorations and paintings of the halls symbolized the great memory of the La Serenissima. The works in the halls were done by some of the greatest artist such as Tintoretto.

They also saw the famous bridge of signs from the canal when they were returning back to their hotel.

The next day they stayed back lazing and fooling around in their room. But in the evening, they went for a walk shopping for some items they would bring back to Tokyo.

Kiyoko brought quite a few stuffs that she wanted to give to Aunty Fanny and Shizuka.

They stumbled upon a few shops which were selling masks. They were allowed to try a few on, but the more precious masks were off limits.

After having their dinner, they decided to walk around the Plaza.

They walked hand in hand with their fifth gelato in their other hand.

On the next morning, they visited Murano. It is a group of islands close to Venice which is famous for its glass making workshops. Many of the glass factories and workshops also offered a live demonstration of their work.

After having a quick lunch, they were transferred to the train station where they took an early train to Florence.

They checked into their hotel in the late evening and immediately went looking for a café around for a dinner.

Finding variety in food in Italy especially for them who prefers vegan-dishes was hard. Zehan preferred having light vegan dishes during travel. Well it was due to a past experience they had while coming back from their trip to Fuji. Zehan got a bad stomach ache back then.

The food felt monotonous after a few days of constant pizzas and pastas. They returned to their hotel for catching up on some sleep as they would be having an early trip the next day.

On the next morning, they were clubbed along with a few other tourists and sent on a bus trip to Pisa.

The surreal hills of Tuscany were a picturesque delight.

As the weather was bright and sunny, they got a nice view of the Leaning Tower.

After a few hours, they returned back to Florence via the tourist bus.

Later in the afternoon, they visited the famous spots of Florence. As the summer days were long and sun setting after 8 pm in the evening. They had plenty of time to visit the famous spots including the famous dome of the Florence cathedral which could be visible anywhere from the city.

They also got a hold of the chance to see the sunset near the Arno River.

After it grew dark, they had a same boring dinner and proceeded back to the hotel for the night.

It was their last night in Italy. They would take a flight back to Tokyo the next afternoon.

Kiyoko fell asleep the moment her head touched the soft pillows.

She had a long dream.

The dream took her back when she was still a high school girl.

Kiyoko was sitting at the kitchen table. She was vigorously typing on the laptop.

'Am I in love?' She typed on her Quora digest. She anxiously waited for the answers to load.

"Well! Quora always has an answer." She said to herself.

On scrolling and glancing at the answers, she felt her heart beating furiously against her chest.

"N-o-o-o-o-o…!" Kiyoko yelled. "It can't be…" How can she like him?

Kiyoko's face flushed brightly with a crimson hue.

"What happened? Why are you shouting?" Zehan who ran down the stairs panted.

Kiyoko yelped when she saw Zehan. And moreover he was not wearing a shirt, revealing his upper body.

She closed the laptop with a thud.

"Nothing…" Kiyoko mumbled. Her eyes stuck at Zehan.

"You wear something…Why are you roaming around like this?" Kiyoko said.

Zehan sneered and sat down on the opposite chair, crossing his arms in front of his bare chest.

"Go away!" Kiyoko yelled.

"I do not wish to! Why are you are ordering me?" Zehan said.

"Don't sit here…Go somewhere else!" Kiyoko mumbled. She bit her lips in frustration.

"Why? Is your name written here on this table? Why can't I sit here?"

Kiyoko was furious as well as ashamed. She pulled out the permanent marker from her pencil bag.

"Then let me write down my name!"

"Wait…Alright! I am going." Zehan said and stood up from the chair. It would be tough to remove the stain made by a permanent marker.

"What were you watching on your laptop?" Zehan said and smiled.

"Nothing…Go away!"

"Porn…? Why did you hide it from me?" Zehan said and chuckled. He continued," Ok go ahead, watch it…I am not gonna disturb you!"

Zehan walked away while humming a song.

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END OF CHAPTER 41