Bella (14 page)

What do you want
? Ok, so I
’
m getting somewhere. I just need to ask if he can speak
English. I can
’
t possibly
explain the situation flipping through the pages of my book every second.
I thought
.

“
Parlate Inglese?
”
I asked hopefully

“
Si.
”
He answered briskly with a frown.

I asked if he knew Marco; he didn
’
t reply. He just shouted something in Italian to
someone else in the house.

A very small and slim old lady came to the door and looked
at me with a rather puzzled look on her face and invited me in.

The kitchen was quite big, a proper farmhouse kitchen. The
smell of food was making me very hungry. They asked me exactly what I wanted. I
asked nervously if Marco was their son and where I might be able to find him.
The old man laughed and avowed.

“
Marco, not here!
”

“
Marco a very bad boy.
”
Said the old lady.

“
Well he
’
s my husband.
”
I revealed, picking at my fingers nervously.

The old man looked very serious at that stage and the old
lady started to cry.
 
I was very
worried and wished I hadn't even gone there.
 

   
“
Please can you tell
me what is going on?
”
I pleaded

The old man replied.

  
“
Marco cannot possibly
be married to you, He is already married.
”

Maybe I had got the wrong Marco
, I thought. I asked if they had a picture of him. The old
lady went to another room and got a picture from the window ledge. I looked at
the picture, yes it was definitely him. I showed my marriage papers.

  
“
Marco married and has
little boy, we not speak to him for three years, his wife called Sasha, and his
son called Giovanni.
”
The man disclosed.

    I explained that I met him in my home town in
Lighthouse Cove in England and that he was working in an Italian Restaurant and
that we have a little girl called Violet.

They both sat silently and listened to me. The old lady
asked me if I wanted more coffee, the coffee was real Italian, very strong, but
really good. She offered me some of her home-made cake. I showed them a picture
of violet, they nodded.

  
“
Violet, look like
Marco.
”

I asked again if they knew where I might find him.

 
“
He probably with
other wife.
”
Said the man,
followed by laughter that mocked the situation.

I didn`t really find this a laughing matter and couldn
’
t help but feel disgraced by the situation. I
started to think that Marco may have used me to get his wife and little boy
into England. They told me that the last time they saw Marco he was living in
Tuscany and that their daughter-in-law used to visit them quite regularly, but
had recently stopped.

I told them that I would keep in touch and send pictures of
Violet, and bring her to see them as soon as possible. They seemed to be happy
about that at least. I thanked them for the coffee and cake and left.

    I arrived back in Tuscany and decided to find somewhere
to eat. I found a nice little Italian restaurant. I ordered lasagne, and a
glass of wine. The restaurant was very busy and because the weather was so nice
I decided to eat outside.

  
“
Why is a beautiful
lady dining alone?
”
I heard a voice ask.
 
I looked up to
see a really handsome man with gorgeous dark eyes. He said his name was Claudio
and asked if he could join me.
 

  
“
Yes, of course.
”
I didn't mind, he was rather yummy. We sat
chatting and I told him I had only arrived the day before; Claudio offered to
show me the sights.

  
“
Why not; it would be
nice to have a bit of company.
”
I conceded.

After we ate, we went for a walk, the night sky was clear
and the stars were out.

 “
Tuscany is so beautiful. I
’
ve never seen a place like it.
”
I said.

  
“
Yes I love it here too.
Italy is a country with many breath-taking sights.
”

 After our long walk, I thanked him for a lovely evening
and went back to my hotel.

CHAPTER SEVEN

A
fter a good night
’
s sleep I went down to breakfast. I had a glass
of freshly squeezed orange juice with scrambled eggs and bacon. Claudio had
offered to drive me to Monterosso al Mare, he picked me up at eleven and we set
off. I felt very comfortable with him; he had an open top Mazda car. When we
got to Monterosso al Mare, I couldn't believe the beauty. Claudio told me
Monterosso al Mare was a large region of Tuscany that spread all the way to
Lazio. I could see the clear sea, long narrow beach, and block stone around the
hills, thick woods and mountains. We walked along the beach; the sun was warm
on my skin and felt really good.

After we went to a lovely quiet spot and had a
picnic he had prepared. We had lovely fresh Italian ciabatta, with cheeses,
ham, Vine tomatoes and salad. He pulled out a bottle of white wine which was a
typical wine from Tuscany and poured two glasses and said.

  
“
Salute!
”

 
“
Cheers!
”
I
replied and we both took a drink.

   
“
I love eating outside in the nature.
”
He laughed.

“
There is always something beautiful to see.
”
And he was looking straight at me. There was a
moment of silence between us then Claudio continued to speak.

   
“
I have two beautiful things to look at right now.
”

 I blushed, and said thank you and told him I
was having a wonderful time, with a lovely man. Claudio asked me why I was in
Tuscany alone. I told him about my marriage to Marco, that I believed the
marriage was a sham, and that I had found out that Marco had a wife here in
Tuscany.

   
“
Maybe I know of him, what is his name?
”
he asked.

   
“
His full name is Marco Antionini and he is a chef.
”
I answered.
 
I noticed Claudio deep in thought.

  
“
I don't think I know him, but I can make some enquiries if
you like?
”
I nodded.

  
“
Thanks, that
’
s very nice of you.
”
I was relieved that at least someone was
willing to help me.

I told him that I had visited Marco's family and they had revealed
that he was married.
I explained the situation about a
so called woman I had seen him with before we got married and he had told me
she was his sister which after all of these secrets turned out to be his wife.

  
“
So really you are not married, because your marriage is
illegal." He remarked.

“
Well if he is a bigamist, then no, our marriage
isn't legal but I have his daughter.
”
I showed him a picture of my children. He asked me if the
little baby boy was also Marco
’
s child, I didn't
reply and quickly changed the subject and told him about my home town in
England.

You must come and visit sometime. You
’
ve
been so kind to show me part of your country, I would love to show you mine.
”

  
“
You must come and visit sometime, and I can show you
England.
”

   
 
We went back to Tuscany; I told him I needed to change my clothes.
Later after I had changed we walked around and he showed me the sights of Tuscany.
He pointed out many interesting buildings to me. We had dinner later that
evening at a lovely bistro.

 
“
Claudio, I
’
m going to get fat, what with all the good food you
’
ve got me eating and the delicious wine you
’
ve
had me tasting. Normally back home I don
’
t
find time to eat. If I keep on like this I won
’
t
be Bella.
”
I laughed

  
“
In Italy we make time for food, and eat with our family and
friends, I grew up with good food. I associate food with good wine and good
company, we talk, and we eat, in Italy.
”

He smiled and added.

  
“
Also a woman with a bit of meat on her is always Bella.
”
His smile was very charming, just like his way
with words.

He told me he travelled a lot with his work and
seen so many beautiful places. I started feeling tired, after eating too much
and drinking quite a bit of wine. I had to hold on to Claudio because I felt
quite tipsy. He kindly walked me back to my hotel. We went into the bar, and
had a night cap; we both ordered a small brandy.

  
“
I will certainly sleep well tonight.
”
We talked for a little while longer. Before he
left I wrote down details about Marco, as Claudio had been so kind to offer to
help me find him. To be honest I wasn't holding my breath, surely Marco would
have contacted me by now if he really wanted to. I really enjoyed Claudio's
company and hoped I would see a lot more of him. He had become a good friend to
me in such short time, I felt like I had known him much longer than two days.

    He told me he had to work for the next three
days, then had a few days holiday. He gave me a kiss on my cheek and we said
goodnight.

The next morning after tossing and turning, I
decided to visit Marco's parents again.

They were very welcoming, and invited me to stay
for a barbecue. There was so much food, and they had invited a lot of nice
friends.

I asked Anna, Marco's mother if she had spoken
to Marco since I was there.

 
She told me if she had she would tell me. But I
wasn't so sure she would, after all Marco is her son. His father Emilio didn`t
say much, but I noticed his angry expression every time Marco's name was
mentioned.
 
Emilio took me
to one side and said.

  
“
Marco is a very bad boy you know, he take much money from
us, he never pay back, before he go to England.
”

 
 
“
Why did he need the money?
”
I asked him.

 
 
“
He wanted to have a life in England, jobs are better there
than here, he found work but he didn't repay us, we not have much money and we
give him much of our savings. Our money is in this house.
”

 Emilio had tears in his eyes and I felt very
sorry for them both.

 
I told him that Marco worked in an Italian
Restaurant and that we had a guest house now, but Marco had never put a penny
into the business. Neither did he give me any money for his daughter Violet.
 

  
“
Basically I have kept Marco and he kept his own money for himself,
but now I believe he has been sending it to his wife here in Italy, or keeping
her in England somewhere. But the woman I saw him with could have been his
sister.
”
I said. Remembering the picture Anna had showed me when I found out
that Marco was already married, with a son. The resemblance of the women was
exactly the same. I would have been a fool to believe that the woman I saw wasn
’
t the same as in the picture.