Tutti Italia: A Novel (17 page)

The hike took them through all kinds of woodlands, and
through some World War Two bunkers.  They were a tight fit, but everyone
managed to squeeze through them for a little history lesson.  They made it to the
beautiful waterfall that Rachel had seen earlier, and that made her day.  She
went over everything again in her mind’s eye on the drive back to Italy.  After
all, she wanted to be able to remember every detail for when she wrote it in
her diary.  She looked at the seat behind her.  Erik and Ryan were both passed
out.  Rachel smiled to herself.  She’d thought the brisk workout was rather
refreshing.  The boys apparently didn’t share her sentiments.  She watched city
after city zip by in the gathering darkness.  Laying her head on the window,
Rachel could feel her eyelids flutter.  Within minutes, she was asleep, too. 
Not from exhaustion, but from the serenity of the soft glow from the cities,
and the peace of night.  When she woke up, it was later, and they were back on
base.  She got out of the van, seeing that both the boys were still asleep, and
found her car.  She drove herself back to her dorm and went straight upstairs
to bed.  She would shower in the morning. 

On Sunday, Rachel woke up feeling like she’d been put
through the wringer last night.  She cracked her neck, and stretched herself
out to the fullest extent that she could.  Everything was tight.  Not sore,
exactly, but tight.  The shower helped her loosen up her muscles, but it wasn’t
enough.  She decided that she would go for a walk.  Leaving her dorm, she went
towards the mini mall.  There was supposed to be a flea market in the empty
hanger behind the mini mall, today, and she couldn’t wait to go.  If it was as
big as the poster said, walking up and down the aisles would be a good way to
get herself loosened up.  There were so many things that she wanted to look
at.  It took her almost two hours to get through everything, but towards the
end, she found a surprise.  The wine place that she had visited on her trip her
first week here, had come to the flea market and set up a stand.  She
immediately went over to them and bought herself six more bottles of the wine
that she’d bought that day as well.  With her arms full, she went back home and
stored the crate under her desk.  There was nothing else that she wanted to do
today, so she popped a movie into her laptop and commenced with sewing.  Her
phone went off, and she ignored it.  If it was important, they would leave a
message.  A few minute later, her phone pinged letting her know that she did
indeed have a voicemail.  Sighing to herself, she picked up her phone and
dialed the number to get her voicemail. 

The message was from Erik.  Wondering if she wanted to hang
out tomorrow.  Apparently, he wasn’t exactly happy with the fact that they
hadn’t talked yesterday.  He wanted to know if she was free Halloween weekend. 
He wanted to invite her to the ITT trip that was going to Romania for Dracula’s
castle.  Rachel was torn.  She wanted to go on that trip very badly, but she
didn’t really want to go with him.  Now that she knew he was looking for
another woman, she didn’t want to go anywhere with him.  The other side of her
called her stupid for not seeing what was going on here.  Obviously, he kept
calling her and inviting her to do things.  Didn’t that mean that he liked
her?  Rachel wanted to believe that’s what it meant, but she knew it could also
mean that he liked to travel and he just wanted to go with someone that he knew
rather than by himself.  It was a tough decision to make, but in the end, she
decided to go.  She wasn’t going to miss out on the amazing things the world
had to offer just because she didn’t like the person that had invited her. 
That would be her getting in her own way.  She had to sign up for it, and she
could do it Monday after class was over.  She really didn’t feel like leaving
her room this weekend. 

It seemed like her roommate was never home on the weekends,
so Rachel decided she would turn her music up loud, and have her own private
dance party.  She was singing at the top of her lungs and dancing around her
room while she did a little spring cleaning.  When she was finished with her
room, she decided she may as well do the kitchen, too.  It was just something to
pass the time until bedtime.  When it was finished, she was tired and sweaty,
and smelled like four different kind of cleaner.  There was no way she was
going to bed that way, so she took her IPod and the speakers it could connect
to, and set them on the lid of the toilet.  The dance party was still on.  When
she finished, she finally turned her music down, and realized that it was only
five in the afternoon.  She could go to dinner at the food court, or she could
risk messing up that beautifully clean kitchen.  She decided to risk it.  She
threw on her sweat suit, then threw her long hair up in a ponytail.  She wanted
Taco Bell with a vengeance.  She ordered her usual, then turned around to go
back to her room.  She came face to face with Erik.  If she would have known he
was going to be here, she never would have left her room.  She tried to pretend
that she hadn’t seen him, but it was too late.

“Hey, Rachel.  I didn’t get a chance to talk to you too
much during the rafting trip.  I wanted to make sure that you had a good time
with us.”  Rachel put her fake smile on.

“Yeah!  It was a great trip.  I’ve never been rafting
before.  I’m really looking forward to the Halloween weekend.”  Erik looked
like he wanted to say something, but was too shy. 

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.  I was
wondering if you’d want to go as a couple?”  That shocked her down to her very
core.  That was what she’d wanted all along.

“I thought I was supposed to keep my eyes peeled for a
woman for you, too?” she teased.  He laughed nervously.

“Why would I want you to find me one, when you’re perfectly
good enough?”  Rachel smiled again, this time for real.

“I would like that very much.  I’m guessing we’ll be
sharing a room?”  Erik nodded.

“I guarantee that you’ll be better evening conversation
than Ryan is.”  Rachel was beyond happy now.

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do my best.”  She
winked at him, flirtatiously.  “I, uh, I have to get back to finish my laundry,
but text me if you want.”

“Yeah, ok.  Sounds good.  I’m actually doing laundry here,
too.”  She looked at him with a quizzical expression.

“I thought you lived off base?”  Erik shrugged.

“I do.  It’s just cheaper for me to bring my laundry to the
Laundromat.”  That made sense.  She waved at him as she walked away.

“I’ll look forward to hearing from you, then.”  He nodded.

“I’ll text you.”  Rachel waited until she was out of sight
to let her grin and her laughter out.  Maybe
this
would be her fairy
tale ending. 

Chapter 23

The weeks slipped by, and soon it
was Halloween Friday.  All of Rachel’s kids wore their costumes to school, and
as part of that, they had to say why they chose what they did.  Rachel had
bought a costume for the first time in almost eight years.  She didn’t wear it
to school, however, because it was
far
from age appropriate.  It was a
half day, as well, which only made Rachel even happier.  Halloween officially
fell on Saturday this year, and that was why the trip was so special.  They
would be in Romania, spending the night in the newly renovated, hotel portion
of the castle.  She wanted to go home and pack, so she would be ready in the
morning.  This was going to be something to remember, she was sure, so she took
her diary with her, so she could write down every detail.  It didn’t take her
long to pack at all, they would only be there for the one night.  She quickly
showered and fell into bed, dreaming of what it was going to be like.  There
would be a gourmet dinner for the travel group, plus a party in the castle’s
courtyard.  She was so excited it took her a few hours to fall asleep.  She
couldn’t turn off her mind at all. 

When Saturday morning came, Rachel leapt out of bed as if
she’d been shot out of a cannon.  Her bag was already by the door, and she gave
it a quick once over to make sure that nothing was missing that should be
there.  She got herself ready, and actually put on just a touch of makeup.  She
wanted to look her best.  Erik shouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with her, so
she had to make sure that she made him proud.  After all, it made
her
proud as well.  She took her small suitcase downstairs, put it in the trunk of
her car, and drove over to the same parking lot that she’d been in for the last
trip.  She had to smile.  She appreciated a place where there was designated
parking for the people that were going on the trips.  She was one of the first
to arrive, again, so she went over to the coffee shop and ordered a raspberry
white hot chocolate.  She’d discovered this concoction when she was visiting
another country’s airport.  The story behind it wasn’t very pleasant, however,
she’d been traveling alone, and they’d had to have an emergency landing.  The
coffee shop was about the only thing open at the airport, so that’s where she
went to wait.

It was chilly out this morning, and she was glad that she’d
brought her heaviest coat with her.  She waited in her warm car until Erik
pulled up next to her.  She was very excited, and yet, very nervous, too.  He
didn’t act the way most guys did when they were in a relationship, and she
didn’t exactly know how to handle that.  She decided to just play it by ear and
see how things progressed between the two of them. 

“Morning!” she offered brightly.  He was shivering, and she
could see that he’d decided to leave his coat at home, and simply throw a
hoodie on over his t-shirt.

“Hi.  I wish I would have been as smart as you.  My coat is
lying on the back of my couch right now.”  Rachel patted him sympathetically on
the shoulder. 

“Do you want to come sit in my car and warm up until we
leave?”  He shook his head.

“Nope, if I’m going to be stupid and not pack something,
then I might as well suffer for it.  Maybe it’ll teach me for the next time.” 
Rachel giggled.  The tour guide came out of the ITT office, and clapped his
hands loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“There are only a few people going on this trip, and all of
you are already here.  We can leave a little earlier than we had planned. 
Everyone has their bags under the bus, yes?  Ok, load up, and don’t forget to
sit in your assigned seat!”  The tiny group of people started to file onto the
bus.  As they went, Rachel counted the people.  There were only ten people going,
and it looked to her like they were all couples.  She shrugged.  At least that
would make the rooming situation easy.  She and Erik got on the bus, and they
were astonished.  This wasn’t a regular bus, not even the charter bus type with
the comfortable seats.  This was something altogether different.  There were
tables along the sides of the bus, with a group of four seats around them.  The
only part that still resembled a regular bus was that the last seats were in a
row.  She and Erik sat at a little table, and she pulled out her little
backpack that had her entertainment in it.  He did the same.  She’d thought
that maybe they would talk for a little while, and get to know each other
better, but apparently that was the last thing on his mind.  He had his nose
buried in a book.  She applauded that, since she was usually the same, however,
that was a little rude if the two of you were supposed to be on a date. 
Thinking nothing more on the matter, Rachel pulled out her diary and started to
describe the trip, and her thoughts.  When she finished, she pulled out her
cross stitch and went to work on it.  About a half an hour later, she looked
over and saw that Erik had fallen asleep with the book in his hand.  She
carefully disentangled it, but his bookmark in it, and then set it on the
table.  She didn’t want to bother him.  She kept on stitching until they
reached the border with Romania.  The tour guide was now standing in the front
of the bus, giving little bits of history on the towns that they were driving
through.  Erik was still asleep, but Rachel listened intently so she could tell
him about it later.

By the time that they reached the castle, every person on
the bus was awake.  Rachel had known that Romania was a poor country, but the
number of potholes in the road, and the general disarray of the pavement
confirmed it for her.  The bus had a terrible time navigating the roads unless
they were on a major highway, or in the middle of a town.  She was almost
fogging up the glass, that’s how close she was to the window while she was
trying to take in the scenery.  She heard a deep chuckle coming from across the
table, and she whirled around to face Erik.

“And what, may I ask, is so damn funny over there?”  She
was pretending to be miffed, but that just made him chuckle harder.

“You have your nose pressed to the glass, and every time
you breathe in, your nose goes up and looks like a pig’s snout.”  Rachel’s
cheeks instantly grew red, and she covered her nose with her hands.  Her eyes
got wide and she looked completely mortified…which, in turn, made the chuckle
turn into an all-out, belly laugh.  Now Rachel was even more embarrassed, if
that was possible.  She didn’t really think that there was a stage of
embarrassment that surpassed ‘mortified’ but she was there. 

“I’m so sorry!  I had no idea.”  She ducked her head until
she almost had it on the table.

“Don’t be sorry.  It was entertaining.  I guarantee you
that I will do something just as bad if not worse, and then you’ll die laughing
at me.  Fair is fair.”  He spread his hands out in a ‘you know I’m right’
gesture.  She
did
know that he was right, but that didn’t mean that she
had to admit it out loud. 

“Listen up, everybody!  Please listen up!  When the bus
comes to a stop, we will be at the hotel portion of the castle.  The room
assignments will be given, and then you may wander about, do some shopping,
explore the area, but make sure that you are back in the lobby by six o’clock
sharp.  Dinner will be served, and I have to take you to the dining hall.  If
you would like to wear your costumes to dinner, please go ahead.  There will be
alcohol and music, and you are encouraged to partake in both.”  Rachel’s heart
beat faster as he called out names and gave the couples the room keys.  When he
called Erik and Rachel, they went up together, and he gave Erik a little
envelope with two key cards in it.  They went to the map on the wall, and
looked at it to figure out where their room was going to be.  Rachel squealed
with delight when she realized that their room was right by the pool.  Erik was
a little startled, but he hid it well.