to argue with him, that he is a kid, because right now, he’s a lot more mature than I am.
“I was trying…I was so afraid to talk to you.”
He contemplates that for a moment. “I suppose I am intimidating.”
I laugh. “You are, Vanni, you are.” I pause, biting my lip. “And, well…you kept talking about Gio’s timeline and it was better because your mother and your father were together. So I figured…how can I compete with that universe?”
“That is true,” he says slowly. Then he perks up. “But now it is better. This timeline is no longer the darkest. Now I’ll have my father and mother and you’ll be there too. The three of you can live together!”
“Vanni, what you’re describing is polygamy. And that’s not going to happen.”
His face falls. “Oh.”
“But that doesn’t mean you won’t have three people who love you very much. Your father, your mother, and me. Isn’t that nice, to have three people in your life who you can call your family?”
Okay, I am probably overstepping my boundaries here, but I’ve got adrenaline coursing through my veins still. I know that Jana will punish me for this, the least I can do is make sure that Vanni doesn’t hate me as well.
“I do have a lot of family already,” he muses. “I suppose it doesn’t hurt to have more.”
“See. More people to adore you.”
My words seem to have an impact on him. He nods slowly, his lips pursed as he mulls it over. “But my mother will still live in London?”
“She will. It will be just as before. But now your father is happy. Right? All you wanted was for him to be happy, now you know he is happy.”
“Because he’s in love with you…”
I smile softly and reach over and squeeze his hand. “Yes. He’s in love with me and…” I take in a deep breath. “I’m in love with him.”
I’m in love with him.
No point denying it anymore, no point in trying to figure it out.
What Maria said was true, when you know, you know….and I know. Maybe she was also right in that it took the truth to come out before I could recognize it, but it’s there and shining inside me, loud and pure and true.
I love Claudio Romano.
“Gross,” Vanni says under his breath, taking his hand away.
He goes back to eating his food, while I sit there feeling stunned and breathless.
No one ever said love would hit you like a frying pan to the face, scrambling your brain, making you feel dumbstruck.
But that’s all I can feel right now. Like I’ve been shaken upside down and now I have to figure out how to get everything back in the right spot, or perhaps the beauty is that you don’t. Love is chaotic and messy and maybe nothing will ever feel the same again, and maybe that’s the point of it all. Maybe that’s the best thing to ever happen to me.
I definitely know that Claudio is the best thing to ever happen to me.
I quickly reach into my purse and pull out my phone, going to the notes app.
“What are you doing?” Vanni asks in between bites of his food.
“I’m writing,” I tell him, my fingers flying across the keyboard. “I think I know how to end the book.”
“It’s a romance,” he says. “There’s probably going to be kissing.”
I break out into laughter, happiness flooding through me. “Yes, there is going to be kissing.”
“And no time travel?”
“No time travel.”
I know how the heroine is going to come to her senses, I know how they’ll end up on their happily-ever-after. I know it and I can see the end so clear. I’m spurred on not only by my love of Claudio, but I feel like I have Robyn on my shoulder, showing me what to do and where to go. Even if Jana drops me as a client, I know I’m going to be okay.
I’m going to be okay, because even though writing can be the loneliest profession, you’re never truly alone when you have people that love you.
“Can I get dessert?” Vanni asks me, after we’ve sat in silence for a while. “I don’t think they’re ever coming back.”
I finish wrapping up a sentence and slide the phone away. There’s a difference between being struck by inspiration and being rude. “Sure you can. Let’s see…”
I’m bringing the menu over to us when I see Claudio come back into the restaurant, his expression grim.