Obsession by Lena Little

9

Carolina

I thought I woke up feeling refreshed yesterday afternoon in Rome, but this morning sets an even higher standard. Maybe it has something to do with reaching a climax for the first time ever last night. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the way he carried me up the hill to our penthouse suite and held me all night long in a romantic gesture that wasn’t sexual at all. It’s not that I didn’t want it to be, it’s just that’s not what I needed last night, even though at first I thought I did.

After a quick shower and a light breakfast at the hotel, we board a speedboat over to the island of Capri. Upon arriving we’re offered a shot of limoncello, a delicious mixture of lemons and surprisingly lemon rinds, which are full of essential oils, mixed in with sugar and alcohol, and then left to macerate for several months. The yellow liquid is absolutely perfect and somehow puts me in an even happier mood than I’m already in.

We walk around the quaint little island before boarding a small, wooden rowboat that takes us to the famous Blue Grotto. The limestone cliffs of the island and the swirling currents below combine to create a dramatic coastline comprised of arches and grottoes, and this one is the most famous. In order to enter the grotto, we have to lie almost horizontal in the boat to pass through the small entryway. Carlito places his hand above me, protecting me from the rocky surface above and we slide right through, despite his big size.

It’s absolutely amazing inside and despite all the warnings not to leave the boat once inside, Carlito takes my hand and leads me to the edge of the boat. We jump in together, our bodies twisting and turning underwater until I feel a powerful kick and our heads breach the surface.

“Such a lovely couple,” the oarsman says. He couldn’t be any more picture-postcard Italian unless he was rowing a gondola in Venice.

“Thank you,” we say in unison, and as we tread water our mouths find each other for a long kiss.

Carlito helps me back in the boat and the next thing I know we’re passing back through the entrance.

The oarsman takes us around the coastline a bit and drops us off. I catch Carlito’s reflection in a restaurant window as he discreetly tips him very generously. I like that he treats service industry people well, not to mention I’m guessing he made a deal with that guy to let us have a private moment like that in the Blue Grotto. How a man tips and treats others who might be considered lower down life’s totem pole than oneself says a lot about a man. And Carlito’s actions are screaming “great guy” despite some questionable behavior I’ve witnessed toward a couple of other men.

I don’t know if it’s the whirlwind romance or my change of fortune, but I don’t think about those two men Carlito handled at all. If anything he reminds me of the knight errant, riding into town and righting wrongs, only to ride off into the sunset. But will I be on that metaphorical horse with him when he does?

The bigger question, and the six-hundred pound gorilla in the room is the words Daddy and Little Girl coming from his lips…and Daddy from mine. More importantly, is how much I liked it. How those words felt so right. Even after he opened up that can of worms I wasn’t sure what to expect from him after the D-word came out of my mouth. Maybe I just figured he’d be disgusted, or even worse that he might cock his head back and laugh at me to the high heavens. But that’s not like him at all. He supports me in all ways. Sure his generous gestures are nice, but it’s really the small things that are winning my heart. It’s scary to think just how perfect he is for me in every way.

I’ve always been a romantic at heart and here I am falling for a man from Rome of all places. And not only that a powerful man. But reality sets in that it’s a man I know very little about…other than he seems to get what he wants, which I’m quickly reminded of by my choice of clothes today, or should I say his choice, and the way my hair is worn straight, long and without any fuss. And no makeup. He made it very clear he doesn’t want me in a stitch of makeup. But on the flip side of that, he said it was because I’m absolutely perfect and don’t need anything. “How can you enhance something that’s already absolutely perfect?” he asked out loud this morning when I was standing in front of the mirror trying to process his disdain for cosmetics.

We spend the rest of the morning and into the afternoon hiking up Capri until we stop and take the cable cars the last part of the way. The sun. The fresh sea air. The way he holds my hand and makes sure I’m buckled into the car safely…it’s all adding up. My Vitamin D levels are through the roof and so are my expectations for tonight.

We finish off our day taking the cable car all the way down to the harbor and take the last ferry back over to Positano. It’s September so most of the tourists have already packed it up and headed home for the year.

As for me…this place is really starting to feel like my new home. Because home isn’t where you lay your head at night. It’s who’s on the pillow next to you when you do. Or better yet who’s sharing the same pillow, holding you as you fall asleep…together.

And I can picture us doing that tonight and many many nights after…but only after something else comes first.

My first time. With him.