The farewell was brief, Tanya was boarding a train to Firenze, to continue her journey to the northwards, they would be three hundred kilometers apart by the time she had arrived there. They would be even further away from each other when Cay and Judas reached Venezia.
After queuing for the ticket, Cay wondered why she had not bought it even before arriving in Rome. Within the short two days, Cay could have assumed that the woman was from a wealthy background. Are not all Russian visitors similar? Tanya’s habit of constantly eating out, accompanied with a glass of blanc or pinot only add into the obviousness.
However, this did not deter his liking for the Russian beauty. Her lunch consisting of wine only made her more mysterious than ever, Cay only took more interest in her with every gulp of fermented grape juice performed by her.
She liked him for not only his gentleness made evident with his rough hands, his frivolous biting on her neck had reddened her giddy with excitement, and the feeling of increased warmth in certain parts of her body. They shared some of their food at restaurants, trying out as much Italian gastronomy as possible through a newly-formed partnership, but now it had to be liquidated, for fear they would not be seeing each other ever again.
Her boarding time was half an hour away, yet she could not bear any longer, the presence of the man who almost made love to her, the latter subconsciously opened to him to this offer. Cay unintentionally ignored the consent given to conjoined with her in bed. He regretted but felt that they should not progress the short but enjoyable relationship with a woman from a world far from his home, England and Malaysia.
“Well, this is goodbye.”, Tanya said as she looked straight into his eyes.
“Yes”, Cay replied, seeing her eyes, not glowing as vibrant as they were yesterday.
“I’m going to miss you”, he added when the two embraced, lasting about a split-second.
As the two went back to their standing position, Tanya gave a half-smile and walked through the security gate, passing the ticket to the guard in post before walking straight to her platform. She did not turn her head, he had his fixed on her until he could not trace her white sleeveless dress. Her course dark skin blocked by the other passengers with their white sunburn skin.
Cay really wanted to say something more, something that both would remember for the future, a future that they both might meet each other again. As if the long interval was a strengthener of the strange bond between the two.
He walked back to the hostel, finally looking at another direction.
“You alright?”, Asked Judas, with a hint of worry.
“Yeah, it was fun while it lasted.”, Cay forced a chuckle, almost gagged at the last word.
“Alright, then.”, he went back to his normal silent state, “Where to next.”
“To Villa Borghese Gardens. I like the calmness there.”
As they step foot outside on the streets again, with their hefty backpacks, Cay did not bother to check on his phone for directions. He knew how to get there. The place of serenity had always left traces for the ones who seek it.
*
We should really go on a short holiday with just us two, said her to a busy Cay working late on his assignment that would be due in two days’ time.
“Huh?”, he stopped typing on his Asus Flipbook and turned his rotatable desk chair around, facing his bed where an almost skin-bare Jenna was sitting on. He love contemplating what he could do with that pale, silky skin of his girlfriend’s, much temptation could be channeled into her soft pink cherry lips, her large eyes, her raven dark hair, and her sweet legs between.
He did not hesitate for a second and lifted himself up from the uncomfortable chair, crawling with his knees and palms towards his sweetheart. She laid herself back, with her head on the double pillow and legs wide opened, inviting her first love to savour her, inside and out.
“Yes, I would love to be somewhere with you other than this gloomy island.”, and made love with her.
Much passion that could not be exhausted within a mere few months, they were burning with sex and attention for one another. The voluptuous satisfaction, which was obtained from bodies touching and tingling phrases whispered into ears, had made them an inseparable item.
Another deed done, they felt closer than ever, charged with the pleasure and excitement from primitive responses. We were always not so far from our ancient ancestors, primates or any related to the Homo species. They each laid on their respective side, with Jenna taking slightly more than Cay, the latter felt a relieved washing over him. She was starting to ease herself a lot more, compared to when they just got together.
Clothes were worn less and less every day; the couple felt a calming presence whenever they were alone in somewhere secluded, unheard by the outside world. Although they barely just started their courses at the same university, they had a feeling that their lives would be better off staying with each other. Partly afraid of being lonely, yes, but who truly enjoy hearing your own voice only? They each wanted something from the other, which felt healthy to them. A equivalent exchange was how humans transcended into a more evolved state: a system that had regulations and better security over emotions, only releasing a controlled amount of need and give. Both believed in that.
Cay was confident to say that he loved her, and he did not wait until Jenna to say back to him before kissing her hard on her cherry lips. They held hands together outside, contemplating other couples while incorporating stranger’s’ reactions to their other half. They were learning to become the greatest love in the world, their world.
“Honey, time for you to do groceries.”
“Huh, I swear we just did it a few days ago.”, Jenna with her skeptical left brow raising high.
“That was barely a week’s worth!”
“Fine, but you’re doing twice in a row next time. You eat a lot than I do.”
“That’s not fair. We did buy mostly what you like.”
“But you still ate them.”
“Fair enough.”
like any couples, crudely, Jenna and Cay were in a passionate phase. There have been signs showing it was reaching a plateau, such as an argument per week, just a month prior to Spring. But they were in love, they were more than ‘Bandits in Love’, as mentioned in S.S. Montefiore’s “Red Sky at Noon”. They felt inseparable. However, friction creates energy, and the latter needs to be released in a direction--- Daily sexual intercourse proved impossible to vent all the increasing tension away.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
