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We sit by the side of the road until our hearts have slowed and our hands tremble less.
“This is the second time I’ve tempted fate. I’m worried about tomorrow now… don’t all things come in threes?” I ask.
“That’s a superstition. Let’s not believe that,” Rhia says, not convincingly, I might add. Unease settles in my abdomen.
“Perhaps I really ought to cancel tonight.”
“No!” Rhia and Zoe say in unison. “Nothing bad is going to happen. Relax, will you?”
Easy for them to say.
I glance over at Rhia. “I thought you said you had no problems driving on the right side of the road?”
“It was a simple mistake to make.” She shrugs her shoulders. “And besides, I wasn’t the only car going down that road the wrong way.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, surprised.
“There was another car behind us doing the same. Clearly there isn’t enough signage to mark it as a one-way-street. So, you see, it’s not my fault. You didn’t see it either.”
“Well, I wasn’t looking for road signs. I was half asleep. And you’re the driver.”
“Do you want to drive now?” she asks.
“Well, I’m wide awake now. But no, thank you. I don’t like driving on the wrong side of the road.”
Driving in a country that drives on the right side instead of the correct one is confusing as hell, especially if you have no idea where you’re going. If I had to, I could do it, but it would spoil my enjoyment. Rhia, however, is unfazed… most of the time.
“Zoe?” Rhia asks. “Do you want to take over?”
“Nope,” her sister replies, shaking her head.
“Well, I’ll try not to do it again.” Rhia winks, puts on the blinker, and merges back into the traffic.
She’s already back to her normal self and has shrugged off the incident. She’s good like that—leaving her troubles behind without looking back.
She lowers all the windows, turns up the music and starts singing, or rather miming along happily. Before too long, Zoe joins her, and I marvel at how easily those two can let go.
Eventually, their mood is contagious, and the car is once more filled with a carefree vibe.
We’re doing all the typical touristy things and after all the sightseeing is done, the girls drag me into boutique after boutique, and I end up spending my entire clothes budget for the year on an array of new summer dresses. There’s a reason I hate shopping, but at least now I won’t have to for a while.
There’s one dress in particular Rhia insists Opposite Ella should wear tonight. When I try on the coral red sleeveless dress with a plunging neckline that hugs my curves in all the right places, her eyes light up, and she doesn’t let me leave the shop until I buy it.
Paired with the high-heeled sandals we find in the shoe shop next door and the simple thin three-tiered golden pendant necklace, where the last tier nestles beautifully right between my breasts, even I admit I look downright sinful.
Zoe has been bouncing off the walls with excitement all day at the prospect of having dinner with three Italian hunks, while Rhia continues to dream big about my future with Gualtiero. That was fun to listen to in the beginning, but as the day progresses, it grows into a feeling of trepidation.
What if I imagined the magnetic attraction with Gualtiero? Or what we experienced was just because of the adrenaline rush?
What if today there’s nothing there? God, this could be awful!
I’m still lost in my thoughts when, on the way back to our hotel in Taormina, Rhia manages yet again to drive down the wrong way in a one-way street. This time though, instead of freaking out, we all just laugh. I mean, what else is there to do? And laughing combats stress hormones, right?
It’s late afternoon when we return to our hotel to get ready for our dinner date with the Italian hunks. The closer the clock ticks to seven, the more my stomach is churning with unease.
As we step out of the elevator, heavily loaded with our purchases, I notice we’re all alone in the hotel corridor.
How bizarre.
