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Five years old.
There was no way. It was simply not possible. I vowed I’d stop looking for her in everything and everyone, but this time I couldn’t turn away. Just this one last time, I’ll go search for her. When I see there’s no one there and it’s just my heart grasping at a memory, maybe I’ll be able to leave Salva in the past for good.
“Romina, can you take me to your mother’s bakery, please? I want to see more of her muffins.”
“Sure, it’s right across the piazzeta.”
I left some bills on the table, enough to cover my order and then some, and got up, following the little human. I grabbed Max’s leash, but in reality, he was the one walking me this time. I was just automatically following him and little Romina. She was so determined for someone so small. Maximus was a few inches taller than her.
The bakery was decorated in pink and white, like the entire thing was a damn piece of candy. I looked straight to the glass door, expecting to see her mother, but the woman behind the counter was bent over, looking for something and I couldn’t see her face.
Romina pushed the door open, but the woman still didn’t show when the little bell announced our presence. I was covered by a sweet smell so appetizing that, for a second, I forgot why I was there, but then Romina raised her voice bringing me back.
“Mama, look. This nice man gave me some big money! And he has a doggy.”
Her mother finally looked over the counter, looking for her daughter’s voice, but when she looked behind and saw me it was like time stopped. The planet wasn’t spinning anymore; the sea was motionless behind me. It was like staring Medusa in the face, only this time she didn’t turn me into stone, but the rest of the world.
All I needed was a glance at her eyes. I could recognize those candid, unfathomably deep pools of emerald in a room full of millions of women. I used to spend hours staring into them.
She was here.
I was home.
I found her in Portofino.
“Hello, amore. What a surprise to find you here.”
