“How can you be so sure I’m a dreamer? Maybe I’m a cut-and-dried, no-nonsense realist like you.”
Liam actually smiles without holding back for once and the aftermath leaves me a little dazzled.
“Right,” he answers, “a no-nonsense realist romance author.”
“Fine,” I concede. “Maybe I am a dreamer. You sound like you disapprove.”
“Of daydreaming? I wouldn’t say I disapprove, entirely. I just think that time can be spent in a more constructive manner.”
“You think so? Tell me then, did you go see the Trevi Fountain?”
“I did,” he answers.
“And what did you think?”
“It was what I expected.”
“Did you throw in a coin?”
“What does that matter?”
“I’m curious. As someone who looks down on dreamers, I think your answer will be telling. So, did you throw in a coin, yes or no?”
Liam pauses. “I happen to carry a lot of spare change.”
“I knew it,” I say, satisfied. “Your high and mighty cynical self threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain and made a dreamy, dreamy wish. No need to be ashamed, it’s perfectly natural.”
“Fine. Maybe I did throw a coin in but I wasn’t happy about it, and I certainly didn’t think that it would alter the course of my life.”
“You have a very pessimistic point of view.”
“So I’ve been told. When I was young, my nanny actually quit because she said I was too depressing to work with.”
“Did she really?” I ask disbelievingly.
“No, turns out Nanny Louisa just had hip issues, though she did tell me I was a very somber eight-year-old.”
I shake my head with a little laugh as we continue walking. Liam is much stranger than he originally let on. I like it.
Twenty minutes later, we’ve left Vatican City and are each enjoying a gelato as we head back in the direction of our apartments. I got chocolate in a cup and he opted for vanilla. A more boring pair could never be found.
“I feel like we should talk about our love lives,” he suddenly says.
I quit shoveling gelato into my mouth long enough to look over at him. “What made you think of that?”
“Nothing in particular. We’ve just been friends for a few weeks now and I realized we’ve never talked about that part of our lives before. It seemed a little strange.”
“I guess it is a little strange,” I say, already dreading where this is going. “How about we start with a couple of warm-up questions first?”
“Sounds sensible.”
I have a trillion questions, but I don’t want to come off as too eager. “Okay, what’s your job?”
“I started a web development firm that was recently acquired by a large corporation. I’m taking a leave of absence before I go back to work under the new management. Though, as of right now, I’m not certain whether I’ll return to the position at all.”
“What’s making you hesitate?”
“I quite like being my own boss. I don’t know if I can go back to answering to someone else.”
