Where is he?
The palazzi lining the piazza were mostly illuminated, and granted a glowing reprieve from the dark and brooding sky in the storm. The reflection of the lights twinkled in the puddles as each was tickled by the rain, like a city-wide baptism of Venice.
Lucia turned to face the basilica, and still, no one came into view. And why would anyone be out in the rain in the middle of a storm? It was foolish – dangerous, in fact. But perhaps that was what fuelled her; her stubborn desire to control and fight, to constantly save face when confronted with the impossible. And now, here, under the torrents which came in rippling waves from overhead,Alexwas the impossible.
Closing her eyes, Lucia felt defeated.
Her final shreds of rational thought begged her to return home. No good could come of waiting in the rain in the hope that he might appear. In spite of this, she turned again to face the opposite end of the piazza.
But Alex wasn’t there.
Lucia’s mind began taunting her with memories of their previous encounters – their masked kiss, his torturous reveal, Dorsoduro, their apartments. They had all been catalysts for change for both of them. Reference points. Landmarks. She looked down at her cropped boots beyond the hem of her coat, noting how the water was quickly swelling and filling the piazza. She had to get to higher ground.
With sorrow seeping through her, Lucia made to walk away. But as she did so, the deafening moan of theacqua altasiren howled through the piazza.
Lucia’s blood ran cold, seeming to freeze in her veins.
The water. The sirens.
Then it hit her like a torrent of cascading water: this wasn’t their place. It had never begun for them here.
She knew where Alex would be, and as the sirens whirred again, she remembered what he had told her, and knew he needed help.
Casting her eyes to the sky, she was suddenly thankful for the rain. And so, she ran. Her legs found a powerful stride and she tore through the piazza, turning right to face down Piazzetta San Marco. Framed by the Colonna di San Marco on the left and the Colonna di San Todaro on the right, a dark figure stood by the water’s edge at thefondamenta.
‘Alex?’ she cried, her voice muffled by the wailing sirens and the rain. But the echo was enough to make the figure turn.
It was him.
She ran to his side and shrugged off her hood.
‘If you’ve come here to reject me in private, please don’t.’ He moved to face the waters once more, but her fingers found his hands and pulled him to face her.
‘I didn’t reject you, Alex. You left before I had the chance to respond.’
Alex’s eyes seemed almost black under the storm’s canopy. ‘What are you doing here, Lucia?’
‘I need to offer my rebuttal—’
‘Of course you do.’
‘And to tell you that you are just as stubborn as I am. You have shown me two very different sides of your character: that early state of melancholy, the prickly, tiresome, defensive front-Alex, versus the Alex who is desperate to share, who wants everything out in the open. I can’t keep up. And I know why – because you scare me.’
‘What?’
‘You scare me with your ability to welcome cathartic release. I haven’t been able to do that. I’m not as strong as you, Alex. I can’t just let it all out like you do. It’s intimidating. And I feel compelled to meet you more than halfway.’
‘Are you done?’
‘No.’ Lucia’s eyes rolled over their interlaced fingers and she sighed in exasperation. ‘Thank you for my school. I tore up the publishing contract. You have saved me from reopening the most devastating Pandora’s Box from my past.Ourpast.’ Then, she reached up and caressed his wet cheek with her palm. ‘And . . .Ineedyou, too.’
Alex’s eyes brightened considerably. ‘Really?’
‘Despite it all, you have me.’
The deeper rise and fall of Alex’s chest marked a spike of adrenaline. He closed his eyes and gave a gentle nod of relief.
Lucia let her hand dip into her coat pocket, hoping to find a tissue, but instead, her fingers found something she had forgotten about. The feel of it against her skin drew a smile to her lips, and she realised the greater plan of the universe. She withdrew the object and opened her palm, allowing the white paper flower head to catch the rain. Alex’s eyes fixed on it with disbelief. ‘I think the universe wants this to happen for us,’ she said. ‘I’ve kept it safe for you.’
