Bella Vita (18 page)

Outside my beautiful Harley was waiting. I
sighed at the sight of it. Going straight into photographer mode, I
had Kelly straddle the bike. The bike added seriously to her look.
Now she wasn't just a punk rock princess, but a goddess on a hog. I
loved it. I took several different positions, and Kelly actually
looked like she was enjoying it.

“
You're an awesome model, Kel.” I
beamed at her as I packed up my camera for the ride.

“
Thanks. All my photographers have said
the same thing.” She blushed lightly.

“
Okay, let's hit the road. We can still
go shopping for something for you, if you want.” I wanted to make
sure she was happy.

“
Nope, let's get some pizza and then
head over to Bella Notte. I'm all excited about it.” She smiled at
me and I was taken aback by how beautiful she truly was.

“
Okie dokie. Dom's going to meet up
with us over there after he gets off work. If we need to go in
early Abner will let me in.” I slid in front of Kelly and kicked
the monster below us to life.

“
Sounds good.” She took the helmet I
handed to her and placed it on her head, I did the same.

And then we were off.

Rome was starting to light up as we
rolled into town. I parked my bike in the special garage built into
Bella Notte. The ride hadn't screwed up my hair too much. I grabbed
my camera bag and led Kelly to the opera house,
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
, so I could take some
shots of her outside. I really wanted to get a shot of her inside
with all the lights up in the giant circular room- I doubted I
could get that done tonight though. So I settled for the outside. I
got a great picture of her in front of the little newsstand that
was in front of the opera- she all punked out and a sweet looking
old man is checking her out as she reads the
Corriere della Sera,
our version of the New York
Times. It was the most priceless picture. The last picture I got
was of her leaning into the fountain at
Piazza del Viminale
. The lighting is all rosy
orange from the light posts, but its still a beautiful
image.

After I was done playing photographer, I took
her for some delicious calzones. It was my favorite form of pizza.
There was nothing that compared to it and I couldn't let her leave
Italy without eating an Italian calzone. Thick mozzarella, tasty
tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, and my favorite toppings of green
olives and artichoke hearts. Yum!

“
Oh my gawd, that was good! Way better
than in the States.” Kelly licked her lips.

“
Told ya. Okay, let's head over to
Bella Notte.” I figured Dom would be over there by now.

Dominic was standing outside waiting for us
when we approached. He had the door open already so I didn't have
to explain the tattoo thing to her. Something that I had completely
forgotten about.

Thank you!
I sent the message to Dom.

I figured you had
forgotten.
He smiled at me.

“
There are my two favorite
women in the world.” He reached out and hugged us to
him.

“
Right.” I laughed at
him.

“
Wow, Kelly, you make one
hell of a hot punker. If I didn't already have my own goth beauty,
I would go after you.” He looked her up and down and she
blushed.

I laughed and punched him lightly on the
arm.

“
Eh, thanks Dom.” She
placed her arms around herself, a form of protection I
figured.

“
Let's go in.” He motioned
us to go ahead of him.

The lights were turned up while Abner got
the place situated for the rest of night. It was beautiful even in
such bright lighting. I toured Kelly around and led her to the
booth where Dom had proposed to me. She took my camera and snapped
a shot of us sitting together.

“
Thanks Kel, I hardly have
any pictures of us together.” I beamed at her.

Emma, it's time to spell
her. Abner wants to open in ten minutes.
Dominic voice whispered in my head.

I merely nodded my head in agreement.

“
Hey Kelly, how about I get
you a drink?” I rang for a waiter to get the red fruity drink, only
virgin- meaning without blood.

“
Sounds good, what's it
called?” She asked after I ordered it for her.

“
Dracula's kiss.” I
laughed.

“
Of course. Why should I
even wonder?” She laughed too.

I silently sent a probe towards her mind as
Dom talked to her about some of the plans for the wedding. She
didn't react. I went further into her mind. I found the location
where she would store her memories for tonight. I spelled this to
forget anything that had to do with living breathing vampires. I
allowed her to remember the theme stuff from the place and the name
of the drink and things like that, but nothing that would create
problems. When I came back to myself, I felt tired.

The night swirled around us in a blur of
vampires, dancing, and even some blood drinking. Dominic tried to
keep it all in check, but there was a limited number of things he
could tell his patrons to do. Kelly had lots of fun, and I was
really sorry that she was not going to remember a lot of it in the
morning. The vampires were aware of her presence but never made any
attempt to find out why there was a human in their safe haven.
Kelly acted like she belonged. Her attire helped her blend in, but
as soon as a vampire got close enough to smell her or to try to
mentally communicate with her- she was discovered. I took lots of
pictures. There were many that had vampires in them, but since
Bella Notte was a themed club I could always explain away the
fangs, and the blurred shots were from people moving and low light-
not that they moved too quickly for the camera to pick up the
entire movement. Whenever Kelly stumbled into an aspect of the
vampires that would've thrown alarms up, her face went blank and
then she kept on enjoying herself. My spell worked well, but my
guilt ate me up inside. I knew that my wedding would be just as
evil.

Once the night was over, I had Dom take
Kelly on his bike because she was a little bit more tipsy than I
thought was safe to take on mine. I made it home first but kept a
mental link with Dom until they were there as well. I helped him
carry her upstairs as she had passed out on the way back. He
slipped out as I undressed her and got her into bed. I knew
tomorrow she would have a killer hangover. I mentally probed out
the ill effects of the alcohol on her mind and body and I pulled
them out. It was a strange feeling- being that I didn't get drunk-
but it was like a tingle all over my body as I absorbed the side
effects. I placed a bottle of water and two aspirin on her
nightstand before I slipped out the door.

The world was a little too bright when I
awoke the next morning. I remembered that today Kelly had to go do
her photo shoot. I knew from being in her mind that her genius
photographer thought it would be brilliant to use one of the nude
beaches here to do the shoot on. This deeply worried Kelly. I felt
for my friend, but I knew that she would get through it. She wasn't
posing for Playboy or anything, but the photographer wanted her
naked with minimal on during the shoot- more like draping than
anything else. I wanted her to have my strength for such things but
I knew we each had to win our own battles.

I knew she was still asleep- which would
help her heal the rest of the way. I had taken the worst away, but
she would still have a small hangover and the aspirins should cover
that. I went to Dom's room and found him just getting out of the
shower. I blushed fiercely when he walked out of the bathroom
naked. I turned and stared at the door.

“
You are so funny,
mia bella
.” He pulled on
his robe and came and kissed me on the shoulder.

“
I'm not.” It was hard to
focus on anything when I thought about how he was only wearing that
deep blue robe.

“
Such a prude for someone
that has run all over Italy as a naked wolf.” He laughed and
started to get dressed.

“
And? I can't control the
fact that I can't change back and forth with clothing on. Which is
why I came in here. The wedding planner left a message for me, I
have my first fitting on Sunday. But I'll need help creating lesson
plans for the classes that I'm teaching once Kelly is gone.” I
slowly turned once I heard his zipper go up.

“
I can help with the plans,
but the fitting... am I needed?” Dom fidgeted.

“
Yeah, you are. You have to
be fitted for your tux.” I laughed.

“
Do we have to deal
directly with Anna? She was a bit intense.” The woman clearly made
Dom uncomfortable.

“
Nope.. just the wedding
fitters. Kelly is going to go in later, before she leaves for the
airport. That's the day they fly out.” I wanted to laugh at
Dominic, but my heart panged for my friend's departure.

“
Oh, don't worry,
mia bella
, you'll see
her again in a month.” He wrapped his arms around me.

“
I know, but I'm going to
miss her. It gets lonely without any of my friends here.” My mind
drifted to Mike and I felt bad.

“
I'm sorry.” Dom looked
sad.

“
Don't worry about it. I'm
just having a missing my old life moment, it'll pass. Get ready.
I'll go ask Letta to make a huge breakfast for Kelly. I love you,
professor.” I kissed his cheek and left.

Letta made good on the giant feast for
Kelly. It held as many delicious Italian breakfast items as she
could make. Kelly came down the stairs looking a little worse for
wear, but happy enough. The smell of all the food had clearly
reached her in deep sleep. I wanted to laugh at my closest friend,
but I thought it would be mean.

“
Wow, when you go all out,
you go all out. I can't believe I have to leave all this so soon.”
She was torn between a smile at the food and a pout.

“
Well, I had to make sure
you were fed before you left. I know models live off of crackers
and water or something stupid like that.” I shook my head at the
mere thought.

“
You'd be surprised.” She
looked solemn.

I was suddenly worried for my friend and
decided that I would start sending her little packages with Italian
foods in it.

We ate in silence. Kelly ate more than I
ever thought she could fit in her little body. After the food we
drank iced sweet tea out on the patio. I didn't know what to say to
her that would let her know how much I would miss her.

“
Dammit. I'm going to miss
you.” I finally said.

“
I know. But this is what I
do. And I'll be back soon enough.” She tried to smile.

“
I know, but still, I'm
being two.” I crossed my arms across my chest and
pouted.

She laughed loud and it was such a wonderful
sound- I was glad I could make her smile before she left.

“
Okay, well, I have to
pack. Chris's people will be here soon to get me.” She got up and
went back upstairs.

I went to find the gift I had made for her.
It was a necklace made of glowy crystals, similar to the one that
Dom gave me. This one was blue and I had it carved into a small
heart and put on a silver chain. It was perfect.

I knocked on her door and found her bag
packed and Kelly trying to tidy up the room.

“
Oh honey, don't worry
about it. It will be taken care of.” I smiled at her.

“
I know, but I need
something to do until they get here.” She plopped down on the
bed.

“
I've got something for
you.” I sat down next to her and handed her the small box that held
the necklace.

“
Em, you didn't have to get
me anything.” She held the box.

“
Go on, open it.” I felt
impatient, I really wanted her to like it.

The box clicked open and she pulled the
chain out slowly. It was as though she was drinking in every detail
of the chain and finally the pendant.

“
Emma! It's beautiful!” She
hugged me tightly.

“
It's something to remember
here by. The crystal came from the caves that are below the house.
Maybe next time you come, if we have time, I can take you down to
the pool down there.” I was happy that she liked it.

“
I love it! And I would
love to see this pool.” She slid the necklace over her head, the
heart fell into her shirt.

“
That way you always know
you're in my heart too. You've got to remember that I'm here for
you, okay?” It was important that Kelly knew she wasn't
alone.

“
Yep, yep.” She hugged me
again. “Thank you.”

Her ride showed up shortly after. And I was
truly sorry to see my friend leave.

Chapter
four

The house was suddenly very silent. I tried
several times to sit and work out something that I could I use to
teach my classes, but I had nothing. I knew that Daniel and Lily
were really nice professors, but if I showed up after all this time
away, then they might question the faith they had put in me. I
didn't want that, I wanted allies against Mr. Spawling. I hated
that man with a passion, but I needed people to side with me if
there was ever a confrontation.