Love Struck (9 page)

A first-class heaven that would have
rivalled any esteemed palace for a king and queen towered with all its class
and brilliance in the classy and brilliant resort.

Sara and Tommaso walked to the main
doors, glass framed around fine gold plating with the hotel's prestigious
insignia imprinted for all to revere and know they were dealing with quality of
the highest sorts. It was a five-star hotel with praise sang from all over the
world for a reason, they served the best in every category, they had a title to
uphold and a reputation to upkeep. Anything lesser than perfect was
unacceptable, the staff were kept on their toes at all times to deliver the
ultimate service to the important guests. As Sara would soon be finding out for
herself, a woman of her importance was well suited to a hotel of this one's
impressive stature. 

Sara was amazed at the expensive
presence of the hotel, it was a bit too much for an actress, it looked more
suitable for a visiting princess, with a reservation at the private, secluded
penthouse. Not a star taking a break from her long, thrilling and exhausting
film shoot.

“Is this the right place?” she asked
in complete awe, she had never been to a hotel like it, not even when she was
at the height of her career years ago.

“The one and only.” there was no
other hotel Tommaso would have been satisfied with booking for his diva. It was
the best or not at all.

The inside was even more spectacular
than the outside had suggested. It was like stepping into a regal palace owned
by a noble king and beautiful queen, only they could have fitted in their
luxuriant abode decorated in bright lights with crystal chandeliers hung above
the red carpets in the grand, spacious lounge, with well-to-do guests roaming
in and out, and the staff wandering about in an orderly fashion, dressed in
their deluxe uniforms to represent their deluxe hotel.

Sara was blown away by it all, she
didn't know what to say. The only question that could spring to her mind was
“How much did this cost?”

“Money is no object for a star like
you.” utilizing every last penny from his savings stored for a rainy day was
worth it for her, it was what it was being saved for, a big special event for
Sara and there was nothing more bigger and more special than her glorious
return to cinema.

They stopped at the reception desk to
the mature and refined receptionist with her mousey hair tied in a bun, she
greeted them charmingly with a pleasant smile. They went to introduce
themselves, they did not have to, Sara was instantly recognized among the
hotel, her appearance had been greatly anticipated. The door behind the
Receptionist was opened, the great Sara Sarracini  was personally greeted by
the short and plump hotel owner, a proud and high-strung man who resembled
David Suchet from the Hercule Poirot television series.

Whether he realized it or not with
his thin waxed moustache, short jet black hair and physique, their similarities
were uncanny. He could have passed as his twin. The only difference was his
voice, no trace of Belgium in his accent, he was distinguished by the native
language he spoke, Italian.

“Welcome Ms. Sarracini.” he boomed
with his powerful, expressive vocals that held the force to give an opera
singer a run for their money.

“Please, call me Sara.” she kindly
requested, she found the little enthusiastic man so delightful, she liked the
owner of the hotel instantly.

“Sara.” he gasped at speaking such
divinity “What a beautiful name it is.”

He could not help himself, he was
driven to lean down, take her hand and give it a tender kiss to express his
devotion to the finest star he had ever seen.

Sara didn't know where to look. “Oh,
I'm charmed.”

“I am more charmed with you.” said
the swooned manager as he lifted his head up to meet her striking blue eyes
gazing down with a shyness. The Hotel Manager released her delicate hand,
pulled himself back up. “We have the penthouse all set up for you, as requested
by your personal assistant. He demanded the finest room available, he did not
care about money, the price was not a problem when dealing with, as he
rightfully said, a priceless treasure like you.”

Sara looked to Tommaso, she was lost
for words at his generous kindness all for her. “Oh, you didn't have to do that
for little old me.”

Tommaso gave her a modest smile, he
appreciated her selfless modesty, it made the surprise so much more rewarding.
He had to do all this in her sweetest name “You're the best, you deserve to
live like a queen.”

She could not refuse the penthouse,
it would have destroyed him, it was unthinkable for her. Sara graciously
accepted his generosity to her, it was a tribute that outmatched any others in
term of dedication and thoughtfulness. Even after thirty years, Tommaso was
vastly good to her.

The Hotel Manager passed her the gold
plated key to the voluptuary penthouse reserved all for her. The Receptionist
handed Tommaso the humble key for his respectable room.

The owner of the glorious hotel was
not finished, he had something else to present his celebrated guest “We
ourselves have a surprise for you too.”

The Receptionist pulled out a bouquet
of roses from under the counter.

Sara was thunderstruck with the
loudest clap to ever be heard and sensed, she did not know how to react to all
the red carpet treatment. It was outdoing the courteous attention she received
on the cruiser by a gigantic mile.

“Stop, please.” she blushed the same
colour as the roses in her arms “This is too much.”

The Hotel Manager did not see it as
too much, it was too little, if he had the manpower at his disposal and the
free time, he would have done so much more for her. “Please, it's our way of
welcoming

you not only to our hotel, but also
welcoming you back to the glamorous world of cinema.”

Sara gently held the sweet smelling
bouquet, she was immensely grateful. “I don't know what to say.”

“My dear” his voice was softer on her
ears “you don't need to say a word, the gratitude on your face is the best
response anyone can give.”

Sara smiled warmly, she blew both the
kind receptionist and the gracious owner her sweetest kiss. With that, she
headed to the elevator with Tommaso.

“One more thing.” came the booming,
echoing operatic voice of the owner.

Sara stopped, turned to the Hotel
Manager with a curiosity. “Yes?” she wondered what else he had for her.

“Will you do us the honour of giving
us your autograph?”

Sara smiled like the divine angel she
was, it would be her greatest honour.

Sara and Tommaso waited side by side
in the compact elevator ascending to their designated floors. He yearned to
hold her close like lovers did, he knew like a bad inch stuck in the back of
his head where he was unable to reach and scratch, he could not. It was a real
test of his professional code of conduct as a personal assistant, a lesser man
would have given in. Sometimes he wondered if he should have been one of them,
as opposed to be being something more than a man.

The elevator stopped, the doors
opened. Tommaso wished he could have stayed with her for a while longer,
reality said to him in a coldness that he could not.

“This is my stop.” he said, reluctant
to want to walk out. It was his duty to step out.

Outside her warm fellowship in the
snug elevator, he was out in the wide and empty cold corridor. He slowly turned
to her. “If you need anything, please, don't hesitate to see me, I'm always
here for you.”

Sara looked at him with much sincere
appreciation, he was like her own personal angel and there was no other angel
she would rather have at her thankful side “You really are something, you know
that?”

“If you need someone to talk to, I'm
always happy to spend time with you.” he said, reaching out to her, giving her
a piece of his unconditional heart that beat for her and her alone “Like they
say, what are friends for?”

“I'd like that.” she would have said
more had it not been for the abrupt interruption of the elevator doors
automatically starting to close. “I'll see you.” she gave him a sweet wave
“Have a great time.”

“You too.”

Right as the doors closed, Sara blew
him a lovely, sweet kiss. Tommaso caught the kiss, placed it softly on his
cheek. The elevator ascended.

Tommaso waited for the sound to fade
before he walked on his solitary way, left alone in his own world which lacked
any substance, deprived of any relevance when his reason for getting out of bed
and seeing the days in their entirety was distant from him. He was a different
man when she was not around.

His true face came through, he was
tearing the mask of a man who had everything he needed aside. He was a desolate
man who had nothing without her. He had been living for her, he had no idea how
to live for himself. There was little meaning in anything unless she was there
to give it significance. His happiness came from seeing her happy.

He was an empty man surrounded by a
grey cloud formed over him called loneliness, all he could do was wait until he
was graced with her colourful vicinity to brighten his world and chase the
greys into obscurity, painting his existence with the same vibrancy as her.

She was a dazzling rainbow of sheer
beauty, sheer sweetness and sheer joy that never ceased to make his day so
beautiful, so sweet and so joyful.

It would be a long and dreary day
until he was required to be of Sara's service again.

“You are the wonderfully beautiful
and wonderfully divine jewel on the most magnificently enchanted and most
magnificently blessed crown of pure gold to me. There will never be another
jewel on another crown of such importance for as long as I live, you are the
only true important treasure to me.” he murmured to himself, imagining someday
telling it to Sara in person and not solely in his private fantasy where he was
accustomed to what it meant to know purpose and felicity with his dream lover,
his dear Sara Sarracini.

If only he had the nerve to tell her
how he felt towards her on the ship, maybe things would have been different,
perhaps he would have been spending a romantic holiday with Sara, seeing the
island together as a joint couple.

Instead, because of his lack of
passion and fear of taking any risk to obtain his dreams, he may have very well
lost her to another a second time. It was hard enough to bear once before.

His fear was coming true, what hurt
the most was he had the power to prevent it, but he stalled and now he was
facing the consequences of it.

Tommaso would be giving himself a
stern reprimanding when he stepped inside his hotel room. He would not hear the
end of it for the remainder of his stay at the resort and then back home for
the rest of his solitary, meaningless days, punished by the inner turmoil of
having another chance to be with her and squandering it, condemning himself
with losing the woman he loved till the day he died a lonesome death.

Her young, handsome admirer did not
know how lucky and how blessed he was to be spending his time with a woman who
defined the meaning of perfection.

In this world, life was short,
Tommaso knew most of all, he could feel biological clock was ticking away with
every passing minute. Every moment had to be valued, he hoped the young
stallion would always give his devoted, dedicated and unconditional time to her
she was are worth every true second, every true minute, every true hour of
anyone's time shared with her, the most absolutely magnificent, absolutely
wonderful and absolutely precious woman of all time.

As long as they were happy in each
other's company and enjoying their time together, he figured that was what
really counted. What Tommaso did with his time was irrelevant in comparison to
the bigger picture.

The picture in question he saw would
be of Sara, not only would she paint the town but the whole world in the most
truly stylish, truly striking and truly spectacular colours that stood out so
elegantly, so radiantly and so superbly like the excellently beautiful,
excellently classy and excellently dazzling first-class super starlet that she
was. The thought of her having the time of her life during the vacation would
transcend his own smaller needs. To know at least she was happy would see him
through the day.

It was the perfect palace for a
perfect queen. Sara stepped in the spacious, overly designed penthouse packed
full of the finest furniture, decorations and atmosphere reserved for the most
essentially special people on the planet. Sara fitted the bill flawlessly, who
else was more qualified as essential and special than her on the face of the
earth.

She was instantly lost for words yet
again, three times in a row, at the sensational hotel. It all seemed way too
much for her, she was stunned that it was all for her to indulge in. She felt
undeserving to be granted such grandiloquence, a little selfish to be indulging
in this kind of lavish fancy living while others could not.

“I feel like royalty.” she remarked
to herself, the penthouse was too on the rich side for her to take, but she
would make the most of it, Tommaso had spent every last penny of his money to
book her the finest suite imaginable, she would relish her time there for him,
to make him happy. It gave her a feeling of consolation to see him smiling, his
happiness made her feel the same rhapsodic emotion.

She was at her liveliest when with
him, the chemistry they had triggered a superior reaction every time, it was
enigmatical. The two fed off one another like a plug and a socket, working
together in a united cycle to power each other up.

Sara remembered they had a strong
connection, but she did not remember it being as powerful as it was, the years
spent apart during her retirement, he was busy as a personal assistant for a
star who paled in comparison to her, and she was occupied devoting her time to
domestic life, away from the glitz and glamour of stardom, and lacking his
bright spark. It made her realize how invaluable he really was in her life, she
could hardly imagine ever being without him.

What she felt for him was more than
platonic, it was more deeper than that, she often wondered if he felt it too.
Sometimes he gave her the impression he did, and sometimes he seemed to be
holding it back. She frequently longed to tell him her feelings, to ask if he
felt the deepness in his heart for her as she did for him. But she did not want
to make him feel uncomfortable and jeopardize their relationship. It was
uncertainty that held one's wings at bay by mistrusting their own instincts and
prevented them from flying out to their close but far dreams.

Maybe what they had was sufficient,
maybe he was content with the way it was, maybe she was being greedy wanting
more from him, he had dedicated so much of his life to her already, and she did
not want to risk losing him for her own ambitious needs. She hoped one day he
would tell her, after thirty years when she saw him again, he remained the same
towards her, she was beginning to think he would not. She could not bear
waiting alone for the impossible to come true.

As before, she had found someone to
see her through the isolation, the young admirer gave her a comfort and
protection against the solitude she remembered fondly during her years of
retirement, however, unlike before, she could tell he would not hurt her, it
would not turn sour and end in heartbreak.

An instinctive voice in her head
spoke out to her, similar to her own yet different from her own, it was more
passionate and impulsive within her deepest self, it was telling her to trust
in him, to take a chance on him and see where it lead them both. She had
obviously felt a strong attraction towards him, as did he with her.

She had nothing to lose, it was more
proactive than waiting around for a dream that might never have come true.