A Twist in My Story

Luciana had been fast asleep when Joe walked back into their room later on that night. He had tried to enjoy the Oktoberfest activities but his mind was on Luciana and how determined she was to reject him. He had ended up drinking more than he knew was safe and decided it was best he return to their hostel before he did anything stupid (which he had a reputation for back in college). He woke up the following morning with a pounding headache and a feisty Italian brunette showing him no mercy.

Their next destination was Greece. Their journey was pretty much silent as they traveled the entire day on multiple trains—the trip from Germany to Greece was not a short one. By the time they reached Romania, they had been traveling for a day and a half—Luciana complained she couldn’t stand sitting on a train one second longer, so they decided to walk through the hillside. Joe had his camera slung around his neck, taking pictures of the green pastures and all the sheep walking on the road; there weren’t many cars on the road, so it didn’t make much difference. After a while they agreed to stop by a pond to rest their sore legs—they had been walking for a while.

Luciana spread her legs out in front of her and pulled out the sketch pad Joe had bought for her—it was almost full with drawings of the places they had seen. Pulling out her pencil, she started sketching the ducks sitting in the pond. Drawing had always been a pastime for her but it was also an outlet, and if she was being honest with herself, this situation with Joe was making her frustrated. She liked Joe, and she enjoyed spending time with him, but she had to be practical since he wasn’t going to be. Nothing could happen between them. Her life was too complicated and she had already involved him more than she should have. But she also hated this awkward and uncomfortable silence that they had been in for the past two days. She knew that she had hurt him when she blatantly said she didn’t care for him in a romantic way, and that he was giving her space, but she missed their old dynamic. She paused her sketching and looked up at him. He had his camera poised in front of him and the afternoon sun was shining down on him, illuminating his features—it certainly didn’t help the flutters in her stomach.

As if he could feel her gaze on him, Joe turned and looked right into her eyes. The usual sparkle in his eyes wasn’t there—she couldn’t read any of his emotions, which wasn’t something she was used to. That’s when she knew her comment had really hurt him.

Their moment was ruined by the loud sound of a car coming up the road. “We should probably see if they can give us a ride, we don’t know if another car will pass by and we don’t want to be stuck out here once night falls,” Joe reasoned. Luciana nodded in agreement and quickly packed up her things, noticing Joe’s hesitance to help her off the ground before he continued towards the road to get the vehicle to stop. It turned out to be a farmer in a dingy truck who agreed to drive them as far as he was going. “Why don’t you ride up front? I’ll sit back here,” Joe offered.

Luciana looked at the old farmer in the driver’s seat. He seemed harmless but she wasn’t going to take any chances, so she climbed in after Joe. He looked shocked at her decision but didn’t say anything. Releasing a sigh at his silent treatment, Luciana settled in among all the hay in the back of the truck. Along the way, Joe drifted off, but Luciana couldn’t afford the same luxury—her racing mind just wouldn’t settle down. She just kept thinking about how close her family had gotten to finding and catching her—they were right on her tail! And now she had involved Joe into all her mess, something she hadn’t meant to happen. Speaking of things that weren’t supposed to happen, these feelings between them! Those definitely weren’t supposed to happen—but she had to ignore them. She couldn’t involve Joe anymore than she already had so in order to keep him safe she had to continue pretending that she didn’t feel anything for him.

And that was proving difficult to do when he was willing to offer her so much. Already he had made a huge impact on her life. Growing up she never really had many friends; always being under the watchful eye of one of her father’s employees. She had led a restricted life and when she ran away a little under two months ago, she had no idea if she would ever be able to evade her family. But with Joe’s help, she had kept on the move and had actually been able to enjoy different countries and all they had to offer. And she had met someone along the way that had made her feel differently than she ever had before. It was crazy because he was practically a stranger, but he was just an overall good guy. He was open with her about himself, something she still couldn’t let herself be with him. And even though he didn’t know why people were after her, he refrained from asking the questions she was sure he had and instead did his best to protect her. She actually felt safe around him and she knew that it was because of him that she had managed to evade her father’s clutches. Most of all, he was a good friend to her.

She glanced over at the man consuming her thoughts and released a sigh, her heart lurching in her chest. The sad thing was that she could actually see herself with him. He had crawled so deeply under her skin that she didn’t know what she would do on the dreary day he returned to America—because that was another thing; he wasn’t here to stay and she had no means of escaping with him. Looking at him made her chest tighten, so she looked out at the rolling hills instead, resting her head on the stack of hay behind her as she admired the beautiful view, letting it calm down her anxious thoughts. “Che vista bellissima,” she murmured to herself.

“I love it when you speak Italian,” she heard Joe mutter. Startled, she looked over at him and saw that his eyes were still closed.

“I thought you were sleeping,” she mumbled dumbly.

“Nope,” he stated, opening his eyes and staring right at her. “The sun was in my face so I just had my eyes closed,” he added.

“Oh.”

“I think we’re going to be stopping soon. I think I see a village ahead,” Joe continued before the usual silence settled in.

“Ok.” Sure enough, they rolled into the small village the truck driver was going to and climbed out of the truck. Deciding to put his ego aside, Joe did the gentleman thing and helped Luciana down, quickly releasing her hand once her feet were on the ground. “What do you say we grab lunch at the Pub and then keep going?” she suggested, hoping he couldn’t see her red cheeks.

“Whatever you’d like,” Joe stated, heading up front to thank their driver. Luciana tried not to take it personally that he was being so cold, knowing she deserved it and that it was probably best they kept their distance. Taking the initiative, she walked ahead towards the only eatery around. Once they were seated at the bar (and they checked their surroundings), the silence settled again.

Luciana couldn’t take it anymore. “Joe,” she started, prompting him to look up from his fish and chips, “I’m sorry.”

Joe stared at her, surprised by the apology. It had been killing him giving her the silent treatment, but he didn’t want to bother her with his continuous pursuits. It was ridiculous—he knew she lied to him when she said she wasn’t interested in him, he just couldn’t understand why she couldn’t let herself trust him and trust her feelings.

“What for?” he finally questioned, popping another fry in his mouth.

“For the way I spoke to you back in Germany. I’m afraid what I said hurt your feelings—”

“Look, you don’t need to apologize. If that’s how you feel then fine, I’ll just have to find a way to deal with it. Whatever, no big deal,” he said, not allowing her to wound his ego anymore than she already did. “Now we should probably finish up and keep going. I want us to get a little farther before we find lodgings for tonight.”

Luciana slumped in her seat—that didn’t go the way she wanted it to. It seemed she had hurt his ego…and she had a bit of experience with men and their bruised egos. “Bene,” she replied in Italian, the affirmation slipping out in her native tongue. Joe made no reply and returned to his meal. She didn’t have much of an appetite anymore, so she just picked at her food until Joe was ready to leave. Paying for their meals separately, they were back on the road, leaving the tiny village behind as they walked through the hills once more.

“Do you think we’ll get to Greece tomorrow?” Luciana asked after walking side by side in silence for a while.

“Definitely,” Joe replied.

“Where do you want to go once we get there?”

“It’s up to you.”

“This is your first trip around Europe, you get to decide,” Luciana insisted.

“Democratic duo, remember?” Joe questioned monotonously.

Luciana glanced at his profile as they continued walking. “Ok, how about Athens? There are a lot of historical things there and I’ve noticed you like history,” she suggested.

“Fine,” Joe replied. Luciana sighed exasperatedly and stopped in her tracks to give him a hard glare. He stopped and turned to look at her as well. “What?” he asked when he saw the look on her face.

“I’m trying here Joe, but you’re being a stronzo,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest, her face scrunched up in anger.

“Excuse me?” Joe asked. He knew she just called him an asshole, but she still didn’t know that he knew Italian.

“I tried to apologize for what I said in Germany because I can see that it hurt your ego and I’m trying to get things to go back to the way they were but you’re being rude about it.”

“Things can’t go back to the way they were,” he said, shaking his head and continuing to walk.

“And why not?!” Luciana asked exasperatedly, jogging to catch up with him.

Joe stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “Because I promised you that I wouldn’t fall for you but I am and you don’t want me to so I’m trying really hard to give you space because if I don’t then I’m not too sure I’ll be able to keep my promise!” he insisted, his chest heaving after his heavy confession.

“Joe,” Luciana whispered, all the energy seeping out of her body. She had caused such a mess—she never should have kissed him back in Paris.

“No, forget it,” Joe said, continuing to walk.

“No,” she cried out, jogging to catch up with him again. “We need to talk about this,” she stated as she grabbed his wrist and turned him to look at her. “If we’re going to be traveling together then we can’t keep doing it in silence. I don’t do well with silence,” she said.

Joe looked down at her. The sun was setting and its rays were shining right into Luciana’s eyes, making them a soft honey color. He couldn’t quite read her emotions; they were all too jumbled. In that moment he knew she was right—they either had to sort out their issues or…or go their separate ways. “Maybe we shouldn’t travel together then,” he whispered.

The hurt that flashed in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed, which just confused Joe even more. “Is that what you really want?” she asked in a softer tone, looking up at him with steady eyes.

Joe shook his head. “No. But it really isn’t about what I want, is it?” he asked.

Luciana looked away at his comment. “Joe,” she admonished.

“No, you wanted to talk, let’s talk,” he insisted. “I just, I don’t understand why you’re doing this!”

“Doing what?”

“Denying the fact that you do like me.”

Luciana shook her head and started walking away from him. “We aren’t having this conversation.”

“You see, you’re doing it again. You keep trying to avoid it but I know that you like me,” Joe insisted, grabbing a hold of her wrist and twirling her to face him. “There’s something between us, Luciana, and I just want you to stop denying it—embrace it,” he whispered, holding both her wrists to his chest.

“Non posso. I can’t,” she said, shaking her head and breaking their eye contact, rather looking down at her hands on his chest and trying to ignore the tingling sensation radiating from the contact and up her arm.

“Why. Not.” Joe enunciated, trying his best to keep his frustration in check enough so that he could wear her resolve.

“Because…because it’s not a good idea to get involved with you. There are things about my life you don’t know and it would be dangerous for you to be involved. And it would just be better if we didn’t make things more…”

“Complicated?” he asked. Luciana nodded. Joe hooked his finger underneath her chin and tilted her head so that she was looking at him. “I hate to break it to you Luce, but I’m already pretty involved. I may not know details, but I already know that there are people after you and I’m still here aren’t I?”

Luciana didn’t respond. Her intoxicating brown eyes merely scanned his face for a while. He could tell that he was wearing her down. Luciana knew it too. She knew it was best to keep pushing him away but she really didn’t think she could do it anymore. What he was offering was just so tempting; having someone at her side that cared about her, who wasn’t trying to control her or get anything from her, who made her walls come down so that she could be herself, who liked her for who she was, but most importantly who she felt safe with.

“Let’s make this simple,” Joe murmured, taking one step closer to her. “Do you like me as more than just a friend or touring buddy?”

Luciana’s breath hitched in her throat—it was that question again. She had lied to him once; she really didn’t think she could do it again. She didn’t want to do it again. She looked deep in his eyes and just couldn’t bring herself to say the logical answer. “Yes,” she finally responded, the answer more breath than form.

Joe’s lips twitched in a smirk, satisfied with that answer. “That’s all I wanted to hear.” And before she could even comprehend what was happening, Joe’s hands were wrapped around her neck and his lips were falling on hers. She let out a gasp of surprise, allowing Joe to capture her bottom lip. And even though she knew she probably should have pushed him off, she really didn’t want to. Realizing that she wasn’t fighting him, Joe brought his left hand to her waist and pulled her closer to him, their chests pushed up against each other. Luciana let out a whimper at the contact and at the sheer pleasure she felt from that kiss. That whimper made some ravish animal unfurl within Joe—he tightened his hold on her waist and pushed his lips harder against hers.

Luciana was seeing stars, but she couldn’t breathe, so she pulled away. “Wow,” Joe muttered, his eyes still closed. Luciana bit her lower lip, not daring to open her eyes either. She knew when she did, she was going to have to reprimand him for kissing her and make up an excuse as to why she didn’t push him away. “You’re over-analyzing that kiss, aren’t you?” Joe asked, resting his forehead on hers.

She finally opened her eyes and was met with his warm brown ones, smiling down on her along with the smirk on his lips. “It scares me that you know me this well already,” she stated.

“You see, it makes no sense that you keep fighting this,” he insisted.

“But I have to. It’s not safe for you to be involved with me,” Luciana said, moving away from him.

Joe grabbed her wrist and turned her to look at him again. She was giving him a wary look, but he merely smiled his easy-going smile and said, “You’ll never convince me of that, you know. Now why don’t we find somewhere to sleep tonight? It’s getting dark.” Luciana couldn’t find it in herself to release the hold he had on her, so she wrapped her hand around his and allowed him to lead her further up the road.

They walked for another two hours, Luciana tucked closely at Joe’s side to keep warm from the chilling wind, before they found a farmhouse—the first one they’d seen for miles. Thankfully the couple that lived there ushered them inside the second they saw Luciana shivering underneath Joe’s hold. The woman was blabbering in Romanian—Joe didn’t understand anything she was saying, but Luciana seemed to (though he couldn’t tell if she really could or not) and was thanking the lady as she sat down at the small kitchen table. Joe did the same and just watched in amazement at the girl beside him, a small smile on his face. The lady came back with two steaming bowls of soup and two large loafs of bread for each of them. Being used to her tense mood, Joe was surprised to see Luciana completely relaxed and eating the food the woman put in front of her. Seeing that she wasn’t concerned about their surroundings, Joe relaxed as well and ate his soup as the couple talked amongst each other. When they were done, the husband led them up the small stairs and into a room fit for one person, motioning to the equally small bathroom across the hall. Luciana thanked the man again for his hospitality and then she and Joe were left alone.

“So did you understand any of what they were saying to you?” Joe asked, setting his stuff down at the foot of the full-size bed.

Luciana did the same and shook her head as she walked over to the window and pulled the curtains back—it was pitch-black outside so she couldn’t see a thing. “Not really,” she responded, turning to face Joe again.

Her cheeks were flaming red however, so Joe knew she was lying to him. “Yes you did and there’s something you’re not telling me,” he probed, narrowing his eyes at her.

Luciana crossed her arms over her chest and avoided eye contact. She cleared her throat and, staring intently at her feet, mumbled, “I understood a few words and they, uh, they seem to think we’re married.”

Joe’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “Oh.”

Luciana cleared her throat again and said, “I’m going to shower,” before grabbing her bag and dashing out the door. When she came back in twenty minutes later, she found that Joe had turned down the sheets for her and had thrown a pillow on the floor for himself. With a small smile towards her, he grabbed his things and took his turn in the shower. Luciana looked down at the bare floor as she combed her wet hair and felt her heart rate pick up. The bare wooden floors would kill Joe’s back; he hadn’t even grabbed a blanket for himself and there were none to spare besides the one on the bed. Trying to calm her racing heart, she picked up the pillow and put it back on the bed beside hers, climbing in afterwards. Joe came out a little while later, drying his hair off with his towel. He glanced curiously at her when he realized the pillow was not where he left it.

“Luce?” he questioned.

“Hmm?”

“Why is that pillow back on the bed?”

Luciana bit her lip. “The floor looks very uncomfortable. I appreciate you doing the gentleman thing by giving me the bed, but it is ridiculous for you to sleep on the hard floor when there is plenty of room for the both of us,” she responded in one rapid breath.

Joe had to fight the smile that was twitching his lips as he walked over to the bed. “Are you sure you’re comfortable sharing a bed with me?” he whispered, bracing his fists on the mattress and leaning over her. Luciana’s breath hitched in her throat—she didn’t trust herself to speak so she merely nodded. Joe chuckled at her before walking towards the light switch. With a flick of his finger, the small room was consumed by darkness. The shifting and creaking of the mattress informed Luciana that he had climbed in next to her. Joe shimmed around a little before finally settling on his back, his arms behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Luciana was also on her back, her hands folded over her stomach on top of the blankets.

Every nerve in her body was standing on point and she was gnawing on her inner cheek so hard she would be drawing blood soon. Joe could feel her tenseness next to him which made him smirk a little—she couldn’t pretend she had no feelings when being in a bed next to him was making her so anxious. “How do you say ‘relax’ in Italian?” he asked, even though he knew the answer.

Luciana knew he was asking because of her. She took a deep breath and whispered, “rilassi.”

Joe turned his head to look at her profile. “Rilassi,” he repeated after her.

“That was very good,” she said, trying her hardest to tame her racing heart. “You’re accent isn’t bad.”

“Mm, yours is better. I love hearing you speak Italian,” Joe whispered. He angled his body so that he was facing her. “Say something in Italian,” he requested.

Luciana turned and faced him as well. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness so they could easily focus on his honey-brown orbs. They were making every feminine part of her ache. “Mi dispiace che non posso dirti nulla di quello che sta succedendo, ma è per la tua sicurezza,” she whispered.

“What does that mean?” Joe asked in a gentle whisper, even though he knew.

“I’m sorry that I can’t tell you anything about what is going on, but it’s for your own safety,” she repeated in English.

Joe pushed her hair out of her face and rested his hand on her neck, staring deep into her eyes. “Luciana, you don’t have to worry about my safety. I just want all the pieces of the puzzle so that I can protect you better,” he insisted in a whisper.

“Ma non dovrebbe essere il vostro lavoro per proteggermi. It shouldn’t be your job to protect me,” Luciana whispered.

“I hate to break it to you Luce, but you’re stuck with me. I care about you and as long as you let me, I’ll be around to protect you and be there for you.”

Luciana closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Joe’s chest. “Grazie. For everything, Joe. Especially for making me feel safe.”

Joe draped his arm over her waist and pulled her closer to him. Luciana threw all inhibitions to the wind and snuggled close to him. Pressing a kiss to her forehead Joe whispered, “Anytime.”