Catch me! Catch me not! Read Free

with your family and friends. If I came to you, I would have to give up my work, my flat, my family, my friends, my life and I am not sure I am ready to take on a bunch of people, who are frankly really rude, superficial and biased.” She looked up at him with such sad eyes, they were no longer grey but those beautiful sea green eyes he had first fallen in love with. “The way you look tonight” now blared out mocking the past two months.
    “You are leaving me?”
    “Yes, until you decide. I cannot live in Italy and be happy with these people around me.”
    “Is that final?”
    “Yes” she whispered.
    “Can I hug you?” he wrenched from somewhere.
    “Yes” she whispered.
    He covered her lips with his and gave her his heart, they tasted each other, they teased each other, touching only with their lips and tasting only with their tongues, salty tears rolled down Emma’s cheeks. He tasted her sorrow. They wrapped their arms around each other lost in a form of private grief.
    “ I wanted to ask you to be my wife. I had organised a special day for tomorrow. I thought we had a life in front of us.”
    “So did I and I would have said yes before today. It is better this happened before rather than after. We would end up hating each other.” She took a deep breath “I would like to go to Rome today.”
    “If I got a job abroad would you reconsider?”
    “No, because you would be miserable. One day you will thank me.”
    “I won’t give you up easily!”
    “This is not easy for me either, but the last straw was Antonella, she was a horrid woman, I would go further, but dad told me ladies don’t use those words!”
    Carlo felt nausea rise. He tried to take some deep breaths. His vision was blurred. He felt a cold sweat break out. He switched off the engine of the BMW. He reached over and held her burying his head in her thick hair, the smell of English roses flooded the car. He knew there was nothing he could do now, but nothing would stop him from showing her that love like this occurred only once in a life time and one day she would be his.  If there is someone up there listening.. please please let her wait for him to find a solution.
    Emma clung to him. He was shivering. Oh God, please give me the strength to go ahead without him. The crisp, clean smell of him filled her and she knew she would now always associate the smell of the subtle aftershave with him.
    “What are we going to do Carlo?” she whispered
    “I really don’t know yet, but I do know that we will find a way. I am not going to give up. I know we are supposed to be together. I felt it the first day I met you. I will give you space but I will not let you go. You know it is better to experience the wrong love than never to love at all “Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead” as Oscar Wilde said. I will not hide myself in some sunless garden, when I HAVE known the colour of your hair in the sunlight. I have seen love light up and change the colour of your eyes. I have seen love in your soul. We will find a way.”
    .
“ Or as Mother Theresa said “ I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” Perhaps we do not love enough yet. I promise I will think of a way we can be together. Maybe, if we could show your mother how happy you are then she could be happy for us. We can hardly get married in Las Vegas and present them with fait accompli! Carlo, I need time and I need space. We have been together every day for the past two months. I want to have time to realise whether I can or we can survive the hostile reception I got today. I know you are faithful because we are always together, but I am not sure you will survive the misgivings your family have. I will write to you every day and you will be right here in my heart” she placed her hand on her heart.
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    The first magic of love is our ignorance that it can