Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
I nodded, little flashes of my own sacrifices playing out like a movie reel in my mind. “I can.”
Theo smiled a little, like he understood more than I let on. Then, he leaned back on his palms. “So, Philautia. A self-care gift to myself as well as a constant reminder that a seemingly selfish love for yourself can be a good thing, so long as the balance is there.” He looked at me then. “So long as you aren’t an asshole about it.”
I shook my head on a laugh. “I like it.”
“Why, thank you,” he said with a little bow. Then, he stood, reaching his hand out for mine to help me up. “Shall we?”
The rest of the day was spent exploring Positano through the lens of my camera.
We happened upon a wedding in the streets, and the bride and groom laughed and danced and posed for us while I clicked away. An older woman with ash-gray hair and deep wrinkles smoked a cigarette as she watered the flowerpots hanging outside her shop. A young boy whizzed by on a scooter, the wind in his hair, and he turned to smile at my camera just as he passed. Two nuns walked the streets in long, beige habits, handing out small cards with the Serenity prayer. I captured a shot I knew would be in my portfolio just as one of them extended a card toward me, her smile wide above it, eyes crinkled at the edges with a small alleyway lined with flowers stretching out behind her, and at its apex — the Tyrrhenian Sea.
I spoke with the locals who were open to me prying into their lives, holding up my camera and pointing at their shops, their homes, their restaurants. With each place we ventured, I found myself lost a little more in the culture, in this magical city on the seaside cliff. I grimaced when I tasted limoncello for the first time at the insistence of a loud and boisterous Italian man named Giovanni. I laughed at the little girl who played tricks on her uncle while he worked their leather shop on the street. And I blushed with a quiet thank you when an old man who spoke no English at all offered me a lapis lazuli necklace, the blue gemstone tied onto a simple, thin, brown leather strap.
And all the while, Theo walked alongside me in silence, watching me attempt to freeze-frame the world around us.
By the time the sun started to make its descent over the water, my legs ached from all the stairs we climbed, and I longed for a hot shower. But when I suggested we start to make our way back to the dock, Theo declined.
“I have one more stop, the place I said I wanted to show you.”
I laughed, gesturing to the sights around us. “You mean more than you already have?”
His smile was my only answer, and he led the way up a small winding road at the top of the town where we’d climbed.
I scurried to catch up. “Didn’t Wayland say he’d be at the dock before sunset?”
“I called him earlier and told him we’d need more time. Don’t worry,” he said with a smirk over his shoulder. “I’ll have you back before you turn into a pumpkin.”
I rolled my eyes, but before I could pop off a remark, Theo gently gripped my elbow.
He held me that way for a moment, still walking, and as we climbed the steep street, his hand slowly slid down lower. His palm was warm where it traced down the inside of my forearm, over the delicate bones of my wrist, and then he interlaced his fingers with mine, grabbing my hand tightly in his own.
I felt that squeeze like a naked plunge into the icy depths of the Arctic Ocean.
It was searing hot. It was burning cold. It was as numbing as it was electrifying, a battle of sensations that left me dizzy and weak in the knees.
“Is this okay?” he asked softly, his eyes finding mine.
I swallowed, staring at where our hands met, knowing my answer should have been an easy no, but not able to find the will to say the word.
Instead, my traitorous body responded with a slight nod of my head, and Theo smiled, holding my hand even tighter.
We climbed the street a little farther, and then Theo tugged me over to the edge of the sidewalk where a white metal railing lined the cliff. There was a bench under a tall tree, but he leaned us against the railing in lieu of sitting.
“May I see your camera,” he asked, and I felt the loss of his hand in mine like a lifejacket being ripped from the water just as I lost my last effort to swim.
I peeled the strap from around my neck, handing the camera to him, and he held the machine steady in his hands with his eyes dancing curiously between mine.