Amanda leaned forward on the railing feeling like she was being weighed down by some invisible force. Viktor glanced over at her, thinking she looked exhausted. He reached his hand out and stroked her hair.
“You look tired,” he said.
“Mmm. You’re going to put me to sleep,” she said as he gently ran his hand down the back of her head.
“Come here. Lean against me,” he said as he gently pulled on her arm.
He wrapped his arms around her as she leaned her back against his chest and rested her head in the crook of his neck. She closed her eyes and felt like she could just fall asleep like that.
“It’s going to be horrible going back to normal life after this,” she groaned. “Not to mention, I’m going to miss you.”
He pulled his arms tighter and pressed his cheek to hers. “You’ll see me again in a few weeks. Maybe less if things go well.”
“And then after that?”
“I know,” he agreed. “I feel it too. But we’ll work something out. Maybe a move to the east coast is in order.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s still too early for either of us to think about moving.”
“But what if I want to move?”
“Stop. Let’s not talk about this now. I’m too tired.”
“Okay.” He tenderly kissed her cheek. “We won’t talk about that now.”
Amanda felt a little more alert by the time they arrived back at their hotel.
“You still up for tea?” Viktor asked as they waited for the elevator.
“Yes.” She gave him a warm smile. “I prefer to spend as much time with you as possible. While I can, anyway.”
“Should we have tea in your room this time? That way you can just go to bed.”
“That sounds like a fair compromise,” she agreed. “I have to call my mom though.”
“Do you want me to give you a few minutes?”
The elevator arrived as Amanda was trying to decide if it mattered whether or not he was present as she spoke with her mom. They entered and the doors closed. Amanda still hadn’t given a response.
“I can go to my room for a few minutes,” Viktor offered.
“No,” she finally decided. “You can stay. You’ll just hear her gloat because she was right.”
He laughed. “Maybe she won’t gloat if I’m there.”
She grinned. “Maybe.”
When they got to her room Viktor asked if she had any requests before he ordered room service. She asked for chocolate. He called to place the order while she initiated a video call to her mom. She sat in one of the chairs with her back to the wall so her mom wouldn’t be able to see Viktor in the room.
“Hi honey,” her mom greeted her. “How was your day?”
“Long but perfect,” she said with a big smile. “We went to Burano and spent the day there. It was so beautiful. I’ll send you some pictures.”
“You should have sent them first so we could talk about them.”
“Yeah, well. There’s a reason I didn’t do that.”
“Oh?”
Viktor sat on the edge of the bed facing Amanda with a big smile, appearing greatly entertained by her conversation with her mother. Amanda glanced at him and couldn’t help but break into a wide smile herself.
“Is someone there with you?” her mom asked.
“Viktor is here.”
“Something you want to tell me?”
Amanda gestured for Viktor to come to her. He walked over to her and put his arm on the back of the chair as he knelt beside her.
“Hi, Brenda,” he greeted her with a smile.
“Hi, Viktor. Nice to see you again.”
“Likewise.”
“So, Viktor and I are …” She looked at him, trying to figure out how to finish that sentence. He looked up at her with his blue eyes and she lost her whole train of thought.
“Would you like me to spare you?” her mother asked, already knowing what Amanda was going to say.
Amanda released a nervous sigh. “That would be nice.”
“Well, I’m not going to,” her mother said with a tremendous grin.
Viktor couldn’t help laughing.
“Oh, you’re evil,” Amanda quipped.
“I deserve to hear ‘you were right’ at least once in my lifetime,” her mom teased.
Amanda looked at Viktor as she finally replied, “We’re a couple.”
Her mom replied with a humorously artificial gasp of disbelief. “I’m shocked!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Amanda rolled her eyes. “Live it up.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll stop embarrassing you now.”
“Oh, I wish I could believe that,” Amanda laughed.
“Can I see your pictures from today now?” her mom asked.
“Yes. Give me a second.”
As Amanda began sending photos to her mom, a waiter arrived with their order. Viktor let him in and tipped him as he left. He poured a cup of tea for Amanda and served it to her while she continued telling her mom about their day. He set the tray of food on the table before joining her with a cup of tea for himself. Amanda drooled over the assortment of chocolates, chocolate covered strawberries and fresh cut fruit. She plucked one of the strawberries as she was telling her mom about the sunset. She didn’t mention their minor argument or the subsequent embrace.
When Amanda finished running through the events of the day they began their goodbyes. Viktor came over and kneeled beside her again. He wished Brenda a good night and they all said goodbye before Amanda ended the call.
Still kneeling beside her with his arm around the back of her chair, he looked up at her and smiled. “Well? How do you feel?”
“Good.” She smiled. “She didn’t dig into me as much as I thought she would.”
“You two seem like you have a really great relationship.”
“We do,” she agreed. “She’s my best friend.”
“I hope we can be best friends.”
She placed her hand on his cheek. “I think we’re well on our way.”
He took a deep breath as he pressed her hand and then kissed it before pulling himself away and resuming his seat across from her.
“What time should we leave for Rome tomorrow?”
