Page 123 of Valentino

“Oh….” I rush to it and sit down and open the lid, I hit a key and it has perfect pitch. “Valentino,” I gush. “Oh my God.” I jump up and hug him and then jump around in circles. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

He fights a smile as he watches my excitement.

I jump around some more and begin to hit the keys. “Hey….” I look up at him. “I thought you said you weren’t romantic?”

“I’m not.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” I slide my arms around his waist and pull him close. “This is the most thoughtful and romantic gift I have ever heard of.” I begin to cover his face in kisses and in the end I break him and he smiles broadly as he pulls away from me.

“Play your song for me,” he asks.

“My song?” I ask.

“The one you were playing the other night.”

I sit down and tap the stool beside me. “Sit with me.”

He sits down and I hold my hands to the keys. “This one?” I play a few notes.

“Yes, that’s the one.” He smiles as he listens. “What’s it called?”

“’Where’s My Love.’” I smile. “I fell in love with the French version with Lily Kershaw.”

I twist my lips as I concentrate hard, never have I wanted more to play a piano so well as I do now.

I slowly begin to play his requested song, a melody that’s both beautiful and sad. Perhaps even ethereal. Valentino quietly sits beside me and listens, and I smile as a new realization sets in.

I’m never letting him go.

VALENTINO

Thump, thump.

Tangled legs, her head on my chest, and lying half across my body.

I’m safely in her arms, flying dangerously close to the sun.

Thump, thump.

I stare into space as my finger aimlessly trails across her naked skin.

Exhaustion has taken her from me for the night, her body has fed mine as long as she could, and while she sleeps, the dark thoughts are taking me to a place I don’t want to visit.

The photos play on repeat, over and over, and I can’t turn the visions off however hard I try.

I rerun over today, the high I woke up on…then the way it turned.

She was his.

Carlo had her first.

And no matter how much I want to change it, to turn back time so that it never happened. So that he never touched a single hair on her head….

I can’t erase it.

Her skin is soft under my fingertips as I circle them in the darkness.

Thump, thump.