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Chapter Forty-Seven
It was almost time.
Time to leave this town.For good.
I was all packed and ready to go. Lorenzo would be back with Leo and Marta and then we’d be off. To have a fresh start.
It had been a busy time. Last week Geli had jetted off to Vietnam. She didn’t like big goodbyes, so Holly and I and a few other people had gone round to her place the night before for a few drinks. There was no sign of Daphne. Apparently she’d already returned to England to start divorce proceedings.
Whilst I was sad that Geli was going, she was in great spirits. With her mother fully recovered and knowing she was about to leave Chiorno, Geli was more excited than an inmate being freed from prison. I didn’t blame her.
Holly had also left. When she’d first messaged to say she was coming back to town because there was something she needed to do and asked if Geli and I could meet her, I’d hoped that meant she was ready to report Silvestro. Little did I know that had already been done.
She’d explained that, after spending a couple of days crashing on her friend’s sofa, beating herself up about what had happened, she’d finally taken Geli’s advice and contacted a support group in Florence which helped women who had been victims of sexual violence. One of the workers who spoke good English spent a lot of time with Holly and helped her to see the light. Then Holly grew angry. And that anger sparked determination. She wasn’t going to let Silvestro get away with it.
First, she tracked down the au pair who’d worked there before. Found her on Facebook apparently. They made contact and turned out, Silvestro had done the same to the previous girl. He’d tried to force himself on her, but she managed to escape before things had gone further. She was too scared to report him and so Silvestro had just called the agency and requested another au pair instead: that’s how Holly had got the job.
Geli had also done some digging whilst I was away. Like she’d suspected, Silvestro had a history. He’d had affairs and regularly used prostitutes, until his wife had found out and threatened to leave him if he strayed again. So it seemed like he’d started using au pairs to get his cheap thrills instead.
Using her detective skills, Geli had tracked down another woman who used to work for Silvestro at his company in town. She said he’d flashed her before, but when she’d threatened to report him, he’d said it was an ‘accident.’ How can getting your dick out in the office be an ‘accident’? The guy was a creep. She’d left shortly afterwards.
Armed with this information and the support of the two other women, Holly took the brave step of reporting Silvestro to the police. They were much more sympathetic than she’d thought and said they would investigate. That was one of the reasons Holly had come back. She wanted to be there when the police knocked on the door and took him in for questioning.
Geli and I had gone with her. We sat in the car across the road and watched it all unfold.
It wasn’t nice to see his wife and kids there, as clearly they were upset, but they needed to know the monster they were living with. I especially feared for the children. None of us knew what he was capable of.
Holly had cried when it happened, but she assured us they were tears of relief.
Silvestro was charged, which was a step in the right direction. It would take a while for it to go to court, and of course, we didn’t know what would happen, but at least he’d been called out for what he’d done.
Holly and the previous au pair had also reported him to their agency and they’d removed the family from their database. Geli said we should do a blanket email to all the agencies so that they could blacklist him, but we had to tread carefully. Even though Holly and the other women knew what he’d done, in the eyes of the law, he hadn’t been convicted, so we had to make sure we didn’t do anything rash that could affect the case.
At least the process had been started and hopefully no one else would be subjected to his perversion.
Holly had also seen the light and kicked Umberto to the curb. She realised as gorgeous as he was, looks weren’t enough. Holly finally saw what I’d suspected early on, that he couldn’t have loved her. In all the time she’d lived there, even though she’d taken the big step to move to Chiorno to be with him, Umberto hadn’t shown her any form of commitment. And him blaming her for Silvestro’s actions was the last straw.
Like me, we’d both made sacrifices for love. Giving up the lives we knew and travelling hundreds of miles to follow our hearts. But unfortunately, not all holiday romances could go the distance. This time, I was one of the lucky ones. Holly would be fine, though. She was young and still had her whole life ahead of her. There would be plenty of time to find someone who truly deserved her.
Holly was already back at home, planning her next move. She was thinking about returning to uni, but said she also might take some time out to go travelling.Good for her. The situation with Silvestro wasn’t over yet, but she was prepared to see it through. Holly was stronger. More confident and happier. I was proud of her.
I also celebrated my birthday last week. Even though it was low-key, it was actually lovely. Lorenzo took the day off, made me breakfast in bed, then looked after Leo whilst I soaked in the bath. I FaceTimed my parents, and after lunch, we went for a drive in the Tuscan hills. When we came back, I did a group video call with Geli, who’d arrived safely in Vietnam, and Roxy and Bella, had dinner, put Leo to sleep, then enjoyed somequality timein the bedroom with Lorenzo.Twice. We were definitely getting back in the swing of things…
I looked around the house, then stepped out into the garden to take in the amazing views for the last time. Now we were in April, it was much warmer, and the countryside was even more lush and green with plenty of flowers and fruit trees in bloom. As much as I was happy to leave, it was strange knowing that I wouldn’t live here again, and I’d definitely miss the scenery.
I’d had many highs and lows during my time in Chiorno. As weird as it may sound, I was glad I came. Glad that it was challenging. I’d grown a lot and I wouldn’t be the person I was now if I hadn’t gone through those difficulties.
When I’d arrived in Chiorno, I had been expecting perfection. But perfection didn’t exist. Life wasn’t a fairy tale. Wherever we lived, there were sure to be pros and cons. People I liked. People I didn’t. Feeling homesick, missing family and friends. Struggling to get to grips with a different culture. It was all normal. The fact was, I’d lived in another country. So many people would love the chance to live abroad. Even though it wasn’t all a bed of roses, it was an adventure. A new experience. And I was wiser for it.
I went back inside and reached in my bag to check the time on my phone. They should be here in about ten minutes. As I was putting it back, I spotted my notepad.
Ah, the list.
That notepad contained the magical plan that I thought would solve all of my problems. Back then I thought all I needed to do was take control and everything would fall into place. But actually, I should have realised that because I was going through so many changes, it was actually normal to feel out of control. It was okay that I didn’t have my shit totally together.
Although the list had helped in some ways, I’d also learnt that even if you work hard and are more organised than a colour-coded spreadsheet, sometimes life happens and you just have to go with the flow.
Oh, what the hell.
