La Dolce Vita: Part IV

Amelia woke up with a start, it was still dark outside and even though she tried to get back to sleep she found it impossible. Her eyes searched the room, it was dark and she sat up and reached for her bedside lamp. She put it on with a flick of a switch and realised the light bounce off the walls and cast everything in an eerie warm glow. She sat up straight in bed and looked at the time on her bedside table, it was two o'clock and in four hours, she would have to get up for the van she had hired would be picking her up and transporting all her materials to Tuscany for a few days.

She grabbed her cotton beige jumper from the chair when her eyes caught a motion from the street below. And she realised who it was standing below, it was Robert P. Blake but he was not a lone. He was with a woman with blonde hair, about an inch or two shorter then he and she was wearing a very glamorous dress. The dress glistened blue, like ripples within the ocean and her hair looked like a pretzel. She couldn't see her face but she must be beautiful, how could she afford a dress like that and capture the attention of the man in front of her. Amelia paused, why did she care so much anyway? Robert was an acquaintance, someone who had helped her with her materials later yesterday, nothing more. She was reluctant to let anything come from it, she had been there before and she didn't want to remember that part of her life, it was too much and it was too soon. Amelia looked down and she was overwhelmed, expecting to see the jewel seated firmly on her ring finger, magically disappeared. It hadn't worked out and she had as much luck with guys as she did with keeping them. Amelia suddenly felt claustrophobic, the walls began shifting towards her and she felt a panic attack ensue. She didn't want to stay here for fear of being buried under, she had to get away and as she slipped into her flip flops and made her way out quietly. She headed for the ocean, it brought her peace and it made her forget if only a little bit.

Rob had just said goodbye to Talia, she had dressed to kill but he wasn't interested in her like that and brought her down gently. She had sulked and gave him that pouty puppy dog look which apparently made guys melt and succumb but he knew better. Besides, Talia wasn't his type, she was high maintenance by way of everything. High state glamour all the way and somewhere deep inside, he knew, she was only saying those provocative words to get closer to the fame and fortune but that just wasn't him. He wasn't planning to bargain with it, nor sacrifice a perfectly good friendship. When she had scuttled away with her hips swaying, he didn't need to take another glance but as he went to take a few steps into his apartment, something caught his attention as it flew past him and he swerved to see Amelia run off into the night.

Amelia walked impatiently towards the shore. She could already hear the waves crashing and the palpitations course away. There was something calming about the ocean, something mysterious and...

"Amelia are you okay?" the voice came and then the touch and Amelia turned around to see Rob behind her.

Amelia looked straight past him, she wanted to avoid his inquisitive gaze as if talking to the air and not him she said breathlessly, "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you run out, has something happened? Are you alright?" Rob asked seriously concerned, he wouldn't let go of her until he got a plausible answer.

"Please let go of me Rob," Amelia asked, as her vision became blurry.

"There's something obviously bothering you..."

"Just leave me alone please..." Amelia interrupted him, "You have no place asking me... nor, were you following me?"

"No... yes, but no... you just ran out," Rob said as he looked at his watch, "It's two twenty in the morning, what are you doing up and around at this time?"

"God! You ask a lot of questions... for someone whom I've only known for like, what, a meeting? You seem to assume you have the authority to know everything about me, well you don't... no one does but myself... and what exactly are you doing here in Italy anyway Rob? You seemed to skip answering that question earlier, is it because you can't deal with fame or that it asks too much of you?"

Rob drew her to him to take the pain away from her, she tried to push back, away... but it was useless he was hugging her now, soothing her and as she looked up, his green penetrative green eyes were a fierce green emerald staring back at her and that was when she felt his lips on hers.

La Dolce Vita: Part III

Amelia rode in the taxi with Rob with the canvas's between them.

"How long have you painted?" Rob asked curiously.

"I've been painting since I was about two, at that time it was mostly finger painting but this is to be my second exhibition." Amelia said briefly, she was also curious about the stranger beside her, "And what do you do Rob?"

Rob paused and the silence stretched between them.

"If you don't want to tell me that perfectly fine, "Amelia said with a touch of hurt in her voice, she hoped she'd covered up, "Sometimes I go to these places to escape the craziness of life, the hustle and bustle of it all, to people talking, saying things behind my back. I just come here for peace of mind and to the simplicity of it all... sorry, sometimes I can go on and on..."

"I'm an actor," Rob said abruptly. He hadn't planned on revealing himself to her, except that there was something about her that drew something out in him and he knew instinctively, that he could trust her. He was waiting for some reaction but there was none.

"Oh yeah, what kind of films have you been in?" Amelia asked.

"I've been in a few, some of them you might have heard of... um, The Twilight Saga... How to Be... Little Ashes," Rob volunteered. He waited for a reaction but there wasn't one, except when she came to speak, "I did see Little Ashes a few months back because I was intrigued by the early life of Dali and didn't recognise that it was you who played him, you must be the Robert P. Blake"

"What are your thoughts of Salvador Dali?" Robert was intrigued.

"To be honest, I'm really fascinated by him. He's so imaginative, I don't think there are enough words to fully describe the artist that he is. I love his movement of 'Surrealism' as well as his work overall being a piece of symbolism, there are just not enough works of art today that symbolise, let alone encapsulates the feelings of a painter..." she blushed, "I'm babbling again, I've been wanting to talk to someone about anything art related, I'm in the most glorious of places, a centre piece for Renaissance art and there's just no one to talk to... sorry,"

He looked at the pink tinting her cheeks and smiled at her knowledge of the artist, he felt connected to Dali too, more from an actor's focal point then anything. He looked at the way her hair sashayed from her shoulders to the front of her top and seemed to get lost looking at her artist hands. The taxi came to an abrupt stop and Rob careered forward, using his hand to stop his fall. He opened the door and climbed out, paying the taxi driver and then opening Amelia's side and extricating the canvas's, Amelia got out and smiled.

"You already paid the taxi driver. That was naughty," she smiled, "Would you like to go for a drink later... or a meal, I could do with some conversation, that's if you're not busy..."

Rob had plans to meet a couple of friends that he could not rearrange with, "Unfortunately, I already have plans to meet up with some friends, perhaps tomorrow?"

They stood outside in the street basking in the sun with a pile of canvas's between them. "I'm afraid, I will be painting tomorrow, I will be going to Tuscany to expand my exhibition."

"Oh wow, Tuscany, just for the day?" he asked.

"Three days, I am staying at Giovanni's brother's house." Amelia smiled.

"Oh, does your exhibition cover most of Italy?" Rob asked.

"Figuratively speaking, it's about love in scenery and in country... I can't really divulge too much into it. It's supposed to be top secret but now that I've told you, I hope you will keep it to yourself."

"Of course, your secret is safe with me. Let me help you with these inside." Rob grabbed the canvas's and he followed Amelia in.