His name was Angelo. They walked through the quiet streets together and he immediately began to give the tour he had promised, talking animatedly about the city he had obviously grown to love, and seemed to know everything about. Church bells rang out and they shared the streets for a while with the local population. Finding a place to stop and have lunch he turned to her and asked if she liked Pavia. Despite having been exploring Pavia and hearing its story for the past four hours she was actually oblivious to it, so when she replied "absolutely beautiful" her mind was not on the architecture.
It occurred then to Anna that her original plan to visit the museum had been in order to find men there. And here she was sitting opposite a very suitable man, and she had no desire to go anywhere near the museum. She also realized that she now had a problem with her itinerary. No, she had a problem with her whole plan. She hadn't thought it through. In order to get to know Angelo she would have to stay in Pavia longer. Perhaps he read her mind.
"When are you leaving Pavia, Anna?"
"I was going to go tomorrow......"
"Tomorrow? Oh......we should get going then....." and he started to get up.
"I could stay a little longer...." she said quickly.
He smiled broadly and sat back down. Say what you're thinking, she willed him. But his thoughts were his own. She felt very inadequate and resigned herself to an afternoon in the museum.
To her delight he made it fun. It was obviously a place he knew well and when they'd seen most of its displays he showed her around the University itself. They sat on the grass exhausted from walking.
"What will you do tomorrow Anna?"
That was what she wanted to hear. He'd been so friendly and courteous, but now he was showing at least a little interest in her. She was beginning to wonder if he ever would.
"I don't know" she said honestly "I was going to be heading south, but there's really no hurry."
"But you can't stay here forever."
No, she thought, I can't. What did she think she was going to do? She suddenly felt very foolish. She wasn't even sure if he was any more than friendly. It occurred to her that he might have shown this much interest in order to find out if American girls were "easy". She knew they had a reputation in Italy, however unfair that might be. It wasn't that unusual, after all, for tourists to have one-night-stands with the locals, and think of it as a souvenir. What she needed to do was test the waters.
"I suppose I ought to keep to my itinerary" she said, looking at him for some sign of opposition, but to her dismay, he said nothing. Now she was disappointed, as she had really enjoyed his company, but did she know him? Of course not. This was ridiculous. Was he interested or not?
He walked her back to her hotel and they talked all the way. She couldn't find a single thing she disliked about him, and yet there was something missing. What a shame, she thought to herself. At least she had had the courage to ask him to stand in some of her photos. So, after they'd said a polite goodbye, she went up to her room and burst into tears. At that moment she just wanted to go home. This was not how it was supposed to go at all.
Anna got up before dawn the next morning and marched to the train station.
"When is the next train please?"
"Where to?"
"Anywhere, I'd like a ticket for the next train anywhere."
Within 15 minutes she was safely aboard the train to Genoa. She slept the whole way.
In Pavia dawn broke and the manager of her hotel found her key, cash, and a note apologizing for not checking out properly. He was then accosted by a young man demanding to know where she'd gone.
Genoa was breezy and soothing. She found her way to the harbor and watched the seabirds. There were boats leaving for Sardinia and she was briefly tempted, but something kept her back. Eventually she found a one-hour photo store and took her film in. She wandered around that whole hour trying to decide whether to destroy the photos that Angelo was in and be done with it. Or whether she could be mature about it and have happy memories of their day together. It was only ONE DAY.
Standing in the store she couldn't help herself from having a quick look through. They were good photos. Blue skies, wonderful architecture, and that handsome dark bespectacled man. A young store clerk saw her photos, and maybe saw her smile.
"Your boyfriend?" she asked grinning.
"I wish" said Anna, shocked at her own words. Then she sighed, tucked the photos safely away and left the store.
She spent the night in Genoa and took a leisurely breakfast the next morning. Decision time. Where to now. The train schedule she'd picked up offered several afternoon departures for Pisa. She took the longer "stopping" train as she had nothing else to do. She was in half a mind to return to Pavia, but stuck firm. The view from the train on the journey was exquisite, with the sea appearing every so often out of the right-side window, and the mountains stretching up to the left. Finally they drew inland and pulled into Pisa station just as it was getting dark. She decided to get a taxi, but as she reached the parking lot she was startled to see Angelo waiting for her.
"How the.....??????"
He laughed and said he was a good detective.
"But even I didn't know where I was going."
"I know. But you had your head screwed on tighter than I did. I let you go. I'm an idiot."
"Were you on that train?"
"No, I was on the earlier one."
"So, you read minds?"
"Not really, but I can read a train schedule, and you left yours behind in Genova." He handed it to her.
He explained how he'd had a sleepless night after their day together in Pavia, got up at dawn to go to her hotel and tell her he didn't want her to go, but was already too late. He'd stopped people on the streets asking if they'd seen her, and he'd traced her as far as the train station. The ticket clerk remembered the pretty American had gone to Genoa, and, knowing she was on foot, he just started with the hotels closest to the station there, until he found hers. It had taken him all morning. Finally he found where she had been staying, only to find he was too late again, but in her vacated room was the abandoned schedule. So he rushed to the station, got on the next train for Pisa, and this time he was ahead of her, because he'd chosen the next train, the express.
"And I was wondering if you were interested in me," said Anna "I guess I know the answer"
"I had to take a chance Anna, I've never met anyone who had such an impact on me before. I just hoped you wouldn't be angry at me following you. We hardly know each other, but there's only one way to learn. Would you object to me tagging along for some more of your tour?"
They looked at each other for a long time. She was absolutely smitten by his looks. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he had a charm she'd never encountered before.
