The ship’s sail was a beautiful cornflower blue. There was a pearl white stripe down the middle, slicing it in half life the water splitting around the vessel. As my eyes travelled lower the sun glinted off of something. It flashed like the beacon on a lighthouse. I squinted trying to see past the glare and focus on the object. It moved and the glint disappeared. I suddenly realized the glint had been from the sunglasses of a very tan, very handsome man. He can’t be older than twenty five, too young for a forty something like me. Laughing at my absurd thoughts, I quickly looked down realizing I had been staring for quite some time. I consumed myself in the book I was reading to distract my thoughts from the man.

“Ciao!”

Startled I looked up from my book and his boat was next to mine. His eyes were such a chocolate brown you could almost see them melting in the heat of the Mediteranean day. His body was perfectly tanned and every muscle seemed to work smoothly as he walked across his boat to the edge.

“Ciao” I responded back cautiously. My Italian was not good.

“American?”

“Yes…um…si”

He laughed a little then. I blushed slightly embarrassed. I came here to write. After hearing many of my literary friends say what an inspiration Italy was to them, I thought I would give it a try. I was not a social woman by any means, nor did I consider myself a beauty. But, the way this man stared at me I could have been Elizabeth Taylor.

“Vieni con me mangiare”

I recognized ‘consume’ as it applies to food, but was unsure of exactly what he meant. “I…non sicuro”

“You eat?”

He was asking me to dine with him, of course, how daft could I be. Well, why not? I was here to learn about the culture and maybe some of the language I realized.

“Mi piacerebbe”

“Si!”

He seemed pleased. I must of said what I meant to. How could our American ‘I would love to’ translate so intimately, wrapped in two beautiful words in Italian? I was going to enjoy myself in this mysterious country after all.

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