A man with dark, curly hair, a goatee beard and glasses smiled at her. He was shorter than she’d imagined. Neither of them had been very good at the conversion and she’d thought he was taller than this. He was taller than her, but not by much. He also didn’t have the broad shoulders that she was used to from the sporty guys she knew at home. He was rather skinny, but he had an air of confidence and a huge smile on his face. She could really fall in love with this guy.
“I was on my way to the shop,” she said as neither of them made a move towards each other. She pointed at the map. “It’s here.”
“Then let’s go together,” he suggested.
Shopping was a surreal experience. Neither of them spoke much and they just picked things at random. When they got back to the apartment building Mario pointed at a little car.
“That’s my car,” he said. “I drove down here this morning. My laptop is in my bag, can I bring it up?”
Chrissie nodded and watched as Mario got a big holdall out of the car. It seemed rather careless to leave an expensive laptop in a car like that. They walked up the stairs to the second floor and Chrissie opened the door. Once inside Mario put his bag in the hall and helped Chrissie unpack the grocery bags. His fingers touched hers as he handed her a bag of pasta and he withdrew his hand as though he’d burnt his fingers. Chrissie thought to herself that he was obviously regretting this. She was too ugly and fat for him. He was trying to think of a way to escape from this situation.
“Would you like something to eat or drink?” she asked, hearing how shrill her nervous voice sounded.
“No, thank you,” he replied tersely. “Is there anywhere we can sit and talk?”
“There’s a tiny living room through that door,” she pointed. He opened the door and she followed him through. They sat down next to each other on the threadbare sofa.
“I’m sorry,” he started and Chrissie braced herself for the inevitable rejection. “I realise that I’m not what you imagined. If I can sleep on this sofa tonight I’ll return home in the morning.”
“What do you mean?” Chrissie wasn’t sure she’d understood him correctly.
“I can see it in your eyes, and hear it in your voice. You were expecting someone different, you’re not attracted to me.”
“Now listen here,” she replied. “You’re the one who was repulsed by me. You’re the one who can’t get over that I don’t look like a supermodel.”
He was flabbergasted. “No, you don’t look like a supermodel. You’re a hundred times more beautiful. You’re even more beautiful in the flesh than in a photo. I can’t believe you’re not already taken.”
“And I was not at all put off by you. You’re very handsome, you’re more than I expected.”
He looked at her and a smile grew on his lips. “Then we do like each other?”
She smiled back. “It would appear that way.”
“We’re both too shy and insecure.”
“You don’t seem at all insecure.”
“It’s an act. I try to be an Italian stallion, but deep inside I was so afraid that I wouldn’t live up to your expectations.”
“I don’t want an Italian stallion, I just want you.”
“Then shall we greet each other properly?” he stood up before her.
She stood up next to him and extended her hand. “Hi Mario, I’m Chrissie,” she said in her best Italian.
“Hello Chrissie, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” He took her hand and kissed her cheeks. Then he wouldn’t let go of her hand, but used it to pull her closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his lips over hers.
If he hadn’t been holding her she was certain that she would’ve fallen over. His tongue softly parted her lips and invaded her mouth. She’d been kissed like this before, but she’d never experienced this feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued kissing him. His hand cupped her breast and she could feel his erection against her tummy. For the first time in her life the feeling of a man’s erection pressed against her didn’t make her want to stop what they were doing. She was just nervous of what came next.
Slowly Mario released the hold of her lips and they stood before each other, gasping for air.
“This was more wonderful than I imagined,” she smiled at him.
“I knew it was going to be magic to have you in my arms,” he kissed her lightly. “Now that I’ve held you I never want to let go.”
Chrissie laughed. “You’ll have to let go when I go to my classes. Speaking of which, I need to do my homework before we do anything else.”
“Why don’t you do your homework in the kitchen and I’ll make us a meal.”
Chrissie got her book and was amazed at how quickly they settled into the domesticity in the small apartment. Mario cooked pasta with a carbonara sauce and stopped ever so often to help Chrissie when she got stuck. He popped open a bottle of wine to have with their food and they talked about anything and everything while they ate, Chrissie helped Mario with his pronunciation of English words and Mario helped Chrissie with her grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation in Italian. They had some chocolate mousse for dessert and by the time they’d finished the dishes it was already getting dark outside.
“Is there anything you’d like to do tonight?” Mario asked Chrissie as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.
She blushed and stammered. “I don’t know, what do you want to do?”
He turned her around in his arms and looked into her eyes. “I think I want to do the same as you.”
She nodded and he took her hand and walked with her to the bedroom. There were two single beds in the bedroom as the apartment was usually rented by two students who shared the costs. Seeing how Chrissie had rented it on her own she’d only been provided with one set of sheets. They pushed the beds together and used a chair and a dresser to keep them in place. Mario said that he’d go out and buy some string to tie them together when Chrissie went to her class the next day. Then he surprised her by producing sheets of his own, telling her that he’d expected this situation. Finally he put a cardboard box next to the bed. It didn’t take a genius to guess that it was a rather optimistically large pack of condoms.