Tutti Italia: A Novel Read online

  “I thought that you lived on base?”

  “I just moved out yesterday. I’m staying with one of my friends. We went in on a two bedroom apartment together.” Oh, ok. That made sense.

  “So where do you live now? I mean, if it’s not too much to ask.”

  “Not at all. It’s right out the main gate. Fifth house on the left, second floor, apartment B.” She quickly wrote it down just to be safe.

  “Thank you so much for going to check on her. It means a lot to me.”

  “It’s not a problem.” He hung up the phone, and Rachel smiled to herself. She felt like she’d helped her friend after all. The day was only a little more than half over, and Rachel now had nothing to do for the rest of it. She put on her IPod and picked up her cross stitch. She was almost finished with the project that she’d started, and was dying to start one of her new ones. Her goal was to finish the old one tonight. By the time that nine thirty rolled around, she took her last stitch and set the finished project aside. She grinned. Her goal had been met. She was tired from looking back and forth from her pattern to her canvas, and she was going to relax and unwind with a nice hot shower. She lost track of time as the hot water cascaded over her, lulling her even more into a state of drowsiness. She hurriedly dried off, put on her pajamas, and curled up in bed. With a loud yawn, she let the blackness take her.

  Friday dawned wet and rainy. Rachel could hear it drumming on her window and the walkway outside. She sighed. This was the perfect weather to curl up with someone you liked, on the couch, with popcorn and a movie. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that and it made her sad. If that wasn’t an option of how to spend the day, then she just wanted to curl up and go back to sleep. She got up and looked out the window. If it was only a drizzle, then she might consider going out and doing something with her day. When she saw the torrents that were streaming down from the clouds, she shut her blinds again and dove back into her bed. In a few minutes, her eyes drifted shut again, and she slept for a few more hours. When she awoke for the second time, the rain had only gotten worse. Oh well. She had food in the kitchen, and she could start one of her new projects. That made her happy. Unfortunately, the weather still had her being more tired than she should be. She could almost feel herself dozing between stitches. She went into the kitchen and grabbed herself an energy drink. Sipping it every now and then kept her awake. She started to get into the music a little more, the longer she listened, and the beats kept her awake as well. She got a good chunk of her new picture done, and she was proud of herself. It was her last free day before the weekend, and she had an idea for tomorrow…providing that the weather decided to cooperate with her. She enjoyed the rest of her day, but it went by too quickly for her. She could only tell how many hours she’d been awake by how much stitching she’d done that day. That night she went to bed with butterflies in her stomach. Praying that the weather would be nice tomorrow.

  When she looked out the window the next morning, she was overjoyed. Her prayers had been answered. The sun was up and it was already warm. She checked the time. It was nine thirty. She hurriedly got dressed and brushed her hair and teeth, snatched her purse, and made her way across the street to the mini mall. She found the car rental place at the far end, and quickly signed up for a week’s worth of driving a little Fiat 500. She wanted to surprise Jason and take him out to breakfast. She had the directions with her that she’d written down last night, and she was heading out of the gate. Jason had been right. It was easy to find his apartment. When she got up the stairs, she saw that his apartment door was cracked open. She had a short fight with herself about whether or not she should knock or just go in. She decided to barge in and ask Jason to breakfast. She didn’t know which bedroom was his, and she stood there for a few minutes, looking at the decorations on the doors. She remembered him saying once that Flogging Molly was his favorite band, and one of the doors had a poster with that band on it. She grinned and headed for the door. She opened it quietly.

  “Surprise! I just wanted to see-“ Rachel froze. Jason was in bed, with nothing on…and he wasn’t alone. Elena’s head popped up from under the blanket next to him. She stood there for a few seconds, with her mouth hanging open in shock, before she spun around and ran out of the apartment. She was half way down the stairs when her phone started ringing. The caller ID said it was Jason and she hit the Ignore button. She hadn’t even started crying yet. It was coming, she could feel it, but she didn’t want anyone to see it. She was trying to hold back as long as she could. Her phone rang again, and it was Elena. She ignored that call, too. Once she was safely behind the wheel of her car, she made the short drive back to her dorm, parked the rental, and ran up the stairs to her room. When the door was shut behind her, she dove onto her bed, facedown, and let the floodgates open. She couldn’t believe it! He had been so sweet to her, so kind, and gentlemanly. Now she realized that she was just going to be a notch in his belt. Well, screw him! And Elena! She didn’t need them. She wasn’t going to be working with Elena, either. She picked up the phone and called the woman that fielded all calls after hours at the school. Rachel explained that she and Elena had had a falling out that would never be resolved, and she wanted a different teacher’s aide come Monday. The woman assured her it would be taken care of, and that she wouldn’t have to work with Elena on Monday. Rachel thanked her, and lay back on her bed to cry a little more. It felt like her heart had been ripped out.

  She had just felt that, for the first time, she had a sweet guy, she was starting to build some confidence, and she was in a beautiful new country that she’d wanted to explore with Jason. The shopping trip with Elena was now tainted, as far as she was concerned, and she would never talk to the two of them again. On a spur of the moment decision, she snatched up her keys to the rental car, and locked up her room. She was going to see Italy, and she was going to do it by herself. She didn’t need Jason or Elena, or anyone else! She drove to the area where she was going to be teaching school at come Monday. The ITT office was right inside the gate. She parked and walked in. There were a few ladies behind desks, and a waiting area. There was a spinning stand of the monthly schedules, as well as more details on each big trip.

  “Can I help you?” One of the women had drifted over to Rachel.

  “Oh, no thank you. I need to find a trip first.” Rachel smiled.

  “Not a problem. Whenever you decide, just come on over to one of the desks.” Rachel thanked her and started looking through the printouts. There was a trip on a weekend that looked very enticing. It was to Munich, Germany for the opening of Oktoberfest. Then they would be spending that night in Salzburg, Austria, then go through the town and the castle before coming back late that night. It wasn’t a bad price either. Rachel smiled. That was the trip she wanted to take. She took the page that gave the details of the trip, then went to find the woman who’d approached her earlier.

  “Did you make a decision?” The woman smiled at her.

  “Yes. I’d like to go on the Oktoberfest Express, please.” The woman shuffled through some papers on her desk.

  “No problem. Which seat on the bus would you like?” She grabbed a diagram of the bus’ seats, and showed Rachel which ones were still open. Rachel chose one in the back, where she could be by herself. The woman wrote her name down. “The room assignments will be made when we check in, and other than that, you just need to be here at five in the morning on Saturday.” Rachel paid her, said thank you again, and left. She felt better about herself now. She was going to see places that she’d never been to, and she was going to do it alone. She couldn’t wait until next weekend.

  Rachel spent the remainder of this weekend sewing in her room and watching movies. Her phone would ring intermittently. She was almost at the point where she didn’t even bother to look. It was always either Jason or Elena, and she wasn’t going to talk to either one of them. That was a pact that she made with herself, and she wasn’t going to break it under any circumstances.

  When M
onday morning hit, Rachel was glad that she had the rental car. She drove herself to the school and went to her room with all of her decorations. She sat everything up, and waited to see who the new teacher’s aide would be. A young woman walked in, with raven black hair, and deep brown eyes. She crossed the room to where Rachel was sitting and offered her hand for a handshake.

  “Good morning! I’m Sky. I’ll be your teacher’s aide this year.” Rachel offered her a smile.

  “Hi. My name is Rachel. I’m glad that you could work with me. Have you been here before?”

  “Yes. This is my third year as a teacher’s aide. I’m still working on getting my teaching certificate.” Rachel was relieved. She’d still have someone that could help her learn the ropes. The little kids started filing in the room, and both women turned their attention towards them. Rachel couldn’t wait to start her first day.

  Chapter 18

  Rachel’s week was great. She felt like she was the mother for all of her little kids, and she was already starting to get attached to them. Sky was turning out to be a lot like Rachel, and she was wanting to try to make friends with her, but the fresh wound from Elena made her hesitate. It was Friday afternoon, and Rachel and Sky were cleaning up the room to have it ready for Monday again.

  “Any big plans this weekend?” Sky asked absently, as she hung up the art projects some of the children had made during the week.

  “Yes, actually. I’m going on one of those ITT trips. We’re going to Oktoberfest, then to Austria. I’m really looking forward to it.” Sky smiled as she hung up the last project.

  “Those are pretty fun. They do this one around Halloween where they go to Romania and spend a night in Dracula’s castle. I’ve been wanting to go on that one for a while now.” That was what Jason had said. If more people were talking about it, it had to be a good trip. Maybe Rachel would go on that one, too. The room was clean, and Sky was putting on her coat. “See you on Monday!” She took her purse from the teacher’s cubby and walked out. Rachel stayed a little longer and looked around at her room. It made her happy to know that she’d made this room fun. She’d been the one to make the little kids want to come back every day. Maybe this job wasn’t a dream come true, considering the consequences that she’d already suffered, but things were starting to look up, now, and she was going to start living the life she’d always been too afraid to live. Rachel still had the rental car, and she was heading over to the bank to pick up a wire transfer that her mom had sent her. She was going to buy a car today, and luckily for her, the dealership was not too much of a walk out the front gate. Luckily, it was a different gate than the one that Jason lived out of. It would have killed her to have to walk by his apartment building. She picked up the money, drove back to the mini mall across from her dorm, and turned the car in. She made sure she had the money safely zipped up in her purse, then walked out the front door. She’d liked the little car that she’d been driving around, so she’d gone out and found one that she was planning on buying. It didn’t take long for her to sign the paperwork, and then the keys were in her hands. She happily drove back to her dorm. Now, she was going to pack for her trip, then go to bed early. She had to be up early, and she couldn’t be more excited.

  Rachel took the bag that she’d used as carryon luggage out of her closet and packed it with some light, overnight essentials. She threw in a second pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt, too. Packing was done, and Rachel looked at her watch. It was only six, but she was exhausted. She took a shower and went to sleep.

  Rachel’s alarm went off at quarter after four the next morning. She was still tired, because, even though she’d gone to bed early last night, she’d been so excited about going on this trip that it had taken a while for her to get to sleep. She rushed around her room, taking care of some last minute business before she grabbed her bag and the keys to her new car, and walked out the door. She had to grin when she saw her car. She was so proud of herself for getting herself more self-sufficient. She put the bag in the passenger seat, then drove off base. She was amazed at how little traffic there was at this hour. She knew from Jason that the next shift would be starting around six, so the people that were coming in to work should be coming in right now. Oh well, it was no big deal for her. She didn’t care about him anymore, and with the road being so empty, she could break the speed limit a little bit. She arrived at the designated parking area for the people going on the trip, and she went to sign in with the lady that was to be their tour guide. Once she did, she put her bag under the bus, as she’d been directed, then took her seat on the bus. Once everyone had arrived, Rachel noticed that the two seats next to her were still empty. The bus started moving, and Rachel spread herself over the three seats, curling up for a little nap.

  The bus came to a stop a few hours later, and the sudden cessation of movement woke her up. They’d stopped just over the Austrian border, at a breakfast rest stop. Everything was written in German, and it made her smile. She went through the buffet lines like it was nothing, and when it was her turn to check out, she spoke fluent German to the lady at the cash register. She sat down to have her breakfast, facing the large picture window that gave her a magnificent view of a mountain range. It was the type of fairy tale beginning to an adventure that she’d always wanted. The only problem was she was alone. The adventure was still happening, but the romance portion of it would be put on hold for now. The tour guide was starting to usher people back on the bus, and Rachel reluctantly put her tray in the bussing station and went back outside. When everyone was back on the bus, the tour guide told them that they still had three or four hours to go before they reached the Oktoberfest grounds. Rachel yawned, and curled back up on her three seats for another nap.

  When the bus came to a halt for the second time, Rachel woke up wide awake and full of energy and excitement. They were in a crowded parking lot, full of other buses and a section that was jammed full of cars. She knew that they had to be at Oktoberfest. She looked out the window eagerly, only to be met by a wall of pine trees. She frowned and her heart sank. She hoped and prayed that this wasn’t going to be a big disappointment like Jason had turned out to be. She filed off the bus and joined the large group reluctantly. She was itching to run around the fence until she could gain entrance to the grounds and see what it was all about. The tour guide told them all to be back that night at eight o’clock sharp, because they still had a few hours to go until they crossed back into Austria to get to their beds for the night. Then they were set loose. Rachel was the first one to reach the gates, and at first, she could feel herself getting a little disappointed. Then she found some shops that sold German traditional clothes, and she went in and entertained herself for about forty-five minutes, trying on the ones she liked. Once she saw the price, however, she quickly got out of the store. She wasn’t made of money, and according to those prices, only someone that was could shop there. As she was leaving the store, she saw that hundreds of people were lining up along the sides of the street. Curious, Rachel joined the throng and dodged and wove her way around until she could get a good look at the street. It was the Oktoberfest Opening Ceremony Parade. She took her camera out and started clicking away as the parade wound its way past her. Two hours later, when the last wagon went by, Rachel’s fingers were numb from holding up her camera, but she happily packed it away. That was a hell of a parade. She made her way back towards the grounds that were gated in, and she saw that everything was coming to life.

  The beer tents were opening. There were a few rides for younger kids, bratwurst stands, pretzel stands, and games. She made a full round so she could make sure she saw everything, then she hurriedly got in line at her favorite brand’s beer tent, before it got to be overwhelming. She got a two liter mug that she took with her as she perused the grounds once more. There was a large hill where people were sprawled out, already drunk. She chuckled to herself, knowing that it would fill up steadily as the day wore on. She got to sit on one of the wagons from the parade t
hat was horse drawn, and get her picture taken with her big mug in her hand. This was a great trip already. She was on her way over to the games when she froze. Right in front of her was an older couple, in traditional German clothes, and she knew them. They were one of the best known Volksmusik singers in Germany. She started snapping their picture right away. That was going to be the highlight of her day, regardless of how the rest of the day went. She couldn’t wait to tell her grandparents about it. Time wore on, and she found herself eating one of the big pretzels that they sold, and playing a few of the games. She’d gone back and waited in line for another large beer, and by the time she’d finished it, it was time to start making her way to the parking lot. She was still floating on a high from life. She’d seen one of her favorite singer couples, and she’d had a huge pretzel that reminded her of home. She’d finished the second beer at the top of the stairs that were overlooking the drunk hill. She’d been right. The hill almost didn’t have a free space left by the time she got down and left the grounds.

  It took her a few minutes to find the right bus, but then she saw that she was still a little early. There were only four other people there. One was a man in his late twenties, who had apparently come on the trip alone, and a group of three, that was closer to her own age, that consisted of two guys and a girl. They were sitting together on the curb, laughing and joking and showing each other pictures that they’d taken over the course of the day. Rachel looked away while tears stung her eyes. She would love to be here with a group of friends. She only wished that people didn’t hate her so much. For some reason that she couldn’t figure out for the life of her, people just generally didn’t like her. She sat down, far away from the happy group, and just went over her own pictures again. A wet nose snuck its way into her face, and Rachel jumped back, startled. A big husky had come over to say hi. She laughed and petted the big fur ball, laughing more as he licked her face and jumped up on her. The owner came running up, apologizing profusely for the dog. It turned out that he had slipped his collar, and had come running to someone that he thought was acting sad. Rachel knew he was right, but she wasn’t going to admit it out loud in front of all of these strangers. She petted the dog one last time and gave him a kiss on the nose as he walked off with his owner. When she went to pack up her camera, she noticed that one of the two boys from the group of three was looking at her.