Letters From The Heart
By Missy and Old Time Fan
First Part By: Old Time Fan
Laverne sat in the middle of the wine grove just outside her cousin Nunzio's cottage. Northern Italy was unbelievably beautiful; so lush, so quaint, so peaceful. It was too bad that she was far too distracted to enjoy it.
She leaned back, her tanned face tilted toward the sun that blazed above and closed her eyes. The sun warmed her flesh, but did little to loosen the knot that had taken up permanent residence in her stomach ever since that night with Lenny back home. Too fast, she scolded herself for the hundredth time since her arrival at her mother's family home. You always go too fast! If only you'd listened to your head for once, instead of other, less clear thinking parts of your body...!
She sighed and opened her eyes. It was pointless to dredge up the memory yet again. All the scolding in the world wouldn't change the fact that she and Lenny had gone from being casual, if awkward buddies to lovers inside of a week. She reached into her straw handbag and plucked out a sheet of letter paper and a pen. I promised I'd write him as often as I could, she thought. The least I can do is keep my word.
She nibbled the tip of the pen for a moment, remembering the hurt in Lenny's blue eyes when she'd told him of her abrupt, unplanned vacation out of the country. He'd taken it personally - how could he not - despite her constant reassurances that she was the problem, not him. At the airport, when they had kissed goodbye, she'd felt his need for her, sensed that he was screaming inside for her to stay by his side. He'd mirrored her feelings at that moment of their parting. Everything inside of her had cried out, Stay! Don't get on that plane! Those goosebumps whenever he's near mean something...you need to find out what! Yet she had only smiled, caressed his cheek one last time, then picked up her old, worn suitcase and turned away. Only when she'd reached the line for her flight did she dare glance back. There he'd been, still standing there and watching her, the open affection and sadness in his expression etching itself into her memory. On impulse, she had cried, "I'll write, Len! Every day...well, once a week, at least! I promise!"
He'd smiled at that, which had made her heart soar. It was more of a reaction than such a simple response should have inspired, but it had given her the strength to turn away once more and get on the plane, knowing that she'd left him feeling even the tiniest bit better. Still, the stone in her gut had rolled around the entire flight and remained a constant weight even after landing in this beautiful, magical country and being swept away by her aunts, uncles, and many cousins. It reminded her of what she was missing, even when she didn't want to think about it...about him....
Laverne clicked the ballpoint and began to write, the white paper resting against her lightly browned thigh. The words seemed to flow from nowhere and she could scarcely keep up with her thoughts:
Dear Lenny,
How's it going? I landed fine, obviously, and Italy is just great! I'm at my cousin Nunzio's this week. He lives on fifty acres of wine groves and everything smells terrific! Next week, I'm off to my aunt and uncle's place in Napoli. They're passing me around like a casserole at a dinner party. I don't mind, it's giving me the chance to see a lot of the countryside and meet a bunch of relatives I barely know, but they all treat me like they've known me forever. They say I remind them of Mamma, who we all miss and loved a lot, so I consider it a compliment.
How are things in Milwaukee? Did Squiggy's foot get better yet? I can't believe he didn't jump out of the way when Big Bob was forklift racing. He's usually faster than that. What about Shirley? She was a little down about that Lucille chick Carmine's been dating. Maybe you can fix her up with someone else, get her mind off things. I hate to think about her sitting around in our apartment in her fuzzy slippers watching Sea Hunt all alone every night, without my shoulder there to cry on. She plays tough, Shirl does, but she's really a cream puff inside, especially where Carmine's concerned. It must be hard to care about a guy so much who just isn't ready to settle down. Not that he SHOULD settle down, mind you, we're all still pretty young to be doing that. Even going steady, ha! Who'd want to do that already? Not that there's anything wrong with going steady, mind you, it's just a big commitment. Not that you know anything about commitment, so why am I even going on and on about this? Just ignore that last part, okay? I don't have an eraser and I hate to scribble all over letters with ink. Makes them look all messy.
Anyway, I'm having a really good time here. The only strange thing is that every time I see a neat statue or a pretty grove of trees or anything interesting, I keep turning around and almost saying, "Hey, Len, isn't that cool?" Isn't that weird? It's like, if you were here with me, it would make everything - cooler. I guess that means I miss you or something. Go figure, huh!
The truth is, I do. Miss you, I mean. I know we haven't been whatever we are for very long. But I kind of like it, you know? Well, I really liked the one part, and you know what I mean (wink, wink), but besides that night. I like the way I feel when we're together, even when we're just hanging out, sharing a pizza or watching t.v. I like the way I feel when I see you at work when I wasn't expecting to see you. It makes my heart all skippy inside. I kind of got the idea that you might feel the same way, too. Probably because you keep telling me how pretty and smart and wonderful I am. I know I keep punching you in the shoulder or laughing when you say it, but that's just because I'm not used to hearing those things from a guy who means it. Well, except from my Pop, of course, but that's different.
Okay, I've babbled long enough. I just wanted you to know that I'm fine and happy, except I'd be finer and happier if you were here. Still, I know I needed to do this. I can't think too clearly when you're with me and I need time to, you know, do that. I've got to figure some stuff out, about me. About us. Do you understand? Good, because I don't! Ha-ha!
I look forward to getting a letter back from you soon. You didn't think you were going to get out of writing me back all these weeks, did you? No way, think again! I expect answers, boyo, and I'm not writing another word to you until I do. So there, the ball's in your court.
Give my love to everyone. And yes, that includes you.
Laverne
To Part 2