Chapter Forty-One

      Somehow, Layla and Rebecca each contrived for us all to spend a week in Italy. She scheduled herself for a number of odd jobs while leaving me and my dearest friend free to do as we pleased. And we did a lot.

      Never in my life have I talked as much as I did during the week with Rebecca. Nor did I have so much to listen to.

      As it turned out, the day she left me in London, they had traveled to Germany. While promoting their new CD with a couple of shows, they were approached by a video director who insisted on shooting their first video within the next two months. After finishing their PR tour, they returned to Germany to shoot the video of their first single, 'Beaten Down'. Listening to her explain the shooting process it gave me a much better insight to the video I had been obsessed with for a month.

      From there, her band short three more music videos for that alums before they headed back to the states. Back in a recording studio, it took them nine more months before putting the finishing touches on 'Edge of Everything'. It was then that Rebecca admitted that the song was inspired by my story.

     "You may not realize this now, Oliver, but your story is truly a triumph."

      Laughingly, I inquired, "how so?"

      Rebecca wasn't laughing. Instead, she looked at me with her eyes wide and imploring and said in a low tone, "because it's so tragic. I mean, look at how your childhood turned out. In one fell swoop, you were deprived of your entire family. And the only one to take you in was an irascible old woman who neither liked nor wanted you. It's depressing."

      My smile faded as the memories I'd tried so hard to push back started to come to the surface. "Amelia wasn't all bad, you know. She could have let me bounce around from home to home for years. Right up until I was thrown out of the system with nothing but the clothes on my back. Truly, I owe her a lot."

      At that moment is when Rebecca smiled. "That doesn't make it right how she treated you, Oliver. But that's where you become one of the most inspiring men I've ever met: because you can defend someone you've every right to hate. Most kids hate their own parents on less cause."

      I looked away, unable to meet her gaze. Not that she needed my encouragement to continue.

     "But even after such a childhood as that, and despite the hag, you had one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever heard. Out of all the desolation, you found love on the very edge of the world."

      I rolled my eyes as verses from the song slipped into her speech. Truthfully, however, there was a part of me that wished she could stop. Yet, for once, the ache that accompanied that wish wasn't unbearable. Instead of a stabbing, it was now a dull throb. And I could almost look back on that time of my life with a sense of calm observance.

      Smiling slightly to myself, I was just then beginning to understand how time had actually affected my emotions. The most drastic changes in my life had already occurred. And, though certainly the most painful, I was beginning to realize that those days were finally not the most important. Such a realization stunned me.

      Rebecca never even noticed as she continued speaking. "I'm sure you understand, now, how incredibly lucky it was for no one to realize what you and Alec were to one another. I mean, yes best friends are close, but not to see the love you had for one another every single day for years... I almost can't believe it." Rebecca paused there, staring up at the ceiling of our hotel room, her eyes distant as she thought of my 'triumphant' history.

      With a soft say, she said, "then he just vanished. Like morning mist on a hot summer day." I recognized then the lyric of a new song she was working on. "What could have been going through his mind when he left you?"

      Swallowing hard, I was glad she wasn't paying any attention to me. Though I could almost look back on those memories without feeling the heartache, that was a question I was incapable of asking myself. After wondering for so long, it hurt like a raw wound. Alec's reasons were, undoubtedly, his own. And if I was meant to know them, he'd have told me. As it was, it was less torturous to just not think about it.

      On the other bed, Rebecca shook her head slightly before glancing sheepishly at me. My face was impassive but she took the hint. "Oliver, after all you went through as a kid and then with him, any normal person would have lost it. But you're like a Phoenix—not a hummingbird. Life bursts into flames all around you and you're drowning in the ashes. Then, once you've tripped right over the edge, you stand up again and it all falls away. Now, I up and abandon you in a foreign country and you come bursting out of it with a modeling career! How can you think that's anything less than a triumph?"

      I admit, it was nice thinking of it that way. Of course, once upon a time, a slightly similar and much more enthusiastic boy tried to tell me that my experiences made me different than what I believed. Much as before, the words could convince me but little.

      My week with my friend went by too early. There was so much responsibility on both our sides, however, that we could hold off no longer. After working so hard to achieve the dreams we found, neither of us were capable of relinquishing them. And to stay in either of our business for very long required long hours and hard work. We wouldn't trade it for anything.

      With a tearful goodbye on both sides, we sent each other on our way outside of the hotel we were staying at. Rebecca left first, a plane ticket clutched in her hand as she was to head west. It was then that I was left alone again. Suddenly, her first goodbye felt like a much better option as I wandered the streets with an aching in my heart.

      After an hour of dejected wandering, I got a text from Layla to meet her. After memorizing the address, I hurried back to the hotel to call a cab while packing all of my belongings. From there, I was spirited away to the vague location that was supposed to be the location of my best friend.

      Arriving on an empty street beside a large, ornate church, I found myself to be very confused. Confirming that it was, indeed, the correct location, I stepped slowly out of the cab and looked around.

      The street was kind of narrow, despite the fact that the sidewalks appeared to be fairly wide. On one side of the street was a large, stone church. (To my mind, it had to be catholic. As far as I could tell, they had the most beautiful churches and cathedrals in the world.) While on the side of the street I found myself on, there were a few blocky houses set back off the road, each one guarded from the mischief of people by a stone wall that ran all the way down the sidewalk, broken only when an entrance to a house was needed. It was before one of these homes that I was delivered with my baggage to stand on the sidewalk like an utter idiot. All because Layla was late.

      Suddenly, a four-door vehicle that was basically the Italian version of an SUV pulled up to the curb. Jumping out of the driver's seat, Layla grinned widely at me. With an over-the-top 'hold on' gesture, she ran around the side of the car to open the passenger side door to a boy I'd never seen before. Curious, I tilted my head to the side.

      The young man, looking no more than nineteen or twenty, got out of the car with an impish smile for my best friend. When they reached me, a smile had fixed itself in place in my face. "Hummingbird, this is my lunged brother, Vlad. Bro, this is the Hummingbird."

      Lighting up a cigarette, Vlad rolled his eyes at his sister's introduction. "Hello, Hummingbird," he said huskily. His dark eyes with long and beautiful lashes, watched me with with interest.

      "Hello Vlad. And please call me Oliver. It's my real name."

      Sometimes I heard 'Hummingbird' so often in the course of a day that it was almost too easy to forget I had a real name. But for the sake of privacy, hardly anyone knew anything other than Hummingbird. Yet, for Layla's brother, secrecy hardly seemed important.

      An awkward silence threatened as he and  I continued to stare at one another. It was both irritating and a blessing that Layla was there to provide topics.

     "Vlad's been a model almost since he was born, Oliver. Of course, it didn't help having a big sister with a camera fetish."

     "Or a mother who was slightly fame obsessed," he added with a chuckle.

     "Have I seen you in anything recently?" I asked, trying not to offend him by not being familiar with his work.

     "I doubt it. I'm not nearly as famous as you or my sister. Of course, I also don't have the coolest, most mysterious modeling history or name ever." His sly expression was meant directly for me, I knew and I looked away self-consciously.

     "If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be famous enough to help your own career, either," Layla told him in a tone that served as a small reminder.

     "Is that why you're in Italy, Vlad?" My interest was not at all feigned and he nodded knowingly.

     "Luke set me up with another photographer who's going to be in the country for fashion week. As I'm going to be working on expanding my portfolio prior t the big event, I'll be here for a while."

     "Why don't you take pictures of him?" I asked, turning to Layla with furrowed brows.

     "Because family should never work with family. At least, not in so competitive a business. So I pawn him off on the other great men to boss around at their leisure."

     "Yeah, I don't react too well with older sisters telling me what to do," Vlad responded immediately.

      I chuckled at that. "No, I imagine not."

     "Well," Layla said after a few more minutes of chitchat between us, "it's about time you and I get going, Oliver. Our plane leaves in little under three hours and you know how they feel about security when leaving the country." Nodding, I said turned to the vehicle and loaded my bags into the back. At the same time, Layla unloaded Vlad's belongings.

     "I could have done it myself. But thanks," Vlad sighed.

      "You're very welcome. Take care of yourself."

     "I will," he assured her. Then he turned to me and a hint of his curiosity returned. Feeling my heart swell at this, I quickly stepped forward and wrapped an arm around him.

     "I look forward to seeing you again, Vlad. And I hope all you expect and hope for comes out of this deal. I'll keep my eyes out for your work."

      Vlad said nothing. His smile said it all. And my resolve deepened upon seeing it. Just as Rebecca had said: helping someone to achieve their dreams was the greatest thing I would ever do.