I wave my phone in the air to get some kind of a signal. The signals and connection are really bad out here on the road. I try to look into the distance and of course, I see people fining and dining on the coast. You would think there wouldn't be this sort of a problem here where there are already so many people and they come to visit all year round.

I give up after a while and just enjoy some strolling on my own. I'm more likely to be just pacing back and forth. There isn't much to do over here unless you want to enjoy some dinner first. And that I'm not really planning to do. I'm just waiting here for Harry.

I was trying to see if I got a text from him but haven't had any success. I continue pacing, standing on the Amalfi coast.

The gallery where I exhibited today wasn't that far of a walk from here. It was merely minutes away. I decided to just come here instead of him coming to pick me up or vice versa. The stadium that he was playing at is also in the distance.

"Here you finally are." Says Harry when he sees me pacing. I meet his eyes when I turn around during the act.

A smile begins his way to my mouth. "Hi."

"Hello to you too." He greets me with the same smile, tilting his head a little at the action. "Have you been standing long?"

"Not really. I'm good." I join his side as we slowly start walking along the coast. "How have things been with you?"

"The usual, you know." He says. "Always better to see you."

"It hasn't been that long of a time." I say, but wanting to return his sentiment. "But I feel the same way too."

His contentment shows in the smile he gives me. We keep walking along the coastline of southern Italy, passing by the string of houses and restaurants. The turquoise railing where we had started is now in the background. The scenery definitely looks so much different than if we had been here in the light of the day. Now, the houses on the hills seem more like light decorations than places of accommodation. There is not much need for an extra source of light; the dwellings are enough. Our walk is accompanied by light conversations, catching up on each other's doings and enjoying company.

When we pass by the restaurants that are most crowded with people, we spot small stalls of food where people aren't taking over the space. The reason being mainly because tourists choose the former restaurants rather than the stalls, leaving them empty. The only people there are the street vendors or some locals who know better about the place and where the food tastes the best.

"Let's stop here." I tell Harry. "I'm always famished whenever I see you."

"Then we should have stopped by the restaurants before." He says, referring to the ones by the coast. "Why here? We could have gone there instead."

We could have, I thought. But the place was really crowded. And even though it's a good thing that no one would have paid attention to us, I was still worried. I didn't want someone to see him there and have something happen to him like last time.

"It's overpriced." I say instead. "Besides, they're not going to have this flavor over there."

We do a run down of the place and get a little bit of everything. I'm now eating ice cream after sharing Panzerottis and Arancinis with Harry.

"Why would you eat ice cream and not Gelato in Italy? That is a crime." Says Harry, with his mint chocolate gelato in hand.

"I would rather eat neither." I reply. "Mango is the only flavor I like in ice cream. And only if it's like this in a cup." I show it to him and take a bite of it with my teeth.

"Only? And you don't like it? Wow that is." Harry says. "I didn't know that was possible."

I shrug. "Not a fan."

"You should probably hide away. We are surrounded by Italians." He jokes. "We have a Gelato trespasser here." He says the last sentence in a dramatic voice which almost makes me choke on my ice cream.

"Why are you always doing things like that?" I can still feel the cold of it in my throat.

"Like what?' He raises his shoulders, with an innocent voice. It makes it funnier because he speaks really slow and blinks several times before saying something sometimes.

We finish the food and the ice cream plus gelato individually. I told him I'll have to walk back to the gallery because I didn't lock it. The owner gave me the keys when I told her I'll just head from here after the exhibition is over and I'll close it on my way out. The photographs are still hung up and not taken down, she said that it will be done first thing in the morning instead. But it might be that the team comes by tonight so I should just leave it open.

The walk back from the stalls to the gallery didn't feel that long. Harry and I kept exchanging glances maybe because of the uncertainty of us meeting again. The air feels thick as the unpredictability hangs in the middle but it's also light and breezy. It becomes so because I start thinking of saying goodbye not just yet.

When we reach the gallery, Harry stands with his hands in his pockets, ready to bid me farewell but also not sure of his next words. The gallery looks dark from outside, blending with the night. I see that it is also that way because the help team did not come. I feel a surge of elation in my heart at the sudden relief I experienced.

"Do you maybe," I start off, not knowing how he'll receive it or where I'm going with it. "Want to come inside?"

"Inside? There's no one there." He says, obscured.

I open the door with my bare hand a little."It's unlocked." I show him the keys that make a jingling sound. "I have the keys."

I smile at him and open it, Harry hesitantly following me inside. I turn the lights on and the place blooms into gold. In an instant, the pictures on the wall can be seen bit by bit, starting from the entrance to the end of the room.

He takes my lead, showing him my art. He trails behind me, observing every single piece with curious and appreciating eyes. This feels particularly intimate. The show is over and the work is done but only he has the consent to see my art even when there is no one to appease it to.

"What do you think then?" I finally ask his thoughts when we circle back to the middle of the place, some paintings behind us, some ahead.

"You are magnificent." His voice is low due to some reason, his eyes fixed straight ahead. I just smile, not knowing what to say any further. I'm aware the night is ending and I can feel the thump of my heart. The gold on the frames of the pictures intensifies the already flaxen light.

"Have you ever taken someone else to walk around your gallery?" His low and serious voice poses a question, eyes still gazing at the front of the room but his stance and lingering eyes are not guising it. Do you have someone else in your life?

My heart beat grows faster by the minute, the feeling not the worry of not seeing him again after tonight but something completely unthought of. The truth is that I haven't. This is the first of it that I have done myself by inviting him. I know the truth loud and clear but I fear to say it.

"No." My voice comes out like I'm still questioning it. "Only you."

He turns to me, his full attention now only on me. It's like he was preparing himself for another outcome by looking straight ahead. But my answer didn't confirm his doubts so he does not avoid my eyes.

"Then, I have something to say to you." His serious yet pleading eyes are making a fire of anxiety grow in the pit of my stomach. "I have carried this safe in my heart for quite some time now. But I won't allow it a home there anymore. My feelings are now yours. I like you, Jahanara and you must know how deeply enamored I am with you."

His words come like a sharp twinge in my stomach. I had been praying that it was not going to go in the direction I thought it was going to go to. His green eyes turn pleading by the second he hopes for an answer but I take a step back. Disbelief washes over me.

"You're not, no. You." I can barely get the words out. My mouth is suddenly completely dry. I stammer over my words, not knowing what to say in the first place. "You're mistaken."

I say before heading swiftly out the door. No, no, no.

This cannot be happening. It's not me. He's thinking of someone else. It's not me. Not me. Not me.

I repeat it in my head just shaking my head frantically, not feeling the cold of the air when I run out of the gallery.

"Wait, Jahanara!" Harry comes after me instantly, his voice echoing in the street. "Wait!"

I ignore his calls, not even knowing where I'm going. I keep running, desperate to leave. I can't stand this. I can't stand it any longer.

He catches up to me and pulls me by my hand towards him.

"Not me, it's not me." I didn't realize I had been chanting it out loud and not just in my head. I don't even feel him pulling him to me because I'm stuck saying it over and over again to myself. We stand in the middle of the road, somehow coincidentally surrounded by the greenish blue railings of the Amalfi coast. I walked up to only here before he caught me.

"What are you saying?" His eyes scan me, full of worry for me.

"Harry, it's not me. You're very clearly mistaken. You have to let me go. I have to go." I try to free my hand but he pulls me towards him again.

"I won't let you go this time." His eyes search mine, his voice soft like honey, contradicting mine. I'm impatient to flee but he is patient to understand.

I just stand there, staring at the ground unable to meet his eyes and unable to free my hand. He doesn't let go and just waits for me, not letting me run like last time. I feel myself suddenly deprived of all energy to try to even move so I just drop my hand. Tears start filling up my eyes as I allow myself to think about the incident the first time after years passing by.

"I loved someone once." I start, my eyes on the ground, tears falling on it. I close my eyes to stop them but they fall anyway. I don't check to see what he's thinking. I just stop fighting, too tired to keep up the act anymore. "We were together our whole lives. We made our dreams together. I moved to London for him because he said he'll wait for me there. But when I went he got engaged to someone else."

"I gave my whole life away, Harry. I can't bear this again. I won't do it again." I look up at him, my face wet with never ending tears. I close my eyes shut because of the piercing pain but I cry uncontrollably despite it.

"You won't have to, Jahanara. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that happened to you." He takes my face in his large hands, my eyes still shut because of how much it hurts to open them. I look at him once he starts wiping the tears away. His green eyes are full of sentiment and affection. He lets me cry as much as I want in his hold. I have been keeping this in since the moment I first saw him.

When I settle down a little bit, he wipes them again and says, "You won't do it again. I promise you, you will not go through it with me."

"Why me?" I ask him the underlying question in my mind. "Why not anyone else? Why is it me?"

"Because I can't think of anything but you." He answers, calmly. "There has never been anyone else."

The weight of his confession slowly comes down on me. Our days in Rome together, the night in Bologna, and these three perfect nights.

"You don't have to answer me now." He says. "You can tell me-"

"Of course, I have cared about you." I cut him off. "Of course I have had nothing but admiration for you. I've felt the same, if not more every moment that I've spent with you."

His eyes soak with anticipation and enchantment.

"I've just been scared out of my mind, Harry. I didn't know a better way." The last of my tears dry up on my face.

"I know." He says, cradling my face with both his hands. "There's nothing standing in our way now."

-----

A/N

Okay sooooo I think this is the intermission of the book. I believe half is done. 

I wanted to leave a happy intermission okay, I'm not the monster that you guys think I am.

Anyway, I won't be stopping and still will be posting one chapter a day.

But as it's halfway done, please let me know what you think. Who here is proud of me?