Italian Liaisons

The Hotel With Ari and Melina in the back seat of the rental, Nara drove them to a small motel closest to the airport. “Well, it’s not the Ritz, but it’ll do for a night,” she said. They parked the car in front of the office and then headed into the lobby to check in. “Got a room for a couple of very tired people from Italy?” asked Nara. “Sure do,” said the heavyset redhead behind the desk. “That must be quite a time difference for you folks.” “It sure is. We were supposed to be in bed hours ago.” The receptionist smiled. “Smoking or non?” “Non.” The pudgy redhead tapped on the computer’s keyboard, then said, “109 is available. We’re pretty dead today, so I shouldn’t have to put anyone above or next to you that may disturb your sleep. Is this just for one night?” “Should be. That is, unless there are any delays in getting plane tickets.” “How many keys would you like?” “Just two would be fine.” A few minutes later, they entered the spacious room. Melina ran ahead. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “This is bigger than our house.” Nara laughed and translated for Ari. Then she told Melina to stay put while they brought the car around and brought their luggage into the room. Once their belongings were securely inside the room, it was agreed, with Nara translating, that they would first try to call about getting tickets back to Italy, then grab something to eat, then take showers, and finally hit the sack. Nara spent about ten minutes on the phone buying tickets with a credit card, and then the trio headed across the street to a restaurant, with an excited Melina occasionally running ahead, leaving Ari and Nara amused and invigorated by her childlike enthusiasm. Because it wasn’t quite dinnertime yet, the restaurant wasn’t too crowded. “It feels so good to be in an air-conditioned room,” Ari said with relief as they entered the eatery. “It’s not that hot out today,” Melina said, and when Nara translated to Ari, Ari rolled her eyes and shook her head, triggering a hearty laugh from Melina. They were seated and soon eating their dinner. Ari had pasta while Nara had a burger, and Melina had fried chicken. “I haven’t eaten this much in ages,” said Melina. Nara translated for Ari. “I guess not all Italians eat pasta,” Melina said next, referring to Nara’s burger. “Ari’s a vegetarian,” said Nara. Melina wrinkled her nose and said, “Boring.” Nara chuckled and translated for Ari again. When they returned to the room, they refrigerated their leftovers, including the pint of milk Ari wanted to warm up later for Melina, should she have a hard time sleeping. Then the three women kicked off their shoes and sat on the edge of the bed—Melina and Ari on the bed closest to the door, Nara on the one closest to the bathroom. “Wow! It feels so good to finally be able to unwind in a nice, cool room,” said Nara. Melina wrapped her arms around Ari’s waist. She returned the embrace lovingly, pulling her snugly against her. She kissed the top of her head, and they gently swayed back and forth as she slowly ran a hand up and down the length of her back, sending warm and unfamiliar sensations throughout Melina’s young body. “Aw,” said Nara. “I still can’t believe she’s here,” said Melina. Nara laughed and repeated her words in Italian for Ari. Then Ari spoke in fluent Italian, which Nara translated for Melina. “She says that while she never exactly planned on having to have someone interpret this for her, it’s important to her that there are no misunderstandings.” “About what?” asked Melina. “Just about some things she’d like you to know about her and that she’d like to know about you.” “Ok.” “First of all, she doesn’t want you to feel rushed or make you do anything you might be uncomfortable doing. At the same time, since you’ve never been with anyone before—you are a virgin, right?” Melina nodded. “She’d like to wait until you’re married, which she’d like to do right away—as in, as soon as we get back to Italy. She’s not only sure of her love for you, but this way there are no citizenship issues, and you’d also be insured medically if you were married the day after you got back and had at least a day to adjust to the time difference.” “Va bene,” said Melina. Ari said something in Italian. “You wouldn’t feel rushed?” asked Nara. “No, not at all.” Nara translated. Melina suddenly felt sick. She clutched her stomach, drawing looks of concern from both Ari and Nara. “What’s wrong?” Ari asked in Italian. “I think I’m gonna puke!” Melina ran into the bathroom and emptied her dinner into the toilet. Ari grabbed a cool washcloth for Melina, who’d begun to wail like a child once her stomach was empty. “Sh-sh, va bene,” Ari cooed. Nara had approached them at this point and said, “You ok now, babe?” Melina quieted and nodded. “Sorry to waste all that good food.” “Oh, it’s ok, sweetie. You’re probably just not used to eating that much.” “I guess not,” Melina said as Ari patted her lovingly, brows knotted with concern. “You should be ok now. We’ll just have to remember not to give you as much for the next few days.” “We’ll take our shower now, and then we can cozy up in bed and get comfortable,” Ari said in Italian, which Nara translated. “Ok. I know you guys have been up forever anyway.” “We sure have,” said Nara. “We just want to hit the shower, then hit the sack.” Shower time was the best for Melina. It really made up for throwing up her dinner. Fortunately, the bathroom was big enough for two people to undress in. Ari stuffed their dirty clothes into a plastic laundry bag, and then she stood upright to gaze at a naked Melina. She admired every sweet, young, curvaceous inch. “Il mio Dio!” she breathed. “Tu sei molto bella.” “E tu anche,” Melina said, turned on by the fit and attractive woman before her who had loved her enough to travel halfway around the world for her. The two held each other in a warm embrace. Melina nearly drowned in Ari’s eyes of warm chocolate, which held her gaze with such love. Then they kissed passionately on the lips. Melina’s body tensed with a kind of delight she’d never felt before as she tightened her embrace on Ari. Ari pulled back, smiling and breathing heavily. Then she gently pulled Melina’s arms from around her waist, pointed to the shower, then yawned and mimed lying her head down on a pillow. Melina understood that she was too tired to do much of anything but sleep, and as Nara had said, she wanted to wait until they’d tied the knot. They showered together, wet bodies rubbing against each other, sending waves of delight throughout Melina that she’d never felt before. They kissed a few times under the warm spray of water, and then Nara took her own shower once they were done. Once everyone had showered and dried their hair, they climbed into bed. “Oh, it feels so good to be in bed,” Nara exclaimed, then she said it again in Italian. Ari said something, and Nara translated. “She said she realizes it may be too early for you to sleep, so you can plug in your laptop—since they have internet access here—and play around on your computer, but please don’t leave the room.” “Oh, I won’t leave it,” Melina said. “Walking around alone in a strange place isn’t my thing.” Nara translated, and Ari took Melina into her arms. Nara gazed across at them from her own bed and smiled. “Somebody’s too hyper to sleep just yet, huh?” Melina laughed and said, “I can at least rest a while.” “Don’t forget that your leftovers are in the fridge,” Ari said in Italian, which Nara translated. Ari and Nara fell asleep in no time, and Melina alternated between her laptop and cozying up next to Ari. Around midnight, she fell asleep until the others awoke.