Italian Liaisons

Awaking to a New Life Melina’s eyes slowly started to open, but for some reason, she realized she didn’t want them to. Why not? Then she remembered. Her wonderful husband of six months had turned into a monster last night. Then her wonderful mother-in-law of sorts surprised her by knowing English. Lastly, Nara wasn’t the family friend, but actually Ari’s half-sister, Lissi’s daughter. This is a whole new life I’m awakening to, she realized to herself. I should go back to sleep and never wake up again. How she wished she could do just that! But she knew she couldn’t. She could kill herself or even return to Ari since that’d be the easiest thing to do, but she wasn’t ready yet to kill herself, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to return to Ari. Not now, not ever. Instead, she would file for a divorce. She recalled Nara and Lissi’s discovery of her online journal and felt both betrayed and embarrassed. Neither they nor Ari were supposed to know about it. Not yet, anyway. She’d never intended to hide it forever but just hadn’t been ready to share it as of yet. It was the damn pictures that she should’ve hidden! Unable to escape back into the world of sleep, she opened her eyes a bit more but saw nothing. It was still pitch dark in the room. It was also still raining, judging by the sound of it. The next thing she became aware of was something large and solid along the left side of her body. Lissi. Hadn’t she gone to sleep on the other side of the king-size bed? She listened for the sound of breathing but didn’t hear any. Then she sat up and looked at the clock. 5:38 AM She lay on her back, staring up into the darkness, her future unknown. Sadness and fear washed over her and she began to cry. She cried as quietly as she could. After a few minutes, a hand began to gently massage her bare stomach. “Shhh,” Lissi cooed in the dark. “Everything’s going to be ok.” Melina wanted to move away from Lissi, but couldn’t. Her touch was incredibly soothing, almost hypnotic. “It’s early yet,” Lissi whispered. “We can stay here a while longer, all snuggled up where it’s nice and warm.” Feeling like something else was controlling her body, Melina turned onto her side, facing Lissi, and threw her arms around her. Lissi returned the embrace and gathered her snugly into her arms. She gently rocked her back and forth for a moment or two and rubbed her back as well. Melina tried again to get her body to respond to the voice inside her head that was commanding her to pull away, but she was as limp as a rag doll. She loved the feeling of being in Lissi’s arms. She felt so comforted, safe, and relaxed that she fell back asleep in no time, rocking gently in Lissi’s long, strong arms as if she were a little baby.