Hidden Heart by Camelia Miron Skiba Page A

got out of the pool,
she had the whole pool to herself. What a pleasure!
    Her laps over, her
heartbeat elevated, Tessa walked to the jacuzzi. She removed her
goggles, rinsed off in the shower and stepped in to the jacuzzi. Up
until then, she hadn’t looked much at the other swimmer who enjoyed
the jets, but once there she saw him.
    “ Ciao , Ms. Cosma,” Alessandro said.
    Tessa froze in the middle
of going down the stairs into the tub. “Hi,” was the only word she
could articulate. She thought of turning around and running away,
but she decided to stay put and went for the other side of the tub,
against the other jets.
    “ Long time no see,”
Alessandro fixed her with a stare.
    She ran the tip of her
tongue over her lips, nervousness settling in her
stomach.
    “ Alessandro, what a
surprise…” If she could hold her breath and sink under the water,
without looking stupid, she would’ve. Moreover, she so wished she
could smack that smirk of his face.
    “ Indeed, this is a
surprise.”
    The jets’ cycle stopped and
both Tessa and Alessandro reached for the switch. The touch sent an
exhilarating jolt through both of them and both jerked, but pulled
back their hands almost instantly. She sank deeper; he moved
farther away on the opposite side of the tub.
    “ See you around,”
Alessandro said then left the tub, wrapped a towel around his waist
and walked towards the exit.
    His hair seemed a bit
longer than she remembered; his athletic figure just as impressive.
Those dark eyes that could see deep in her soul, and those
provocative lips that knew what to do to her body…. He looked sexy
with that towel wrapped below his waist and water running down his
trained body.
    He reached the door and
touched it. He stopped and hesitating to leave, he turned around
and came back to the tub. He knelt next to it, so close to Tessa’s
face she could feel his warm breath on her face. His left palm on
the floor held his balance while he squeezed the other into a tight
fist and placed it against his lips.
    “ I never pictured you a
coward,” Alessandro said, straightened his back, then stood and
left the pool area without once glancing back at her.
    A coward? How dare he
talks to me like this? What gives him the right to treat me so
rude? Why did I have to see him again? Tessa felt a wave of rage taking over her senses. She stood to
run after him and give him a piece of her mind, but dizziness
forced her to drop back down. Maybe she needed some time to adjust
from the cold water of the pool to the hot one in the jacuzzi.
Maybe it was because of the feelings and emotions Alessandro awoke
in her.
    When she caught her breath
and felt back to normal, Tessa hurried out and went to the locker
room. She went for a quick run on the treadmill and hoped her mood
would somehow change; this episode affected her more than she
wanted. Alessandro appeared back in her life when least expected
under very uncomfortable circumstances. She felt exposed,
vulnerable and unable to take immediate control of her life, a
situation that irritated her tremendously.
    She left the gym and went
to shop for new bed sheets, some groceries and then went
home.
    A single message from
Daniel on her answering machine, “Honey, please pi—.” She erased it
mid-sentence. She knew what he wanted; apologizing again and
telling her how much he loved her, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera,
but she had no interest; there was no return for her. She made a
mental note to change her phone number.
    For some reason,
Alessandro’s words resonated in her head the whole day. And for the
same unknown reason, Tessa felt restless. She decided to confront
him.
     
    ***
     
    Stop ringing, stop
ringing, please stop ringing . Tessa grabbed
a pillow and covered her ears only to continue hearing the cell’s
muffled sound. She’d had a horrible night. She’d come home late
after the play, and since two in the morning she’d been up
vomiting. She met Paula for sushi before going to theater