The Empty Room Read online

  “Yeah, but we need to go to the Ponte Vecchio. Also that’s why we need to get a lock, the basilica of Santa Croce, could be the go as well,” Karen replied.

  “Hey are you reading all this?” I asked.

  Quickly getting up and seeing Karen reading from a lonely planet,

  “Ha, you caught me.”

  “It’s Europe on a shoestring, was in the draw,” Karen added.

  “Oh okay, well it gives us an idea of where to go I guess,” I said.

  “Well then, let’s finish breakfast and head out,” Karen said.

  Agreeing we both head back into the lounge and finished up breakfast, not mentioning Anna’s name again for the rest of the trip. And all I heard back was that she’d like to talk to me again once I got back and wished me a great time away. Karen was a little annoyed but never let on, we just had a great time and lived every day like it was all we would ever get together. Heading out into Florence was an eye opener, for such an old place it had that old looking feel, but was a little run down as well, we found a lock at a corner dairy, which was random when an Indian man served us.

  “Hey what’s the lock for?” I asked Karen.

  “Oh, you’ll see,” Karen said smiling at me.

  “So where to next, let’s find a piazza and grab a coffee and the church is close by as well,” I suggested.

  “Yeah sounds good, then let’s head to the bridge,” Karen insisted.

  “Hey we’re in no hurry.”

  As I took Karen’s hand and she gave mine a little squeeze back.

  “Yeah I know, but hey, we’re in Florence, how cool is this,” Karen declared.

  “Super cool!” I replied.

  “Ha, take it easy,” Karen said, laughing.

  “So have you heard from Lisa?” I asked.

  “Yeah they sent me an email this morning, they’re heading to Rome today and were wondering where we’re staying,” Karen said.

  “Oh wow, you didn’t tell them, did you?” I asked smiling.

  “Nope, because I don’t know,” Karen said

  “In saying that though do we want them staying at the same place as us?” Karen asked.

  “Well depends if they decide to be annoying or not, we could always go back to our own hotel and chill for a bit,” I replied.

  “Yeah, that sounds really-good, they’re looking forward to checking out Rome with us either way,” Karen remarked.

  “So here’s a place that makes coffee,” walking over to a table and taking a seat next to Karen.

  “Yeah, good let’s get one then head to the bridge,” Karen said. Smiling.

  “What are you up to?” I asked

  “Oh you’ll see,” Karen said.

  As I ordered the coffees and headed back outside to see Karen getting hit on by a bunch of Italian guys I wandered back and sat back down at the table, as the guys ignore me and the waiter came out with our coffees, I just sit there and really, enjoyed the coffee and scenery in Florence.

  “Hey Phil?” Karen asked, as the guys walked away.

  “How come you never get jealous?” Karen added.

  “I don’t see the point,” I declared.

  “What do you mean?” Karen asked.

  “Well, if I want to be with someone I just am, if they like to play games and cheat then, I’m out,” I explained.

  “Oh okay,” Karen said.

  “That actually makes a lot of sense, for a weirdo,” Karen added.

  “Ha, well I like you, and I want to be here with you, spending this time with an incredible person,” I said

  Before Karen cut me off and told me she was happy to be here as well.

  Leaning over the table we kissed as the waiter walked over and said in Italian,

  “ah bellisimo, molto bene”.

  Asking us if we would like another coffee, which we agreed to have one more.

  “So this lock,” I asked.

  “Yeah, I need a pen,” Karen replied.

  Just as the waiter came back out and Karen asked if she could use his pen,

  “Hey Phil, turn around for a second I don’t want you to see this,” Karen insisted.

  “Well, if you kiss the,” I started to say before Karen cut me off again.

  “Promise I won’t, just turn around for a second.”

  Doing so, Karen just started laughing,

  “You’re not funny,” I commented.

  “Well, you can turn around now,” Karen said.

  As she hands the pen back to the waiter and we relax and enjoyed the coffee, checking out people as they walked around us, saying ciao to everyone. Karen and I just sat their smiling.

  “Hey what are you smiling at?” Karen asked.

  “You,” I said.

  “Hey, I’m not sure what’s going to happen in Rome, with your sisters, but just remember they’re scared yeah,” I added.

  “Yeah I guess, but I want you to know that, I’d rather be with you, at this moment,” Karen said.

  “Hey thanks Karen, we still have heaps to see, so I’ll try and be a buffer, at least I’ll try,” I declared.

  “Yeah, that’ll be great,” Karen said.

  As we both finished off our coffees and slowly made the short walk around the corner to the bridge, as Karen turned to me laughing.

  “Did you know it was just here, well of course you did?”

  Wrapping an arm around my waist, we both walked towards the bridge laughing, finally getting to the spot, Karen was so keen to get to.

  “So Phil, this bridge is famous, what I’ve done is write your name and my name on this lock and about to throw the key into the river, when you’re at home alone by yourself I want you to look it up, find its meaning and think of me,” Karen demanded.

  Just as she added the lock to the others and threw the key into the river she turned around to me and wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned in. I wasn’t surprised by this. I was however a little surprised by a few people clapping.

  “Not into an audience Karen,” I whispered.

  “Oh sorry,” Karen laughed, kissing me again.

  “Alright let’s go get some food and check out the sights,” Karen remarked.

  [That moment, I’ll never forget, and I did look at what the lock and the bridge all meant, just before I gave Karen’s eulogy. I thanked her.]

  Grabbing my hand, we headed off and looked around, which was awesome, we got lost a few more times than we probably should have, we ran into heaps of people on tours and others from, Australia and New Zealand, we had a ball in Florence and laughed, ate and drank the whole time we were there, we found pizza and a tiny little Australian bar, we had a few drinks at.

  “This is so stupid,” I declared.

  “Yeah, drinking a beer at an Aussie bar in Florence it’s a bit silly,” Karen joked, laughing back.

  “Oh man, this is so good, thanks Karen,” I said.

  “Yeah, shut up,” Karen said, laughing at me.

  “Oh, we need to get moving again, theres still have a few things to see,” Karen said.

  “Yeah, alright let’s go,” I declared.

  Both of us struggling to get up we make our way round the corner to a church and have a look inside, then just a few hundred metres ahead we come across a piazza that has a replica Statue of David and a few other statues.

  “You know what we should have grabbed a map from the hotel or brought the lonely planet book with us,” Karen said.

  “Yeah, we’ve probably missed heaps of stuff,” I said.

  “Hey there’s a cafe over here, let’s go get another coffee before heading back to the hotel,” I said.

  “Yeah, room service and an early night then hey?” Karen asked.

  “Yeah, but I’m not sure how early with the amounts of coffee we’ve been drinking,” I said, smiling at Karen.

  “Cut it out,” Karen remarked.

  As we grabbed a seat and ordered another coffee, we hung out there for about an hour or so before making our way back to the hotel
, only to remember the postcards we left on the coffee table.

  “Wow, you’re useless,” Karen said laughing.

  “Come here and say that,” I said.

  “Yeah alright, I’m not afraid of you,” Karen said.

  Walking towards me, trying to act tough and not smiling. Then she tried to pull out her death stare on me. Which had me in stitches.

  “What the hell is that?” I laughed.

  “That’s my death stare, so you better watch yourself,” Karen hollered.

  Smiling at me, failing to act tough.

  Leaning in we hugged and for some reason we hold each other for a very long time, only getting awkward when I started to laugh. Because I was getting an inappropriately timed boner.

  “Hey, let’s go to the room,” Karen suggested.

  Turning away and taking my hand leading me into the bedroom, where we stayed for the rest of the night, only getting up the next morning and showering.

  “Hey Phil, I didn’t know guys could do that,” Karen said, jumping into the shower with me.

  “Well, what really, okay,” I replied.

  Only starting to laugh again.

  “Yeah, but four times for a guy,” Karen commented.

  “Hey we don’t have time for that we need to catch the train to Rome today,” Karen added.

  “Yeah, and send those postcards,” I replied.

  Stepping out and drying off before changing.

  “Hey do we need a sign?” I asked

  “What do you mean?” Karen asked.

  “Just in case you or I get tired, we should have a sign to let the other person know,” I suggested.

  “Yeah, sounds like a great idea, we can come up with it on the train,” Karen said.

  “Yeah okay, I’m gonna get some room service,” I commented.

  “Yeah, sounds good,” Karen said.

  Heading out to get dressed in the bedroom.

  “Have you ever wanted to be married?” I yelled out to Karen.

  Just loud enough she slipped in the shower.

  “Argh,” Karen yelled.

  “Hey are you alright in there?” I asked

  “Did you just say what I think you said?” Karen asked.

  “Yeah, I was just thinking out loud,” I replied.

  “Phil, I can’t talk about that.”

  “Hey, it’s okay, forget I said it,” I said.

  As Karen walked over and gave me a hug.

  “Thanks.”

  “Go get ready and I’ll order room service,” I declared.

  “Yeah I’ll just be a second,” Karen said.

  She didn’t notice I saw her turn as she stepped into the bedroom, wiping a tear from her face. I saw it in the mirror in the lounge. I ordered room service and asked if there was a map of Florence, and they said they’ll bring one up with our breakfast.

  Thanking them, I hung up and chilled out to wait for them to arrive. They didn’t take long but by the time they had arrived, Karen was still getting ready.

  “Hey beautiful, breakfast is here, I poured you a coffee,” I hollered.

  “Yeah, I’ll be out soon,” Karen replied.

  Finally, joining me and looking at me weird through-out the breakfast.

  “Oh man, we missed so much yesterday, but there’s a few things we could see on the way to the train station,” I declared.

  Laughing as I read the map the front desk sent up with breakfast.

  “Yeah, we could have guessed,” Karen said, being quiet and feeling a bit awkward.

  “Hey, it’s okay let’s have a great time, still heaps to see,” I replied.

  Trying not to feel weird, but we actually did, have a few things we’d see anyway walking towards the train station.

  “Hey Phil, you know?” Karen said.

  “Yeah I know,” I replied, cutting her off and making her smile.

  Sitting there finishing up breakfast and finally packing I went down stairs as they brought our bags down, once everything’s done and sorted we headed out into Florence, finally turning on a great day for us.

  “Hey, I have a plan,” Karen said.

  “I’m listening, what’s this plan about?” I asked.

  “When my sisters are doing my head in, I could fake a headache,” Karen suggested.

  “Wow, not a good idea, we’ll work on it on the train,” I replied.

  “Why’s it not a good idea?” Karen asked.

  “Cut it out,” I said back.

  Annoyed that Karen was trying to start a fight.

  “You know why,” I added.

  “Yeah, but I’m trying to make you angry,” Karen said laughing.

  It took us about thirty minutes to walk to the train station, bypassing all the scenic touristy stuff.

  “You know,” I said, looking at Karen.

  “Yeah I know,” Karen said back, shaking her head.

  “You are such a douchebag, Hannah’s right,” Karen added.

  Laughing we found our cabin on the train and chucked our bags on one of the seats and jumped on the other, as we got weird looks from people walking down the corridor.

  “So how longs this train trip?” Karen asked.

  “Well, it’s under a couple of hours,” I said.

  Drawing the blinds on the windows looking out into the corridor and locking the door.

  “Oh what’s going on here sailor?” Karen asked.

  As I turned around and smiled. Grabbing her bag and putting it on her seat next to her and laying out using my bag as a pillow.

  “Hey, I’m just gonna sleep for an hour.”

  “Oh,” Karen said.

  Looking at me like I was crazy, before coming over and telling me to scooch a little so she could lay down as well, luckily there was enough room for us both. Only woken up under a couple of hours later by an irritated Italian man, obviously the conductor.

  Laughing we left the train, running into Lisa and Jeff.

  “How come you two were the last off the train?” Lisa asked.

  “We were having crazy monkey sex and had to get dressed,” Karen replied.

  Making the scene of all of us standing in the train terminal feel a little weird.

  “Oh, grow up,” Lisa said.

  “Wow, this does feel weird, how you doing Phil?” Jeff asked

  “Ha, good thanks Jeff, and it’s only weird if we make it weird,” I replied.

  With us all laughing,

  “So where are you guys staying, Jeff?” I asked.

  “Not too far from you guys, Georgia and Nick are there now so we can get them after you guys check in,” Jeff said

  “Oh you’re coming with us to make sure we check in?” Karen asked.

  Putting her finger on her nose and rubbing her stomach.

  “You two are a shocker, do you have other signs?” Lisa asked.

  “When in Rome Lisa,” Karen replied.

  With me agreeing.

  “We should go check in anyway, lead the way guys,” I suggested.

  “Yeah, we can jump in a cab,” Jeff replied.

  As I grabbed Karen’s bag and she went up to Lisa as Jeff and I walked off to get a cab, we turned back and Karen’s trying to tackle her sister to the ground, yelling at her.

  “I love you sis!” Karen yelled.

  “Yeah I know, get off,” Lisa said laughing.

  “No, you have to say it,” Karen commented.

  As Jeff and I started laughing.

  “Should we try and break it up?” Jeff asked.

  “No way I’m going anywhere near that,” I replied.

  “I love you too, you idiot now get off,” Lisa said, as they both start laughing.

  “Good, I might need your help, when I tackle Georgia,” Karen said.

  “Yeah good luck with that,” Lisa laughed, finally getting up and walking back over to us arm in arm.

  “You two okay now?” I asked.

  “Yeah thanks Phil,” Lisa said, smiling.

  “Alright then let’s go an
d get a cab,” Jeff remarked

  Finally arriving outside our hotel about fifteen minutes later, met by Georgia and Nick.

  “Oh man I’m really tired, can you give us a few hours then meet up for afternoon tea around about Three,” Karen asked.

  “No, let’s go fill you with coffee and see the sights,” Georgia said

  “No, I think it’s a good idea to relax for a few hours, we haven’t had much sleep due to the vigorous sex we’ve been having and I’m a little tired, anyway you can’t come in if you’re not staying here,” I said.

  As I turned to Karen and gave her a high five,

  “Just three hours we promise we’ll meet you guys at your hotel then,” Karen insisted.

  Walking straight into the hotel,

  “What the hell Phil, what the hell are you doing, is she feeling worse?” Georgia asked.

  “No we’re just a little tired, anyway I’ll see you guys again soon, Lisa, Jeff good to see you both again, Nick I assume. I’ll see you guys later,” I remarked.

  Walking into the hotel seeing Karen sitting down on the couch in reception, while I went up and checked us both in and bellboy took our bags and led us to our room. Where we crashed out for a couple of hours, till we get a knock on our door.

  12

  Dragged Through the Streets of Rome

  “Hey wake up we need to start to get ready,” I said

  “Yeah okay, I’m still tired though, who’s at the door?” Karen asked.

  Getting up I’m not surprised to see Lisa and Georgia on the other side of the door.

  “Hey you two what’s going on?” I asked.

  “Where’s Karen?” They both asked.

  “She’s just getting up,” I said.

  “Come in-though, won’t you,” I added.

  As they walked in, Karen who’s now snuck behind the door waiting for her sisters to enter. Jumped out and tried to climb on Georgia’s back.

  “Giddy up sis!” Karen yelled out.

  “That’s not funny, get off me!” Georgia yelled.

  As Lisa started to laugh.

  “No, you have to say it, Lisa said it!” Karen yelled.

  “I love you Georgia,” Karen added.

  “Yeah I love you too, now get off,” Georgia insisted.

  “Nope, how long Lisa,” Karen asked.

  “Nearly eight-seconds sis,” Lisa replied, still laughing.

  “Hey Lisa, do you want a drink or anything, I’m about to raid the fridge?” I asked.