observing it.
Rawn must have thought the same thing, because he could not stop looking down at my toes.
“Don’t tell me you have a fetish,” I whispered as the man who guided us around the vineyard lectured on the growing process of the grapes.
“I have a fetish for every part involving you,” he said back.
The highlight of the tour was a glass of wine on top of the hillside next to the statue. Though the statue was of a peasant girl, she looked so carefree in her rags. So happy. I wondered if I could ever feel that way. I tried. With my colorful hoodies and the bright décor of my room back in Portland, I tried every day to keep a positive outlook on life. But it was very hard to think happy thoughts when so much anguish had passed by my door. And with a future that was so uncertain…
“There you go, a million miles away again, but this time you don’t have your stars to blame,” Rawn said.
“No, there’s no one to blame. Sorry,” I said, pulling myself together, trying to remember exactly where I was.
I’m in Italy! And I didn’t spend a dime on the trip. Not bad for a twenty-one-year-old nerd , I thought. Take that, every popular girl out there.
Back at the lodge, an iron table with lattices through it was set up for us outside on a patio surrounded by low-cut trees. As we approached, a waitress in a formal black and white uniform came out and spread a white cloth over the table before lighting a set of candles. It being autumn, the sun would soon set. It was all quite romantic, which made me as uncomfortable as it did excited. I had never experienced a day like today, and I likely wouldn’t again for a long time, if ever. I enjoyed the beauty of the day, but I was uneasy with the obvious seduction hidden within its layers.
That feeling of unease only worsened when, after I took my seat at the table, the waitress gently tied a blindfold around my eyes, speaking something in Italian.
“What did she say?” I asked, bewildered at what was happening.
“She says your hair is the color of the golden fields that surround us. She wishes she had your hair.”
It was a nice compliment, but it wasn’t the root of my question. “Why the blindfold?”
“That was my request. It’s part of the experience. If we’re going to be working together like this, Madison, I need you to trust me. I know I don’t deserve it. Not after leaving you in the woods alone. But believe me when I say I was not aware of your predicament. I truly thought you knew your way back. I was foolish. Forgive me.”
“Fine. Forgiven. Now can we take the blindfold off? I’m not sure I like it.”
“It’s compulsory.”
“According to who?”
“According to me.”
I knew he wasn’t speaking as my boss, but I didn’t resist. He couldn’t take me here, not at the vineyard with so many people around. I’d humor him now, but the blindfold would not leave the dinner table. However, complying with him didn’t mean I couldn’t speak on my own behalf.
“Is it my trust you’re trying to earn, or are you trying to train me to accept your dominance?” I challenged.
“Both. To me, they’re one and the same.” His voice was as liquid as the nearby stream that ran through the vineyard, rich and effortless. He held no shame in who he was, or what he wanted.
“It’s a twisted philosophy.”
“And yet you haven’t pulled the blindfold
Rawn must have thought the same thing, because he could not stop looking down at my toes.
“Don’t tell me you have a fetish,” I whispered as the man who guided us around the vineyard lectured on the growing process of the grapes.
“I have a fetish for every part involving you,” he said back.
The highlight of the tour was a glass of wine on top of the hillside next to the statue. Though the statue was of a peasant girl, she looked so carefree in her rags. So happy. I wondered if I could ever feel that way. I tried. With my colorful hoodies and the bright décor of my room back in Portland, I tried every day to keep a positive outlook on life. But it was very hard to think happy thoughts when so much anguish had passed by my door. And with a future that was so uncertain…
“There you go, a million miles away again, but this time you don’t have your stars to blame,” Rawn said.
“No, there’s no one to blame. Sorry,” I said, pulling myself together, trying to remember exactly where I was.
I’m in Italy! And I didn’t spend a dime on the trip. Not bad for a twenty-one-year-old nerd , I thought. Take that, every popular girl out there.
Back at the lodge, an iron table with lattices through it was set up for us outside on a patio surrounded by low-cut trees. As we approached, a waitress in a formal black and white uniform came out and spread a white cloth over the table before lighting a set of candles. It being autumn, the sun would soon set. It was all quite romantic, which made me as uncomfortable as it did excited. I had never experienced a day like today, and I likely wouldn’t again for a long time, if ever. I enjoyed the beauty of the day, but I was uneasy with the obvious seduction hidden within its layers.
That feeling of unease only worsened when, after I took my seat at the table, the waitress gently tied a blindfold around my eyes, speaking something in Italian.
“What did she say?” I asked, bewildered at what was happening.
“She says your hair is the color of the golden fields that surround us. She wishes she had your hair.”
It was a nice compliment, but it wasn’t the root of my question. “Why the blindfold?”
“That was my request. It’s part of the experience. If we’re going to be working together like this, Madison, I need you to trust me. I know I don’t deserve it. Not after leaving you in the woods alone. But believe me when I say I was not aware of your predicament. I truly thought you knew your way back. I was foolish. Forgive me.”
“Fine. Forgiven. Now can we take the blindfold off? I’m not sure I like it.”
“It’s compulsory.”
“According to who?”
“According to me.”
I knew he wasn’t speaking as my boss, but I didn’t resist. He couldn’t take me here, not at the vineyard with so many people around. I’d humor him now, but the blindfold would not leave the dinner table. However, complying with him didn’t mean I couldn’t speak on my own behalf.
“Is it my trust you’re trying to earn, or are you trying to train me to accept your dominance?” I challenged.
“Both. To me, they’re one and the same.” His voice was as liquid as the nearby stream that ran through the vineyard, rich and effortless. He held no shame in who he was, or what he wanted.
“It’s a twisted philosophy.”
“And yet you haven’t pulled the blindfold
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