Page 69 of Pomegranates and Olive

Dragging myself out to the terrace I pour coffee into the largest mug I can find before collapsing with a moan into the chair beside Ginny.

"How did you sleep?"

I scowl at her and take a long sip of my coffee, burning my tongue.

Luca appears behind us and plants a kiss on the top of my head before following suit to both Ginny and Rosie. "Good morning, babe. Good morning, ladies."

I scowl for the second time that morning but thankfully it was missed entirely by Luca who is busy discussing the harvest with Aydin.

I grab asimitand munch on it, not because I’m hungry, but because it means my mouth is full of the sesame crusted, chewy bread and I can’t scream at anyone… and believe me when I say I want to scream ateveryone!

I know I should keep up the façade, ignore the elephant in the room, or more precisely, on the terrace, all for the sake of being nice, but seriously, why is everyone acting so normal this morning?

I watch Ginny eat her breakfast beside me, yawning and chatting quietly with Emine, while Rosie is setting up her tripod for an impromptu photo shoot as the sun rises over the Mediterranean. I scowl for a third time, mostly out of jealousy of both Ginny and Rosie.

Ginny already has her happily ever after with Aydin and Emine, and Rosie? She’s twirling around in Aydin's work boots, in a flowing, rustic, orange maxi skirt, paired with a brown singlet knotted behind her back to show off her surprisingly taut and tanned abs, her long sun-kissed hair loose and blowing photogenically in the light breeze. What she is wearing is completely inappropriate for the olive harvest mind you, but when the most taxing thing in your life is perfecting your shot then Rosie is definitely Insta-fabulous.

Don't they want to talk about my life imploding around me last night?

Doesn't Ginny have any great advice to offer me?

Doesn't Rosie have another joke about how I have screwed up my life?

Why aren't they asking me about Luca? Or Deniz for that matter?

And where is Deniz?

Merda!

He'll be at the harvest for sure.

What a nightmare!

I don’t have time to dwell any further as Aydin checks his watch and slaps Luca on the back. "We will go now,tamam?"

With Betty leading the way, we trek up to the mill. There’s a chill in the early November air and a light layer of frost on the grass. I'm glad I've thrown on a sweater over the khaki overalls I borrowed from Ginny, although I know full well that the sun will be blazing down on us soon enough. I’m also wearing a pair of Aydin's work boots but I sensibly pulled my hair into a ponytail rather than leaving it down.

I smirk inwardly as I glance over at Rosie attempting to climb over the ridge. She tosses her hair behind her as her skirt catches beneath her boot and she screams in frustration. I turn back and put out my hand to help her up over the ledge, just as Deniz had done for me a few weeks earlier. She smiles gratefully, and when she's righted herself, I get her to turn so I can quickly braid her hair. We still haven’t spoken about last night and I apologise as I finish up, wrapping my spare elastic at the ends. "I'm sorry about last night,sorellina."

"I know you are, and I'm sorry as well. I don't know what I was thinking not warning you we were coming. I guess I thought surprising you would force you into seeing what a great guy Luca still is."

"I know he's a great guy but I'm just not sure he's the guy for me."

"You need to tell him then, let him move on."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Nothing." I sigh as we walk along the ridge. "Did he tell you about Verona?"

"Look at this view!" Rosie turns her head and pretends to gaze out across the water, her face devoid of emotion. "Oh? Yeah, he did mention something about Verona. That sounds cool."

"I've always dreamed of doing it, but there's a teeny-tiny problem."

"What's that?"

"Deniz."

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