I had been up since the beginning of the storm. Rain had always been one of the most romantic things to me. It was highly unusual that I slept through a storm, and that morning was no different.
I tossed my journal aside at a knock on my door. Taylor entered and pulled me from my bed. "Are you hungry or something?" I joked.
"Go to your balcony."
"Taylor, it's pouring rain!"
Taylor grabbed my arm and led me to my balcony door. I pulled the curtain aside. Isaac was sitting on the balcony, drenched to the bone. His wet hair fell in his face and he was staring into the sky, letting the rain play with his face. I leaned on Taylor. "Oh my God, what is he doing? He's going to get sick!" I panicked.
Taylor made no effort to stop me from opening my door. In fact, he put his hand on my back and pushed me out into the rain. I had to pause for a minute as the frigid rain hit me, immediately soaking my hair and pajamas. I ran to Isaac's side and knelt beside him.
"Isaac, what are you doing? We've got to get you inside. You're going to freeze!" I said, brushing his hair from his eyes in an effort to keep us both warm.
Isaac grabbed my hand. "I can't go inside."
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, you can. Use your legs. Are you crazy?" I tugged on his hand.
"I'm crazy about you," he said quietly.
"I know that." I was failing at my efforts. "Come on..."
"I can't."
"Why not?" I asked, exasperated. Isaac smiled at me. I stood up, throwing my hands in the air, and started back towards Taylor.
"I can't come inside until you agree to marry me," Isaac called.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned around and looked at him. Isaac got to his feet and came to my side. I felt him shivering from cold as he touched my face.
"I bought a ring a while ago, but was clueless as to how to give it to you. When it rained this morning, I just knew. Will you marry me?"
I nodded, speechless.
Isaac smiled in shock. "Really?"
I nodded again. He laughed and pulled me into a hug. "How did you know this was what I imagined it?"
"Taylor told me."
"Taylor..." I said, understanding finally dawning on me. I glanced at Taylor, who raised a hand casually with a mischievous smile.
"The ring is in my room. I didn't want to ruin it."
I pulled away. "Isaac, you're freezing. Please come in with me now."
Isaac shook his head. "I have to kiss you first."
This time, I smiled at the flirtatious look on his face. "If you insist..."
I stood at the hotel window, looking down to the street below. Zac and I had spent a blissful day wandering around the quaint streets of Florence. Now I was ready for a rest before we headed out for some more nighttime fun. I turned to the bed to see Zac already snoring, flat out on his back, just the way he had fallen. I brushed his hair out of his eyes while curling up beside him.
Before drifting off, I turned to look at the time, not wanting to sleep away the evening and leave no time for a romantic Italian dinner out. There was no clock on the bedside table, so quietly I opened the drawer to see if it was put away. What I saw jumped out at me. A newspaper article lay face up and the front page contained a blown-up picture of a young man. His dark hair and blue eyes were faintly reminiscent of someone I'd seen before. He was handsome, a dark beauty, but I could tell the picture was old, taken maybe 20 or 30 years ago. My fingers were drawn to the face like a magnet and I touched his cheeks, almost expecting them to feel warm and full of life, but the paper was dry and cold.
Slowly, I lifted out the paper and slowly unfolded it, glancing at the date which read 2 days before. My eyes swiftly scanned the article, sweeping across it like a search light. Finally, they stopped and zoomed in and what I saw saw made my heart skip a beat as I drew in a sharp breath. Under the picture was the caption: "Rollard Silverman, one of the crew who is still left untraceable". Zac was immediately at my side as I let out a small scream.
I needed to do something. It was just killing me that I felt so alone. Everyone had someone except me. Of course, I'd dated a little over the years, but I'd never felt passionate about any of my relationships like Ike, Gabby, Zac and Ellie did. I plopped down next to my keyboard and before I knew it, I'd written some lyrics down. I re-read them and wrote a title at the top: "If Only I Found You".
I sat for a moment, then crumpled the lyrics and tossed them onto the floor. In a gust of anger, I slammed my hand down on my keyboard, sending out a dissonant scream of notes.
"Taylor?" Gabby looked in the doorway worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I muttered. "I need to go out."
"Where?" Gabby asked.
"I don't know. Just get out of the house for a while." Gabby understood that I didn't want to talk and left me to grab the car keys and head for the door.
