SERENA POV

The airport was crowded with passengers going in every direction to reach their terminals. Many were dressed in Hawaiian shirts, ready to go someplace warm for vacation.

Even though they were already in California, one of the best vacation spots.

I look next to me to see Joyce scanning for our terminal with the tickets in her hand.

"What terminal are we at?" I ask her as I glance around at the large blue numbers on the walls.

"We are at..." She pauses while her eyes scan the room. "Twelve, right there."

I follow her head and nod to see the large numbers above the gate.

Passengers were already lined up to board so we joined the queue.

It didn't take long for the line to move with jumpy passengers ready for their vacation.

"Tickets please," The lady behind the desk says with a warm smile. Joyce hands them over to her and she scans them before gesturing us ahead.

"Are you excited?" Joyce asks for what must have been the twentieth time since we left our apartment.

"Hell yes. I needed a vacation so badly. Thank you again for the trip," I say giving her a side hug. She returns it and leans her head on my shoulder as we walk through the terminal.

After a few minutes, we were settled into our seats and resting back. I had the window seat that outlooked the wing of the plane to the right.

"Joyce, I just realized something," I say with my eyes shooting open slightly. She looks at me with a slight head tilt. "I have never flown before. What if I am scared of heights?"

"Wait you have never been on a plane?" She asks and I shake my head.

"Just take a deep breath. Once we are in the air, you won't even realize you are in the sky," She reaches over the armrest and grabs my hand, squeezing it. I nod my head and look out the window at the landing strip below the wing.

Focusing on my breathing, I played on my phone until the plane moved. My grip on her hand got tighter and she looks over at me.

"Just breath, you are going to be just fine," She says and I nod even though it didn't help at all.

"Is she alright?" The man sitting beside her asks. His voice was laced with a thick Italian accent. I lean my head back as I try to breathe normally.

"First time flyer," She tells him in a kind voice.

"You're going to be alright," The voice says and I look over at him. He had kind emerald eyes and tanned skin. "It is worse than it seems."

"Oh god," I say as the plane stops. "What's happening?"

The man laughs as if my fear was comical.

"The plane is stopping before the pilots start the engines and we shoot off," He says and I nod my head.

My eyes go wide in panic as I grab the armrest with my other hand.

They both go quiet beside me as I look out the window. Within a few seconds, the plane starts to make a loud noise and shakes slightly before we start moving forward and quickly picking up speed.

"Oh god," I say when the plane lifts. I squeeze my eyes shut as the plane tilts and jolts ever so slightly.

"Breath," Joyce says rubbing my arm lightly. I let out the air I was holding and take a few rapid breaths as my ears start to pop.

Finally leveling after what felt like thirty minutes, I could breathe normally.

"Hey, Joyce?" I ask as I loosen my grip on her hand.

"Yes, hun?" She asks and I look over at her.

"I am never flying again," I tell her and she lets out a laugh before shaking her head.

"You do realize we have to do this again to get back right?" She asks and my eyes shoot wide in panic. "But we are in the air now. It wasn't so bad, right?"

I give her a look that says otherwise and she laughs out.

The man beside her leans forward slightly to look at me.

"On the bright side, you didn't vomit," He shoots me a bright smile and I shake my head, smiling at the thought.

"That's true. That would have been embarrassing."

"So, what are you ladies doing in Italy? Business or pleasure?"

"Pleasure," Joyce says and he nods. "My friend here has been overworking herself so this was a must-have."

"Oh, what do you do?" He asks moving his eyes from my friend to me.

"I work as a nurse in the emergency room," I say with a huff.

"That sounds stressful."

"Tell me about it," I say with a warm smile. "What about you? What brings you to Italy?"

"Business with a mix of pleasure," He smiles at Joyce. "I live in Sardinia, Italy but visit California often that it has become a second home."

"Oh, what do you do for work?" I ask before I can stop myself.

I see him hesitate for a second before meeting my eyes.

"Businessman," He says vaguely. Realizing he didn't want to talk about it, I nodded my head and rested back.

"Well, I'm going to try and distract myself for a bit. It was nice to meet you..."

"Spencer," He answers my unasked question with a smile.

"Spencer," I finish and he nods in response. I lay my head back on the headrest and look out the window for a while, tunning out the noises around me. It sure was beautiful up here in the clouds with no signs of civilization.

I watched the clouds go by until the sun started to set outside of the window. At that point I finally let my eyes flutter shut.

* * *

After the 14-hour flight, my legs felt like Jell-O when I tried to walk normally. The only movement I got on the flight was walking up and down the aisle, which I must have down twenty times to let the blood move in my legs.

Finally getting out of the cab, we stood in front of the hotel tiredly. It was ten pm here so we already knew we would sleep the rest of the night and most likely half the day tomorrow.

"God my ass hurts," Joyce says causing a laugh from me.

"At least you made a friend," I say and winked at her.

"And got his number," She says with a wide smile. "Now we have someone who knows the place and can give us suggestions."

"Sure, that is why you got his number," I say with a laugh as we wheel the trolly with our bags towards the front desk.

We may have overpacked a little, but considering we were going to be here for almost two weeks, we would need the extra supplies eventually.

"Hello, welcome to Hotel Smeraldo," The man at the front desk says. He was in a suit and looked clean-shaven. "May I have the name for the reservation?"

"Yes, it was under Joyce Peterson," I say with a smile at him. He types into the computer before writing down something on a piece of paper.

"Here is your room number and your room keys. You can take the elevator to the fifth floor and then just follow the signs to rooms 561 and 563. They are next to each other with a conjoining door as requested," He sends me another warm smile as I take the keys. "If there is anything you need at all, don't hesitate to call down."

"Thank you very much," I look down at his name tag. "Luca."

He smiles again before I turn towards the cart and start pulling it with Joyce on the other side.

Once in the elevator, she gives me a wide smirk as I hand her the key to her room.

"What?" I ask with a laugh.

"He was totally hitting on you," She says and I shake my head.

"He was just being nice,"

"My ass,"

We both erupt into laughter as I hit the fifth-floor button.

* * *

The hotel room was beautiful.

The moment I flipped the lights on, my jaw dropped.

There was a large bed in the middle of the room, pushed against the wall. Next to the door to enter the room was a luxurious bathroom. But my feet automatically took me towards the balcony.

Our rooms were pointed at the ocean with the pool right below us.

I opened the door and stood on the balcony, the salty wind sending my hair flying over my shoulder.

It was dark so it was hard to see much of anything, but the sound of the waves collapsing was enough to make me close my eyes in peace.

I stood there for a few minutes before a knock entered the room. Moving back into the room, I closed the door and placed the lock in place.

Unlocking the conjoining door to our rooms, I opened it to find Joyce with a tired smile.

"You left one of your bags on the trolly," She says holding out a smaller bag.

"Thank you," I say with a smile and take it from her hands. I go over to the dresser in front of the bed and place it next to my other bags.

When I went back into her room, she was already laying on her bed.

"I will take the trolly by the elevators, you get some sleep," I tell her. She just nods as she curls more into the pillow, not even bothering to change.

I laugh to myself as I make sure my room key is in my legging pocket before opening her room door and pulling the trolley out.

Rolling it down the hall, I realized how quiet it was.

Peaceful.

It has been a while since I have been this at peace.

Reaching the elevator, I don't see a place to put the cart so I decide to walk it back to the lobby. I hit the main floor button and wait until the doors open to move in.

On the main floor, the lobby was even more empty than when we first arrived.

Before I even moved out of the elevator, a body was in front of the door.

"I can take that out of your way," The voice says, causing me to jump.

I look up to see Luca in front of me.

"I am sorry, miss. I didn't mean to startle you."

"No need to apologize," I say giving him a warm smile as my hand fell from the cart. "I'm just tired after the long flight and jumpy."

"Well, you better head off to bed then," I nod in agreement as he pulls the cart from the elevator. "Have a good night, miss."

"You as well," I give him another smile and hit floor five. I watch him walk away with the trolly before I lean against the wall and rest my head back. I truly was tired after that flight. Jet leg was real after all.

I slept for a few hours on the flight but that was it. After that, I just sat and read while Joyce and Spencer talked beside me.

When the doors start to close, I hear a light slap sound and open my eyes to see someone holding the door open and stepping inside.

The man was wearing a suit without a jacket or tie. His hair was a dark brown with curls falling onto his forehead. His t-shirt was tight to his body, showing his toned muscles.

Tattoos were peeking out of the collar of his shirt, drawing my eyes to his face. He was handsome in every way. There is light facial hair on his chin and spreading to his cheeks.

His eyes are trained on the phone in his hands.

Realizing I was staring, I turn my head and watch the elevator doors close.

The air around him smelt of expensive cologne.

My eyes move over to the buttons on the wall to realize he never pressed one, unless he is also on the fifth floor.

Deciding it was none of my business, I close my eyes again and lean my head against the wall as the elevator moves.

I feel his eyes on me but keep mine closed, not wanting an awkward conversation when I was too tired to even speak properly.

Feeling the elevator stop, I open my eyes and stand up straight. In my peripheral, I see the man still staring at me shamelessly.

Ignoring the stare, I watch the doors open before stepping out and heading toward my room.

Not hearing footsteps following, I look over my shoulder to see an empty hallway. So he did forget to hit a button.

I laugh to myself as I stop at my door and slide my keycard in. In the corner of my eye, I see something dark near the elevators move. But when I look over my shoulder, there was nothing there.

Shaking my head, I open my door and slide inside. Putting the lock on the door before crawling towards the bed and collapsing on it.

My body instantly relaxed as my eyes closed.