Three Coins in the Fountain
It was the Spring when Lia and Mel moved to their second house in Ealing, London W5.
It was the Spring when their business was blasting into new horizons.
It was the Spring when Lia turned 21.
It was the Spring when Mel gave her a Tissot watch for her birthday.
It was the Spring when they ate at Gino's just accross their office, and spent their nights at the Mayfare Play Boy Club.
It was the Spring when they went to Devon, and after spending just a couple of hours decided to get back to London and go to the Kensington Hilton Piano Bar, Lia was still trying to get used to Whisky Ginger Ale, while Mel had no problems with his shots on the rocks, they ended up finishing an entire box of Campari Soda.
It was the Spring when Mel drove his first dark blue Jaguar and Lia got her first sports car, a red Alfa, with what she called an opposite wheel drive and such a fantastic sound of engine, that made her proud driving and making sure everyone knew it was her.
After that, nothing would ever be the same.
It was the Spring of 1978.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lia and Mel met in 1977 at a birthday party of their mutual friend , Mickey, who was later to become their best man at their wedding and The Padrino to their daughter Katarina. Ofcours, Katarina ended up being called an entirely different name, as well as they never called each other Lia and Mel, they always had this game of calling themselves and everything else in their own special way.
That particular birthday was in many ways a life changing occassion. From that night on a new page was turned in both Lia's and Mel's life.
The day after, Mel decided to spend his afternoon at The Rooster Cafe, when Lia showed up with Mickey. Non of this was ever planned, as Lia was about to hit for the Adriatic Coast with her friend Mickey and a couple of more people but from that moment on, Lia would never believe in coincidences.
The three of them spent their afternoon chatting and injoying their company at the Cafe . Warm summer night was falling as Mickey stood up and aksed Lia:
- ' So, I'll see you tomorrow morning then, you better go and pack.'
- ' I think I'll stay , you guys go on and have a great time, I'll be in touch ', at that moment Lia knew she made a decission that would change her life in so many ways.
From that exact moment in their lifes, Lia and Mel never separated. Young and beautiful, they were the talk of the society, they were admired, envied and loved. They were on their way to conquer the world, and as life can be good sometimes, everything they wanted was served on a silver plate for them to enjoy.
Months flew and winter arrived. They were making plans for the Celebration of the New Year. Driving thought the city, late one night, they both had the same idea on their minds.
- ' Lets get married ', they both said at the same moment, and after a while laughted. Now, wasn't that just the perfect idea, they thought. Mel got out of the car, and walking in deep snow wrote I LOVE YOU, which stayed there in unspoiled white snow for many days.
Lia and Mel got married on the 22nd of December 1977. Mickey, as their best man and just a few more friends were present. Lia wore a beige raw silk skirt and jacket, while Mel was in his black Italian suit. They bought their rings in Munich, very near Schiller Strasse and carved their names. Lia bought him a Paco Raban shawl and a bracelet that had enscripted on the plate ' from someone who loves you' , and Mel bought her a white gold ring with 4 dark blue saphires. There was another strange thing, they decided not to inform their parents, as they thought of this as their own private matter...their families were not informed untill Lia's mother got it out of Mickey some months later and called Mel on the phone:
- ' Well, hi there, my son-in-law, how are you ', which took Mel completely off guard, wondering why in the first place was that decision of not informing the family made, but all was well.
They had a fascinating dinner at the famous ' La Terrasa' where all of their guests wrote them a message on a white silk napkin, and Lia and Mel wrote their wows . There were many white roses, champagne, finest proscutto, cheese ,aspic, grilled mushrooms....
They spent the New Year 1977 / 78 in Mayfare Hilton, where the pianist played for them 'Girl from Ipanema', 'One Note Samba' and songs from Jino Vanneli. The rest of the night took them to Trafalgar Square and ended up in a near by Bar, where for some strange reason they decide not to stay, and walked on towards the next Bar, when a bomb exploded in the one they decided not to stay.....those were the days of dangerous living, but what did they know, they were just married, too young and too much in love to give it a second thought.
Their first apartment they rented from some nice Polish people. But after staying just a couple of months they moved to their second house in Woodville Rd.
They travelled all the time and especially loved Zurich, where once Mel bought her a huge San Bernardine toy dog from whome she never parted during their travells. Sometimes they stayed at the Holiday Inn in Kloten , where their frined Mickey ordered an ice cream, and when they saw the waiter bringing a huge tray of ice cream, fruit and the Christmas sparkle in it...they wondered which idiot ordered that...only soon enough to find out it was their best man, who by then was so embarrased that he immediately left for the mens room and came back apparently with a bit of wet trousers and Lia coundn't stop herself from asking what the hell ever happened in that mens room. So the story was, when you begin to do what you've gone there to do, the water would start flushing the music would start playing and the lights would change...this being late 70s was a hit and, ofcours Lia just had to go and check it out.
The crossing of the British Channel was an adventure of its own, wether by overcraft from Dover to Calais they used to laugh watching newbies try to have their drinks untill they hit the first 'bumpy waves' and pured over their drinks all over, there was laughter and jokes. Or they just took the Ferry to Ostende - Belgium, a 4 hrs crossing, depending on the current and 'the traffic' where Lia always made it straight to the bar and emptied 4-5 strong drinks as seeing all the vehicles and huge truks on board and on a couple of floors that served as parking space, she just freaked out every time, after the drinks she would feel much better. They would watch the passengers try to walk past them, everyone who went from one side to the other was 'in a normal' condition, the ones who walked 'straight' also had a couple at the bar!
They bought their first Sony Trinitron at Shiphol airport in Amsterdam, their first Whirlpool washing machine in Bayswater, their first duvet and bed sheets came as a present from their best friends Pat and Mick. Lia made her first cooking attempts and ended covering the kitchen floor with white butter beans, while the first washing machine experience was the entire floor covered with foam, as by mistake, Lia never read the washing powder box correctly and ended up puting the hand washing powder in the machine. But life was never better, they were the happiest couple, they enjoyed every minute of their lives, lughted, played tennis, went to see Saturday Night Fever, listened to Manhattan Transfere, got their first JVC receiver, Technics record player with a 'Shur needle' then Uher reel-to-reel tape recorder, JVC amplifier, and ofcours JBL loud speakers. She started smoking Benson and Hedges while he smoked golden Winston. Lia's first parfume was Amazon from Hermes and Mel's was Eau Sauvage from Dior.
They made a record in leaving Dover at 5 am and arriving at Slovenia boarder at midnight, and Lia waking up from the back sit of the Jaguar, asking if they'v passed Germany, yet! Lia, on the other hand loved driving at night through Belgium, as their highways had orange lights, Mel would take over in Germany as Lia would couddle back with her San Bernadine...France, Austria and the Sport Hotel, they both loved so much, they even enjoyed Bulgaria back in those days with only Hotel Sofia, with one of the worse breakfasts you could imagine, all together with the communist odour and ambient, untill they bulit the new Novotel.
Lia and Mel spent their summers at the Adriatic Coast, they had their special and favorite place, they refused going anywhere else. Lia would get tanned faster then Mel, he would burn, and later , only get the most fabulous bronze tan, she loved so much, making the hair on his hands golden, she would carress them and call him Panda...which had nothing to do with the actual Panda, it was just another game they played.
She would do his nails and he would just freak out if she passed her fingers on his freshly cut nails, as he couldn't stand that movement, she made sure to repeat it as much as possible.
He adored her and made sure they were never separated as they both needed each other all the time, they were like air and water, they were essential. If ever Mel travelled alone, Lia would go to their friends place as she couldn't stand it being without Mel. Their Italian friends, Gino and Victoria had a grand dane, called Cleo, very much grown up but yet a baby in behaviour, Cleo always slept with Lia and one or the other kept falling off the bed, during the night.
Somewhere in September of 1978 Lia was surprisedas she skipped her monthly period, and went to check it out. Not that they ever took any precautions, but they never spoke about it, so she went and checked it out. She didn't know how she felt at the moment, she only knew she felt confused, so she decided to brake the news to Mel, that evening.
- ' Hey, you know what, I'm pregnant ', waiting to see his reaction.
- ' What do you mean, pregnant ', was Mel's reaction.
- ' Well, pregnant like in we're going to have a baby ', Lia was getting nervous.
- ' But, we never discussed this...did we..', Mel was watching her, while standing beside the other end of their bed.
- ' No we didn't, and what's the big deal, anyway, I'm pregnant, we're going to have a baby and that's it...which part didn't you understand ' , Lia was starting to yell by now, but so was Mel ;
- ' Listen, Lia, we didn't plan that , yet, did we...', Mel was yelling too.
Lia was getting more then unconfotable with this turn out of events and just yelled back at him;
- ' Well, sooner or later it would have just come up..rite..or did you not have that in mind'
- ' I just can't deal with that NOW, we're leaving tomorrow, if you care to recall our trip...'
And at that moment Lia coulnd't deal with the situation either, she took a jar of face cream and threw it at him, hitting his ankle, and cryed out;
- ' Well, deal with this ! '
He bent down to his knees in sudden pain, she walked passed him ran down the stairs took her car keys and rushed out of the house. The sound that her little Alfa engine made was more then anything yet heard in the neighbourhood as she wroomed out into the night. She stopped at Gino's and picked up Mel's best friend Ben, just telling him she needed to go for a ride and someone to talk to. Lia knew Ben for some time now, as he was Mel's friend from high school, they often spent time together and Ben was one of their regular guests at their home. Lia and Ben ended up at Play Boy Club, where on this specific night Lia, whos weak point was rulette, won a disgusting large amount of money, had one of the most unfogettable moments in her life, she'd always remember from that day on, dropped Ben at his place and arrived home just about time for her and Mel's trip.
She found Mel worried to death on her missing the whole night from the house. Lia was in no mood to argue or give explanations, she just finished packing and they left.
Things changed as her pregnancy evolved. She loved Mel dearly as Mel loved her too, but the difference was he loved her even more, which made it hard for him to accept her change and the coming of their baby, because he wanted Lia more then anything in this world, and he was not prepared to share her, or even think she would have someone else to take care of, except him.
They never stopped travelling, working or changed their lives, as she carried their child. In her late pregnancy, they went to Rome, where Lia wanted to buy all the necessary stuff for the baby. They sat near Fontana di Trevi and Lia walked towards the enge of the fountain, searched her pockets for some coins, found three coins, walked back a little turned her back towards the fountain and threw the coins over her head in the water. She, then walked back to the fountain and watched all the glittering coins in the fountain and wondered how many wishes lay silently in that clear water at the bottom of the fountain. Then she remembered, she never made a wish...well, she had no coins left, maybe next time.
Lia felt a little sick when they went to see the Coloseum, and just sat on the ege of the pavement while waiting for Mel to come back. He would never have gone alone, before, she thought, and left her sitting there feeling sick.
Their beautiful daughter was born in May 1979. Mel sent a card expressing his love for both Lia and their daughter and a huge basket of flowers. Lia spent the first month with their daughter at her mother's home, Mel came to see them after one month.
Life was not the same, anymore...they continued seeing each other frequently, but not regularly. They spent that summer holiday at their favorite place in the Adriatic, leaving behind their daughter with Lia's mom. They were not a family, they loved each other, Mel couldn't cope with the new situation, Lia couldn't forgive, but yet loved him still. Lia's mom suggested to take their daughter to the Far East, so they could get on with their lives and try mending what was left. They agreed. After some time, Lia took sides in their business and went against Mel, he could never forgive her, while she thought she was only doing the right thing at the moment.
Lia's and Mel's marriage lasted four years, it ended as it began. They were at a restaurant and decided to get a divorce. After signing all their papers and leaving the lawyers to do their job, they went and had a fabulous dinner, checked in their favorite Hotel and stayed there for many days. Their love didn't stop at that moment, it continued on for many years to come. They spent only one holiday together as a family with their daughter at Lake Bled in Slovenia, and a couple of birthdays.
More then 10 years passed after their divorce when they stopped seeing each other. There were many occasions when they could have worked out their past problems, sitting at their Restaurant called Georgio's. There were chances when they met at their old friends places, when Mickey, who was now The Padrino to their daughter got his first child, son Lucas, or when they both coincided at Cavtat, Lia leaving and watching Mel arriving at the airport, or even when Lia got her second divorce and they both talked over if anything was left there as a possibility for them to get together again.... what were the reasons that kept them from being together...why...and they never stopped loving each other.
Many years have passed since, I heard Mel got married but has no children with his second wife, Lia married too, and has two more sons. They never saw each other again, and Lia never made another wish in Rome trowing coins in Fontana di Trevi.
As my friend Danilo says, memory is a 7th sense...how true!
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-bEodqKI1eqifudrJlOtIEzc4vEJB9A--?cq=1
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