Bab 140: Chapter 140
"This is great! Who knew polo was so intense?" Pearl said to Erik. They had a private area with a table and chairs on the lawn with a perfect view of everything. "Your brother is really good." Pearl said.
"He's good at everything. He's always been the good brother. I am positive my family wishes he was the elder brother and next in line." Erik said. Pearl saw the look in his eyes and recognized it well. Self loathing.
"I'm not so sure about that. Of all the men I've met, which isn't very many, but still important, you've been the most stand up, honest and good so far. I think there's something to be said about that." She said
"That's one side of me." He said with a devilish grin. She looked down and decided not to dig further into that.
"So, did you go to college? You know everything about me and I know nothing about you."
"I did." Erik said. "I went to the University of St. Andrews. I have a degree in business."
"Really? You seem so artistic. I would think some kind of degree in the arts for you." Pearl never would have guessed business.
"I have a business mind and a artist's heart. Must be why I'm such a loner." He mused.
"Oh come on. I'm sure you have women falling all over you. If you were a bartender you would. You're gorgeous." Pearl said.
"Well, thank you for that. I don't blush often but they got me a little. I've had a few ladies in my bed, but nothing serious. I don't spend a lot of time on romantic notions. Most women don't stick around long without romantic fallacy. It's in the makeup. Sure, romance is wonderful and exciting but it isn't what makes two people work. That's all friendship and pure carnal attraction."
Pearl was shocked to hear it. The men in her life always talked the game of love and fantasy and in turn, always came up short. This man was speaking truths she hadn't heard anyone admit before. And it made sense after what she had been through. She loved Dylan. She just knew that they both valued the friendship more than trying to ruin it with dating and failing, but if one could make it work, it made complete sense. But romanticism was all most girls were raised on. She loved her books and poems about love, but she was learning a lot about the difference between fact and fiction these days.
The loud speaker came on announcing the stomping of the divots. "Oooh! I know what this is! Come on, this is what I was waiting for. Let's go"
Pearl grabbed his arm.
"No, I'm sorry. I don't normally participate in this. How do you know what it is if you've never been to a charity match or any match at all for that matter?"
"I've watched Pretty Woman like 300 times. And you're coming." She pulled him up and dragged him to the field to stomp the grass into place. He laughed and stomped with her, his hair falling out of place and into his face. She reached up to tuck it back and he looked at her for a long moment. She started to be competitive with him and told him she could stomp more than he could. "I don't think so." Erik said, stomping faster. She laughed stomped where he was standing. He picked her up moved her away, both of them laughing. The press was there, taking pictures of them and it seemed Erik or Pearl didn't care one bit.
"I thought one of polo players was supposed to clean my shoes after?" Pearl said, wiping the dirt off of Fi's expensive sandals with a tissue. "You watch too many movies." Erik teased.
"Garry Marshall lied to me." Pearl said, shaking her head. Erik laughed and took her hand, leading her to the car.
"Don't we have to wait for Auggie?" She asked.
"No. He has press to do and a ceremony after. There's something I want to show you." He said.
They drove about 20 minutes and stopped in front of an old looking structure. Pearl recognized it as she exited the car. There was a line outside, and Pearl heard someone say in a whisper. "Prince Erik is here. That's why they closed it off." The grounds were hauntingly quiet. Pearl knew it was because of the sacredness of the place. The were escorted in and were the only ones inside.
The Sistine Chapel. It took her breath away. The colors, the blue in the painted sky and reds and golds throughout. The angels and men on the ceiling and walls.
There were no words she could find. They walked through the chapel room and Erik took the time to stop and allow her to take in every inch. Standing in such a sacred place with so much history, she realized how insignificant her problems were. She felt like she could overcome anything. And she knew she would. They toured the rest of the museum and walked back to the car.
"Thank you. You have no idea what that just did for me. I can't thank you enough." Pearl said to him.
"That was why I brought you here. First of all, you can't come to Rome and not see it. Second, to be in the presence of something like that, makes life seem so much more bearable. At least it does for me." Pearl nodded. She knew exactly what he meant.
Come on. Let's get some food and get you ready for a ball.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone