Chapter Eleven

986 Words
When Kate woke the next morning, it was almost seven am. She had passed out from being so jetlagged and completely forgot to fill in her room service request for the morning. She felt refreshed however and woke with the same excitement she had felt at the airport yesterday afternoon. She clearly needed the almost eleven hours of straight sleep she got last night and now, she needed food. Kate had no choice but to head downstairs to the dining room and enjoy her first breakfast amongst all the other hotel guests The other hotel guests must have all been asleep. Kate was alone, apart from an older couple seated in the far corner and two hotel staff preparing fresh juice and setting warm pastries on the table. Kate drank her freshly squeezed orange juice, forgoing her usual morning coffee. She buttered her first panino, layering it with slices of ham that had just been carved fresh off the bone, and took a bite.  "Oh my God!" Kate half exclaimed half mumbled through the mouthful of food. Why the hell did this ham sandwich taste so incredibly delicious? Kate savoured the feeling of the bread rolling around in her mouth, it was crusty and chewy yet still light and airy. She could smell the fresh yeast and it reminded Kate of her grandmother’s house. She was instantly transported to a place she had no recollection of ever even being. Kate didn’t even know she had a memory of her grandmother, her Nonna Paola had passed away when Kate was only six years old, but this bread! The familiar taste, the texture, the smell, brought it all back. The butter tasted just like fresh cream and the ham, smoky and sweet at the same time. She sat there for a while, savouring the best sandwich she had ever eaten in her life and allowing the overwhelming feeling of nostalgia to take over. Kate headed back to her hotel room, climbing the seven flights of stairs it took to get there. She figured if she was going to be eating ham sandwiches for breakfast every day, then she better get used to taking the stairs. As she sat in the hotel room, Kate pulled up her suitcase and began to empty its contents onto the king-size bed. One by one, she hung and folded her clothing until she had unpacked every last item.  Today she would take a walk around and try to get her bearings while remaining close to the hotel. She wanted to get a feel for the area first, it was going to be her home for the next five weeks after all. Maybe she would have lunch at a nearby cafe. Maybe she would meet a gorgeous stranger who would offer to take her out and show her the beautiful... “s**t!” Kate’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her own voice. She had been going through every single item in her room and had it turned almost upside down looking for the black leather travel bag she had taken down to breakfast. Kate last saw it hanging over the back of her chair in the dining room and was sure she had brought it back upstairs with her, but couldn’t find the damn thing anywhere. Kate headed downstairs immediately, this time taking the elevator. How could she be so careless? Her passport, her phone, her purse, everything was in that bag. She hadn’t even had a chance to take out the photocopies she'd made to leave in the room safe. Kate cursed at how slow the elevator was going and wished she had taken the stairs instead. After what felt like an eternity, the elevator reached the ground floor. She forced the doors open and ran out to the dining room. Her eyes shot straight to the table where she sat less than an hour ago, enjoying the delicious ham panino, but her bag was not there. A knot began to form in the pit of Kate’s stomach, she just wanted to sink to the floor and cry her eyes out. Worried she had just lost her identity in a foreign country, she headed to the front desk to ask for help.  Mario greeted her, almost expectantly; “Buongiorno, Signora Kate. How was the breakfast?”  “It was absolutely delicious, really. I just... I’ve lost my bag. It’s a black leather over the shoulder bag and my passport was in there. It was on the back of the dining chair and now it's gone... my phone was in there! I’ve looked...”  Before Kate could even finish explaining what had happened, he bent down behind the desk to pick up what Kate hoped would be her missing leather bag. Relief washed over her as he held it up, Mario handed it back to her but held onto it for just a moment before letting it go. “Signora, you shouldn’t leave this things laying around. You very lucky this nice young man he find for you. I try to call your phone but your bag, he ring. So I was a wait for you to come. ” Suddenly, Kate felt like she was twelve years old again. She recalled having lost a library book on her way home from school and was being scolded by her father for being so careless. That book cost Kate three weeks of her pocket money to replace and she couldn't even recall what it was about. Truth be told, she didn't care she was being told off by Mario. Kate was so relieved to have her belongings, he could have grounded her to live out the rest of her days in the hotel and she still would have thanked him a million times over.
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