The first night, I saw this young man, head down, mixing a drink. I approached and said, “Lorenzo?” All I remember was a pair of deep, intense, azure eyes looking up at me. The light reflected through those brilliant blues and I was like WOW. My first thought was “Cute. Young. NO WAY! This man could have any woman he wanted.”
“Parlo Italiano?” I stuttered. Which translated means, “I speak Italian?” (Note the question?)
I have no idea what he said as he prattled on in Italian. He seemed pleased I spoke the language. Which, as we know, I don’t.
DATING DIRECTOR TIP #1: Generally whoever speaks first is considered the “masculine” energy in a relationship. At this moment, I was not there to find a date. I was there for business (speaking Italian), so it was appropriate to initiate our conversation.
I confessed I was just learning Italian (as if he couldn’t figure that out), and asked if he could practice with me. He said something to make me think he would. English is Lorenzo’s third language (French is first; Italian’s second), so there was/is always a question of, “do we really understand each other?”
From then on, wherever I was, he was. Coffee in the morning, Lorenzo was there. Lifeboat drill, Lorenzo was there. Evening cocktails, there was Lorenzo. I thought, “Is it my imagination or is this man circling me? Nah, it’s a small boat. It’s normal he’s everywhere.”
DATING DIRECTOR TIP #2: When a man is interested in a woman, he will often “circle” her, making sure it’s safe before he “makes a move.” (I found out later his presence was intentional.)
The third night on the boat, we were sailing past the island of Stromboli. After dinner, all the guests went up to the top deck to watch the fiery red volcano bursting in the air like fireworks. On this night I was exhausted. The sailboat had been pitching through rough water the past two nights so I wasn’t sleeping well. I decided to escape from the crowd by going on the back deck to watch alone.
