Carlo

"Hi there, Carlo, how are you? I had the intention to come say hello in the afternoon ... You beat me ..." Replies Vanessa with a faltering smile, feeling her bikini suddenly too skimpy for this conversation.

"My my ... how you have grown ... " Continues the stocky man clearing his throat as his eyes adapt to the dim light of the living room.
Vanessa didn't bother to lift the shutters.

Dressed with only a pair of kaki shorts and a sweaty undershirt, the man looks like someone who has just seen a ghost.

They actually didn't see each other since five years.
Growing up, Vanessa started to refuse to come to the old vacation house with her parents.
She told them she hated it, but it was just a way to spend her holidays with her friends instead of her family.
But now that she was old enough to do what she wanted anyway, she could finally come here without them.
This was her first time since she turned eighteen and could travel alone, as the year before she spent the whole summer studying and the previous one she went to Ibiza with her girlfriends.

"You .. you really turned into a fine young woman." Grumbles Carlo under his black moustaches, checking her out for head to toes.

He takes a couple of steps in her direction, almost to inspect her more closely and assure his eyes are not betraying him.

"Hmm ... Carlo, i'm really happy to see you but ... why are you here?" Inquires Vanessa as she looks around for something to put on and cover herself.
All her clothes are on the floor, upstairs, and her sarong is still inside her luggage .

"Oh, oh ... yes, sorry little lass, i didn't knew you were here already. I came here to open some window and air out the house before your arrival." Replies the man without taking off his eyes from her lush body even for a second.

Embarassed, Vanessa has to struggle to refrain from covering herself with her hands.
It would certify the akwardness of this moment and proably emabarass the poor Carlo.
He is proably just too surprised.
They actually didn't see in such a long time ...

"I see ... well, i'm gald we could met each other ..." Sighs the girl, thinking she was pretty sure her parents told her they already warned him yesterday about her arriving in the morning.

"I was going to catch a little sun ..." She adds hoping it would be enought to persuade him to leave.

"But of course ... Relax, take a bath, the water is wonderfull... Today the weather is not that great, but from tomorrow, i can guarantee you'll be sweating like you never did before. We're expected to reach the record of the century by the weekend."He says finally looking her in her face, and putting out one of his warmest smile, just like the old days.

"Oh, by the way, Maria is cooking her Parmigiana, why don't you join us for dinner, later?" He aks excited.

Maria is Carlo's wife, she had always been kind of grumpy, but her cooking was unrivaled.
She did even teach her a few tricks.
Vanessa's mother still can't wrap her head around the fact her daughter's sauce tastes better the hers in fact.

"I'll think about it, thanks Carlo." Smile back Vanessa, pushing away the mouth-watering image of Maria's Parmigiana, finally recognizing the kind man she used to know.

Good old Carlo was almost like a second dad when she was a small kid.
He had always been a cheerful outgoing man, and Vanessa kind of missed his contagious vitality.