October 13, 2023

Above all else, Stella's face is priceless when she strolls into Campo dei Fiori with the rest of her family in tow. Her expression could've been as sour as the receptionist's if she wasn't working so hard to hide it. Nathan's enough of a dick to be tempted to ask her if maybe she's experiencing a sudden bout of travellers' constipation, but he's trying to be the gentlest version of himself for this first impression and refrains. Stella's expression softens when Jamie moves in for an enthusiastic greeting, anyway, so he suspects she'll get over her initial shock fast.

He makes sure to greet Gino first, for based on Jamie's descriptions, he's the least scary of the bunch. Nathan shakes the man's hand and concludes there's indeed nothing scary about this mild-mannered Italian with his dark hair, somewhat dorky glasses and short beard groomed far more meticulously than whatever the lower half of Nathan's own face has going on. Gino radiates calm and reliability; he's the kind of guy a parent would consider their ideal son-in-law, the kind of guy who'd never fall in with men like Derek McLaren no matter what because he's just above that kind of shit somehow. "Pleasure to meet you," he tells Nathan, and unlike his fiancée a few months back, he actually seems to mean those words.

Jamie's father soon approaches them, too. He still has a lot of hair for a man in his late fifties, though it seems to be rapidly greying. There's a serious intensity in the brown of his eyes. "If you could help out with the language barrier at the reception, Gino, we can–" he begins, stopping mid-sentence to take note of Nathan. Nathan wonders how much Jamie told her parents about him and what exactly she may have said.

He doesn't even want to know if maybe Stella's been talking, too.

"So you're Jamie's friend," Emilio Carrera says, plucking at his moustache while appearing to size Nathan up. He thrusts out his hand. "Nice to make your acquaintance. Emilio Carrera. What might your name be?"

The sudden introduction catches Nathan off-guard. He panics, and all he can still hear in his head is Jamie telling him to talk about car facts when in doubt. "Most people in California drive Toyotas," he replies, instantly panicking even more.

"I know that." Emilio lowers his hand. "And I don't think that's your name."

The man isn't smiling, but he doesn't look angry, either, so Nathan has no idea if he should let out a polite laugh or not. He settles for simply turning bright red and blurting out his name as requested.

So much for good first impressions.

"You wanted me to help you check in, Emilio?" Gino asks, gesturing at the reception and effectively shifting Jamie's father's focus away from Nathan, who considers his ass saved for now.

"Right, right," Emilio replies, making for the reception with an absent-minded shake of his head. He engages their lovely receptionist in conversation, trying his luck with a peculiar mixture of Italian and Spanish, but even with Gino's help, he doesn't get much further with her than Jamie did before. Nathan watches it all play out, wondering if how quickly he seems to have faded into obscurity for them is a good thing or not.

They must've seen him in Jamie's video about the book, he realises. There's no way they wouldn't remember his role in that footage that's been a thorn in their side from the very start.

Maybe they're just not mentioning it because they've been asked to behave.

"So you're the lucky guy Jamie invited along," Nathan hears an unfamiliar voice to his left say. A female voice, cheerful and a little haughty. He turns to face the woman who must be Jamie's mother. She's slight and a bit bony, but she carries herself with grace. Her hair is long like Stella's, but its brown colour has to be artificial these days.

"What exactly makes Nathan lucky?" Jamie asks as she trails after her mother, Nathan heard the pair of them talk before, though their chatter became mere background noise while he met the men; he caught snippets of a quick-fire conversation about flights, the weather and Venice impressions. 'YouTube' and 'Internet' are probably the only forbidden topics.

Now, it seems, Linda Carrera is moving on to the Next Most Interesting Thing, which Nathan apparently is. She scrutinizes him with piercing eyes a shade of green brighter than the murkier variety Jamie has, which Nathan still affectionately calls ditchwater green in his head. Travel or no travel, Linda's makeup job is impeccable, as if she'd rather have died than turn up in Venice showing one wrinkle too many. 

"Well, he gets to be in Venice without paying a cent, doesn't he? I call that lucky." Linda smiles at him. "I'm sure Jamie told you my name. Lovely to see you here, Nathan. I hope we'll all have a delightful two weeks."

"Thanks," is all Nathan manages to say, because Linda's statement hits like a cold shower. Shit. Shit. Maybe he should've insisted on covering his own expenses instead of leaning on Jamie, even if it would've left him flat broke. Nobody here but him is coasting by on her cash.

Does that make him a gold digger? The last thing Nathan wants to look like is some financial leech. Okay, it's not like Jamie would've allowed him to pay for himself in the first place—she'd probably just have raised her eyebrows and asked if he lost his marbles. But maybe he could've suggested it, at the very least, if only to show he was willing to do it. God, what an asshole he's been.

"Although this may not be the finest hotel in the city." Linda rapidly zips towards the next thing to comment on. Like a dragonfly, or perhaps more like a giant hornet. There's a tight, unrelenting smile tugging at her lips while her gaze darts around the room in silent judgment; Nathan's tempted to ask her if she's noticing the mess of it all only now, if she had sawdust in her eyes before. "You might want to read the reviews better next time, Jamie. Put in a little more time and effort instead of booking so hastily. I'm sure you could've found a more pleasant place than this one if you'd given it just slightly more thought."

Nathan frowns. Jamie, however, matches her mother's smile; it's a lot less tight, but a lot more awkward. She shrugs the comment off. "I guess. This hotel's pictures looked pretty decent to me, so..."

And maybe Nathan should feel relieved now, because Jamie's trying to help him here by playing it cool and making like this is all her doing, but he can't feel good about this development in any way. A sinkhole opens in his heart instead, gaping and empty, swallowing all his fears and worries and leaving nothing but frustration and resolve in its place.

He can't let this happen. He's the reason they're stuck in this dump and he needs to own up to it, no matter how much it worsens his already fairly terrible first impression. He can't allow Jamie to take the fall for him.

He may not have much going for him,  but he can at least give her this.

"It's my fault," he confesses. "Jamie asked me to surprise her and I wanted to try. This choice was all mine and I'm seeing now that it... kind of... sucks. Badly. So I'm sorry I did such a poor job picking a hotel."

From the corner of his eye, he can see Jamie regard him with shock and appreciation both, but he makes sure to maintain stern eye contact with Linda, makes sure she knows exactly he's dead serious and not fucking around in the slightest.

Linda herself adopts a look of surprise. There's a hint of condescension in her features, the art of it perfected with a subtlety Stella has yet to master. She keeps smiling. Her smile is still tight.

"I suppose it can't be helped now. We'll just have to make the most out of what we have, won't we?" Linda turns away from him and in the direction of the reception, where Emilio and Gino have obtained their room keys at last. She briefly touches Jamie's shoulders. "But maybe don't outsource your own responsibilities to others in the future, dear."

And off to Emilio she goes, leaving Nathan dumbfounded and close to frothing at the mouth. Unbe-fucking-lievable. His hands clench into fists involuntarily. If this is Linda being civil, if this is what's in store for them these coming weeks, this may become one infuriating trip. Nathan's ready to march up to the woman and tell her just where she can stick her veiled jabs. The only thing keeping him from doing so is Jamie herself, who's standing closer to him than she was before. Lashing out will leave him with little but scratches, but it may leave her to bleed out in his place. He won't take that risk.

"You didn't have to tell her the truth, but... Thank you. Thanks for trying." Jamie's not usually one for keeping her volume down, but she's speaking quietly now, words meant for only him to hear. "But I guess there's one thing I forgot to tell you, and that's that there really isn't a way to win."

Clearly. Nathan keeps his eyes on Linda, who now chatters with her husband without a care in the world, and knows he's failing to prevent himself throwing rage-filled glares. Though he manages to maintain his composure, his blood hurtles towards its boiling point.

Jamie was right, is all he can think as his anger jolts across his skin like little electric sparks.

He gets it now.