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Alex rubs the back of her short, damp hair voraciously as she steps out of the bathroom. She throws the towel on the bed, pulls the front strands of unruly hair out of her eyes and stops dead in her tracks when she sees Maggie.
Her wife is wearing a detailed black suit with a white shirt and a pair of heels that still don’t quite bring her to Alex’s eye level. Her hair is pulled back into an intentionally loose but styled bun with some strands left down to frame her beautiful face.
She looks incredible.
“Babe…” Alex exhales, watching as Maggie throws a few things into her bag.
“Yuh-huh?” Maggie replies, looking up. She sees the look on Alex’s face; it’s exactly the one she was going for.
Alex manages to find her words despite the short-circuit going on in her brain. “You look gorgeous.”
“Thanks, Danvers,” she replies in the deep voice she knows drives Alex wild. Stepping back a little, Maggie’s pointing finger trails the length of Alex’s body - covered only by a towel - through the air before it comes to rest on her chin as she admires her wife from head to toe. “Not looking so bad yourself.”
“Oh yeah?” Alex raises a flirty eyebrow, putting her arms over Maggie’s shoulders and pulling her closer, looking into her soft brown eyes and placing a kiss on her lips.
“Yeah.” Maggie bites her lip.
They stay like that for a moment before Maggie pushes Alex in the direction of her wardrobe, telling her that they’re going to be late if she doesn’t get ready.
Twenty minutes later, Alex slips her feet into her shoes, adjusts her figure-hugging dress and heads down the stairs of the villa they’re staying in in Italy for the week. Maggie is waiting for her in the enormous garden, all of which is bathed in the early evening sunlight. She turns to look at Alex as she steps outside.
“Decided against the towel?”
Alex laughs. “Maybe next time.” She offers Maggie her arm and the smaller woman takes it as they walk in the direction of the front door.
“You still make good arm candy, Danvers,” Maggie says ironically, remembering back to their conversation on the DEO balcony long ago.
“Don’t I, Sawyer,” Alex replies, and, like last time, it isn’t a question.
/
The journey - to where, Maggie didn’t know, it was a surprise - takes a little over twenty minutes, the winding roads of the hills and mountains that surrounded the picturesque town they were staying in getting more and more narrow.
The car stops outside a small white building with a dark roof. Perfectly manicured olive trees line the gravel path to the old oak door and the building is dwarfed by the jagged outlines of the mountains that surround it.
“After you,” Alex says, and they head towards the door.
Its opens with a clunk and then satisfying creak - the way you’d expect a centuries-old door to sound as it was pulled open - and Alex and Maggie are greeted by a women who offers a genuine, warm smile. “Benvenuta.”
“Buonasera,” both Alex and Maggie reply, stepping inside at the insistence of the woman, who introduces herself as Giovanna.
“It’s a please to have you here.” She leads them through the amazing old building, which has clearly been set out as a restaurant but is completely void of customers.
“It’s so beautiful.” Maggie takes in every inch of the rooms. “Is that a Botticelli?” She points to a painting that hangs above a quaint fireplace, recognising it instantly.
“It certainly is,” Giovanna replies. “It was donated to us by a former customer of ours.”
Maggie doesn’t take her eyes off it. “It’s incredible.”
The awe in Maggie’s eyes brings a smile to Alex’s lips and fills her heart. The painting, which she knows is by one of Maggie’s favourite artists, is just the tip of the iceberg.
/
Through a glass door and down some weathered stone steps, Alex and Maggie find themselves opposite one of the most incredible views they’ve ever seen.
The mountains cut through the skyline, which is just beginning to show hints of a deeper shade of blue. Barely a wisp of cloud dusts the sky, the promise of stars imminent.
The setting sun is reflected in the gentle ripples of the lake that is almost entirely encircled by the backdrop; the air is pleasantly warm and the chirping birds creates a tuneful atmosphere.
The tranquility of the moment lands them both at the same realisation; they have barely had a moment’s peace for over a year. They both feel a sense of calm and contentment and peace.
They both know that it won’t last longer than their time in Italy, but it’s exactly what they need.
They’re seated at a rustic table for two, a bottle of fine champagne sitting on ice.
Giovanna promises to return shortly and then they’re alone.
Maggie lets out a sigh of both contentment and disbelief.
“That good, huh?” Alex says, knowing that exhalation all too well.
“Oh yeah,” Maggie agrees, sipping at her champagne. “How did you even find this place?”
“I’m a DEO agent. I… Detect.”
Maggie’s lips curl up at the corners and she shakes her head. “Still throwing that one back at me?”
“Always, babe.”
Maggie smiles and it brings out the two beautiful dimples that Alex will never tire of seeing. She raises her glass and Maggie taps hers against it. They take a drink, the gentle breeze tickling at their skin, and Giovanna appears to tell them that they can order anything they want. They make their decisions after some deliberation and ask for a bottle of red.
The sun hangs lower, and Alex and Maggie find themselves reminiscing about the first trip they ever took together, and then their honeymoon.
“I’m still not over that little yelp you gave when the wave came crashing over you,” Alex chuckles, remembering as Maggie disappeared into a tower of blue during her first surfing lesson at an idyllic beach in Maui.
Maggie raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? You should have seen the look on your face when that parrot landed on your head at the zoo on the Gold Coast. In fact…” Maggie grabs her phone, swipes a few times and reveals the screen to Alex; a photo of the taller woman, her eyes wide and her outline slightly blurred as she tried to escape the bird.
They both laugh at the photo, the happy sound reverberating into the distance.
“I love you, Maggie.”
Maggie slides her hands into her wife’s. “I love you, Alex.”
They lean over the table and share a deep kiss, losing themselves in the moment. Maggie tastes the faint lingering of sea salt on Alex’s lips. Alex inhales the sweet scent of Maggie’s perfume.
Maggie is the first to speak when they break apart. “I have no idea how you found this place, but it’s perfect. This whole day has been perfect.”
They’d rented a yacht and spent the day jumping from its sides, diving and snorkelling in the sea. The mid afternoon was spent eating fresh fruit and reading lightly weathered paperbacks at the bow before things grew heated and were taken below deck.
“It’s not over yet,” Alex promises.
/
“One tartufo and one tiramisu,” Giovanna says, setting their desserts in front of them.
Maggie eyes the biggest and most delicious-looking tiramisu she’s ever seen. She lets out a long exhale; she’s pretty full, but there are only two things in the world she can’t say no to; Alex and tiramisu.
“Enjoy.”
“Grazie,” Alex and Maggie reply.
“Prego.” Giovanna disappears back inside.
Hesitantly, Alex picks up her spoon. “Do you think they do take-out boxes?” She asks, clearly echoing Maggie’s feelings about the volume of the food.
“Mmhmm,” Maggie says, her mouth full of tiramisu before Alex can finish her sentence, making her laugh.
They eat as much as they can, enjoying their food with coffees whose smell permeates the air fragrantly. Maggie insists that it’s the best tiramisu she’s ever had and Alex is glad she’s tried something new.
With their stomachs full and hearts fuller, Alex and Maggie sit back in their chairs. They notice as people begin to appear on the mountainsides, dotted around in various places, especially at the water’s edge.
Alex had been meticulous in her planning, ensuring that everything was timed to perfection. They’d enjoyed their food, and the disappearance of the sun and a quick glance at her watch told Alex that the moment she’d prepared this evening for was finally here.
The fairy lights that decorate the wrought iron fence at the edge of the cliff and the canopy behind them go out. The evening is almost silent but remains pleasantly warm.
Alex beams at Maggie and then looks out into the distance, prompting Maggie to do the same.
And then, at the middle of the lake, a single yellow light begins to fade in, standing out against the inky backdrop.
It flickers for a few seconds. And then another little yellow glow appears.
And then another, and another, until the view is filled with thousands upon thousands of fireflies hovering above the water. They’re reflected in the now almost glassy expanse, seemingly creating a new world in the crystal water below.
Both women are stuck by the beauty before them, though it’s only a moment before Alex’s attention turns to Maggie.
Maggie, her amazing, gorgeous wife whose eyes are so full of awe and surprise, illuminated by the natural lights around them.
Maggie, the most breathtaking person Alex has never known, more beautiful than the mountains and the sky and the light show around them, both inside and out.
Maggie, the woman she gets to call her wife.
The look on her face is exactly what Alex was hoping for, and she manages to sneak a quick photo of Maggie without breaking her attention from the world around her. Candid Maggie is Alex’s favourite Maggie; her natural, charming, magnificent self shines through more than ever.
Maggie eventually tears her eyes from the spectacle and realises that Alex has been looking at her. She smiles at her, her dimples on full show. “I’m literally lost for words right now.”
Alex grins back, and Maggie knows exactly what’s on Alex’s mind. “Okay, hit me with the nerdy science stuff.”
And Alex does. She explains why the fireflies congregate here and why it only happens once a year, what makes them glow…
Seeing the excitement on her face as she explains science is one of millions of things that Maggie loves about Alex. She’s passionate about her career and fiercely protective of those she loves. She’d do anything for them, like hire an entire restaurant with panoramic views, a painting by her favourite artist and the most spectacular mood lighting ever.
The fireflies begin to disappear almost one by one, replaced by the distant stars that shine just as brightly. They stay seated for a little while longer, drinking the last of their coffees until Giovanna appears.
“Now, Mrs and Mrs Danvers-Sawyer, if you’d like to follow me, we have another painting I think you’d like to see!”
“Absolutely!” Maggie concurs.
She and Alex follow Giovanna into the old building. She leads them towards a lounge area, but Maggie has something else on her mind.
“Alex?” She whispers.
“Yeah, babe?”
“Do you think they have any more tiramisu?”
/
Alex slides off the flip flops she’d switched to when they arrived back at their villa and stands next to Maggie, offering her a glass. Maggie takes it from her and Alex sits beside her, lowering her feet into the pool.
They sit silently for a few minutes. Alex leans so that her head sits on Maggie’s shoulder and Maggie tilts her head so that it rests atop Alex’s. They savour the moment, enjoying one another’s company and sipping at their wine.
Maggie sets hers beside her, takes Alex’s hand and lies down, her feet still dipped in the cool water.
Alex follows suit, the exposed skin on her back warm against the concrete.
They stare at the twinkling stars, the crescent moon, the occasional plane…
They feel the tickle of the gentle breeze and the body heat radiating from their arms that touch.
And they know in their hearts that this is the always they promised each other, just one night in their forever.
And it was perfect.