He had thought Italy would be museums and historical sights by day and fantastic dinners and wine by night. Instead, days were spent going from one site of some random saint’s martyrdom to another and the nights were spent on the cramped bus trying to ignore the very loud recitation of the New Testament by the other passengers.

Currently, it was mid-afternoon and they were traipsing around a small town in Tuscany called Montelunato. Kurt could have easily blended in with the locals but for his ivory skin. The rest of the tour group stuck out like a sore thumb in their acid wash jeans and baseball caps. Their guide, a college-aged young American woman named Marina, was holding a giant yellow umbrella with pink and green polka dots over her head and leading them to their next stop of the tour. At the Vatican City, it had been helpful. Here, it was unnecessary and embarrassing. Marina, who was very sweet if a bit naive, appeared to be completely unaware that the locals were staring at her as she loudly described the gruesome death of some young maiden who would rather die than marry a pagan. Kurt was beginning to notice a theme. The male saints usually did something brave to become saints. The women either gave birth to a male saint or refused to sleep with some important Roman politician.

Marina closed her umbrella and used its point to highlight important features of a statue in the town square. Kurt was doing his best to give Marina his attention but he was more interested in the town around him. There was a small cafe and a church across the way with a school attached to it. The church bells rang out and children burst from the school soon after. Several of them rushed to a nearby gelato shop and a group of boys began kicking a ball back and forth. Marina was going on and on about the symbolism of the globe in the subject of the statue’s hand, ignoring the noise of the children behind her.

Kurt watched the boys play together contentedly. He was jealous of them. They were so young and carefree. At least, they seemed to be. As he watched them, a man emerged from the school and was greeted with cheers from the boys. He had dark curls that were neatly gelled in place with a bright, warm smile. He was dressed in dark grey slacks, a light blue short-sleeved shirt and a light grey waistcoat with a bright blue bowtie.

The ball was immediately passed to the man, and he easily passed it to another boy in the group, briefcase still in hand. The ball passed back and forth a few times before he ducked out of the group with a small wave and headed up a winding street. The boys shouted at his back and he turned to face them, yelling back to them. They all erupted in laughter and the man continued his way up the street.

Kurt was jostled out of his stupor by Marina tugging on his sleeve. The group was a little ways off, snapping pictures and chattering.

“Kurt, we have to head back to the bus now. We’ll be staying in Pisa tonight and attending service in the morning.” She smiled up at him earnestly. She clearly had no idea how uncomfortable this whole trip was for him.
“Marina, I think I’m going to just stay here for the last few days of the tour. I have three days until my plane leaves from Florence and I’d like to enjoy them.” He shifted his bag on his shoulder, waiting for Marina to react.

“Did I do something wrong? I know Cabo San Luca didn’t go too well and Turin was could have been better but--” Her wide brown eyes were panicked.

“No, no, no, sweetie, nothing like that.” He held her by the shoulders, looking her in the eye. “I just... I’m not feeling very welcome with the rest of the tour. You are wonderful and I’d be happy to tell your supervisor how great you’ve been but I just need some peace and quiet.”

Marina nodded. “Okay, well. Let’s go back to the bus so you can get your things.” She turned away from him and Kurt could have sworn he heard her sniffling.

They walked in silence back to the bus and Kurt got his suitcase from his overhead compartment before the rest of the tour group boarded. Back on the street, the rest of the group boarded wordlessly and Marina pulled him into a hug before she hopped on. The bus sped off and left Kurt.

With a sigh, Kurt carried his suitcase back to the main square to the cafe. He figured that would be the best place to start.