Dream story. For me. Not for you.

One Drop             (how's that for a title??)

This isn't about Costa Rica. It isn't about inspiration. It's just me, trying to create a story.
The guy's name is Aldo, they call him Al. He's Italian. He's a tall man with broad shoulders, 22 years old. The girl's name is Kat, short for Katherine. She's 20 years old.
  Do I tell a story, or I just describe things? This post is me working on my voice for writing. Aldo is Italian and lives in the US in a large family. The city he lives in has a strong network of Italians who stay connected in the New World. They keep a lot of the Italian identity and customs.
  Kat is from a small and laid back family where her parents pushed her to find her own way, to think for herself. Kat grew up taking classes in many things from swimming to self defense to auto mechanics. She was encouraged to try many different hobbies and skills. She knew a little about a lot, but not a lot about any one thing. She had confidence from her childhood, and was seemed balanced in her life. She moved out from her parent's house the day after she graduated high school. She had a job working at a bank now. She loved it, because it helped her understand how the world worked. Banking and economics were very interesting. She wanted to have money, and she wanted to make the most of it. She knew that money was options, and money was power. She had been saving money since she was 15 years old and doing odd jobs. She didn't spend it on little things, she was waiting for a greater purpose. Whatever that was. Besides the part where she had always been taught to never depend on anyone else, to be able to do for herself.
  Aldo grew up with some rough and tough people, where people fought for respect, to establish their place in their community. To establish their ranking within their own families.
  (And no, this isn't based on knowing anything about Italian culture, I've never even watched The Sopranos. This about picking a country for Aldo's background simply because they have big families, they cook a lot of food, and they like to talk with their hands. This is all based on a dream I had last night, and the guy seemed to be Italian.)
  Kat worked at a bank with Aldo's sister Jianna, and they became fast friends. Kat had no siblings, but some cousins that she was close to. She was fascinated with Jianna's stories about growing up in a large family, and was eventually invited to visit Jianna's parent's house for a birthday party. The first grandchild was turning 1 year old, and it was going to be all kinds of Italian fun.
  That was how Al and Kat met. Kat had average looks, with an average build. It wasn't until Al walked close enough to look her in the eyes. Then he was instantly attracted. And confused, and amused.
  He experienced love at first sight once. With a beautiful young girl when he was 17 years old and full of himself. She broke his heart a year later, and he didn't respect beauty after that. He got a job working as a photographer at a modeling agency and did well because he wasn't distracted by the women's physical features. He closed up that part of himself and focused on the rest of the world. The job took him all around the nation and sometimes internationally too. He turned his heart to his art, and pretty much sneered at women in general.
  Back to Kat's eyes. They were green, and they were very alive and sparking in the lighting in his parent's living room. He immediately was drawn in, and wanted to capture her on film. He thought about the expression: Take a picture, it lasts longer. Those eyes made him happy. Kat had confidence and moved well. But not like the models he was used to, who always tried to be something they weren't. Kat moved like no one was looking, and not secretly hoping everyone was watching. Al had been travelling for work for a few weeks, and it was good to back with his family. With real people, in the real world. Not specially designed sets for women and men spending 2 hours to styling their hair. And spending another hour discussing hair products.
  Al had some time off, so he spent time with Jianna. Because she was his little sister, and because she had things planned with Kat. He offered to be their chauffer, and their strong arm. He talked them in to doing some daring things because he was there, like walking in a cemetery at night. And going to a shooting range to try different kinds of guns.
  Kat thought that Al was very adventurous, and maybe even a little dangerous. She could see pain and anger behind his eyes. She liked to watch people's faces, she had once studied the muscles on the face. The way people express themselves was so interesting to her. And those Italians were so much more animated than her family. Her parents prided themselves on being stoic and, and level-headed, and even-keeled. Her father worked building boats, and used boating terms to relate to much of life. Her mother was the captain of a little ferry that took people to and from a tourist island. She was impressed with how smooth he was, but didn't dare mention it to Jianna. Jianna was already worried that Al would steal her friend away.
  After a week of visits Al had to get back to work, and tried to focus on his job. He found himself telling people at work about his boat ride with Jianna and Kat. Of all the things he experienced in life, boating was never on the list. He was too busy with everything else. He lost a cousin due to bad weather, while on a boat. He had a healthy respect for the ocean, and left it alone. He didn't like sand and rocks very much, and didn't even go to the beach.
  Kat though Al was an interesting character, but was taking in all of Jianna's way of life, and all of her family. She thought Al was a good and capable guy, but she didn't want to think of him as more than a friend. She had just found a new hobby, learning about magnets and how they work. She jumped in like with everything else. There was so much to learn, so many ways to apply knowledge in every day life. Right now her mind was on neodymium magnetics, and not dating. Kat was chasing down people who worked with magnets, not getting googly-eyed at Al. Not that he wasn't impressive enough, she thought. She found herself arguing about this a lot. Trying to not think about Al was harder than she had anticipated. But her experience with men was not helping. The appeal of men was like the magnetic properties of the neodymium kind. One of the first things she read about it was from an article on a website called unitednuclear.com. " Neodymium magnets are very powerful, much more powerful than magnets most people are familiar with
and need to be handled with proper care. The magnetic fields from these magnets can affect each other from more than 12 inches away. Please note that these magnets are fragile. Even though they are coated with a tough protective nickel plating, do not allow them to snap together with their full force or they may chip, break, and possibly send small pieces of metal flying on impact. Our magnets can easily bruise fingers and the larger ones can break finger bones and even crush hands as they attempt to connect together."
  Kat had refused to give her heart away. Yet. Her parents thought it would keep her safer, longer, if they taught her to have high expectations. Too high. And it worked. Part of the constant underlying message of: Be a better you, and attract a better man.
  Then Kat went to another event with Jianna, at the apartment of one of her distant relatives. Jianna was getting braver by the week. She had always felt protected by her older siblings and her family ties. She was only 4 foot 11, and it was easy to rely on others for help. But she started to resent everyone acting like she couldn't do anything for herself. Kat did everything for herself, and she admired Kat a lot. So Jianna took Kat to a grown up birthday party that involved a lot of free flowing alcohol, in a less safe part of town. It was a last minute decision, and they didn't really tell anyone, which is why they didn't receive the advice to pick a different party. Jianna truly lived a sheltered life. She walked there with Kat, who simply didn't know any better. Neither of them were familiar with how there was a not so good section inside a fairly decent neighborhood. It was in the middle of town, and the city block was like a maze. The further in they went, the more run down things looked. But they walked there with some of Jianna's cousins who were on the wilder side, so they didn't think to worry.
  Jianna had too much to drink, too quickly. After only 2 hours she went to go lie down, away from the action. Kat only knew the people she walked in with, and just barely. Mostly she had heard a few stories about them. These were Italians, there were always stories to tell. After an hour of just talking and relaxing, she was invited to step outside to get some fresh air. They were on the second floor of a really tall apartment building, facing a courtyard between buildings. Kat was used to things she knew. She moved out from her parents, but lived fairly close to the neighborhood where she grew up. This place was so new, so unfamiliar. She liked it. It was so different, and it was like a puzzle to solve, how the buildings were laid out. People's relationships with each other were puzzles too. All the connections that were being made at the party between people who were family, old friends, and just meeting. A million distractions. One distraction too many. Because she wandered off for a bit, right as it was getting dark. She just wanted to go down to the courtyard and look around the corner, to figure out the layout. There were kids playing, and she could just run down there and pop back upstairs in no time. She hadn't even been drinking. She was a puritan, she preferred a clear mind. She had too much fun watching stupid drunks. Plus when she had tried it once, she just got too sick to make it worth her while.
  When Kat arrived at the bottom, there were 2 little kids who looked lost and she helped them find their older sister. In the process she got a little lost. She thought she knew the way back, but she had been very intent in helping the worried children, and how their faces transformed once they found their sister. She turned around to head back, and was relieved to find the courtyard. It was dark now, and the younger people left, with only teenagers remaining. Some of them tried to give her a hard time as she made her way back in. She could hear the party music from above her as she entered the lobby, ignoring the teenagers. 2 guys said they were going to the party too, so they walked with her. But they walked her to the wrong floor, and it was pretty trashed. They were trying to figure out where they went wrong, since the elevator was broken and they had to take the stairs. Then 3 guys showed up, starting to harass the 2 guys with Kat, it sounded like they knew each other, and weren't happy about it. She started to back away to the staircase. The 3 guys appeared more interested in Kat, than in their rivals. She had to think fast. She threw out a name. She said: I'm with Aldo Moretti. They sneered at her, saying they knew he didn't have a woman. How he was well known to sadly waste too many opportunities with the models, what was wrong with him? But they hesitated. So she boldly said he was her boyfriend, and was at the party, probably wondering where she was.
  The 3 thugs said: Sure lady. Let's all go see him. They were calling her bluff. They herded Kat back to the staircase and actually took her to the right floor. They didn't believe any of it. They hadn't seen her around, they wanted to make her look bad, and feel terrible. Feel terrified. They got to the right floor and out stepped Al from the door of the noisy apartment with the party. One of the creeps had his hand on her arm, when Kat and Al saw each other. She broke off from his grip and ran to Al and leaned in to whisper in his ear above the noise, but below what the others could hear. She hoped she could succeed on both counts. She said fiercely: I told them I was your woman.
  He looked into her green eyes once again, and took in the situation. Without looking up he drew her in for a very deep and passionate kiss. Man, he had hoped for just such a chance! He was glad he didn't have to wait near as long as he had imagined. He had been in denial that he even tried to imagine it. They kissed until they were both out of breath. When he looked down the hall again, the 3 jerks had already left. But he already thought he knew who they were. Someone had called him to come get his sister, and was disturbed to learn that Kat had come with her, but wasn't in the apartment. It took him too long to figure that out, and he was starting to get frustrated. Especially when someone said they had seen her in the courtyard.
  But back to that kiss. It was a Princess Bride kiss. It was the kiss that changed everything. His world narrowed down to just her, and her world widen right up to him at the center of it. It was a kiss of knowing nothing would ever be the same again. So they paused, looked each other in the eyes, and kissed again. Until they needed to support themselves on the wall. Her knees were weak, and he had held his breath for too long. How does the rain end a drought? With one drop. Followed by others. How does the tide change? With one drop of water at a time. How does the heart beat? With one drop of blood joining with other to sustain life.
  Al knew he had found his way. Kat knew she had found her passion. Neither of them saw it coming. They were both pretty much shocked at how their futures had just been altered by a kiss. They both understood. The second kiss confirmed everything. How little time it takes for a chemical reaction. How much you leave behind when your heart is pounding in your chest, and your mind is reeling.
  The moment they knew they had found each other was the moment they began to fear losing each other. Funny how that works. Al thought he understood passion, he was dedicated to his photography. He was dedicated to his family, he mother taught him how to love. His siblings taught him how to forgive. His father taught him how to channel his passions and pick himself back up after his first devastation of finding and losing love. Al was reminded of how it felt to lose it all when he was younger. He should be more careful, but he felt so deeply. He wasn't prepared. He had considered dating Kat, but now wanted to propose. He had to get a grip on his feelings. How did she feel? He was already lost, already compelled to be with here, with no doubts. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for the next kiss. He had to be careful, what if he scared her away?  A million things went through his brain and crashed the system, as he leaned back, taking a long breath. He was almost afraid to look at her. He needed her to feel the same.