at first, elio hadn't even noticed that they had started to fix up the old villa next to their summer estate, it had been abandoned for so long and nobody ever wanted to buy it, so he couldn't quite fathom the fact that it was now someone's property. only when the dry paint was switched out with a soft peachy orange and the trucks with furniture began disturbing his mornings he understood that someone was moving in

it was pretty, the house. spacious, with a once beautiful garden bordering theirs, many unkempt bushes surrounding a round pool, colorful mosaics leading the way to it. it was empty, of course, except for the small puddle of rainwater at the bottom. with the trucks came professionals, and those were for the sake of making the house habitable again

that had been last summer. this year, elio was pretty impressed with the job your family had done with the villa. roses snaked up the wall near the front door, where a dark blue car was parked; you were already here. it wasn't until the first week of summer had passed that he had encountered you, with your family, sitting in your garden, the fountain of the now-clean pool mumbling quietly along to your conversations. even though elio couldn't see you over the fence, he knew that you were gorgeous

the next morning, elio had barely woken up, annella insisted they go over to 'salutare i nostri vicini'. with bleary eyes and ruffled curls, elio followed his parents over to your property, barefoot and in nothing but swimming trunks and an open flannel. annella carried a jar of her self made apricot marmalade in her neatly manicured hands

when you opened the door, elio wished he had put a little more effort into his looks instead of just rolling right out of bed. annella offered you the jar and spoke some kind words to you, making you smile. elio was floored, you were truly stunning

he gave you an awkward smile and nodded in greeting, struggling to hold eye contact. he thought about the week he'd wasted, in which he could've gotten to know you

"buongiorno"