You've admired your father's eccentric friend since childhood. Professor Julian Morrow was charming, charismatic, smart, but still weird. But you still listened with admiration to the discussions between your father and the professor. They could stay up all night, and Mom would send you to bed, but then you'd sneak into the living room anyway, where the men were sitting and peek through the crack.

Years passed, but you always got together in a villa in Northern Italy that belonged to your family. In the morning you picked juicy peaches that grew in your garden, and in the evening you all talked together, and you ate those peaches and the juice flowed down your hands, leaving your fingers sticky.

At some point, Julian began to mention more and more often that he had a student who amazed him to the depths of his soul. Professor Morrow talked about this Henry tirelessly. It seems that this young man really hooked him. It was the first time in your memory that Morrow actually talked about someone with interest rather than a condescending smile.

You turned twenty the first time you saw Henry. Julian invited him to your villa for the summer. Yes, you wanted to see him, but spending the summer with him still seemed strange, and this thought haunted you every morning when you saw the calendar and realized that every day the day of their arrival was approaching.

The morning was already hot. The air was heavy and smelled of pollen and tart peaches. Julian was smiling, and he had a small suitcase in his hands. Henry came out from behind him. He was wearing a white linen shirt with the top buttons unbuttoned and beige trousers. He narrowed his eyes a little, then took off his glasses and wiped them. You froze. You wanted to draw it.

"I'm Henry Winter, nice to meet you." he said politely, but it was obvious that he was already tired because of the heat and he really didn't want to talk.