Valentino's back!

When I entered my appartment in San Marco two weeks ago, the first thing I did was scan the room for Valentino. However within seconds I realised that he wasn't where I had left him. Or anywhere else visable in the apartment. As I stood in the bedroom after a 24 hour flight, an emotional reunion with my Prince and only the carry on luggage I had traveled with on the plane, I felt a wave of sadness descend. Although I knew that leaving Valentino was a risk, but I never once imagined that we would not see one another again and ride fiercely together.

Before going to bed that afternoon, I resigned myself to the fact that someone must have taken handsome Valentino, used him or broken him. Or that he was stolen and never to be seen again. As my head touched the pillow I thought "sometimes things happen in life that are beyond our comprehension and it isn't about 'what' happens but rather 'how' we deal with these experiences."

Everyone knows how much I adore Valentino, how sentimental he is to me and how much he has been a part of my life and liberta over the last 8 years, but alas it was time for new beginnings.

Within 24 hour, more details regarding what had happened to Valentino emerged. It turned out that Francesca a young female from Southern Italy who had rented the apartment during my absence, had taken Valentino with her, when she left. Without asking the owners permission she told me that she had taken "the bike because he looked like he had been abandoned". She then arranged to have Valentino couried back to Florence. I gave the address of the Hotel below my apartment as the return address in the event that I was away.

I have been anticipating if and when he would arrive and in what condition he would be in.

Yesterday morning as I descended the stairs of my apartment building on my way to Yoga class, I saw the outline of a cardboard box behind the glass door of the Hotel below and let out an exuberant shriek of sheer delight. I could not believe my eyes. My love had returned!!!!

Once inside the apartment, I kissed the outer shell of the box and embraced it's form tightly. I couldn't believe that Valentino was back and that we were reunited.

What happened? I suspect that Valentino got tired of waiting for me to return and decided to have a "little adventure" without me.