Clouds Of Smoke… The Story. Gianluigi Ciaramellari
I followed everything from the kitchen monitors, while I was preparing dinner.”
Giovanni proceeded to open the faucets of the hot tub that was encased in a stone base, about one metre high from the ground, surrounded by scented candles which had already been lit.
“Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes. – Giovanni informed him, handing Damien a bathrobe and flip-flops and while heading towards the kitchen, he added – Massimo and Sonia seemed glad to meet each other!”
“Right! - Damien answered as he undressed - Between the two of them, Massimo was the happiest! Ahahahahahahahahaha!” And he let out a big laugh.
The walls of the room with the hot tub were made of stone; the ceiling was clad with beams, the floor around the tub in terracotta tiles and on a wall in front of the bath tub was a fake fireplace, one of those with a LED screen that makes that typical play of light of a burning fire.
This room opened onto a living room with coloured plastered walls, with sides in contrasting colours between them, and spot lights in the plasterboard ceiling. The play of light, very striking, created a warm and friendly environment in the winter and a cool one in the summer. The air conditioners were also recessed into the walls and not noticeable, being masked by fans of the same colour as the walls.
From the living room you could access the kitchen through a large opening in the dividing wall, panelled in wood. On one side of the room, in front of the bath tub, an iron and wooden staircase led to the upper floor, where there were two double bedrooms, two cloakrooms and two bathrooms.
A third bathroom, a guest bathroom, was between the kitchen and the dining room. From a window wall in the living room, one could see the garden, covered by a large pergola on which were woven red vine leaves, which blocked the view of the garden to the surrounding neighbours.
The house was a villa built in the 40s, who had undergone several renovations and some expansions, but which, however, over time had been surrounded and then hidden by more recent buildings, which now conformed to the urban facade of the outskirts of Florence. The shop was once the coach house of the villa, then it became its garage, then a laboratory and finally the business premises that had had more than one sign and type of business.
Just above the floor of Damien's shop, on the first and last floor, was his faithful and inseparable butler Giovanni’s bedroom.
A second entrance, (second only for Damien, because he hardly ever used it), was in the garden, a small gate between two columns in polished stone and on which were engraved two letters, one per column, "D" and "G".
Once a guest told Damien that the two letters reminded him of the initials of two famous Italian designers.
The two columns also served to support an iron truss that was part of the pergola structure above the garden. The gate was of wrought iron, and the iron bars drew a series of squares, from the largest to the smallest, one inside the other.
Every night, after closing, Damien allowed himself a bath in the hot tub, letting his skin be pampered by the warm water and bubbles while listening to the music coming from the wired wireless, with speakers distributed in all the rooms. In order to completely relax, he loved to vape with his big battery while he was soaking in the water, usually preferring citrus aromas rather than tobacco. He had commissioned Giovanni, who was a man of great manual talents, a cherry wood cube in which he kept, perfectly fitted, a series of big batteries and atomizers already filled with liquids of various flavours. He always kept this cube near the bath tub, stuck in a customized recess, so that it couldn’t overturn accidentally.
That Saturday night Damien seemed very amused, Giovanni could hear him laughing as if someone was telling hilarious jokes and from the kitchen, he could not help but echo his laughter, for it was very contagious.
After a while, he realized that he was the only one laughing and he started worrying about Damien and went to check in on him, finding his friend with his whole body immersed in the bath, with only his head out, rested on the edge, his arms relaxed on sides, eyes closed, the big battery placed in the cube.
The whirlpool had been switched off.
Giovanni returned to the kitchen, made sure to cover the dishes he had prepared, took a book and sat down near the tub, waiting for Damien to awaken.
A few minutes later, what Giovanni was expecting to come about happened, he looked up from the book he was reading and saw Damien open his mouth and say:
“It’s all right, everything is under control”.
Part one (Damien’s power - introduction)
When Damien woke up from his sleep, he realized it was very late, being able to clearly see the pendulum at the end of the living room. The table in wild pear wood, placed in front of the large window, had been set. The courses were generally served without a tablecloth; Damien liked the feel of the natural wood under his hands. It was a table long enough to comfortably accommodate ten people, five in front of another five and it was always set with no one at the head of the table, (Damien believed that every diner was equal). It had been given to him by one of his dear friends from Armenia, to whom he had done a great favour.
Damien always sat viewing the garden covered by the pergola. Giovanni sat on the opposite side and, if Damien was on the right, Giovanni sat on the left. That evening, Giovanni had already dined and was only waiting for his friend to have a seat so he could serve him dinner.
The whole house had been renovated and furnished according to a meticulous design made by Damien. Every detail had a precise function and its own meaning. The most important elements of life were all represented in the house. Water, fire, earth, air and... The sacred.
The final element was represented by many well-placed objects, representing a particular religious belief. Damien respected each of these objects, but he didn’t worship them. He knew their origin, history, meaning, and mystical power.
A large chandelier in Murano glass, hung over the dining area, made up of thousands of crystal droplets which sparkled with wonderful colourful effects. This was also a gift from another friend and anyhow, the whole house was full of objects sent to Damien from all over the world, donated by people who had received great favours from him.
The presence of these objects, some small but very valuable, others large and useful rather than precious, and all reminded Damien of the people they had belonged to and why they had been given to him. He was surrounded, in every corner of the house, by “the soul” of the person who had separated himself from that object.
They represented the spirit of sincere gratitude of the people he had helped.
If Damien could help someone, he asked in return for something that they were particularly fond of, that normally they would never give up. He never asked for money. This never. Damien had so much money at his availability, you couldn’t even imagine how much! His family owned some oilfields in Tunisia and he was also a major shareholder of an energy company. However he didn’t care to live in luxury. Certainly he had a beautiful home, but still it was just a small villa in Florence and not even in the centre. He had chosen to run a shop, selling items which at that time were met with fierce criticism by the tobacco lobby and as a result, he was burdened with very high taxation, as a deterrent. But whenever the road was difficult and uphill, Damien loved to tackle it, well aware of his extraordinary abilities and endowed by a particular power following a dramatic event.
So for Damien, the store was merely a façade.
He immediately fell for electronic cigarettes, as soon as they appeared on the Western market. His family used to smoke the hookah, rather than cigars or cigarettes. His grandfather was a pipe smoker and at home, Damien had many of them, inherited by the great old man.
Whenever Damien watched them, he remembered his grandfather who, while smoking them, deep in thought, began to speak in metaphors, stating some of the biggest truths of life Damien had ever heard.
As a child, he believed that his grandfather drew that wisdom from the aspiration of those