The trio chatted some more over lunch, about other places Kim should visit, both here on the Amalfi Coast and elsewhere in Italy. The couple even very kindly invited her to visit them in Milan should she have cause to be there, but Kim suspected her money would have run out by then.

After the plates were cleared, she excused herself to find a restroom.

“Of course,” Emilia replied, directing her to the back of the restaurant. Kim was enjoying herself so much that she made a mental note to try and come back with Colette and Annie sometime before their trip was over.

When she returned to the table, Antonio and Emilia were deep in animated conversation and she grimaced a little, hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything.

The older woman looked up and smiled as she approached.

“Kim, I’m sorry, but I have a curious nature. The Sweet Life, your travel journal—I noticed it has a great audience. Your photographs are very popular.”

“Oh, not really,” she replied nonchalantly. “Compared to some people’s—celebrities and stuff—it’s nothing.”

“Nothing?” Emilia repeated, glancing at Antonio. “I think it is something indeed.” She looked at Kim keenly. “The photos are wonderful, but what I read was also very good. Wisdom far greater than is usually found in someone your age. You have some beautiful ideas on life and how it should be lived.”

Granted the photos were hers and she’d paired them with what she felt were the perfect anecdotes and captions, but really... Kim could never have come up with stuff like that on her own.

Still, it felt good to be praised. It was a very long time since Kim had been complimented about anything other than her looks.

“Thank you,” she said, taking a drink of water.

“Why don’t you use this? Build on it?”

“What do you mean?”

“That wisdom. Why don’t you share it? You’ve already created an impressive following in such a short space of time. But people respond even better to people—to faces—and I’d be willing to bet that if you yourself appeared in some of these posts—along with your wise words—people would love it even more.”

A small laugh escaped Kim as she listened. “I don’t understand...”

“My wife works in magazines, remember?” Antonio reminded her. “She knows of what she speaks.”

“The industry is on the crest of a new wave—a huge disrupter,” Emilia continued. “Social media is the way forward, especially in the fashion industry. We see it all the time—people like those silly American girls now becoming more popular and influential than some of the world’s top models.”

Kim made a face. “The Kardashians, you mean?”

“Yes. But I don’t mean you should be like those, showcasing makeup and plastic eyelashes. I am thinking something more...holistic.”