Chereads / Celandine / Chapter 3 - Act II: The wind rushes

Chapter 3 - Act II: The wind rushes

Down Amalia Street

Primo's car would arrive at the Colombo Carnevale,

Arriving roughly 20 minutes before 8:00 AM.

.

Finding a parking spot within a decent enough distance from the cafe,

He gets out, locks the car, and walks to the Colombo Carnevale cafe.

As he does so, he decides to spend some time opening the door for others -

Partly out of politeness

Partly out of anxiety of looking like a prick if he decided to enter and did not open the door for the next person.

.

When he finally manages to find the chance to simply enter -

Which took him 10 minutes -

He sits at a vacant booth,

To which a waitress walks over.

.

"Here is the menu,"

Says the waitress as she places a menu made of parchment on the table and a golden nightingale,

"Pet the head of the nightingale to call over someone who will take your order."

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"Why is it a nightingale?"

Primo inquires as he carefully inspects the gold figurine.

.

"Colombo Carnevale, the founder and CEO of this company is fond of the bird, saying how the bird's song reminds him of when he woke up from his nap in a favorite spot he keeps secret in Italy."

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"Then I suppose it is no surprise that it would be in the shape of a nightingale,"

He says with a smirk,

"The song it sings lives up to the reputation it has gained throughout history."

.

"Indeed, it's really beautiful to listen to,"

Responded the waitress with a smile and says before she leaves,

"I should go do other tasks now, but I hope your patronage here will be enjoyable."

.

Primo then decides to relax a bit,

Perhaps to peruse the menu a couple of times,

And listen to the background music

That is interrupted by the conversations of strangers

That caught the attention of his wandering ears.

.

"Did you hear about the upcoming collaboration?"

"Yeah, it's between Ascanio Leoni and Colombo Carnevale is it not?"

"Rumors have been going around that Feliciano Fiore, Alessa Vitali, and Primo Leone Laguardia are going to make an appearance."

"Primo is Ascanio, Colombo, Alessa, and Felicano's mentor, right?"

"Yeah, I heard he is going to be their model for the collaboration event."

.

[Ah, Feliciano is also participating?]

Primo thought to himself whilst trying to decide on what to order,

[Ascanio forgot as usual - maybe I should have given him exercises to improve his memory...]

.

"I wonder why the big name brands are doing a collaboration though... it's strange, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I can understand that. You've got Ascanio Leoni and Feliciano Fiore, which are two clothing brands; Colombo Carnevale, a cafe brand; and even Alessa Vitali, a vehicle brand."

"Think it's got to do with what happened between France, Germany, and Italy last year?"

"Nah, the dates don't line up. If anything, it might be someone's birthday for sure - it's pretty well known that the four are friendly with one another."

"... Can't really think of what sort of reason why they're collaborating."

"Guess we'll see why at the event, yeah?"

.

[... Even Alessa? Huh. Didn't think she'd get involved in Ascanio's plans.]

.

"Already here as usual, huh?"

Spoke a sweet-sounding voice,

"Well, I guess it isn't that surprising considering that it is you, Master Grímr."

.

Looking up from the menu he held, a woman whose hazel hair and beige formalwear beautifully complemented one another moves to sit on the seat across from Primo.

.

"Please, you really don't need to be so formal. Besides, you and the others graduated. Anyway, here's the menu. I already decided on what I am getting. Might as well decide on what to order as well and be sure to pass it to the others"

Primo responds as he passes the menu to the woman and slyly smirks,

"Isn't that right, Glapsvid, Geldnir, and Valfreyja?"

.

"Even though we took the back door entrance, you still noticed, huh?"

Spoke a voice similar to Ascanio's.

.

"Haiz... Your idea of 'subtle' is the equivalent of nuking a city at the dead of night, Glapsvid,"

Primo (alias: Grímr) responded as he and the hazel-haired lady move over so the three could sit down as well,

"Anyway, what's with the whole collaboration deal?"

.

"Well, we figured we would do something special,"

The silver-haired, eyepatch-wearing man known as Ascanio (alias: Glapsvid) says,

"We all wanted to do something special."

.

"Indeed, since we are fellow students of yours, it would make sense to prove that skills as a team have not diminished,"

Alessa Vitali (alias: Valfreyja) said with quite a pleasant-sounding voice,

"Besides, you are quite important to us."

.

"What date is it today?"

Primo asks, a bit skeptical.

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"June 18, did you not keep track of the dates?"

Inquired Vanadís (the hazel-haired woman known as Feliciano Fiore) and she passes the menu to Geldnir.

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"All I know is that the seven days of the week are: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday."

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"You don't keep track of dates, but you keep track of time?"

Asked Colombo Carnevale - the white-haired man who wears a pair of raven hairclips - known as Geldnir,

"How is that possible?"

.

"I'm just old,"

Primo says whilst Geldnir passes the menu to Valfreyja.

.

"You are not even 30 years old - you're two years older than us,"

The quartet responds in unison.

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"Man, getting old really takes a toll on the body..."

Primo replies as he cracks his back.

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"You are anything but old, that's for damn sure,"

Geldnir says as he then pets the gold nightingale's head.

.

Doing so, the same waitress Primo had met arrives at a reasonable time and asks,

"What will you all be ordering?"

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"The usual espresso with some maritozzi and naleśniki - of course, include cinnamon sugar, pepperoni, and cheddar-jack,"

Geldnir says quite naturally.

.

"I'll get the usual cappuccino and some offelle di Parona,"

Glapsvid with a smirk.

.

"... I'm not sharing the naleśniki. Besides they're good enough to warrant ordering another."

Geldnir responds as he shoots a glare at Glapsvid - almost intense enough to kill.

.

"Ah fine, you really are protective over your favorite. I'll order cheese and strawberry blintzes."

.

"I'll have ouzo along with sfougato,"

Vanadís says.

.

"Prosecco tranquillo along with tarte au maroilles sounds quite nice right now,"

Valfreyja says,

"How about you, Grímr?"

.

"Hm... just Riesling wine along with finocchiona salami, inarizushi, and turon."

.

"Alright, that's one espresso, one cappuccino, one ouzo, one Prosecco tranquillo, one Riesling wine, one order of maritozzi, naleśniki, offelle di Parona, cheese and strawberry blintzes, sfougato, tarte au maroilles, finocchiona salami, inarizushi, and turon, correct?"

.

"Indeed,"

Spoke Grímr.

.

"Alright, your order will arrive soon."