"Patience is a virtue. Besides my men are treating him real well. I believe he will soon be overwhelmed by the hospitality." Lorenzo's expression flattered the double layered words he spoke. His canines showed from the satisfied grin he had worn.
"Hope so, or could they have gotten rusty after a week under your leadership?" Liliana was as unreadable as ever, her tone light as if she wasn't teasing the new Russo clan head.
"Yeah yeah, I know you were the best leader papa could find to take after him I learned from both of you!" Lorenzo faked a hurt look, "I can't be far worse then you. Your words are always so hurtful." he sniffed dramatically, definitely not how the Russo clan head would act but totally a twenty-year-old.
Lilia moved her head up and down, "Of course, you are the great Master Russo who forgot to wear his ancestral ring after merely few days of duty. "
"That ring makes me jittery, not my fault. It's like you are putting this heavy weight on my wings that doesn't allow me to take my flight."
Liliana didn't go through that but she knew that feeling after all she was made to carry the burden of guilt. "Enzo that ring does not bind you to your responsibilities, your ties with your father does and you can never turn your back on that. Whatever you're getting, whatever you have now is not just a duty you have to achieve but also it's your right. Don't do anything under pressure that would make me lose my face before the old man. He means a lot to me."
"I know what to do, Lilia. I don't want to let papa down."
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on Lorenzo's side after which a man opened the door and entered.
"I'll talk to you later," Liliana said to which Lorenzo nodded and ended the call.
Liliana looked at the setting sun. It looked like the end of many things; the day, her wait, her misery and the long period she went on without him.
"I won't let you leave me this time, Ed. Mark my words you." a smile lit up her face- so innocent, so pure, so filled with love.
Her mind went back to the time, when Edison first moved in the house next door from hers...
The hardwood floor creaked as she ran to her room and parted the curtains slightly to look pass them. The honking of a vehicle and commotion from outside had dragged her to her window to see what was the fuss about.
She saw a small truck parked near the house next to hers and there was a woman standing on the doorway, scolding a man who had his head bowed and said nothing to respond to the woman.
"Dorrie, come down child, help me in the kitchen." Dorrie snapped her head back and said, "Coming, Mama June." She left her room, running, just as she had come.
"Mama June, there are people in front of the house on the other side of the road. Are we getting new neighbors again?" Mama June looked at the little girl in front of her. Mama June was alone in her house most of the time so she volunteered to look after Dorrie after her parents left for work. In her late years, having Dorrie's company was the only sort of entertainment she could enjoy.
"Yeah, they might be shifting into that house. Isn't that good for you, young lady? You will most likely have a new friend and stop bothering me?" her old gravel voice said in a light tone.
"I don't bother you, Mama June. I ask you about things that bother me." Dorrie's voice turned singsong at 'me'.
The doorbell rang causing her to turn her head at once.
"Don't do that young lady, you will get a whiplash."
"Mama June, is that mom and dad? They are never back this early." her entire self lit up with a bright smile. Mama June sometimes felt sorry for her, she always hoped her parents would be back early and spent time with her but they were always doing extra hours to make enough money to support the family.
"Go see who that is," she went away happily at that, giddy to find her parents at the door.
She opened the door, her expectant eyes meet with a pair of blue ones that were not her father's.
"Hi, I'm Edison. We just moved in to the house opposite yours." Dorrie found the boy too beautiful to look at, like there was this light radiating from him though it was attractive it still hurt the eyes. 'He is so beautiful!' she thought to herself with a blush blooming on her cheeks.
What Dorrie didn't know was that Edison had somewhat similar thoughts after seeing her. The girl had the most luscious black hair he had ever seen, they looked so shiny and smooth his hands twitched for a touch. Her eyes, just as black, were so full of light that anyone would want to protect her from being tainted by the darkness.
Her cute small voice said, "I'm Dorrie. Do you want to come in Edison."
His smile broadened and he exclaimed, "Sure!"
That day Edison stayed for dinner as her parents wouldn't let him go without dinner. Dorrie thought about his parents and whether they would be worried that he was having dinner somewhere else but Edison said it was okay his mom wouldn't mind a meal alone.
After that day Dorrie didn't see Edison anytime soon. It was like either he didn't come out of the house or he never stayed in the house at all. So, the next time they meet, they had a lot to talk about.
Dorrie was getting late for school. She fixed her tie one late time and hurried out of the room and down the stairs.
"You ready, Dorrie?" her mom came from the kitchen fixing her hand watch. Her mom usually took her to the bus stop to catch the school bus and left for her work from there.
"Yes mom."
"Let's go, then." Dorrie sent her father a flying kiss and her mom peaked his cheek before they got out of the house. Dorrie looked at the house opposite theirs for as long as it was in sight and as usual the house remained unresponsive. It didn't feel like someone lived there even after a week of Edison and his family moving in.
The bus stood standing as they reached the bus stop She kissed her mother and got on the bus. She walked to the empty row and found someone bent down on his seat, looking for something. Dorrie wanted to call him when she felt something under her foot. It was a key. She picked it up and called out the boy, "Are you looking for this?"
The boy looked up and froze in his place. It was the neighbor girl from last week. The fascinating girl he couldn't forget about also didn't have enough courage to approach again. He removed his eyes from her face to look at what she held in her hand- the key he was looking for.
"Yeah, this is it," he took the key from her and said, "Thanks. I would have to stay out of the house today if I hadn't found it."
"You have got it now." she said though she wanted to ask where he had been for the past few days.
The bus was about to start so she asked instead, "Can I sit here?"
"Sure." he would like to have another chance to talk to her.
They went to school together, talking and laughing. The more they got to know each other the more they liked each others company. Dorrie familiarised him with the classrooms and he turned out a year her senior much to her disappointment. They still could go to school and back home together, that made her happy again.
They didn't know that in this short time spent with each other, they had gotten captivated by the other's company. They craved it and longed for each other without even knowing it.