Bianca's mom glared at her. "where are you having those plans?" her mom asked
"it doesn't matter, mom"
there was a moment of silence, tension brewing.
"you're going to meet that boy again?" her mom's voice was laced with derision.
she rolled her eyes.
"you met him a day before yesterday, isn't that enough?"
"it's not!" she blurted out before she could stop herself.
"can't you put a halt to those insignificant plans and follow me? your presence at the meeting with the Grecos will be of greater good "
Bianca scoffed.
"my plans are insignificant but yours aren't?" she countered
"they aren't just my plans!" her mom thundered "it's not personal, Bianca. our family is celebrating a truce and you're needed"
"so we are now yelling?" she shouted, to match her mom's voice
"you have to come with us. you'll make your debut in the mafiadom. our boss needs to be known"
"I'm not ready to make any debut" she replied. "I told you I wasn't "
"then what do I tell them when they ask about you?"
"tell them I'm still in mourning stage. I lost my dad and I'm grieving for him " she said coyly
"you're grieving for your dad by meeting up with a boy?"
"madre!" she hollered
"you won't stop me from seeing who I want to see"
her mom scowled at her for a second, without saying a word.
"your dad would be disappointed" her mom bit out
"I see what you're doing, mum" she forced out a smile. "emotional blackmail"
"you have responsibilities mia figlia"
"you think I don't know that? you think I want this life? I wake up every morning, to the realisation that my dad is dead and I have this burning desire to kill Giovanni's family but I can't because I have to be a mafioso to defeat a mafioso. Do you think I like that?" she bawled
"and then I meet this guy and he succeeds in taking my mind off the whole frustration and sadness and you tell me to stop meeting him?"
"Bianca --" her mom began
"no, mom" she interrupted. "Allow me to speak"
"even at that, I still came up with a sick plan to bring the Sforzas down, and you're still not satisfied with it?"
"you still need to do more. life isn't rosy, Mia figlia"
"I'm not ready to do that! I can only do little. I'm not ready to make a debut. I'm not ready to take on mafia business "
"till when will you be ready? Luigi can't be an underboss and a boss too" her mom retorted
"I don't know, madre" she said "at first you told me 'no pressure', but now you've suddenly changed just because I'm seeing a guy"
"I have to go. attend the function with uncle Luigi and anybody else"
thankfully, she was already dressed. she grabbed her purse and walked off. she had a guy to visit.
**************************
up to forty minutes later, her driver dropped her at the park.
she spotted Lorenzo as soon as she got down from the car. as usual, he looked breath taking. he spotted her too and she waved. she couldn't help feeling aware of him staring at her as she came to him.
"hi" she greeted
surprisingly, he held her hand.
she gasped at the sudden contact. his hand felt calloused in contrast to her smooth hand.
"for someone who called me as early as that, it took you quite a while to get here" he grinned
"I had an argument with my mom" she glanced up at him, to read his expression "again" she added
"why?"
"um--" she didn't want to explain in deets, for it would involve her telling him about her family business and that she was a mafioso. she obviously didn't want him to know that she belonged to the mafia, she didn't want to ruin the moment.
"she wanted me to follow her somewhere but I didn't want to, I told her I wanted to go and meet you" it was part of the truth, she just didn't go deeper.
"it must have been important for her, maybe that's why she insisted" he said
"I just couldn't. I already made plans with you"
"if you cancelled, I would have understood"
"but I didn't" she looked up at him again and their gazes met.
his curious gaze held hers and there was no question of her, looking away. she felt something for this guy. was she in love with him? there had to be a rational explanation of her behaviour this morning and her reaction now. her heart was playing games with her.
"thanks" he said to her.
"for what?"
"for meeting and spending a lot of your time with me"
she wanted to reply but no words formed.
"I have been going through shit since my dad passed away. my work that I used to love, suddenly became tiring and burdensome" he said
"I hardly ever spoke to my mom, I felt lonely, until you showed up..."
it felt like he was reading her mind because that was exactly how she felt.
her, being with him almost everyday, took all the sadness she felt. she'd thought about it severally, she didn't want to stop seeing him.
"I am really glad to have a friend like you" he continued. "I mean, I've never actually had a female friend before, except you"
she felt like she was swallowing a lead metal. friends, he said. they were friends right? so why did she feel somewhat disappointed?
she met his gaze, she felt awkward now. how did he manage to be so calm when her heart was going crazy here.
"yes" she forced a smile "I'm happy to have you as my f-fr-friend" she stammered. what the hell was wrong with her? this reaction she was having towards him was completely unhealthy.
as she kept having unwanted thoughts, a car swooshed past them, almost hitting her but she dodged it on time and swayed, luckily, he caught her.
"are you okay?" he asked
she gulped. she felt an acute sense of deja vu, like this incident had happened before. the only difference between now and then was, then, he quickly helped her stand after breaking her fall.
but now, it felt like he wanted to continue holding onto her.
Another fiery gaze lock session went on between them.
as she stared at him, she came to a scary realization.
she'd fallen in love with him. she'd waited too long to admit it. that explained her heightened emotions and awareness of him today.
she'd fallen in love with him, but the question was, did he love her too?