Love's Butterfly

Interrogation

The rain was tapping the window, which we were sitting by. I looked at the empty seat next to me and fidgeted my fingers nervously. I played a little with the hem of my black skirt. My mom took a sip of her glass of water.

"What's he like?" my mom asked as she placed the glass back on the wooden table. I gulped as I answered, "What do you wanna know?". "His full name, age, occupation, where he lives, what he looks like" my mom listed. I shifted my position as I began to tell: "His name is Dominic Buchanans Hardy, he's chief at the restaurant, he lives in the city, he is tall...like 195 cm, he has green eyes and black hair. He has tattoos...". I gulped as I looked over my stepdad, Bruce, who was listening to our conversation.

"How old is he?" my mom asked. I bit down my lip and stared at her. "He's...not my age", I whispered gently. "Older?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. I gave her a tiny nod. "He's about...25" I whispered. "25?" my mom repeated after me. I nodded not looking at her. "isn't he a little...old?" my mom asked. "You don't know what kind of idiots guys my age are...so no". My mom nodded as the silence came back.

After a while, right in time, I noticed a tall man walking in from the double doors. He had a trench jacket. Under the jacket, I could see a white knitted sweater and black suit pants. I had never seen him in a knitted sweater before and it made him look like a soft kitten. I stood up and went to hug him. I couldn't help but smile.

"Hi," he smiled back. "Hi," I smiled as he hugged me. "I love your outfit", he said as his hands landed on my waist. "I love your knitted sweater", I laughed as I kept my hands on his chest. He chuckled and asked, "Are you nervous?". I nodded as I bit down my lip. He petted my cheek gently as he said, don't worry baby, everything is going to be okay". I smiled at him gently and nodded. "Should we go to the table?", he asked. I nodded and turned around to face my mom and Bruce strictly watching us. His hand stayed on my waist as we walked closer.

Bruce stood up and greeted, "Hey, you must be Dominic". "Yes I am, nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Laurén" he spoke as he shook Bruce's and my mom's hands. "Nice to meet you too," my mom said. "So should we order?", I asked, breaking the heavy silence. "Yes, of course", my mom said excitedly. "I'm dying of hunger", I mumbled as I looked at the menu. Dominic petted my thigh gently which made me smile at him.

"What is everyone ordering?" Bruce asked as he removed his reading glasses. "I'm going to take the chicken salad," my mom said as she laid the menu back on the table. "I'm going to take the steak", Dominic noted as he put his menu down also. "I'll take the same", I said immediately and smiled at him. I could notice that he was nervous since he was fidgeting his fingers. I put my hand into his palm and it seemed to make him calmer. "Great...I'll take the steak too", Bruce said and smiled at us.

Bruce waved the waitress to come to our table. "Good evening, what could I get you?", she smiled politely. "I'll have the chicken salad", my mom said and smiled pretentiously. "And the rest of us will take steaks", Bruce noted. The waitress wrote it up and asked: "And what would you like to drink?". We all looked at each other. "Wine?", my mom asked. "Great idea!", Bruce said excitedly as he continued to discuss with the waitress. Actually, wine will be good since I need a little alcohol.

"So Dominic...I saw that you gave a very nice gift to Love" my mom started right after the waitress left. I fidgeted my fingers as he answered: "Yes ma'am, I knew that she didn't have a car and I wanted her to have a new, the safest one" he spoke as he looked down at me. I looked at Bruce and my mom on the other side of the table. My mom nodded slowly "Well that was a nice gesture". Dominic smiled at her and nodded a little.

Finally, the waitress brought wine to us and I immediately took a sip of it. Red wine isn't my favourite but it'll go great with the steak. "I hope you don't mind if we ask you some questions...just to get to know you?" Bruce laughed. "No, shoot as many as you want", Dominic chuckled. "Love told us that you work in the restaurant?", he asked as my mom took a sip of her wine. "Yes, I've been working there for a while now", Dominic asked and nodded.

"I'm a little worried that you might affect Love's school career since this is the most important year", my mom noted, raising her eyebrows. "I understand your worry, sometimes I worry about that too. I have told Love that she can study for the Matriculation exams at my house since I have a lot of space so she can study in peace. I just need you to know that I have no intention to disturb her education", Dominic explained as he was cutting the steak. I was very happy with his answers and so was my mom. My mom nodded satisfied, and asked laughing: "Where do you live? I barely see Love anymore". "I have an apartment here in the city but I also just purchased a villa from the small island next to the city", Dominic told, squeezing my hand. "Really? That's a beautiful area!" she said thrilled. "Yes, it's marvellous and I know that Love loves it", he said and smirked down at me.

"Do you have siblings?" Bruce asked as my mom took a sip of her white wine. "I have one sister and three brothers. My sister lives here also, one of my brothers lives in London and the rest of my family lives in Italy". "You're Italian?" my mom asked. "Yes, both of my parents are from Italy and I grew up there", Dominic answered.

"Love told me that you, Ms Laurén, are working as a professor at the university", Dominic started. My mom nodded and answered, "Yes, I teach economy". Bruce smiled at her. "Wow, that's fascinating", Dominic said and nodded. "Well sort of, at least the students keep me young", she joked which made me let out a small laugh.

"Well...I think Love will be spending a lot of time with you in the future", my mom said, which I took as her blessing. A weight of the world fell off my shoulders. I smiled at her widely and nodded excitedly. "God I hope so", he chuckled and looked at me. "Where in the city do you have an apartment?", Bruce asked after the waitress brought us more wine. "I live only two blocks from here, in that direction", Dominic said and pointed out of the window. "That's really close to Love's school", my mom noted. I took another sip as Dominic answered: "Yeah". I felt like he would've wanted to say something more but he didn't. "Should we order some cocktails?", Bruce suggested happily, which made me chuckle.

We left the restaurant, all of us laughing. "I think we will go home now", my mom said when she got some air. "Well it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope we will see soon again", Dominic said as he hugged my mom and Bruce.  "It was nice to meet you too...you're a good guy", Bruce told and patted him on the arm. "I think I'm gonna stay over at Dominic...if that's okay?", I asked shyly. "Yes...you're 18 now", my mom said as she drunkenly hugged me. "Good night", I laughed as they started to walk to their car.

We watched as they got into the car and drove away safely. I let a big sigh out as I looked at Dominic. He was already looking down at me and his smile widened when our eyes met. "Hi", I whispered and smiled from ear to ear. "Hi love", he said, which made me laugh. "Can I sleep over?", I asked as I turned around to face him. He grabbed my hands in his as he said "You better".

"Are you tired, baby?", Dominic asked as he carried me to his couch. I shook my head as a no and added "But I'm food tired". Dominic chuckled and laid next to me. "You're so fucking cute", he whispered as I cuddled onto his chest. "You're so fucking cute with this sweater on", I whispered as I closed my eyes.

"I'm gonna take you shopping for more skirts", he said as he laid his hand on my waist. "Perfect", I mumbled. Dominic noticed that I was starting to doze off so he whispered "Sleep well my love", and planted a kiss on my forehead.

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Words: 1533