A fairytale without name (Rose and Marco)

Chapter 55

Rose

If I hadn't seen the name of the club myself, I wouldn't have believed Gio had brought me to the right place. Round tables with long, white tablecloths were scattered on the lower level. Beautiful decoration and well dressed guests dancing to the song played by the band at the far end gave such a different vibe to the club. I suddenly felt unsure of my choice to wear a simple black dress. Feeling underdressed and unwanted was too much for one night but since Emilia had already spotted me, there was no turning back.

"Welcome Rose. I am so happy you could join us tonight." Kissing both my cheeks, she held my hand and with a warm smile asked me to follow her towards one of the bars. The usual bartender wasn't on duty tonight as it seemed and another man wearing a bowtie came to take my order. Before I had the chance to speak, Emilia ordered two glasses of champagne for the both of us. Once our drinks were served, Emilia asked me to follow her to a quieter place so we could have a little chat.

Nodding, I did as she told me but I really didn't want to be alone with her. My eyes were desperately searching for Marco or any other familiar face but in vain. Gio had abandoned me the moment Emilia walked towards me and there were so many people there that I couldn't really take a good look.

"Here. This is better. No one will bother us for a while." Opening a door, we entered what appeared to be an office and took our seats on a leather couch. Since I wasn't sure of what we would be discussing about, I let her do the talking and focused on my drink. Champagne was never my favorite drink but this was something else.

"So, Rose. We didn't have the chance to properly thank you for what you did for our family. If it weren't for you, my son would...." Her voice cracked and I felt the need to hold her hand. She was scared that she could have lost her son. Her husband was injured and she wasn't there to help either of them. How must this woman have felt the moment she was informed about what had happened to her house? As strong as a woman can be, the moment her loved ones are threatened she can really collapse. Squeezing her hand, I reminded her that there was nothing to thank me for. I did what anyone else in my place would have done. There was no way I could just stand there and watch Marco get shot or his father bleed to death. Thanking me once again, she pulled me into a hug and asked me how I was really doing all this time after the incident.

"I'm good I guess. I've made my peace with what I did and I just want to move on, to leave this behind and start living again. This past month has been hard but I managed." Her eyes told me that she didn't quite believe me but there was no chance I was going to complain about Marco to his mother of all people. Still curious about the reason why she had insisted on me attending when her son clearly didn't want me here, I asked her to explain. Smiling, she shook her head before she started talking in a low voice.

"My son is an idiot and I need to apologize on his behalf for his behavior. You know he loves you, right?" wow, I really didn't see that coming. I didn't know if I should laugh or not at her reaction. Did I know that he still loved me? Wasn't it obvious that he didn't want to be with me anymore? Why should his mother have this talk with me? Couldn't he tell me if his feelings had changed?

"Mrs Mancini, I really appreciate your concern but this is really uncomfortable for me. I don't think I can have this sort of conversation with you. It is true that things between your son and I have changed after what happened that day but I feel like this is something me and him should discuss." I apologized if she thought I was being disrespectful but my private affairs were not something I wanted to share with my boyfriend's mother. And I wondered if Marco talked about us to his mom but wouldn't even look at me when I asked him to sit down and talk. This was a bad idea. I shouldn't have come here tonight. Rising to my feet, I wished her goodnight and turned to leave the room.