Mafia's Desire

5

The door opened and a young woman and a man carrying a baby walked into the store. Dorothy smiled and immediately greeted them.

"Oh he's precious," Dorothy cooed as she stared at the baby.

"Do you want to hold him?" The woman asked and held out the baby to Dorothy.

"Of course!" She gently took the baby from her hands. I assumed this was the couple that Ermanno was friends with.

"Anna, could you grab those books from the back that I set aside?" Dorothy called to me.

I went to the back room and grabbed the books. When I returned, I saw that the man had taken the baby back. My chest clenched painfully when I realized that my baby and I wouldn't have that. We wouldn't have a man to love and protect us.

Dorothy grabbed the books from me and showed them to the woman, whose name I thought was Eloise if I remembered correctly.

"Eloise, this is Anna. She just started working here a few weeks ago. Anna this is Eloise and her boyfriend Arsenio, Ermanno's friends."

"It's nice to meet you," Eloise said, smiling at me.

"It's nice to meet you, too," I said.

"Have you met Ermanno?" She asked.

"Yeah, a couple of times."

She and Dorothy shared this odd look.

"Well, this weekend, I was going to make lunch and have Ermanno over. You should come too!"

"I appreciate it, but I have to work so I won't be able to."

Dorothy sighed next to me. "Take the day off, Anna. You deserve it. You've worked every day so far since you started. I'll pay you for the day you miss."

"No, that's okay, Dorothy, I'll come in."

She shook her head. "Take the day off. Have fun."

Eloise looked at me with a hopeful expression on her face. "What do you say?"

I hesitated. Being around people I didn't know always made me feel awkward, but Eloise seemed nice, and I sort of knew Ermanno.

"Okay," I agreed. "I'd love to come."

****

I drove to Eloise's house for the lunch she was having. It wasn't that far away from my apartment. They lived in a very isolated area, something I wasn't used to.

My apartment was located in a small town, but there were still some other structures around. When I lived with Michael, we lived in the suburbs, so other houses surrounded us.

When I drove up their driveway, my mouth popped open as I saw their home. It was a mega-mansion, absolutely huge.

Michael and I lived in a nice house in a nice area. He made an above-average income because he was the chief financial officer of a company. Michael's house though looked like a hut compared to theirs.

I parked my used car next to the Audi coupe in the driveway and felt... defeated. I was proud of myself for moving away from Michael and becoming independent with my choices and finances. But Dorothy had told me Eloise wasn't even 19 yet. She was younger than me, and she already had such a stable, luxurious life. Not only did she have a boyfriend who loved her and their son, but one who provided for her. As I stared at their house, I wished my life had turned out a bit differently.

I felt a little apprehensive as I walked up their front walkway to the door. I debated turning around and leaving, pretending like I had never even driven up their driveway, but I forced myself to knock on the door. I couldn't live isolated for the rest of my life. I needed to branch out and socialize, even if that concept was horrifying to me.