Fly Away

07 - nerves and nerves and nerves

"You must be Mia, I'm Gianna, Gia for short. I hope you're liking it here. Rocco hasn't said a word to us about you and I was beginning to think he had killed you off already." She lets out a loud laugh. "Don't worry though, he won't. Oh, I'm his sister by the way."

She's grinning at me, and I'm just standing there processing her words.

I smile back at her, and I'm sure it doesn't look anything like a smile because of how awkward I'm feeling right now.

"Uh hi, yeah. I'm Mia. Nice to meet you." I sigh in relief that at least my brain seems to be functioning as I glance back towards Rocco, who's just staring at me with that same blank expression. His hands are in the pockets of his black suit trousers, and I eye the tattoos that wrap around his forearms.

I'm staring.

So I look back towards Gianna who's looking at her brother with a glare. He doesn't even notice.

She turns back to me and this time her smile is much softer. She looks really pretty when she smiles, and I try to imagine what Rocco would look like if he smiled.

You don't need to be thinking about that right now, Mia.

"It's nice to meet you too. I hope my brother hasn't been giving you a hard time, no? Anyway, I left an outfit for you on your bed for tonight. I know how hard it is trying to find a decent one." I nod my head in understanding.

Gianna is wearing black dress pants with matching black heels and a black corset top which exposes some of the skin of her stomach through the see-through material.

"Okay well, I'll be off. I just came here to discuss some last-minute matters with my dear, cold brother here. I'll see you at dinner?" I nod and smile at her, unsure of what to say as she taps her brother on the cheek once, earning her a small glare, before she's walking towards the elevator.

We both stand, waiting for the doors to shut, and as soon as they do, I'm being pulled down towards one of the sofa's that sit in a circle around the coffee table.

It's so sudden that I let out a noise of surprise and stumble a bit in the firm grasp of Rocco's hand around my arm.

He gently pushes me down onto the seat and then walks to the opposite side, sitting himself down and resting his elbows on his thighs as he runs his hands through his already messy hair.

The ring on his middle finger gleams against the few tattoos on his fingers, and I watch as he lets out a frustrated sigh, looking back up at me.

He doesn't say anything, and just checks the watch on his left hand before leaning back slightly.

I decide to break the silence.

"Gianna is nice." I'm nervously waiting for his response, but h only blinks once and runs his hands through his hair again.

If I didn't know better, I would think he's struggling.

"Listen here. When we get there, we're going to have to act like we want to be together, you got it?" His voice is low and quiet, and I almost sink into the sofa at how nice it sounds, but then his words hit me.

He wants to fake it.

Oh hell naw-

"Are you listening?" His eyes are narrowed at my face, and his head is cocked slightly to the left as he scrutinises me.

"Yes, I heard you. Why do we have to fake it?"  I ask, confusion evident in my tone, and probably on my face too.

He lets out another sigh.