Visionaries

six

I wake Darius by throwing pillows at him. He needs to be up because we have to leave the school before anyone sees him come out of my dorm. He grumpily wakes up, with a bare chest and black jeans, and runs to the bathroom without even looking at me. I take the oppurtunity to change into my outfit and make my bed. I clean up Darius' stuff as well until he comes out.

He walks out of the bathroom, still a few droplets of water on his beard, with a big smile.

"How did you know I hate folding?"

I scoff in a playful manner, "I do now."

He takes the folded bed covers and puts them back where he took them last night. I go freshen up in the bathroon before we both head out. We avoid a couple of early risers, but thankfully, we don't run into any teachers. It doesn't take more than a minute for us to travel the whole lenght of the school to get out, since our dorm is at the far end of the first floor. Joy.

I suddenly remember that I need to tell Cass that I'm with Darius, that I had to leave the dorm and I'll keep her updated. She doesn't answer during her run, but I'll know she'll see it later.

"So," I start as we walk back to the same place we had brunch for the first time. We figured we know the way, it's safe to chose someplace you already know and it saves the time to search for a new restaurant. Most importantly, the food was great so we had to check it out again. I have to take Cass one day.

"What was the deal last night?"

He lifts the hem of his burgundy shirt and lets it fall. He repeats the action a couple of times while he answers. He might be making air or it might be a nervous tic.

"My boss said he wanted to meet with me today. He seemed pissed and serious and told me that if I was a minute late he would barge into my aunt's house and make sure I follow orders. You know how he can make you sure of something, right?"

I nod. I don't need him to tell me. To make sure you follow instructions, they do something that will make you tremble of fear if you ever think of disobeying again.

"I told him I didn't live there anymore to keep her safe."

"Smart move, but times are tough, aren't they?"

"Oh, yeah. I got the call at midnight. I was so damn confused. How do you leave your house at midnight and expect to find somewhere else? So, I went to a friend's house right after, whom couldn't help me. I went to the hotel who said that you checked out. I texted you and Cass and she was the one to answer. She told me where you were and where the spare key was, but she happened to sound asleep by the time I got there."

"I don't know how she does that. She doesn't have a heavy sleep, but she sleeps anywhere. And I mean every single place you can think of. I haven't been friends with her for that long, but I have seen her fall asleep in a random public place at least five times."

"What can we say? It's Cass."

"It is," I say laughing.

"But seriously," I continue, bringing it back to the prior night. "You had a bad night. I'm sorry I didn't have better bedding to offer. And I pulled you out of bed that early."

"Hey, it was more than okay. Thanks."

He has a slight smirk. He appreciates anything that is done for him and always thanks you. He never forgets it. He really is a gentleman and I really appreciate that.

After a long smiling pause, I speak up.

"When is the meeting today?" I say louder, trying to speak up over the cars. Even early in the morning, because 8 AM is unbelievably early here, there are always cars in the streets of Lugano.