Suo Angelo

eighteen

     Antonio's eyebrows lifted and he leaned back in the chair with a contemplative look on his face.  "You know the guys you keep on her?  The guards?"  Giovanni nodded absentmindedly, swept up by the thoughts of his lovely Genevieve.  "They said the minute you left, it's like she broke."

     Giovanni perked up instantly, his body tensing with every single reason why his little Genevieve would react that way.  "What?  Why did you wait to tell me about this now?"  Giovanni shot out of his seat, making his way towards the pilot's cabin to make a destination request.  Antonio followed close behind him, and grabbed onto his shoulder to pull him back for a moment. 

     "If you don't love her, like you say you don't, then you shouldn't lead her on.  The poor girl could barely stand at your rushed and untimely departure."  Antonio guided the distraught man over to the chair he had once been sitting in.  "If you don't love her, leave her be; let her find someone who will reciprocate her feelings."

     Giovanni looked up warily, his heart pound so hard and fast he thought it was trying to break out of his chest.  "What do you mean, 'reciprocate her feelings?'  Do you think she loves me?"

     Antonio showed a small, smile to comfort his close friend.  "Your mother told me to tell you if you hadn't figured it out by now.  Genevieve told your father that she was in love with you, and assuming she still is now, I'm guessing what she told you must have been along the lines of confessing her feelings to you." 

     Antonio paused and watched as emotions flickered through Giovanni's eyes.  Ranging from guilt, to sadness, to hate.  And love.  The love softened his dark eyes; the eyes that only ever wanted to gaze at his amore, his passion.  "Antonio, I...I love her."

     A wide grin broke out onto Antonio's face and a laugh broke from his chest.  "Then, you will get her back, make sure she knows how you feel." 

     Giovanni felt on top of the world as he shot to his feet, instantly signaling the steward standing at the entrance to the pilot's cabin.  "Tell him to head back," he shouted, the joy oozing out of his body, and the large smile on his face showed it.  He turned to Antonio and grasped his friend's shoulders.  "I am in love.  And she loves me."  He shook his shoulders and then began to weep, his body crumbling at the highs and lows of such passion.

     Antonio helped Giovanni to his seat, concerned for him.  "What's wrong?"

     Giovanni look up, heartbroken beyond belief as tears trickled down his cheeks in a steady flow.  "W-What if she doesn't love me anymore?  What if I blew my chance with her?"

     Antonio frowned.  "Only time will tell, friend.  But I pray that she hasn't had a change of heart."

• • •

She hadn't.  Genevieve was still heartbroken, tormented by the absence of her lover.  But she felt better, lighter.  Genevieve has opened her heart up to a man she believed to be a saint.  He had been her one, her only.  Now, she felt freer than she ever had.  Genevieve has come to terms with the feelings she was trying to hide from fear of rejection—the rejection she faced every second she remembered that moment.

Deep down, Genevieve knew she wouldn't change. She would always be the same naive girl who had a heart too big for her tiny body. But she also knew that this would be a turning point in her life. Giovanni was, and still is, her first love and nothing could ever change that. She didn't think she could ever stop loving him, loving the man who took her scared and anxiety filled body and turned her into a better person. If this transforming, this turning point, came with the heartbreak that ensued, Genevieve decided she could take it head on.