RUSSO - unedited

20

Kendall Ranley

"Come on, I want to show you something." Lorenzo pulls me towards the back of the art gallery and into a private room.

The only thing occupying the room is a large landscape painting. "What's this?" I ask and he smiles.

"It's mine, I painted it." He tells me and my eyes widen slightly. I would've never taken Lorenzo as a man who owns an art gallery and who paints. Not that I knew him well but, it didn't seem like him at all.

"It's beautiful." I admire the painting, it's a large forest with a small pond surrounded by rocks.

"It's a place I go to think." He says. "I've never told anyone about it so don't go run off and start blabbing." He warns and I laugh.

"I won't, I promise."

"Date's not over yet." He says and reaches for me hand which I gladly take and we walk back to his car. I've seen a different side of Lorenzo, one that I had no idea was there, but I'm glad it was.

We ended up going out for a simple lunch for the purpose that I haven't eaten in freaking ages.

"Isn't this the part where we say a bunch of random things about ourselves?" Lorenzo questions half way through tour meal.

"You've never been on a date before, have you?" I laugh and he shakes his head.

"I haven't, never had time for shit like that."

"But you do now?" I add and he smirks.

"For you, I do." He tells me and I feel my cheeks heat up.

"Well as for myself, my favourite colour is orange and-"

"Orange?" He cuts me off, "That's a shitty colour."

"Hey, don't disrespect that gracious colour of Halloween." I warn. "What's yours?" I ask and take a sip from my iced tea.

"I don't have one." He says, typical male.

"What are you too cool to have a favourite colour?" I scoff playfully. "Everyone has one."

"I like green I guess, their just colours. I don't see the need to pick a favourite." Lorenzo says.

"Okay then, what's your favourite football team?" I ask as an experiment.

"Philly, one hundred percent." He says without a doubt.

"Their just football teams, I don't see the need to pick a favourite." I mock him and he rolls his eyes, "That's fair."

"How'd you get to become a surgeon?" Lorenzo asks and my smile slowly fades. I hate answering this question, it brings up a part of my life that I wish I could forget. Yet I pluck up the courage and spit it out.

"I was in a car accident when I was thirteen, my parents were in the front, I was left back. It was a head on collusion and all I remember was seeing my parents. My dad was impaled and my mom was through the windshield. Was the most gore I've ever seen in my life. They died on impact, after that I kind of dedicated my life to saving people and that lead me to because a surgeon." Memories from that day flash up in my mind but I try my best to shake them away.

"I'm sorry." Lorenzo says and reaches out to touch my hand. "If I would've known I-"

"No, no don't worry about it." I say and wipe away a few tears that has fallen from my eyes. "It's not your fault."

Besides my emotional moment the day was fantastic. I didn't expect to enjoy myself as much as I did. Despite everything that had happened the night before I was growing to like Lorenzo and the way he opened up to me.

I just hope no one gets hurt.

//
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