Arabella had probably read his letter ten times over.
It was lunch now, and she was sat at her usual spot in the garden, on the grass. She sat on the little bench, hunched forward as she reread the letter, memorising every stroke of the letters.
"I see you found my letter,"
The girl yelped, muttering a few curse words. Giovanni stood next to her, his hands behind his back as he smiled at her. The sun burned against their skin, making both of them glow with an orange hue.
"Seeing as that it was the first one, yes. By the way, you must stop calling me boring,"
"If you payed attention whilst you wrote, Miss Jones, you would've seen I infact, did no such thing,"
She laughed softly, motioning for him to sit. He unbuttoned the button of his suit jacket, taking his place next to the girl on the bench. She looked at him and he looked at her, smiling.
"How's your boyfriend?"
She stayed quiet, looking away from him. Then, she mustered up the courage to give him a response, "He didn't come home last night," She whispered, her chest aching with ever word.
"The reason?"
"I have yet to speak to him," She whispered again. The man nodded, "I see. Forgive me for asking but, are you truly happy with him? Because from what I've seen-"
"No, I'm not," She blurted.
The man looked away, hiding his smirk. The girl sighed, "I don't know why I'm even telling you this, you're a complete stranger. But no, I'm not. And I don't think he loves me anymore mainly because I rarely see him and when I do, it's like he doesn't see me,"
"A fool wouldn't see you, doll."
She sighed again, smiling softly, "It's just easy with him and I don't think I have the strength in me to start over with someone else,"
"Understandable. But if you lack attention and happiness, I would assume you would leave them to move onto something that is more to your liking, no?"
"Perhaps," She said, searching his eyes. She noticed how his eyes were a dark grey then, and not a blue.
"I expect a letter back," He said gently. The girl hummed in response, nodding softly. "Do you have any classes left? He asked, tilting his head. She nodded, "Italian for one class and then I'm done. Why?"
"I was wondering about another coffee, perhaps this time we won't be at eachother's throats"
"Well, if you don't agrivate me this time, it won't happen,"
He laughed then, softly and gently and genuinely. She looked at him as he did, noticing how the corners of his eyes crinkled and his straight white teeth beamed. She found him almost painfully attractive. From the way he walked to the way he spoke and wrote and thought. She almost felt bad for thinking of a stranger in such a way, but she couldn't help herself.
"Am I allowed to wait for you in your class?"
"Sure, if you won't laugh at my lack of the proper Italian accent,"
"Non posso ridere di qualcosa di perfetto come te, Arabella,"
[I cannot laugh at something as perfect as you]
She rolled her eyes, "You speak Italian? Now you definitely cannot sit in my class," The man laughed, "I promise I won't laugh, all right? I'll merely interject where I find a fault,"
"You wish to embarrass me in front of my class, yes?"
"Perhaps," He taunted, making the girl tsk. Giovanni stood just as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. She stood, pushing her phone into her back pocket and holdibg the note close to her chest as she walked next to the tall man.
"So, you're Italian and British, what else?"
"Gypsy,"
"Gypsy? My god, that's interesting," She said. "Why?" He asked, putting his hands in his pockets. "Well, you don't meet an Italian, British and Gypsy millionaire every day,"
"Nor does one meet someone like you, doll,"
Arabella now stood in front of her Italian class, nervousness being caused by the man that sat at her desk, watching her carefully.
"Ciao, studenti,"
[Hello, students"
They all replied in Italian, making the girl smile. She took the papers from her desk, mimicking her movements from earlier as she handed them out to her students.
"Questi documenti avrebbero dovuto essere compiti a casa per oggi, ma ho deciso di darli a voi come compiti di classe",
[These papers were supposed to be homework, but I decided to give them to you as classwork]
"Miss Jones? Who's that man?" The boy whispered to her as she passed his desk. He pointed to Giovanni, making the girl laugh softly.
"Studenti, permettetemi di presentare mister Giovanni,"
[Students, allow me to introduce mister Giovanni]
She motioned to him. The man nodded curtly, smiling at the class. "Hello, mister Giovanni!" The class erupted.
"Ciao," He smiled. His chest burned with fondness as he looked at the children. They all had wide, innocent smiles on their faces.
Arabella finished explaining the class' work, now standing next to Giovanni, writing a on the chalkboard.
"It's spelled introduzione not introdusione,"
She looked back, seeing him now standing behind her. She hummed, holding the chalk out to him. He took it, their fingers brushing. She parted her lips as electricity bloomed at the contact. The man watched as she looked down at where they were connected, the chalk holding them together. His own fingers burned with fire against her skin.
He stepped past her, not lifting his arm that far as he wrote the word, seeing the girl watching him with his peripheral vision.
"Grazie,"
"Prego, tesoro,"
She smiled, making him smile. The two looked at eachother and their souls connected with that one glance. The souls introduced themselves and shook hands, falling in love. Her cheeks flushed and from the corner of her eye, she saw Alexander lift his hand.
"Miss Jones? Gabinetto,"
She smiled, nodding. The boy shot up and dashed out of the classroom, leaving Arabella to laugh to herself at his urgency.
The class started chattering then, and Arabella knew they were done with their work then. She walked closer to her desk, cleaning a spot so she could put their work on it.
"Allow me," Giovanni said, making his way towards the class. Giovanni held his hand in front of the first girl, smiling at her as she put her paper in his hand. He went on to the next one, doing the same.
Arabella stood back, watching. The softness he exuded made her feel warm with fondness for him. He thanked every child, making them smile up at him. He looked like a sore thumb amongst them, old and tall and large.
He held the papers behind his back as he observed the posters and art on her walls for a second, craning his neck to look up. Arabella looked at the time, then she looked up at the children.
"You may pack away now, kids,"
They started ruffling and shoving pencil cases in their backpacks, talking amongst themselves. Giovanni made his way through them and held tyre papers out to her. She thanked him, taking them for him. Arabella placed trem in her bag gently, making sure they weren't folded or being creased.
The bell let out its shrill sound and Arabella looked up at the class, making sure they kept to her strict rule of no running out of class and down halls.
They formed a single line at the front of the door, waiting for Arabella to open it.
"Be good, kids. I love you all,"
"We love you, Miss Jones!"
She smiled, opening the door then. Giovanni's lips were parted as he gently shook his head. "My god, you're wonderful," He said as she approached him.
"Why?"
"You genuinely love doing this, don't you?"
She shrugged, "Of course, I love teaching. Gives me something to do,"
"No, it's more than that. You love that you can make them be better people, hence your no bad words rule," He smiled, tilting his head to the right, "Or am I wrong, Miss Jones?"
"You're not, Mr Armani. My love for children stems back to when I was young, I knew I wanted to teach the second I got into high-school,"
"Clearly,"
She smiled up at him, "I usually stay after class to mark, we could reschedule?"
"No need, I'll wait," She shook her head, "I couldn't possibly ask you to wait, Giovanni," He raised his brow, "You're not asking, I'm telling. Go on then, Arabella," He nodded curtly, making his way towards the back of her classroom again. He observed her posters once more as she marked, occasionally looking up at him.
"Arabella?"
"Hm?"
"How do you feel about dinner?"
"An important part of everyone's day, its crucial."
The man looked at her, his face deadpan. She laughed softly, looking down at her paper. She wasn't surprised that Marcus hadn't called her yet, what surprised her was that he didn't even send her a short message, not even containing an apology or an explanation.
"I don't know. I'm with someone,"
"Oh, that I know. And I do not mean to intrude but I'd like to get to know you better, even if it's just friends,"
She smiled, nodding then. She was going to have coffee and dinner with him, as friends. Just friends. That seemed to put her heart at ease for the moment.