Giulia looked at the flowers Luca held in his hand. He anxiously looked at her, expecting a response.
Giulia laughed, "Well no surprise there!"
Luca laughed back nervously, "Do- do you think he'll like them?"
"Luca, of course he will. I guarantee it."
Luca relaxed and smiled. "I saw them in a store window on the way here. They reminded me of him.." Luca started to doze off, thinking of Alberto. "I mean.. I thought he might like them!"
Oh ragazzi, Giulia thought. You're so bad at hiding it.
"Uh huh.. sure Luca." Giulia laughed. "Whatever you say."
Luca stood up fast, "No- no Giulia it's not like that. I just.. I mean- uhm.."
"Luca, you keep telling yourself that you don't love him." Giulia teased him.
Luca felt embarrassed as his cheeks heated up, "I promise, it's not like that.."
"Sure..." Giulia said. "Fine fine, I'll stop."
Luca let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks haha. By the way, where even is Alberto?"
"Oh, you just missed him," Giulia explained. "He left with papà to do his morning fishing just a few minutes ago."
"Oh...." Luca sighed.
Giulia tried to cheer him up, "Don't worry though! If you want, we can go out by the shore later and wait for him to return. And remember, we'll enter the race today too!"
The thought of the race made Luca happy. The previous year, Alberto got into a fight with Luca, destroying their team in the process. Luca still felt so bad about turning on Alberto, and to be honest, he never forgave himself for it. But this year would be different; this year, the underdogs would all be on one team, and Luca was confident that they would receive a second victory.
"Anyways, did you want to go get breakfast? I'm starving," Giulia said rubbing her stomach.
"Sure!" Luca responded. "Let's go!"
Giulia put on her usual blue beanie and started to head towards the door, noticing Machiavelli eyeing them from behind the table.
"Machiavelli, I promise we won't be gone for very long," Giulia said petting the cat. "Cmon Luca, let's go."
The two headed out and locked the front door, excited to go to the local ristorante that had just opened up. As they walked down the streets of Portorosso, Luca felt at ease in the peaceful atmosphere he had grown to love. Kids running around playing with a ball, the older folks playing cards together, fishermen heading out for the morning catch. Luca breathed in the fresh air and smiled. This is perfect, Luca thought.
The two arrived at the ristorante and sat down at a table, deciding what they would have.
"So many good choices.." Giulia said.
Their waiter came up and handed each of them a water. Luca eagerly took a sip, knowing that he needed to start drinking more water. Luca decided to have some eggs with baked sausage, while Giulia settled on a simple croissant. The waiter wrote down their orders and walked over to place their order in.
"Hey Giulia?" Luca asked.
"Yeah?"
Luca cleared his throat, "Did you really mean what you said earlier? Do you think Alberto will like the flowers? I mean.. if he doesn't-"
"Luca, he'll love them," Giulia insisted. "I know him well, and he'll love them. I promise."
She smiled at Luca, which made Luca feel more comfortable. They both waited for around 15 minutes before a tall, skinny boy came over to their table and set down their plates of food. Giulia looked up at the boy to thank him, but no words came out of her mouth. She choked on her water as she realized who was standing in front of their table.
"Guido?.. Is that you?" Giulia asked.
Luca turned around, and sure enough, it was Guido standing there. Luca had almost forgotten about the boy. Last summer, Ercole was the one thing that prevented his summer from being perfect. Luca shuddered at the thought of Ercole, and was glad that he was seemingly nowhere in Portorosso. Guido, who had gotten a job at the ristorante, was one of Ercole's goons the previous summer. However, he eventually turned on Ercole, as did everyone else, officially ending any ties he had with Ercole.
Guido nervously chuckled, "Yeah haha. It's been a while, it's nice to see you guys back."
Luca relaxed. Although Guido used to hang around Ercole all the time, the boy seemed a whole lot nicer and more respectful.
"Anyways, here's your food. Enjoy!" Guido said as he motioned towards the plates.
Giulia had a slight frown on her face; she still hadn't completely forgiven Guido for even being with the horrible person that Ercole was. She managed to stop frowning and thanked Guido for the food.
"Be careful out there," Guido said as he walked away.
Both Luca and Giulia started to eat their food, but were confused about what Guido had just said.
"Giulia? What do you think he meant? Be careful?" Luca asked.
Giulia shrugged her shoulders, "Eh, I don't know. I don't think it matters, don't worry."
Luca nodded his head and told himself not to worry. He was just trying to be nice, that's all.
Luca and Giulia finished their food and paid the bill, leaving the restaurant afterwards. Giulia looked at a clock in the town square, knowing that Alberto would be done with his work anytime now.
"Alberto should be done soon.." Giulia looked around. "But, I don't think he's here yet.."
"Yeah.. oh! I should go grab the flowers from the house before he gets here." Luca said eagerly.
Giulia stopped him, "I'll go get them for you, Luca. Don't worry!"
Luca smiled and thanked Giulia as he watched her run back to the house. He felt lucky to have such a nice person as a friend, someone like Giulia.
Suddenly, Luca heard the loud noise of a train screeching to a stop in the distance. Luca didn't think anything of it, as trains came into Portorosso all the time. Luca stared into the sky, thinking about Alberto. He didn't want to tell Giulia this, but Luca had mainly gotten the flowers because they matched Alberto's eyes. The flowers were a beautiful shade of green, just like Alberto's eyes. Luca smiled as he thought of Alberto, not realizing that someone was walking towards him at a slow but efficient pace.
Luca eventually saw the figure walking towards him out of the corner of his eye. He stood up and was going to say hello to the person before looking up at the face that was staring down at him. Luca gasped as he realized who it was.
"Well well well.. look who we have here. How have you been, Piccoletto, hm?"
Luca was frozen. He couldn't believe who was standing in front of him.
It was Ercole.