Song above for Chapter: "Honesty" --Halsey
ELENORA
(Seven Months Later)
"Nora, can you take table six for me? I've been holding in my pee forever!" Crystal hops around behind the counter and dashes to the back of the diner before I can even reply.
"Sure, it's not like I don't have to pee every five minutes, but hold it because you're too busy flirting with every trucker that has walked in today." I mutter, making my way around the counter, trying my hardest not to waddle; my hips feel very sore today.
"Order up, Nora!"
I sigh and make my way back around. "Sorry, girlie, you know how Saturday mornings go," Sal tells me from the kitchen window.
"No biggie, Sal." I smile and tuck my pen and notebook in my apron before grabbing the plates from the warming area.
"The olds hens at table ten," Sal mentions as I maneuver the plates around my arms.
"Be nice." I give him a look. He chuckles meandering back to the grill.
I deliver the food to the group of older ladies sitting together, talking and laughing. They come every Saturday to gossip about the latest, in the small town we live in.
"Oh my, will you look at this adorable belly! It just gets cuter each week, Nora." Martha rubs my stomach.
"Do you have names picked out yet?" Olive asks and thanks me when I hand her her plate.
I shake my head, "No, not yet."
"I always waited until I held each of my babies," Viola says, her eyes crinkling as she smiles.
"We always used family names." Maggie dabs at her bright red lipstick. I grab the coffee from across the aisle and refill their cups. She looks up at me. "What's the father's name, dear?"
"Nice try, Maggie." I smirk, knowing she's dying for any information she can get out of me. Maggie huffs and my smile widens.
"Leave her be Margaret," Martha scolds her. "She doesn't have to tell you shit."
"Don't use that language with me, Martha."
"Oh, shut up! Stop getting your depends in a bunch!" Olive now joins in, winking at me.
Maggie gasps appalled, "Excuse me?" She clutches her chest.
"All of you's shut your pie holes! Too much commotions not good for the baby." Viola adds her two cents.
"Ladies, please don't fight. I like the thought of holding the baby and seeing what comes to me then; thanks for the idea, Viola."
"So, until then we'll just name the baby Bubba," Olive announces; I'm about to reject the idea but a shouting customer grabs my attention.
"Hey! Can I get some help over here!"
"Oh, shoot, I was supposed to grab that table, excuse me, ladies." I walk away as fast as I can waddle and smile at the sour faced man who yelled.
"Hi there, I'm sorry about the wait, what can I get for you?"
He holds my gaze for a moment before he shifts his irritated eyes to my belly and then to my ringless finger. That happens quite often now that there's no denying I'm pregnant.
My fingers swell up most mornings so I wear my wedding band on a chain around my neck.
He proceeds to tell me what he'd like to order. I fill his cup with coffee and head back to give his order to Sal.
I glance at the clock; time is dragging even though it's busy, but I'm looking forward to tonight's visit from Clara. While I've made some connections with a few of the townspeople, I mostly keep to myself and these past months have been lonely.
If I didn't have the baby I'm sure I'd be in worse shape, mentally and emotionally more than I am. I talk to the baby often and I will never forget the first time he moved. I had been eating my usual nightly ice cream with my hand resting on my belly when a small jolt under my hand made me gasp.
It felt exciting, a little scary and also bittersweet. It made me wish I wasn't alone so that I could share my happiness with the person I miss everyday; Rico.
I dream about him almost every night; and I still cry thinking about our last conversation. I don't know if I'll ever see him again, but considering who he was—is, he's probably moved on. My breath catches at the thought and I rub my hand over my chest trying to ease the pain.
"Heartburn, sweetie?" Viola walks to the counter, handing me her check.
"Yeah."
"Hurts like a son of a bitch, don't it?" Violet shakes her head, her blueish-gray hair moves with the movement. I chuckle listening to her; she has a mouth like a sailor, but I secretly love it. It reminds me of Rico and the guys.
I take her payment and the ladies say their goodbyes.
"See ya next Saturday, Nora!"
I sigh, watching them get into Olive's car. I scan the scenic view of the lake the cafe sits next to; even though it's lonely, it's very serene and beautiful here.
I spent most of the winter months secluded from everyone and everything. I hadn't intended to stay, but the 'HELP WANTED' sign in a cafe caught my attention while I was pumping gas, and I felt compelled to ask about the job.
Sal, didn't ask too many questions, and told me he'd pay in cash if I was willing to start right away. I stayed in a hotel for the first month, and then Sal offered a small studio apartment above the cafe that hadn't been used in years and I was welcome to it if I wanted it. I chuckle remembering when he told me he wouldn't charge me because it was a "shithole".
He wasn't lying, but I made it into a cozy little place to call home over the last several months.
Pia makes trips out here regularly to do check ups and has started coming every couple of weeks now that I'm near the end.
I've enjoyed being pregnant, but now it's getting uncomfortable to do anything. I can't get a full breath most of the time and I have to switch positions frequently to get comfortable at night.
"How the hell do you stay in business?" The guy I had taken an order from shouts at Crystal as she sets his food down. "You ain't getting a tip from me that's for damn sure. Bunch of nitwit, incompetent, cunts working here!" He continues to berate her. "Get your heads out of your asses!"
Sal storms out of the kitchen and walks up to the man's table. "Sir, your treatment of my staff will not be tolerated and I will ask you to leave if you continue to be disrespectful. We make our meals to order so there is a longer wait than what you may be used to. And while this is not an excuse we are short-staffed today, both in the kitchen and with the wait staff."
"That's not my damn problem; are you the owner?"
"Yes."
"The food is shit and I ain't paying."
The local sheriff, Hank, who was enjoying his usual Saturday breakfast, walks over to the confrontation.
"What's the problem here?"
The customer begins yelling at the Sheriff about his issues but my attention is pulled as other customers approach to pay for their meals. There's more shouting followed by plates and cups shattering. The Sheriff now has the man on the floor putting him in handcuffs.
He pulls him up and takes him out of the diner as the man continues to curse and fight.
"Sorry about the disturbance folks, please go back to enjoying your meals," Sal announces before he walks back to the kitchen.
"I bet my idea of putting a punching bag in the kitchen doesn't sound so bad now, right?"
He chuckles. "I should have listened!"
By the end of the shift, my feet and my back are killing me as I walk out of the diner and head to the staircase on the side of the building.
A smile spreads on my face seeing Clara's red Audi parked by the stairs. I gave her a copy of my key to have whenever she visits. After forcing my legs to climb the stairs, I'm completely winded when I reach the top.
I unlock the door and push it open to find Clara and Domani making out on my couch.
"Hey, Nora, it's been a long—" His eyes fall to my stomach and leans away from Clara; Clara's lipstick is smeared on his lips. "What the hell is going on with your stomach?" He keeps staring at my stomach before his eyes rise to meet mine and then he looks at Clara.
"Surprise?" Clara says to both of us, smiling with a grimace.
"What the fuck is going on?" Domani's face contorts in anger, as he stands.
"Okay, okay, chill, Dom." Clara walks to him, holding his face. She begins wiping his mouth. "It's hard to take you seriously with lipstick on your mouth."
I set my keys down and walk in closing the door. "Nora, I can explain, too." Clara has an apologetic look on her face. "I brought Dom to see you because of Rico."
"And Domani....Nora was forced to leave when she did because she was threatened by Rosetta."
"You couldn't have told me this sooner?" He doesn't bother hiding the look of betrayal on his face.
Clara blows out air as she runs her hands through her black now chin length hair. "Have things ever been that simple with you, Rico, or Nora?" She asks, irritated. "I didn't know if you were trustworthy or not, since you have a bunch of asshole snakes in your fucking family. And you and I only started messing around recently. But seeing how stressed you were about Rico, I thought it was a good time to tell you the truth and also because Nora's due date is coming up."
She walks over to me and holds my hands. "And I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to stress out, Nora. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Clara." I pull her into a hug and smile at Domani who's watching us. " I'm happy to see you, Domani. And even happier to see you and Clara together."
"Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves, girl. Domani and I are not together," Clara chuckles. In contrast, Domani wears a look of shock on his face listening to her.
"Domani's not like the other guys, Clara."
"Jury's still out on that," She responds and I chuckle, shaking my head.
"I'm so glad you're here."
"You look tired," She cups my face.
"I am." I smile and then walk to Domani, he leans in to hug me but then switches his arms and then he steps back, not wanting to bump into me or hurt me.
"Sorry, I don't..."
I pull him into a hug, laughing. "It's just a belly, it's not going to bite you." He chuckles and gives me a firm hug.
"I probably smell like food; do you guys mind if I wash up real quick?"
"Go ahead, we'll order some food and then we can talk," Clara tells me.
My mind is racing with so many thoughts. From Rico, to Domani being here, and how he and Clara are together—or hooking up, I guess, and then back to Rico. Wondering what's going on with him that has Domani stressed.
After I finish getting dressed and comb out my hair, I walk out of the bathroom, sitting at the table with the food they have set out.
"So...you've been here the whole time?" Domani asks me and I nod, chewing my food. "What did Rosetta say to you to leave the way you did, to lie to Rico? To all of us? I know that's hypocritical considering how this started, but what did she say to you?"
I set my drink down, and wipe my mouth, a mixture of sadness and anger still on his face.
"She has a video of Rico killing Elijah Gallo, in the alley outside of the storage unit. She also has videos of Rico and I being intimate; she has been recording us the whole time, at the Di Maggio penthouse and I wouldn't be surprised if Luca's hotel was bugged or wired, too.
"She said she had her own connections with the police and would make sure they'd get their hands on the videos to make sure Rico never got out of prison for murder and she would not only release the videos of us, to humiliate my father and family more than what's already been done, but would also doctor them, like she did of Angela and Gabriel, and make it appear like he was involved in sex trafficking."
"She went on to say that he's lost his focus on who he's meant to be since he met me. She coerced and threatened Pia to go along with the miscarriage but..." I wipe my eyes as the memory of that day comes flooding back. "But I did end up having a miscarriage."
Domani has a confused expression on his face as he looks at me then back at Clara. "Hold on." I head to the bedroom area and grab the photo I have of Rico and me and pull the back off.
I come back to the table and show him the sonogram. "We were going to have twins." I inform him as he looks at the picture.
"It all happened so fast. The sudden pain, Rosetta saying something about how things work out without having to do anything and then several people rushed in. When I woke up the next day Pia told me they had to give me something to stop contractions and when the bleeding was controlled, they did another ultrasound and there was only one heartbeat."
"I'm so sorry, Nora," He says solemnly.
"Now you know."
"You need to tell Rico the truth."
I shake my head. "I can't. Rosetta will—"
He slams his fist on the table."Forget about Rosetta!"
Clara stands. "Oh no, don't you bring that macho bullshit here, Domani Savino."
He raises his hands and apologizes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Forgive me." He grabs her hand and pulls her to sit down and then kisses her hand. Her face softens and a slight blush paints her cheeks before he turns to me. "I will handle Rosetta, Nora. But Rico needs to hear the truth from you."
"What's going on with him?"
Domani sighs and leans back. "He's not in control. I mean, he's always been a little explosive."
"A little?"
"It's worse now. He's always had a temper, but he was never careless or reckless. I can't even begin to describe what he did to Diego after he was released from jail." A shudder rolls through him before he continues. "He recently found out the Gallos were working with Rosetta, she knew about their attempt to take you. And she also had been in communication with Diego; she was aware of their plan to come after you the night of the wedding."
"What?" I ask surprised.
Domani shakes his head. "Rico didn't do anything at first. He went into this dark place in his head. I don't know if it was depression, anger or grief, or a combination of everything, but it wasn't good."
He shakes his head. "Rico started to pick off associates of Diego's and the Gallos, one by one."
"I never know what he's planning, because he won't talk to me. He keeps to himself a lot and I know it's because he feels like he can't trust anyone after all that Rosetta's done."
"But if he knows she's been involved with the Gallos and Diego, how is he still okay with her?" I question, but then the thought that his love for me has shifted to something else comes to mind. He must hate me.
"She's a master manipulator and told him it was all done before you two had become engaged, for real. He's ice her out for the most part, but she keeps finding ways to feeding into his mind. I don't know how she does it—how she manages to fuel his anger and hatred; he still wants to destroy your father. More so now, because Tiziano wouldn't tell him where you went."
"That's because he doesn't know. The only ones who know are Clara and Pia," I explain.
Domani leans his elbows into the table. "Nora, I've been working on trying to find out what really happened to his parents, the trial, everything. I met with your father and everything he said that happened isn't found in any newspaper articles, or public records."
"But trying to mention anything about it to Rico is impossible. Look, Nora. We didn't come to unload everything on you, but you need to come home. Rosetta can't hurt you and if she thinks she can black mail you, I might have an idea that could work in your favor," he says.
"There's something else, Nora." I meet Clara's anxious eyes. "You might not even care, but I think you should know."
"What is it?"
"Your Nonno, he's...sick, he's dying."
***