--Giovanni POV--
She was an odd girl, that's what I thought when I first met her. Aurora Vandenburg was her name, she's the daughter of the famous Lucian and Angelina Vandenburg, friends and business partners of my father, Marcos Romano.
But I thought she was pretty. And I liked how confident she was. That's all I needed to see in her to start thinking of our future together.
"I don't approve, just because you're a cute child doesn't mean you'll be cute forever," Mr Vandenburg pointed an accusing finger at me, and if it weren't for the fact that he was clearly a few decades older than me, I'd think he was either the same age or younger than me with the way he's picking a fight with my ten-year-old self.
"Here, Gio. Have an apple," Mama put an end to the apparently amusing conversation by handing me an apple slice which I took, going to eat it but pausing when a striking set of blue eyes pointed themselves at me.
"What?" I asked her with furrowed brows.
"Nothing," She quickly grinned, going back to talking to my younger sister.
I went to eat the apple slice again, but paused once more of my own will this time, looking down at the fruit in my hand as a thought came to mind.
"Want it?" I asked, showing her the apple. She curiously looked at it with shimmering eyes that couldn't even try to lie, but turned to look at her parents for permission before her mother nodded, and she turned back to me, taking the slice from my hand.
"Thank you!" She grinned, and I'd never admit it aloud, but my heart skipped a beat in that moment. Never had I seen anyone react so happily to a mere apple slice, especially when that someone already held the world in their hands.
"Mama, can I carry on playing with Fred?" She turned to ask her mother.
"Who the hell is Fred?" Her father beat me in asking.
"He's that ginger boy over there, with the freckles," She pointed out, and I followed her finger to catch sight of the said boy that was currently drawing on the ground with chalk.
"As much as I'd prefer for you to not hang out with boys, I won't stop my daughter from making friends. But it's friends only, okay?" Her father poked her nose as he spoke to which she replied by laughing and vigorously nodding her head.
"Come on, Lilliana. Let's go." And grabbing my sister's hand, I watched the two of them run off, not taking my eyes off them until I noticed my father leaning down to speak to me.
"You need to compliment her," He said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Compliments always make a woman happy," He grinned.
"She's not a woman, she's a girl," I pointed out as he rolled his eyes, ruffling my hair.
"Females then. Flowers too, everyone loves flowers,"
"What if she's got hay fever?"
"Good point, ask her first then, and if it's no then give her flowers, preferably roses,"
"Roses are too basic. And if I ask her and then give it to her then it won't be romantic anymore."
"Yeah? Then do you have a better idea?"
"A flower in the colour that's her favourite. I'd say pink,"
"How do you know pink's her favourite colour?" He asked with a raised brow, a small, amused smile on his lips which looked more like a smirk than a smile.
"You can just tell by looking at her," I stated, going back to looking at her where she was dressed in a pink dress, a bow of the same colour in her hair with matching shoes.
"You're quite an observant child, aren't you? Makes sense, you are my child after all," He grinned with pride as if my accomplishments in life have anything to do with him. "And if she turns out to have hay fever like you suspected?"
"Then... I'll give her chocolates in the shape of flowers," He wasn't expecting that brilliant idea, it clearly took him by surprise, and unlike me who didn't find it very amusing, mama couldn't hold back her laughter as she poked his cheek.
"Look at you; Getting love lessons from your child," She teased.
"I'm not getting any lessons from him," He jokingly glared at her.
"Then I should act surprised when you get me chocolates in the shape of flowers?" She cocked her head to the side, hitting the needle on the head with her guess. He's taken my advice before; I wouldn't be surprised if he did it again.
"Why do you have to know me so well?" He grumbled as she continued to laugh.
"Will you stop trying to set your child up with mine? It's a hundred years too early to think about marrying my daughter off to anyone, let alone your stoic child," Mr Vandenburg glared at my father, not in the least bit amused by the situation.
"A hundred years? Your joking, Lucian."
"You have a daughter of your own, so you should know better than anyone the fear that comes with your child being in love with someone," My father shrugged his shoulders in reply.
"Why you, annoying-"
"-I'm going to my sister." I explained, not wanting to be here when the two of them start fighting, and before anyone could refute, I had already stood up and wandered off to where Lilliana was standing beside Aurora who was crouched down, drawing on the ground with chalk.
"You got chalk all over your clothes," I observed, speaking to Aurora, who only just seemed to realise as she looked down at her clothes before shrugging it off as if it weren't a big deal.
"It's okay, I can just put it in the wash,"
"But you'll have to walk around in that mess for the rest of the day," I pointed out.
"So?" She grew confused.
"So... Isn't it embarrassing? You're someone from society's high-class, shouldn't you act like it?"
"How do I act like it?"
"For starters, maybe you should stop crawling around on the ground while getting chalk all over you and your clothes," I smartly suggested.
"But if I do that then I won't be able to draw?"
"Just use colouring pencils on a piece of paper."
"But the ground is bigger than a piece of paper, and that's more fun," She grinned, and I had to take a moment to remind myself that she was half my age, being five-years-old, but even then, I couldn't fathom where she got this level of adventure from?
"Fun?" She's such a confusing person. She's the first person I've met from the same social standing as me that acted like this, it's caught me off guard.
"Yeah, you should try having fun sometimes. If you're scared of getting your expensive clothes dirty then just wear cheaper ones?" She said that as if it were obvious.
"I'm not scared of anything," I scoffed, crossing my arms. "And my appearance is a reflection of who I am as a person. If I wear cheap clothes then that's embarassing," This was a fact, a plain one that everyone knew but never said aloud.
"Then you're a boring person?" She cocked her head to the side, and I wondered if she meant that as a question or a statement because either way, my brows twitched in offence.
"Excuse me?"
"Oops." She giggled, covering her mouth as she laughed.
But somehow, I couldn't find myself getting angry at her. In fact, I hate to admit it aloud, but I was intrigued by this odd person. Aurora Vandenburg, she was nothing like I expected.
"Here, why don't you come draw with me then?" Picking up a pink chalk, she handed it to me, but I didn't take it, simply eyeing the object in her hands with a look on my face that asked if she were being serious right now.
"Why would I ever want to do that?"
"Because... It's fun." That was a statement.
"So? That doesn't mean anything," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
"Oh, I see how it is..." Why am I letting a five-year-old girl get under my skin?
"What?" I regretted asking as soon as I did.
"You're scared to get those expensive clothes of yours dirty. It's okay, mama and papa told me to always be understanding of other people's situations and not force them to do something they don't want to, so I understand. It's okay if you're scared-"
I cut her off, snatching the chalk out of her hand and going to sit beside her on the uncomfortable ground as I drew a straight line on the concrete, ignoring the clear fact that my pristine clothes which were one of my favourites had just been stained by pink chalk.
My actions took more than her by surprise as I heard my own parents' gasp behind us, papa hurrying to whip his camera out to take a picture of me acting somewhat like a normal child.
"You're kind of annoying, anyone ever tell you that?" I shifted my head to look at the blonde-headed princess beside me.
"Nope, you're the first," She smiled. Was that something to smile about? I was older than her, but she acted like I was the younger one, and that irked me. Because despite her clear childish apperance and personality, she had a sense of maturity that didn't go unnoticed.
That was how I first met her, Aurora Vandenburg.
The girl that grew up into a woman that held the world at her fingertips but refused to acknowledge it. She was humble, friendly, beautiful beyond words, and she was the woman that I wanted to call mine.
And that short encounter was the spark that started it all.
...
THE END.
THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT YOU'VE GIVEN 'THE INDIFFERENCE OF A MAN FORGOTTEN' IT WAS A FUN JOURNEY THAT I'M GRATEFUL I GOT TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL.
BOOK 2, AS YOU MIGHT HAVE ALREADY GUESSED, IS ABOUT GIOVANNI & AURORA, 'THE REVERENCE OF A MAN ON FIRE' SO IF YOU'VE NOT ALREADY READ IT, FEEL FREE TO CHECK IT OUT.
AND BOOK 3 OF THE ROMANO SERIES, 'THE BEGINNING OF A PROMISED FOREVER' WILL BE COMING OUT SOON AND IT'LL BE ABOUT LILLIANA ROMANO.
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