<-I-L-A-<<<
I spent the rest of the ride looking out the window, giving Matteo the cold shoulder. I was embarrassed and angry. During the dangerous speed burst, the speedometer went high over 100. Unlike Matteo, I rather walk on the safe side. Being a doctor and seeing a lot of people so close to death, I value life and safety. Something could have gone horribly wrong and could have resulted in a tragic car accident.
We arrived at a high class, five-star Asian cuisine restaurant and I got out of the car. I left my car door open, buying me some time to get ahead of him.
"Ila, wait up." He called after me as he struggled to lock the car doors. I ignored him and proceeded to the restaurant.
Matteo continued to press the button on the key repeatedly but the car remained unlocked. He realized my door was opened and walked around the car to close it. By then, I had already entered the building.
"Hello, I'm Choi." The waiter at the door greeted me. "Do you have a reservation?"
"Yes, a reservation for Matthew Castro," I told him, giving him Matteo's fake name.
"For two, correct?" Choi asked. He was probably wondering why I had shown up alone.
"Yes. Matthew is behind me." I pointed to the glass door to show that Matteo was walking towards the restaurant.
"Would you like to wait for him?"
"No. Can you please show me our seats?"
"Right this way."
Choi led me to our table. It was located at the corner of the place. I sat in the chair that faced everyone, getting a good look of the area. The restaurant was beautiful. It's white floor and walls were spotlessly clean and shiny. Soft bamboo flute instrumental music played among the murmurs of people's conversation and the clinking of people's drinks.
"Really?" Matteo asked about my childish behavior right as he got to our table.
"Really," I said as I defensively crossed my arms.
"Okay, you're mad," he said as he took a seat, "I'm sorry."
I sighed and uncrossed my arms. "It's fine. I just don't want to die anytime soon. Don't do anything so stupid and reckless. We could have died and I would have saved your life twice for noth-"
I stopped lecturing Matteo as our waiter brought food to our table.
"I didn't order anything," I told Matteo, confused.
"I did." Matteo explained, "I ordered when I made the reservation."
"You can do that?" I asked, surprised.
He nodded as he picked up his chopsticks from the napkin that refrained it from touching the table.
"I've never tried sushi," I told him as I mirrored his action.
"This is your first time?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. For a moment after he asked the question, my mind wasn't thinking about the sushi.
I nodded, looking at the raw fish that was at the center of the plate. It sat on top of white steamed rice, drizzled by a red glaze. I picked it up with the pair of chopsticks, with no problem, and placed the sushi inside my mouth.
I moaned at the flavor, "It's delicious."
I was enjoying everything that he had ordered. Foods in all kind of variety from light to heavy, sweet to spicy, and simple to complex came to our table one after another. I felt myself getting full but I would feel guilty for not finishing the dish. After all, Matteo had taken me out to this fancy restaurant and the food must be outrageously expensive.
As I took a drink of my water, I noticed that the ladies at the table next to us were stealing glances at Matteo. I looked around and saw that all the ladies in the building, staff and customers, staring at him.
I turned away from everyone and looked at the man who took me out. He was casually eating, not affected by their stares. Even I was uncomfortable with the number of girls that were undressing him with their eyes.
As Matteo chewed, his jawline became more visible. It was one of the attractive traits of his symmetrical face. Matteo examined his food on his plate as he swallowed as if he was thinking of all the ingredients that made up this tasty dish.
Suddenly captivated by how handsome he looked as he ate, I became one of the flocking girls. My staring was cut short when Matteo looked up from his plate and right at me (the gif above*).
My eyebrows raised in amusement. Had felt me staring at him, but not the other ladies in the room?
"You good?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes, trying to play cool. "Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the thickness of silence we've been sitting in."
He just gave a small laugh to my reply.
"I almost forgot." He said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a phone and handed it to me.
"My phone!" I gasped. I pressed the home button on my screen to see the familiar wallpaper of Charlotte and me. The battery percentage was at 96%.
"I would have given it to you earlier but Aurelio took awhile to set up your phone."
>>>-M-A-T-T-E-O->
"Set up?" She asked, confused.
"He added you to the mafia group chat." I explained, "It's for you to keep informed. Members only send important messages in here when it's urgent, so don't expect spams."
I decided not to tell Ila that he also put a tracking device in the phone system. She might take it the wrong way but everyone in Il Bisbiglio had it in their device for safety purposes.
"How did he get in? I had a password on it." Ila asked. She looked surprised and impressed.
I shrugged. Aurelio was talented at what he does. He's the reason why we have free, very fast WIFI. That happened after he hacked NASA.
Whenever we had a technical problem with our stuff, Aurelio was the one with the answer. He's in charge with deactivating alarms and taking out the security cameras. Without a doubt, he's a very important member with a big role.
<-I-L-A-<<<
I looked through my contacts. All my pictures and apps were still on my phone. Like Matteo had told me, the only thing that changed was the number of phone numbers that were in my contacts. At first, I only had my family, a few of my closest friends, and the pizza place that delivers to my apartment at midnight. Now, I had over 1,800 people. I saw Ian's, Gio's, Marcella's, and even Aletta's number.
A question suddenly popped into my head and I set my phone down. "Matteo, there something that has been bothering me for a while."
He raised his eyebrows, interested and concerned.
"Why does Aletta have a problem with me?" I asked. Sensibly, I knew the reason as to why she hated me but I wanted to hear it from Matteo to confirm.
Matteo thought for a while. "She's jealous."
"Jealous?"
"She believes that we are a thing," Matteo said, nonchalantly.
"Are we?" I questioned. I wondered about what he thought of our status. I grew fond of Marcella, Giovanni, and Aiden. Matteo also became a good friend but the attraction between us was undeniably there. Also, the nice random things that he does doesn't help me suppress my feelings.
Matteo opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the waiter.
"How are things going for the two of you tonight?"
"Good," I told him. "The food is absolutely delicious."
"Great." Choi smiled. "Is there anything I could get you?"
"No, we're fine," Matteo said, quickly dismissing him.
"Well, if there is anything you two need, you guys let me know." He said before leaving Matteo and me alone.
"I-"
>>>-M-A-T-T-E-O->
Ila's phone rang repeatedly on the table. Her phone wasn't left on silent and the tons of notifications caused a loud interruption. In my pocket, my own phone vibrated.
Ila reached for her phone and I took mine out. The alerts we had gotten from were sent by the mafia's group chat.
Aiden had sent a picture of me and Ila inside the restaurant we were currently dining in. I looked out the window and saw Aiden frowning. Ila followed my gaze and saw Aiden.
-GUCCI GANG 420 BANG BANG-
Aiden: Thanks for the invite -_-
Marcella: Omg, are you guys on a date 0_O?
Giovanni: Bro, if your reading this, remember not to be silly, wrap your willy.
Aiden: You can't make love, without a glove.
Giovanni: Cover your stump before you hump.
Aiden: Before you attack her, wrap your whacker.
Giovanni: That was a good one!
Aiden: You can't go wrong if you shield your dong.
Giovanni: If you slip between her thighs, condomize.
Aiden: Never deck her with an unwrapped pecker.
Marcella: Matteo, don't you even dare think about sex on the first date!
Matteo: Aiden, come inside the restaurant.
Giovanni: Ila and now Aiden? That escalated quickly.
<~>
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