After a friday full of work, there was a late meeting in the restaurant left. We all sat down in the meeting room and brought up all the papers. I was tired, exhausted, but this was a common thing. Work and meetings.
There was never enough of them.
❞So, what have you concluded so far?❞ Connor asked us politely.
James gave me a quick glance, and I understood what he meant immediately. He didn't do anything concerning the restaurant, I did all the work. When I was done with everything, he just went through the papers so
when we had this meeting, it would seem like we did it together.
❞Christmas is a special holiday. Thinking of Christmas, you often think of how cozy that holiday is. Green and red colours everywhere, lots of lights, baubles and ofcourse..❞
❞A big Christmas tree. And snowman-decorations perhaps.❞ James interjected and added a pleased smile.
❞So how would you want the lights and baubles to look? Where would we put them?❞ Sylvia asked.
James was looking for the right papers and slided them to the others to see. They were impressed
after seeing the sketches.
❞Impressing.❞ Theodore said. ❞When should we put everything up?❞
I smiled widely as they expressed liking my ideas for everything. I was staying up late just to come up with some Christmas decorations. But I wouldn't say I didn't like it. It was one of my favourite things to do actually.
Decorating and furnishing for different holidays, seasons and events.
❞Well, since it's twenty days left to Christmas, we thought they could be up in five days.❞ James explained.
❞Sounds good. It will be done then.❞ Harrison claimed.
After about an hour of discussing further and almost falling asleep, everybody decided that it was time to end this meeting. I couldn't have been happier. While James talked to some of the gentlemen, I went to take my coat.
❞Please, let me.❞ Harrison said as he took my coat and helped me put it on in a polite gesture.
❞Oh, thank you.❞ I said.
I didn't expect him to just stand in front of me smiling, after he helped me put my coat on. It felt kind of weird,
but I was too tired to think of it that much.
❞Your ideas were really impressing.❞ He mentioned and I just gave him a nod in response. ❞You're a really
smart woman, Catherine.❞
I managed to smile, ❞Thank you, Harrison.❞
Thinking the coversation was now over, I started walking to James so we could go home,
but Harrison put his hand on my shoulder as soon as I turned around.
❞Wait.❞ He said and smiled once again. ❞I would want you to come to my house sometime, you know..
For a cup of coffee or something.❞ He smirked.
I felt myself frown a bit as my head processed what he just said. Harrison was much older than me. He was a married man with two grown-up children. He wasn't bad-looking, he just had some wrinkles here and there. His brown hair always so slicked back that it was shining brighter than his golden tooth.
❞Don't worry, James and Laura would never know.❞ He winked at me and gave me a smile, like he didn't just want to keep something a secret from his wife and my husband.
❞Sorry Harrison, I don't think that would be so suitable.❞
❞They would never know.❞ Insisting, he took my hand and kissed it.
Before I could know it, an angry James rushed over to us and stood in front of Harrison,
inches away from his face.
❞What do you think you're doing here, with my wife?❞ James emphasized.
Harrison almost snorted and looked James in the eyes as he said,
❞We were just having a conversation. I just said goodbye to your wife.❞
❞You better. I hope you'll have a conversation with your wife and kids too.❞ James pointed out
and I put my hand on his arm to calm him down.
❞Let's go James.❞ I said.
The ride home was quiet. We walked into our apartment and hung up our coats. James was still angry.
The wrinkles on his forehead were there the whole time, him being the angry husband he was.
❞Okay, why are you angry with me?❞ He didn't answer. ❞It wasn't me that kissed Harrison's hand!❞ I raised my voice.
❞You just stood there without saying anything against him. You could've said something.❞ He continued. ❞But I guess he's one of the men you're sleeping with when you say you're going out to meet your stripper friend.❞
My mind stopped. I was angry. I felt the fire inside me, my blood boiling. Was I the one sleeping around?
❞Oh please!❞ I blurted out. ❞Shut your fucking mouth James, instead of making me look like the cheater when you're the one sleeping with a different women every damn night!❞
He was standing right in front of me, with his back against my front. I was screaming in his ear and he didn't
even turn around, until he yelled back at me,
❞That's always been the thing your heart cries about, wasn't it?❞ He said as he turned around and looked me in the eyes.
His blue eyes turned dark and his devilish smile was back on his lips, and I didn't miss it one bit. How could someone be so foul and feel better when he hurts someone else? How could someone's soul be so full of dirt? Before I found the right words to say, I slapped him. Hard and angrily. You could see the redness on his cheek through his blonde beard.
He looked at me and smiled which made me frown.
❞You little..❞ He murmured before putting his hand on my throat and pressing me against the closest wall.
It didn't hurt. His grip wasn't tight, but he had control of me and could tighten his grip anytime.
❞I can do whatever I want with you without anyone knowing. Do not forget that I'm the one with the power.
And without me,❞ He laughed, ❞You don't have anything. You're nothing. You're nothing Catherine!❞
❞You were nothing before you met me James, did you forget that?❞
There wasn't only rage in his eyes. There was a hint of shame, dishonor. It was that one fact James was running away from. He knew that it was him who was nothing without me, not me being nothing without him.
❞Everything you own is thank's to me. It isn't yours, James. It's all mine. I made it. It's just some papers that say it's yours, but you know damn well that you're telling yourself lies.❞ Before I could say anything more,
his grip tightened and he spoke,
❞But no one knows that, sweetheart. Get back to reality.❞ He let go of me, took his coat and walked out.
Although I did feel better saying those things to James and getting them off my chest, feeling that I was being able to breathe again, I sat down on the floor and let the tears that have been dying to drip down my cheek have their way.
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Saturday, 7:50 p.m.
James wasn't home all day. For me, it was a relief. I couldn't deal with him anymore, at least not today. The whole day I've been wondering if I should go to the dinner with Lorenzo or not. I was still trying to figure out if I should remove all the jewelry, take off my denim skirt and my mesh black blouse and just forget about it all. It was the battle between what I knew and what I felt. But Tasha told me to go for it. Take the risk or lose the chance.
I went to the place Lorenzo told me we would meet. Ofcourse he was already there, waiting for me. He didn't spot me yet, which was a good thing since I wanted to admire him for a bit. Him wearing black bottoms, a white shirt and a brown pullover over it, together with a black coat and brown leather shoes made me impressed, like every time.
❞Good evening Mr. Faraldo.❞ Greeting him, I already got all of his attention.
❞Well, good evening.❞ He greeted back, ❞Shall we?❞ He asked and made space for me putting my arm into his.
He took me to a lovely restaurant, not far away from where we met up. The restaurant seemed to be calm and pretty quiet. Lorenzo pulled out the chair for me and I sat down. The waitress took our orders and
it didn't take long for the food to be done.
❞I've never been here.❞ I spoke as I looked around.
❞No? I come here quite often. I like to bring a book and read since it's surprisingly quiet here.
Or just spend some time alone to think.❞
❞Well, it is a nice restaurant for sure. I like it.❞ I acknowledged, ❞How has Marco been?❞
❞I think I can actually see a difference in his behaviour. Even if it maybe is a little one, I'm incredibly happy about that.❞ He claimed.
Even though Lorenzo took his son to multiple clinics to get the help he needed and tried every way possible, he had hope, and I admired that. I can only think of what they went through together and what an incredible father Lorenzo was. It was silent, Lorenzo seemed to think of something for a minute.
❞I know you probably wonder,❞ He said and took a deep breath, ❞about his mother.❞
❞You don't need to talk about it-❞
❞Yes, I do. And you deserve to know.❞ He spoke seriously.
I prepared myself to find out the story behind Marco's mother and took a deep breath myself. I'll admit that I was quite nervous, but I was ready. If Lorenzo was ready to share it, I was ready to hear it, and listen to every word he had to say.
❞Her name is Donna.❞ He took another deep breath, ❞I was seventeen and went to Italy with my family over summer break. There was a little shop near our house where I one day went to buy the best apples that existed. The owner of the shop was an old, italian man I knew very well. He could only speak italian. I saw a girl trying to pay for the things she wanted to buy, but she didn't bring enough money. She was a tourist.❞
Flashback
Lorenzo
The smell of fresh fruit and vegetables filled my nostrils when I walked into Fiorino's shop. Every time I walked in here, I got the same feeling. The nostalgic feeling that made me happy and sad at the same time. I loved this shop,
it was one of my favourite things here, home in Italy.
Fiorino didn't even notice me. He was busy trying to explain to his tourist-customer that she didn't bring enough money to pay for the fruit she wanted to buy. I couldn't see the girl's face, but I could admit that she had beautiful hair. Her hair was just wavy, but the colour. It was a haircolour I never saw before. It was something between golden blonde and light brown. Not to forget the fact that it was so long, it even covered her behind.
❞Non hai abbastanza soldi per pagare per questo, ragazza.❞
(❞You don't have enough money to pay for this, girl.❞)
Fiorino repeated, but the girl didn't understand him. ❞Sorry, no money!❞ He tried to explain and I let out a weak laugh.
I approached them and decided to help them understand each other. I wasn't going to lie, watching them try to understand each other was like watching a tv-show. Unfortunately, I didn't bring any popcorn.
❞Enzo! Grazie a Dio!❞
(❞Enzo! Thank God!❞)
Fiorinio said as he saw me. ❞Aiutami a spiegare a questa ragazza.❞
(❞Help me explain to this girl.❞)
He added and seemed so happy that I was here.
❞He's telling you that you don't have enough money to pay for this.❞ I explained to the girl and
finally got to see how she looked from the front.
It didn't take long for me to conclude that this girl was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her hazel eyes succeeded with taking my breath away instantly. Her thin eyebrows justified her long, dark eyelashes and her bright, almond shaped eyes. I took the time to process every feature of hers. Her downturned nose wasn't an imperfection, it was perfect for her face. And her lips.. They were such a light shade of pink, looking so soft and plumpy.
She put a thin strand of her shiny hair behind her ear and looked up at me through her thick eyelashes.
❞Oh.❞ Her voice was low. ❞I thought I brought enough. Tell him I am sorry, and thank's for your help.❞ She spoke softly.
Her voice was so low, but so incredibly soft that I could listen to her talk all day, every day. I wanted to put my head on her lap and listen to her voice while she ran her smooth hands through my hair.
❞Hey, wait!❞ I said as she turned around to walk to the exit. ❞Just wait a minute.❞ She nodded.
❞Pagherò per lei.❞
(❞I'll pay for her.❞) I talked to Fiorinio and he gave me a playful smile.
❞Here you go.❞ I said as I gave the girl the bag with the fruit.
❞What? No, wait-❞ She insisted, but I interrupted her.
❞Don't worry, it didn't cost much.❞
Her rosy lips curved up in a smile as she looked at me. She looked down again and let out a chuckle.
❞Such a gentleman.❞ She said confidently.
I let out a muffled laugh, almost blushing because of the way she looked at me. She looked and walked so confident,
like she owned the world. I just stood there, while she began to slowly walk away. Her yellow dress that looked so flattering on her body, swang from one side to another as she walked.
❞So what's your name?❞ She asked, without turning around.
For a moment, I was unsure if she talked to me, but no one else was there so I must have been the lucky one.
I quickly followed her and walked next to her.
❞My name is Lorenzo.❞
❞Mine is Donna.❞ She replied, but didn't look at me.
❞I like your name. It suits you.❞ I said and looked at her, but she only gave me a quick glance.
❞How?❞
❞I don't really know. It just sounds lovely, free and fun. And I think you seem to be all those things.❞
As soon as those words left my lips, a smile appeared on hers.
❞You're really charming. You know that, Lorenzo?❞ She avowed smiling.
I don't know what, but it was something about the way she said my name. Like she would say it many more times.
I couldn't help but smile at her compliment.
❞Do you want to have some fun?❞ It was something kind of devilish behind her smile when she asked it,
but I couldn't decline her offer.
We walked through the streets, including the one where she was staying. She put the bag in front of the door, and ran back to me. After a bit of walking and her not wanting to tell me where she was taking me,
we finally stopped by a garden.
❞You see this garden? It just shouts rich doesn't it?❞ She seemed to have a plan. ❞An old man lives here by himself.
I think his house and his garden are a little too much for him only.❞
I've walked past this garden before and I knew who lived here. An old man named Gioffre who's wife passed away years ago. He had children and grandchildren, but they didn't visit him that often. He wasn't a bad man, he was just a little selfish when it came to his pool. And I think I knew where Donna was going with this.
❞By this time, he's probably taking his third nap of the day. Let's go.❞ Her smile was so wide and
bright that I couldn't help but smile myself.
She took my hand and before I knew it, we were standing by the pool. I was looking around, worrying if someone would see us. I couldn't deny that I didn't want to go for a swim with Donna. I mean the pool was huge, bright blue and the little, but many lights were making the perfect lightning for this time of the day.
❞What are you waiting for?❞ She said while taking of her ballerina shoes.
By that said, my worries about someone seeing us faded away and I started taking off my clothes too.
I threw my t-shirt on the ground together with my socks and shoes. As I looked at Donna, I froze and melted at the same time. She threw her floral, yellow dress on the ground and stood in her underwear only.
❞Your shorts too, come on.❞ She rushed me and I did what she said.
As soon as I was standing in my boxers, I ran towards her and pushed her into the pool. She acted like she was angry, while I was laughing so hard my stomach was hurting.
❞Come on, help me.❞ She reached out for my hand.
❞Okay, okay, sorry.❞ I tried to muffle my laugh.
Instead of getting out of the pool, she dragged me into it and started guffawing. I couldn't get angry so I laughed along with her. As we toned down our laughs, we just stood in the pool, looking into each other's eyes. The moment felt magical. Her hazel eyes turned to a dark green colour, shining almost brighter than the moon above us.
Her white underwear became seethrough and I couldn't help those dirty thoughts that popped up in my head, being the seventeen-year old boy I was. She blushed and began to chuckle and quickly swam away to the other side of the pool. Smiling, I swam to her and stood in front of her as she leaned towards the back of the pool.
We looked deep into each other's eyes once again and it didn't take long til she kissed me.
End of flashback
Catherine
❞I was in love.❞ His look turned sad, but his lips were curved into a weak smile when he said it. ❞She was too. It took a short time for us to become inseparable. We kept in touch when I went back to Atlanta and she to Detroit. After two years, I proposed. I was only nineteen and she was eighteen, but that fact didn't stop us. At the same time, my father's company grew bigger and we had more and more money. Donna always asked me for money to buy ❜dresses❜ and such. It came to a point where I didn't believe her. The money she got from me was way more than the few dresses she had in her closet. So I confronted her about it.❞ He explained, making hundreds of questions pop up in my mind,
and I couldn't hold myself from asking one.
❞She was spending the money on something else?❞
❞Drugs.❞ He uttered. ❞It wasn't just her spending the money on drugs that made me feel different about her, it was also her love for me. I didn't feel it anymore, and I ran away from the fact that it could've been gone.❞ He sounded so hurt,
I wanted to hug him tight and tell him everything would be alright. ❞She got addicted. The night I confronted her about it was the night I found out she was pregnant.❞
He stopped talking for a while, his eyes stuck on the floor. His voice almost made me tear up,
sounding so broken, hurt and damaged.
❞Marco needed to be born earlier because of her drug problem. His little heart struggled, but he was a fighter and survived his battle.❞ I heard happiness in his voice again, and the corner of his lips curved up.
❞Marco is one strong little boy.❞ I said smiling at Lorenzo.
❞He is.❞ He muffled a laugh. ❞We wanted to help Donna. But she didn't want to help herself. And if you don't want to help yourself, there is nobody in the world that can help you. We even wanted to put her in a sober house,
and she agreed. She lied. When Marco was born and she got a little better, she left me a note and disappeared.❞
❞I'm so sorry.❞
❞It's just hard when Marco asks about his mother, you know? I don't know what to tell him. How do you tell your child that his own mother just disappeared?❞ Looking me in the eyes, he seemed lost. And it was killing me.
❞I can understand that being a single parent is hard.❞ I expressed, thinking of my mother. ❞You're doing a good job Lorenzo. You really are. I admire the way you care about your son, a father like you are many wishing for.❞
I took his hand in mine and squeezed it.
❞I appreciate it, Catherine.❞ He put his other hand on mine while he looked in my eyes.
We went on and talked. For hours. It was getting late, but we didn't care. Now, we knew each other's stories. After he told me his, I told him mine. The best part was, we understood each other. A person that was willing to listen to understand, instead of listening to respond was hard to find, but I was glad I just found one.