The sun was illuminating the room brightly, I was laying in the couch lazily with the blanket draped over my thighs. I felt warm, very warm- no wonder: I had slept with my sweatpants, something that has not happened in many years. A sweet smell reached my nose, and yet I did not open my eyes. I knew I was dreaming because I could not cook, the only smell I could convey was burnt food. Moving in a more comfortable position, my right arm was under my pillow and the other was dangling from the couch. A strong smell of cologne engulfing my nostrils made me crack open one eye, glancing at the white form in front of me.
"Breakfast is almost ready, perhaps you should get up?" no one is that nice, proof number two that I'm in way too deep in the realm of dreams. The sad part was that I dreamt of kindness, that hit close to home. Something inside told me that I knew that voice, but I could not put a face to it, the blinding ray of sunshine hindered my sight of the baritone voiced person. "I love your voice, it's nice." I mumbled in my pillow before everything turned black again.
Stretching myself awake, I looked at the clock half-awake. "Fuck it's already 11am" getting out of the couch in a hurry, tripping over the blanket in my rush, I dashed to my bedroom to get dressed in something more proper than pajamas. I always liked dressing in something that made me feel powerful and confident, it gave me the push I needed to feel that way. Taking black suit pants from my wardrobe along with a white long-sleeved shirt, I went to the bathroom to freshen up.
"Sheesh- that's a fucking mess" I exclaimed as I started brushing my hair, wincing at the eventual pain that came when encountering knots in my hair. Afterwards I brushed my teeth, before washing my face rigorously, then patting it dry. I did not waste time as I got dressed in my usual attire, zipping up my pants as I tucked in the white shirt. "Now that's how we like it." I said to myself with a charming smile, finger gunning my reflection in the mirror.
Once I left the bathroom I started thinking of what I had to do for the day, "I should probably go grocery shopping-" I stopped dead in my tracks once I was met with a man in my kitchen- oh shit right right, I had forgotten he was there for a moment. He was staring at me with a knowing smile, his hands busy drying the pan he had just washed. "Why are you looking at me like that...?" I asked uneasy as I sat down on the rattan stool of my kitchen, which I should definitely consider changing considering how uncomfortable they were.
"You finally woke up, good dream?" he asked with a smirk. The problem was, I could hardly remember my dreams, the only ones that really left a mark were nightmares. Given that nothing came to mind when I thought of my night meant that I slept pretty well, and dreamt pretty well also. I nodded hesitantly in response, squinting my eyes lightly at him for asking me that. Then a flash of something bright appeared in my mind, I remembered that, strangely, I was sleeping in the couch and coincidentally someone was also cooking and- "I had the weirdest dream..." I started before recalling what I had said to the form, which after having given it a thought might have been Bruno.
"Oh, you have? Does it mention someone with a nice voice?" at this point he was plainly teasing me. He had set down two breakfast plates on the counter, before sitting himself down in front of me, leaning his head against his hand with a playful smile. Taken aback by how forward that was, I stared at him a moment with wide eyes. "That's- I- don't act so cocky, I'm pretty sure you've been told that many times." I said in a fake outrage, trying to cover up the fact that I'd rather he'd not known how much his voice had an effect on me.
Now let's be real, it could have gone worse. I could have said something worse during this semi-conscious state. Fortunately, I simply complimented the man, which he kind of deserved. Yeah, we're good, it's nothing bad, I reassured myself. "I have never been told such a thing, but I'll be sure to remember that." He added with a wink before handing me a napkin and the cutlery. A pink hue covered my cheeks as I took it from his hands, do people ever listen to him talk? Do they even realize how much-? I should stop myself there, I am definitely biased.
It's as we started eating, that I realized he had time to cook a whole meal while I was asleep and it made me feel bad. As a guest he shouldn't have had to do anything, but he had basically done most of the stuff a host had to do. And, given the time we went to sleep, I wondered, "Hey, did you get any sleep last night? I'm sorry I fell asleep during the movie" I told him apologetically, while enjoying the simple, yet delicious, eggs toast and bacon he had prepared.
I did feel bad for not waking up early enough to be a good host, but I also was relieved because my cooking skills were terrible. Giving me a reassuring, Bruno nodded "I was able to catch some sleep, the couch is not that uncomfortable with the right company." He said with a smile, while setting the napkin down on his lap. This time I kept my cool, I could not keep on reacting so strongly to everything he said, he'll be the death of me. Swallowing the food, I had in mouth, I replied "And yet you woke up pretty early, this won't do, you'll make me look like a bad host." Pointing him with my fork.
Laughing loudly, he held his hands in a defensive manner, "I apologize, it was not my intention." He started, setting his fork and knife on his now empty plate. I was quite surprised to see how fast he had finished his plate, but I did not eat any faster for that matter, seeing how clumsy I was I'd rather avoid choking on food. "My body is used to waking up so early; I did try to wake you up but it seems you were sleeping pretty well." He added the last part with a more implicit tone.
"I said what I said, I'm not going to be ashamed." I told him with a huff, if he planned on teasing me about it, I'd just have to own it at this point. Finally finishing my plate, I grabbed both our dirty plates and walked around Bruno to put them in the dishwasher. Once done, Bruno was sitting with his legs crossed on his seat, looking at me expectantly. "Alright, now that we're done reminiscing my glorious morning, I suggest we get ready." I started with a smile, grabbing my heels that were by the door I slipped them one, zipped them up and took my bag from the hanger.
"I would be tempted to go alone, but in the end, you'll look at me with a threatening look and join me anyway. So, let's go grocery shopping together, Capo." Casually leaning against the door, I waited for him to grab his long vest from his room. Come to think of it, he had the same suit as yesterday but it seemed less wrinkled... He did mention asking people to bring some change of clothes. Already feeling unsafe in my own home, I hope he gave my address to someone trustworthy.
It was pretty ironic that both of us wore long-sleeved clothing when the weather was so hot. I would only speak for myself when saying, I liked long-sleeved shirts because they weren't as toasty as sweaters, but not as chilly as t-shirt either; it meant that when comes the night, I'm perfectly fine, nor freezing nor too warm. Opening the door for Bruno to step outside, I grabbed my keys and locked the door behind us, checking that everything was properly locked a few times before turning towards the mafioso.
"There's a chauffeur waiting for us outside, he'll drive us to-" giving him a doubtful look, I shook my head, walking passed him towards the stairs. "We're not taking the car, it's barely a ten minutes' walk to the store." I announced, not leaving room for discussion. One of the main reasons I chose this apartment was how well situated it was, only a few bus stops from university and close enough to the store and many pubs also. Being under surveillance was not going to change my habits, even less take the car for sometimes so close by.
For a moment he seemed baffled by what I said, his expression quickly changed in a more impassive one after a few seconds. That man had a talent for making me blush, but I felt a certain pride in getting any sort of reaction out of him, may it be shock or laughter. After my remark, we went down the stairs in silence; once out of the building, Bruno went to the car to, probably, tell the chauffeur to leave for now. I couldn't quite hear what he said, but he's most likely told him that we didn't need him today, and to come back tomorrow see if anything changed.
Bruno was by my side a few minutes after having a talk with the chauffeur, placing my bag meticulously in front of me instead of letting it dangle in the back, we started our walk to the store. Naples was a touristic place, which made it very easy for pick-pockets to earn a livelihood from their petty theft. With that in mind, I was careful to keep a hand on my bad to avoid being a sucker that gets pick-pocketed. "Oh, by the way Bruno, I'm glad someone brought you a change clothes; casual looked good on you, but not as good as those suits." I looked up at him with a genuine smile, pink dust covering his cheeks.
"Thank you cara," looking at me with his usual fondness, he continued, "do not worry, I asked Mista; he's someone we can trust." My eyes widened a moment, before looking straight ahead, pinching the bridge of my nose, "Please tell me he did not see my sorry ass on the couch, I looked like a mess" I said with a desperate sigh, a pleading look on my face. Chuckling in response, Bruno shrugged lightly "I cannot promise anything, Sex Pistols, his stand, wanders about everywhere- but I blocked the doorway, I hardly think he's seen anything." He explained offhandedly, giving me a reassuring smile.
Sighing in relief, I took a turn in the street towards the store and replied, "Trustworthy or not, he flirted with me when we met, that was weird." I said with gross out expression, the worse was that he was so openly commenting that it took be by surprised. Surprising me once more, Bruno laughed out loud at my words, "That was mostly Sex Pistols; considering that a stand is a manifestation of the soul, he must have found you pretty and well, Sex Pistols reacted a bit too much to it." That made sense, it must have been what gave me away; I had heard his stand and reacted as though they had spoken to me.
"Manifestation of the soul, uh?" I said out loud, pondering the idea a little. It was a very interesting concept, it explained indeed why Mista's stand was so loud but regarding my own stand I was a bit dubious, wait- wait; Yesterday was pretty touchy with Zipper last night, shit. My face flushed red very quickly, I looked anywhere but at the man next to me, I really had to have a better control of that little shit. How do I even teach subtlety to that cat idiot? Oh god, just because I found Zipper's user hot, my stand reacted to it like that?
Walking a bit faster, I heard Bruno's deep chuckle in the back, good for him to find my embarrassment funny, I thought with a pout. As we arrived at the store, I noticed a group of people with beer in hand, hanging by the entry. Everyone is familiar with that type of people, if we're lucky they were really just hanging around together, having a great time and not here to be weird with bystanders. However, there was also the possibility that they were assholes looking, here to hit on people, I wouldn't use the word flirt considering that it's completely unwanted attention.
Mustering my courage, I marched forward with my head high and started repeating a mantra in my head, if they start shouting, ignore them, if they start shouting, ignore them. "Hey bella, are you free tonight?" one shouted from afar, eliciting some whispers among his group. I could just tell them no, but no was never an answer for people like that. Quickly walking past them, I dodged one who tried to grab my arm and entered the store, sighing in relief once inside.
I was glad Bruno did not interfere, knowing full well it couldn't have gone awry if they were the hot-blooded type. Looking back at the Capo, I saw he was frowning at me, as I was about to talk, he cut me off "Cara? Are you okay?" he asked me, worried. Chuckling, maybe nervously, I waved it off with the smile, "I'm all good, they haven't done anything. I'm used to it at this point, I just got to walk fast, it's whole strategy you see." I told him with a nudge and a playful smile, pulling reusable bags from my own as I started walking towards the isles I needed.
Shaking his head, Bruno grabbed my arm gently, stopping me dead in my track. "Just because you're used to it doesn't mean it should still continue." He told me simply, this time I was the one to frown. Coming from him it was very ironic, he was tall and could definitely intimidate those bastards. If I tried, they'd try to ... Anger was rising inside me, "Isn't it easy for you to say? Think a bit Bruno, what could I possibly do, uh? Tell them off? That sure would end up well for me, try to threaten them? Yeah sure, it'd totally work out!" I reeled off, my voice a bit louder than I expected it to be.
An awkward silence settled between us, it made me realize how fire up I had been, although I was right to think that way, I could have perhaps found a better way to tell him my thoughts. "I'm sorry, I just-" I was once again interrupted by the raven-haired man who was now shaking his head, "No you're right, I did not think of it that way, I'm the one who should be apologizing" He said softly, giving me a genuine apologetic look before grabbing the bags from my hands, ready to help out.
Letting him take the bags, I still felt a bit bad and decided to speak again, "I still could have worded my opinion better, I'm sorry Capo." I mumbled the last part in a lower tone than the first one, admitting one was wrong was always hard, mostly because the counterpart of the fight always gloats upon one's admittance at being wrong. With a caring smile, Bruno whispered a soft "it's okay", soon after that we started our shopping as planned.
It did not take a long time to finish our shopping, living alone reduces greatly the grocery list, but I still bought more than usual since I now had a guest at my house. Perhaps I also bought a few snacks for our night activities, but that was a necessity at this point; there is no such thing as movie night without a snack, I mean I do have a snack, I thought with a smirk, glancing at the mafioso who was putting the groceries on the conveyor belt.
Funny enough, leaving the store was not without a fight. Once everything was packed away in the bags, Bruno was very insisting on paying for the lot. I tried to tell him no a few times, but he kept arguing back, telling me it was ok, he did what he wanted with his money, it was for allowing him to stay at my place, he didn't seem to run out of arguments so I let him pay. I had guessed being the Capo in the Passione family did pay well for him to simply throw away his money for a stranger, so I let him.
Now both with a bag in hand, we left the store half an hour or so later, the group of people that had previously called out to me had left the front of the store and were nowhere in sight, which brought a bit of comfort to my inner self. "With what we have, I say we make a mean lasagna tonight. How about that Bruno?" I suggested, checking what I had in my bag of groceries. Having heard no answer, I noticed that the man was looking straight ahead, in the alley we had taken to arrive here. There were the people from earlier, I heard them once more calling me out, not all those words were flattering and a lot of those were words I was not familiar with, maybe some Italian slang.
"We'll take another route, no need to start-" I had barely time to finish my sentence that I heard Bruno ordering me to stay right where I was and that he was going to take care of them. If I were an idiot, I would look at how this situation was going to go down, but I wanted to have plausible deniability if we were to get arrested for you know, beating up people. Hence why I turned around, now facing the store again, waiting for the mafioso to come back.
I wanted to be surprised at his course of actions, except I knew better. He was after all a mafioso, and as long as he did not debunk every myth there were around that, I'll assume he's simply ready to kill at any given time, and maybe a tiny bit too protective. I waited around 10 minutes before my assigned bodyguard came back, not one hair out of place. The only thing that was different was the spot of blood on his cheek. Extending my hand towards his cheek, I felt he was tempted to flinch away but did not, "You have just... one spot right there..." I said as I wiped away the drop with my thumb.
"You clearly did not have to take care of them, we could have taken another way home" I said sternly, as I started walking, avoiding the man's intense stare. Scoffing, he replied with a bit too much fire, "I had to, you did not seem like you were going to do anything." Now that was unexpected, we had discussed it prior, I had told him specifically that it was useless to intervene, that it would only bring more trouble than anything. We were only halfway home when I had to stop again, grabbing his forearm to stop him along.
Was he really angry at me for following my survival instinct of not biting to those bastard's taunts and cat-calls? "Alright Capo Bucciarati. We don't know each other much but I'm pretty sure, or most likely I hope, that, me being unphased by those bastards is not the real reason you're angry at me, right?" I tried to keep my cool the best I could, this man seemed composed most of the time; having him act like he did a few minutes back seemed a bit out of character but I could be wrong, I only knew him for barely a day.
Exhaling, his eyes met mine with regret. "Mi dispiace." He started, gesturing me to start walking, "I don't believe you heard what they say, they said some pretty gross stuff and-" hesitantly grabbing his hand again to reassure him, I kept telling myself that I did it to reassure Bucciarati, but deep down I had this feeling that I just wanted to hold him close. I settled for holding his hand for now, seeing we were merely strangers. "We're good. You might have gone a tad bit too far in fulfilling your bodyguard role but I'm good, you're good, everything fine." I said rapidly, accompanying my words with a grin.
The rest of the walk happened in silence until we reached the building. Bruno glanced at me with a curious look and spoke, "You seem to be very accepting of what I have done, shouldn't you be scared at least?" he asked with a strange tone that I couldn't quite describe it. Chuckling at his question, I set my bag down and unlocked the door, holding it open with my foot to let him step inside. "I should probably be scared, but, firstly, you're assigned to me as a bodyguard so you're not going to hurt me." I was pretty confident that the man would not hurt me, but I couldn't quite hide the doubt in my voice.
"Secondly, I'm probably subconsciously constantly on edge. I have all those stereotypes running through my head regarding what mafioso can do, none of which are any bit of help with my anxiety." I continued with a light tone, laughing out loud at how dumb I sounded. I had to laugh nervously, confessing that a part of me was pretty much always scared was like admitting vulnerability, and being vulnerable was hard. Whether it was because I gave him a satisfying answer, or because I had left him stunned, Bruno did not reply right away.
It was once we had set our bags down on the kitchen counter that I heard his voice, "What do you want to know?" he asked with a compassionate look, "If we're going to spend some times together, I'd rather you trust me and not feel scared." Admitting so, he moved around the kitchen gracefully, putting our purchases on the shelves, keeping what we needed for tonight's meal out.
"Are you sure? No... that's a bad idea, I'll start asking the dumbest questions and you'll mock me." I pouted, while I appreciated the sentiment, I knew my questions were ones he could probably not answer or would not, yet I was very curious now; I wanted to know everything. The Capo leaned his head forward a little, a light chuckle escaping his lips. "I promise I won't laugh, cara. Go ahead."
Pondering a moment, I sat down on a stool by the counter, watching the Italian man wander around my kitchen to start the preparations for tonight's lasagna. Go big or go home, I thought before asking the first question "Do you... kill for fun?" my inquiry elicited a surprised laugh from the man in front of me, "I do not. You must also be wondering how many men I've killed; I do not have a number to give you. If it's any reassurance, I only kill people when it's the only way out." He explained in a relaxed tone, setting a pan on the oven.
Bucciarati turned around to observe my reaction, I was impassive. I thought about it a moment, while his answer was satisfying, there was this possibility that for my other questions he might lie... I had no proof of it... "Are the ten commandments a thing? In the mafia I mean" I then asked, unsure. Depending on his reply I knew if he'd tell me the truth, if those ten commandments were a thing, I was aware that one of them was that upon being asked for information one could only tell the truth. I watched the Godfather, I had some bits of knowledge on the subject, I thought proudly.
"It is, we respect the ten commandments. However, with Giorno as the new Don, he tries to be more lenient regarding a few of those rules." Having a new Don as the head of the Passione famiglia must be strange, compared to the previous one; An invisible man, someone who did not connect with people, Giorno was seemed like the exact opposite, from what I had seen when I met him last time he was kind, and caring. I had no idea how he handled his mafia business, but it must be different from how it used to be.
"Mmh... I don't have any other questions at the moment," I wondered out loud, trying to come up with things to ask. I suppose I was mostly curious about his moral compass, and knowing he was not a mass-murdering psychopath was a relief. "Don't hesitate to ask whatever comes to your mind; now how about we start preparing that lasagna, cara?" he suggested, rolling his sleeves up. Oh god that's- that's hot. After reacting as such in my mind, I sensed fondness in my core.
In panic I looked around and saw Yesterday right behind Bruno, floating too closely to the man's back. Following my gaze, Bruno looked over his shoulder, laughing upon seeing my stand right next to him. "Oh, they probably want some company." God, if only he knew what they wanted. Letting his stand out, the Capo watched both of them float out of the way. "I swear, I have no control over that bat" I argued in my defense, getting off of my seat to help out Bruno. Quirking his brow at me, he only smirked in response.
Now I'm not going to lie, I had no recipe for that lasagna. I was more of a pre-heated plates kind of person, except when Benito gave me food from the restaurant. It brought me immense happiness when Bruno was at ease with cooking without any recipe. It also meant he had those memorized, not only lasagna but probably many more. While nothing much had changed since yesterday, I still felt more comfortable around him than I was earlier. I was also very disappointed once we had finished the plate and now had to wait for tonight to heat it.
After finishing the preparations, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying each other's presence while not doing much. He was working on some paperwork, and I'd be lying if I'd say he did not look very handsome focused on his work, while I read and played a few games with our stands. In the blink of an eye, it was already evening. I had discovered the Capo was a workaholic when I had to almost pride away his paperwork from his slender hands. "Come on Capo, it's time to eat. I'm not eating until you join me, I would ask of you to, not let me starve" I stated before going back to the counter and sitting on the stool expectantly, the plates already on the counter with drinks and napkins.
Only a few moments later, I was joined by the mafioso. He was deep in thoughts even while eating, what he's been working in must be bothering him, I thought as I started eating the delicious meal we had prepared. Although I said we, I felt the need to accentuate the fact that the raven-haired man had done most of the work. "Are you okay, Bruno?" coming back to reality, he nodded, apologizing quickly, "I'm sorry, I was deep in thought; Have you decided on a movie for tonight?" he inquired with a charming smile.
Humming a moment, I kept eating under the stare of Bucciarati. I had considered The Godfather for the fun of it, but I thought he'd appreciate my second choice better, "After a long brainstorming, how about Dead Poets' Society?" I suggested, I had seen the movie a few years ago and while I knew how it ended, it was still a great movie to enjoy. Agreeing to my suggestion, Bruno confessed never having seen it, adding that he never really had time to actually take time for himself. We discussed for the rest of the dinner, brushing all kinds of subject until it was around 9pm.
Once we had cleared the countertop of all our dirty dishes, I made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth only to stumble upon a something that seemed off. "Bruno?" I called out his name calmly, his form appearing quickly behind me with a frown, "Did you open the window?" I asked while staring profoundly at the wide-open window; shoving me behind him, Bruno slammed the window close and brought Zipper out. "I did not, stay here while I'll check around the house-" oh no I remember, I had opened it last night- grabbing his hand quickly before he could leave the bathroom I sheepishly told him that I had forgotten to close it the previous night. "Better be safe than sorry, right?" I added with an embarrassed grin.
Patting my head gently, Bruno sighed in relief, "You're right, but I'll still check around the house while you get changed." He told me tenderly, leaving the room with Zipper in tail. After having gotten changed in my pajamas and having brushed my teeth, it was Bruno's turn to use the bathroom. While he got changed, I waited in the living room, few snacks on the table and the blanket on my knees.
Once he was back, he sat down right next to me, took the blanket and splayed it on both of our lap. Although last night, seeing him in only his underwear and one of my shirts was very interesting, tonight he wore grey sweatpants and a tight white shirt and it was quite the sight to behold. I felt Yesterday's intense gaze on mine but decided to avoid it, oh I knew what they thought about it. It they were a manifestation of my soul, boy did I know.
Tomorrow was the beginning of a whole new week, I had to work from 9am to 8pm at Libeccio which meant no late night like we did last night. But now that I had company, I knew I was going to be able to fall asleep sooner. As Bruno set his arm on the back of the couch, I pressed play and started the movie.
Around the first half of the movie, I felt a weight on my shoulder. Oh, this time I'm not the one who fell asleep first, I thought mischievously, turning my head slowly to the side to check if I was right. Confirming my suspicion, Bruno had fallen asleep, I couldn't blame him, he had woken up pretty early even though we had a long night. Slowly grabbing the pillow to my left, I put it on my lap and gently moved Bucciarati's head to the pillow.
Exhaling once it was done, I went back to the movie, absent-mindedly running my fingers through his short straight hair. About half an hour later, it was my turn to feel tired. Taking the remote, I turned off the TV and laid my head back on the couch, soon after, everything went black.