Chapter 46
Emily
So, there we were.
The three of us seated at a diner, eating lunch together. Levi and Donni’s plates were filled with a burger and fries, while I settled for a salad because I didn’t want to chew too much in front of thEmily.
I know, very stupid–but it was just a habit of mine.
The two were too busy with each other, and listening to their conversations, from football to basketball, I felt like some sort of intruder. Sports had never caught my interest, and their boring talk made me fall asleep.
I wondered if Alessio liked sports.
“We should stop talking ahout this. Emily is getting bored.” Levi finally noticed I didn’t had anything interesting to add.
Donni smirked, and I knew some crap was about to leave his mouth. “She’d get bored anyway because she is a boring person.”
Levi offered me a sympathetic smile, and right then and there I knew he agreed with Donni. “I’m not a boring person!” I flipped, a bit too frustrated.
“Oh yeah?” Donni spoke. “Then what do you do in your spare time?”
“I read,” I replied, hoping my answer would somehow help the argument.
Donni and Levi shared a look, both trying to hold back their reaction, but they both failed miserably and burst into laughter. “Did you catch that? She reads,” Donni smacked the table as if I was the first person in the universe to read a book.
“What do you like to read?” Levi tried being nice again.
“Nothing,” I muttered, not in the mood to share any more about myself. I focused on my food, pricking at it with my fork. If this was what it was like to have brothers, then I didn’t mind mine not interacting with me. “Since you have such an interesting life, please tell me–what do you do for fun, Donni?”
“Ask your sister,” he shrugged, giving a smart–ass comment.
I drew in a breath. “I just want to choke you sometimes.”
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“How did you know I’m into that?” Donni cracked a smile.
I hated myself for smiling back because once I did, he had a cocky, succeeded smile on his lips as if making me laugh was some big accomplishment.
“What made you change your look?” Levi suddenly asked, referring to my recent makeover.
“She caught Alessio staring at the flight attendant and knew she had to come up with something real quick,” Donni responded before I could.
“No particular reason, it just ended up like this,” I said, specifically to Levi.
“I think it suits you,” Levi nodded with a warm look, which seEmilyed to apologize for Donni’s earlier
comment.
“I like it too. She looks pretty,” Donni added with a full mouth.
“Won’t you look at that, a compliment!” I exclaimed. “So, you do have the ability to be nice–you just don’t
want to use it.”
“That’s not it,” Levi defended his friend. “He’s teasing you because he likes you.”
Shocked, I looked at Donni, waiting for his reaction. He looked down with a red flush on his cheeks, like he had just been exposed. Maybe Levi was onto something.
“Elaborate, please.‘
“When he first met me, he refused to talk to me and ignored my existence. Getting bullied by Donni means he likes you,” Levi said.
“Well then, he can unlike me,” I retorted, trying to hide the fact it was somewhat flattering. It could’ve been worse–Donni’s teasing meant I was accepted in his strange way.
Donni made a ‘tsk‘ sound, clearly not ready to give in. He grabbed his cup and drank from it so he wouldn’t have to talk. “I’m getting a refill and her number,” he motioned to the waitress before leaving
the scene.
Levi let out a smile, shaking his head as he looked at him. “You’ll get used to him. I promise.”
“Is he always like this?” I had to ask, curious about the dynamics of their friendship. I didn’t understand how someone would willingly deal with that twenty–four seven.
“Most of the time,” Levi confirmed.
Something about Levi struck me as a bit mysterious. He talked a lot, he smiled a lot, but his answers were honest and short. Donni was an open book and mischievous, while Levi was more observant.
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“So, do you know how long Alessio plans to keep you here?” Levi asked out of nowhere. I sprinted my eyes, trying to figure out how much he exactly knew about our engagEmilyent.
“Don’t worry, I know about this whole arrangEmilyent of yours. Donni knows too,” Lead admitten
casually.
“Who else knows?”
The idea of Alessio not being good at keeping secrets seEmilyed pretty concerning, especially knowing he shared it with someone like Donni who couldn’t keep his mouth shut for a second.
“Just the two of us,” Levi said. “So, how long are you staying?”
“I thought you’d know more than me, but I don’t have an answer to that question. Why do you ask?
“Just wondering,” he said, shaking his head. I wasn’t sure whether he did know and just chose to keep it to himself or if he had no idea either.
Why was he so curious about my stay anyway?
“You and Alessio must be very close.”
“I like to think we are,” Levi smiled, right when Donni had returned with a refilled cup.
“They’re so close he even scored a promotion, so I’m afraid he won’t be driving you around for much longer,” he said, plopping back down into his seat.
“That’s not true,” Levi spoke. “I mean, it is–but I’ll still drive you around.”
“But why?” I asked. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy he wouldn’t let me change drivers, but I couldn’t understand why he would give himself more work than necessary. “I assume you’re not married and have no children?” I asked, trying to figure out the reason behind his drive to work.
“Not married,” Levi said. “But I do have a four–year–old girl.”
“Aw, that’s cute. Do you have a picture?” I couldn’t resist asking.
“Of course I do,” Levi turned his phone around, showing me his lock screen. It was of him hugging a beautiful little girl with blonde curls and joyful eyes.
“Oh my god, she’s a cutie!”
“I’m not married, no children as far as I’m concerned, in case you were wondering.” Donni, who did not want to get left out, added.
I rolled my eyes. “No one asked.”
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“I know, that’s why I said, in case you were wondering” Domni shot back with a widened sirk Len laughed, seeing how fast I had shot my mouth because he got me good this time.
I gritted my teeth and scrunched my nose, not out of annoyance fat in an effort to suppress my o laughter,
“Before we pick up those Satans, there’s something I want to do Donni spoke, “Come on, Decky”
“Who the hell are you calling Ducky?” I asked as I stood up, genuinely confused by the nickname. ” better be Levi.”
Levi chuckled as we followed after Donni,
“You,” Donni looked back over his shoulder,
“Why?”
“Because you pout so much,” he explained, haunting me with his grin that I wanted to wipe off his face so badly.
“No, I don’t,” I argued, pouting in response. After realizing what I was doing, I quickly hid my pout and self–reflected. The nickname sucked, but maybe it did make sense.
Donní stopped in front of a photo booth, and tapped on the wall to grab our attention. “So you can send it to your family back home. Show thEmily you have friends.”
Although his words were filled with sarcasm, his voice sounded sympathetic, and for the first time I could hear he wasn’t trying to tease me. He didn’t know my family situation, and I was not about to explain it to
him.
Without much protest, I walked into the photo booth, with Donni and Levi following behind. Donni positioned me in the center and patted my head as if he were patting a precious puppy.
As the camera flashed, we struck a series of poses. From silly faces to serious to smiling–I just tried to match whatever vibe they were going for.
When we got to our last picture, I let out a yelp as Donni and Levi picked me up as if I were a piece of wood, but I found myself laughing at thEmily. The whole thing was cheesy, but it was something other than walking in circles all day.
After we finished, we exited the booth and Donní grabbed the three photo strips that had printed out. He kept one, handed another to Levi, and the last one to me. With a smile on my face, I looked at the pictures. If I had told anyone the kind of work these guys were involved in, they would have never guessed.
Levi chuckled, looking at his own pictures. “Alessio is missing.”
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Donni dismissed it with a wave of his hands. “It’s not a big deal, he wouldn’t care.”
“I think he would,” Levi begged to differ, but Donni’s eyes were already elsewhere.
“Ducky?” He looked at me.
“Yes?”
He opened his mouth, then he used it again, then opened it once more–while I raised my brow,
awaiting his words.
“We got your back.” He finally stated.
“You got my back?”
Levi sighed. “He’s not good in this sort of things.” he explained. “What Donni is trying to say is that we’re here for you. If you’re walking around on your own and see one of us, feel free to drag us outside. If you have a problEmily–and even with Alessio, because we all know how he can get and you need someone to talk to, you can come to us.”
I glanced at Donni for clarification, and he flashed a nonchalant smile, saying, “What he said.”
I swallowed, touched by the kind words which were more than I could have ever hoped for. It probably wasn’t much to thEmily, but to me, it meant the world. Those were, once again, words I had longed for the longest time. It took some strength to hold back my tears, but I managed–because I didn’t want to cry in front of thEmily.
Donni’s rEmilyarks had bothered me just moments before, but thinking it through, I couldn’t recall the last time I had bickered that way with someone.
And then, his actions and words clearly showed that he didn’t have any bad intentions at all.
None of thEmily did.
“Thanks,” I smiled. “I had fun today. I needed that.”
