11. Chapter 11
With all the chaos of the arranged marriage, it felt like I hadn’t gotten out to film a new video in forever. I had been getting comments on my videos asking when the next one was coming out.
I planned on taking care of that today.
Emilio had left for the day. So, when I exited our bedroom, I expected to see Dino.
Instead, a strikingly tall and lanky man, impeccably dressed in a sharp suit, was perched on our plush sofa. He had chiseled features and his eyes gleamed with a carefree glint.
“Where’s Dino?” I asked.
“I’m Dino.”
He most certainly was not Dino. Dino was on the shorter side and was very stocky. This dude looked like a green bean.
“No, Dino is shorter than you. And he has black hair.”
“Ah, Dino Barbaro. I’m Dino Barbato.”
Of course they almost had the same last name.
“Ok, you’re Tall Dino,” I said. “And I’ll let the other Dino know he’s Short Dino. TD and SD.”
Tall Dino raised his eyebrow at me, but didn’t argue.
“Alright TD. We’re headed out to check out this abandoned strip mall. It’s about forty-five minutes away.”
“Alright,” he said.
“But let’s get coffee first.”
Tall Dino was nothing like Short Dino. When we went through the Starbucks drive through, he ordered a Frappuccino that was so sweet it could make someone develop diabetes. Short Dino was a firm believer in black coffee, and he drank it so hot I was surprised he hadn’t burned his tongue off yet.
Tall Dino also liked to talk a lot. He chatted with me about anything and everything as we made the drive to the outskirts of New York. Short Dino rarely spoke unless spoken to, or it was necessary.
As we neared our destination, the flow of traffic dwindled and eventually vanished. The abandoned strip mall stood before us in eerie silence.
“I didn’t even know this place existed,” he muttered as the two of us exited the car.
“Most don’t.”
“How did you find it?”
“It’s a secret!”
Tons of research. Going into the depths of the internet that no one had seen in years. I used an internet archiver to pull old urban exploration websites from the early 2000s.
“So, are you just going to take some videos of the outside and we’ll head out?” he asked.
“Uh, no. We’re going inside.”
“Excuse me?”
“Are you afraid? A bit ironic with your job title,” I raised my eyebrow as I hauled my camera equipment out of the backseat, and he fortunately missed my questioning gesture.
“I’m not afraid, I just don’t want tetanus, or rabies from whatever animals may live in there.” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“Stay out here, then.”
I picked up my camera gear and started walking towards the building.
“Fucking shit,” he muttered, and I heard his footsteps behind me.
We approached the entrance of the abandoned strip mall, the once vibrant sign now faded and covered in graffiti. Tall Dino hesitated, eyeing the crumbling facade warily as he hovered behind me. With a mischievous grin, I gestured for him to follow as I pushed open one of the creaking glass doors.
The air inside was thick with dust, creating an otherworldly haze that filtered the sunlight streaming through shattered windows. The old tiles beneath our feet lay in disarray, with weeds and moss creeping through the cracks. Tall Dino’s eyes widened at the sight, clearly taken aback by the eerie beauty of decay.
As we ventured further into the mall, each storefront told a story of its own. Forgotten mannequins stood frozen in time behind dusty windows, their fashionable clothes now tattered and out of style. We passed by remnants of a bygone era - a broken neon sign flickering sporadically, an overturned shopping cart filled with decaying merchandise.
Tall Dino trailed behind me cautiously, his footsteps echoing through the desolate corridors. But despite his initial reservations, I could see a spark of curiosity igniting within him. His gaze lingered on the remnants of a once bustling food court, now populated by pigeons roosting amidst overturned tables and chairs.
I grabbed footage of everything from different angles. It was almost nice having him there - he could lift the camera higher and get shots I wasn’t able to.
“What’s that?” I muttered.
An odd symbol had been spray-painted on to the floor. As an urban explorer, I was no stranger to graffiti. But this didn’t look like any graffiti I had seen before.
It was a giant circle, and in the upper left-hand corner a V cut through it. On the bottom right, there were two closely spaced dots that almost touched the line of the circle.
“It’s just graffiti,” Tall Dino said.
“Yeah…”
I took video from different angles and multiple pictures. Something told me this wasn’t normal graffiti, and I wanted to know where it came from.
We spent another hour exploring, but I couldn’t take my mind off the mysterious symbol. I wanted to go home and research what gang or cult it originated from.
“Ok,” I said to Tall Dino. “I think I’m ready to head out.”
There was no information online about the symbol. I should have given up after thirty minutes, and spent the rest of the day editing my video. It had been forever since I released one. Instead, I continued combing the internet for information on the odd circle.
It frustrated me I couldn’t find anything.
Before I knew it, the sun had sat, and the moon was high in the sky. I heard the front door open and slam shut. Frick. Emilio just got home, so it must be pretty late. When he had left this morning, he had said he wouldn’t be home until after one.
He opened our bedroom door and raised his eyebrows at me. He was probably wondering what the hell I was doing up so late.
“Eager to see me?” he teased.
“So eager,” I deadpanned. “I couldn’t even sleep.”
He chuckled as he walked into our bedroom, which we shared together. My immediate reaction was to close my laptop quickly, not wanting him to see the symbol I had discovered earlier that day. I couldn’t pinpoint why I felt the need to hide it; I simply wasn’t ready to reveal it just yet.
“Whatcha hiding?” he asked. “Y’know, if it’s porn, you have the real deal right here.”
“I was actually ordering a chastity belt,” I responded.
I elicited another laugh from him, causing a flutter in my chest. I couldn’t deny that Emilio looked adorable when he laughed like that.
“I was editing my video from today,” I lied. “Tall Dino and I went out to get footage.”
“Tall Dino?”
“The taller Dino. Dino Barbato. Or was it Dino Barbaro?” I said, massaging my thumb into my temple. “How do you even keep the two Dino’s separate when they have the same name?”
Emilio cackled. “Well, they’re both very good at their jobs, just in different ways. It’s easy to know which one we’re referring to when we talk about them.”
“Right,” I said.
As he began undressing, my eyes couldn’t help but wander to the expanse of tattoos that covered his torso. The moonlight played off his skin, casting a soft glow around them. His eyes met mine, a playful twinkle dancing within them as he stripped off his clothes with an effortless grace.
I quickly averted my gaze, feeling embarrassed for being caught. For once in his life, Emilio didn’t give me an obnoxious quip. He just walked into the bathroom and continued getting ready for bed.
“Ok,” he said as he emerged from the bathroom. “Bedtime.”
I had had the foresight to hop into bed and face the wall, so I wouldn’t see him in his underwear. It might have caused a repeat nosebleed situation.
As the lamp flicked off, the room plunged into darkness.
Emilio’s warm body shifted closer to mine, and his arms enveloped me from behind.
“Eep!” I said.
We had been sleeping on opposite sides of the bed. This was new and foreign, and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure how to feel. But I knew I felt…safe.
Our bodies fit together like puzzle pieces, and I let out a contented sigh as he nuzzled his face into my neck. The tension of the past few nights dissipated as we finally found comfort in each other’s arms.
“Go to bed, Jaws.”