Chapter 68
[DI ANGELO'S CUISINE]
They were already there when Aurora arrived.
Oma in a fitted cream co-ord, gold hoops, edges laid.
Ivy in a soft pink slip dress, delicate chain, looking like she stepped out of something curated.
Roseanne in a rust colored wrap dress that worked perfectly against her skin, natural hair out and full.
Then Aurora walked in.
Cargo pants. Oversized white tee tucked slightly at the front. Clean sneakers. Hair in a rough bun with two streaks on each side of her face. And she has glasses on.
Roseanne looked her up and down. "How does she do that."
"Born like it," Oma said, standing to hug her.
Aurora hugged back briefly and sat down.
"I almost didn't come."
"But you did," Ivy said sweetly.
"Oma threatened me."
"I informed you," Oma corrected.
The restaurant was the kind of place that didn't need to be loud to feel expensive.
Soft lighting, high ceilings, the low hum of other conversations moving around them.
A waiter appeared almost immediately, water poured, menus placed.
Aurora scanned hers once.
"Pasta," she said and closed it.
Roseanne laughed. "You didn't even read it."
"I read enough."
Oma set her menu down and looked across the table. "So. Free day. No college. No drama. No-" she paused pointedly, "-anyone else. Just . Us. Yay."
Aurora met her eyes. "Say what you want to say Oma."
"I'm not saying anything."
"You're doing the face."
"I don't have a face."
Roseanne and Ivy exchanged a look.
"I'm just saying," Oma continued, completely innocent, "that you seem different today. Lighter. Like something good happened recently and someone didn't tell her best friend about it."
"I slept well," Aurora said. "That's it."
"Mhm."
"Oma." Aurora cautioned.
"I said mhm."
Aurora looked at her flatly and reached for her water.
Ivy cleared her throat softly. "So Roseanne and Jaxon almost had a situation last night..."
"We did NOT," Roseanne said immediately.
"She called me at midnight-"
"For advice,"
"At midnight and it's not like something you and Jax are even new to. You're lucky I didn't get drunk at the club, I wouldn't have answered"
"People have problems at midnight Ivy-" Roseanne rolled her eyes.
The table shifted naturally into the comfortable chaos of four girls who knew each other well enough to talk over each other without anyone getting lost.
Aurora ate her pasta when it arrived.
Listened more than she spoke.
After the food, they moved. Shopping was Oma's idea and Oma's energy entirely.
She moved through stores with purpose, holding things up, putting them back, holding them up again.
Aurora followed at her own pace, hands in her pockets, occasionally picking something up and setting it back down.
Roseanne found three things in the first ten minutes.
Ivy found one and deliberated about it for twenty.
Aurora found nothing and was completely unbothered about it.
"You're not buying anything?" Oma asked.
"I have clothes."
"That's not the point of shopping."
"Then what's the point."
Oma stared at her. "The experience, Aurora."
"I'm experiencing it," Aurora said. "I'm right here."
Roseanne snorted.
Oma looped her arm through Aurora's and pulled her further into the store. "You're impossible."
"You keep inviting me anyway."
"Because I love you," Oma said simply.
Aurora said nothing.
But she didn't pull her arm either.
They were in the third store when Aurora's phone buzzed.
Psychopath: Regret not doing more to you last night, now I miss your lips madly.
Aurora stared at the screen.
Then she locked her phone and slid it back into her pocket like she hadn't seen anything.
Oma was beside her in seconds. "Who was that."
"Nobody."
"Your face said somebody."
"My face said nothing."
Oma stared at her. Aurora stared back.
"Roseanne," Oma called out without breaking eye contact with Aurora. "Come and look at Aurora's face and tell me it says nothing."
"I'm not doing that," Roseanne called back from two racks away.
"Smart woman," Aurora said.
Oma grabbed her arm. "Aurora Noelle-"
"It was Leonard," Aurora said flatly. "He sent something stupid. That's it."
Oma's eyes lit up immediately.
"What did he say."
"Nothing important."
"Let me see."
"No."
"Aurora-"
"Oma I will leave this store right now."
Oma pressed her lips together, visibly restraining herself.
Then she turned and walked away like like someone storing information for later.
Aurora exhaled.
She pulled her phone out again.
Read the text one more time.
She locked it again.
Slid it back into her pocket.
She stood there between two clothing racks in the middle of a store that smelled like fabric and expensive candles, surrounded by the sounds of her friends existing loudly around her.
And for one split second, without meaning to, she almost smiled.
She caught it immediately.
Straightened her face.
Moved to the next rack like nothing had happened.
But her pulse was doing something she refused to acknowledge.
And the text was still sitting in her pocket.
Warm. Annoying. Completely Leonard.
TBC...