Chapter 10 #3
I look at Henry, and he can’t seem to take his eyes off me; he slowly approaches my face with his eyes focused on my lips, and I suddenly feel nervous.
“Do you have drawing supplies? I need to draw something.” Henry looks confused, and I want to slap my face for interrupting the moment; I keep wishing I could finally have my first kiss, and when the opportunity arises, with an incredible boy like Henry, I pull this stunt.
“Yes… of course, in my room. Do you want to go there now?” He asks, scratching the back of his neck. I wish I could turn back intime.
“If you don’t mind…”
Henry’s room is in dark tones, black and grey, and extremely organized, which seems right coming from him. There are books on a small shelf in the room, and I restrain myself from running there to see what kind of books he reads.
“Will a white sheet of paper and colored pencils do?”
“Yes, I’m sorry to ask this,” I say, a little embarrassed, feeling my cheeks heat up. Henry points to the chair in front of his desk, and I settle down.
I draw a long dresswith a deep V neckline and straps, loose and flowing at the bottom; I look at the crayons and smile at the variety of colors; I paint its emerald green and imagine it with a metallic sheen; I lift the drawing and smile at the result.
“It looks amazing!” I hear Henry’s voice, and I’m slightly startled; I forgot he was there. I look at him, and he seems to be concentrating on my sketch.
“Do you really think so, or has your drunken side taken over?” I ask with a playful grin, knowing that I’m probably drunker than he is.
“Drunk or not, I can say with certainty that you have talent!”
Henry approaches me, and all I can think is, “This is it,” I’m about to have my first kiss.
I feel what I think are nervous butterflies in my stomach, and I close my eyes.
Before our lips can touch, my phone ringing takes over the room; I open my eyes quickly and pick it up, reading Paolo on display.
I know that if I ignore it, he will insist, or worse, go door to door looking for me.
I give Henry an apologetic look, and he walks away to sit down at his desk.
He doesn’t even let me speak. “Where are you, Chiara? Don’t tell me you’ve left the house.” His voice is a little muffled by the loud music from the speakers, and I can’t tell if he’s annoyed.
I look around, feeling Henry’s confused gaze on me. “I’m… in the bathroom; I’ll be right down!” I don’t know why I lie to him, but I just do it, hanging up the call immediately afterward. I have to go downstairs; my friends are looking for me.
Henry leans over the table, writing something on a piece of paper. “Here’s my number; I’d really like to get to know you better!” I grab the paper without really knowing what to say, smile at him, a little embarrassed, and head for the door. “Don’t forget your drawing.”
Henry comes toward me, handing me my sketch and planting a kiss on my cheek before stepping aside and letting me out of his room. As the door closes behind me, I let out a big smile and maybe a low squeal of excitement. Maybe I’m not so uninteresting after all.
I lie on my bed with a big smile on my face, probably looking like a fool in love.
“What’s with that smile?” Aurora sits on my bed, signaling me to lay my head on her legs, and on my other side, Leticia looks at us, smiling.
“I almost kissed Henry!” I mutter quietly and too quickly to understand.
“You what? Say that again?” says Leticia, smirking, which makes me think that maybe she understood.
“I almost kissed Henry!” I say with my eyes closed and feeling my cheeks burn.
When I open my eyes, I see the blatant smile on Leticia’s face, while Aurora has an indignant look on her face. “What do you mean, almost? Give me a good reason why you didn’t do it… I’m waiting!”
I close my eyes again, a little embarrassed by my sudden artistic inspiration. “The first time I had an idea for the sketch I have to hand in tomorrow, the second time Paolo called me, and I had to leave.” I cover my eyes with my hands, listening to Aurora’s ironic laughter.
“Two times, two chances, and not even a kiss, for God’s sake, Chiara.
” I laugh at her outrage, still not looking at her; a pillow is thrown right in my face, making me open my eyes immediately.
I look at her, irritated. “You didn’t even have to stay long; you just had to stick your lips to his and then leave, but no… ”
“I wasn’t going to kiss Henry and then run away!”
“Why not?” I look at Aurora, really wondering if she’s serious. “Don’t tell me you didn’t kiss him because of Luca.”
I lift my head from her legs and sit down on the bed. Why on earth would Luca have anything to do with this?
“We’ve known you for years, Chiara; we know you were hurt that Luca never called you again after he left. I look at Leticia, and she looks seriouson her face. Tell me the truth, are you in love with him?”
I feel their stares on me, and I don’t know what to say. I’m not in love with Luca, but something about himcaught my attention from day one. “I’m not in love, I just… I don’t know. I thought we could make it work, you know, the engagement and later the wedding.”
“It’s not enough for you to want to put someone first in your life; it only works when you’reon the same level as that person. And you tried, he didn’t open up or given you the chance, it’s not your fault.”
I smile and nod, knowing that Leticia is right.
I feel Aurora’s hands on my shoulders, she pulls me toward her and makes me look into her face.
If you like someone, if you fall in love, that’s fine; you’re entitled to it.
Neither Luca nor anyone else has the right to stop you.
Don’t let this agreement stop you from anything; it can be canceled if you want, and what better reason could there be than love? Just allow yourself and live!
“Besides, Henry is not only very handsome, but he’s also a great person, so enjoy!”
“He gave me his number!” I show the small piece of paper in my hand. Leticia smiles and takes it, as does my phone.
“What are you doing?” She smiles and hands me the phone.
“Now he’s got your number!”
“Leticia!” I say, feeling a little embarrassed for no reason.
“Maybe he’ll ask you on a date.” Aurora smiles and hugs me, looking rather amused by the situation.
Two days later, Henry invited me on a date, a dinner, to be more specific; Aurora and Leticia were pacing back and forth in my room, trying to help me choose the best outfit.
I leave them there and head toward the boys’ apartment, open the door, and head toward the gym, noticing their voices coming from there.
Before I had a chance to say a word, their eyes were already on the door.
“I knew we shouldn’t have given them a key; now they’ll come in here at any time!” Francesco looks at me and talks to Paolo as if I wasn’t in the room.
“Tell you what? I’ll give you back the key to your apartment, and you willgive me the key to ours.
I don’t love it when you spend all of your time there and steal our food!
” I say with an ironic smile on my face, making him raise his arms in surrender.
“I just came to tell you that I’m going out for dinner, and I don’t need security. ”
I turn my back on both of them, ready to leave. “That won’t be possible!” Paolo’s voice sounds assertiveas if I’m under his control, and I look at him, completely annoyed.
“It’s going to happen. I don’t know if you remember, but technically, I’m the one giving the orders.”
“Luca actually gives the orders!” Francesco smirks at me defiantly.
“Fuck Luca, you’re not going with me!”
Francesco looks in Paolo’s direction, making me look at him too.
He’s on the phone, probably talking to Luca.
I can’t make out what he’s saying, because he’s speaking quietly, probably so I won’t hear.
When his eyes meet mine, he shakes his head in the negative.
Anger takes hold of me; who does he think he is to boss me around, to have his soldiers following me twenty-four hours a day, and to take away my authority over them?
Infuriated, I walk to Paolo and snatch the phone from his hand.
“I’m going out alone today, and I don’t care what you say!” My voice comes out low. I try to contain my anger, but all I want to do is shout at him.
“It’s not going to happen, Chiara!” Hearing Luca’s voice after two months makes my stomach turn in a way I can’t explain. I let out a loud laugh and feel completely enraged.
“Who do you think you are to make decisions for me?”
“Your fiancé!” He says it with a tone of irony that makes me want to crush him. I let out a dry laugh, and I feel the eyes of the two men in the room on me.
“Don’t use the engagement as an excuse, Luca. I thought you were better than that! It’s just business, isn’t it? We don’t know each other, we’re not friends, we don’t talk to each other. You have no right to give any kind of order.”
“You’re my fiancée, you’re under my protection, you’re not going out alone!”
I want to cry with frustration and anger; this man doesn’t give a damn about me; he doesn’t talk to me, he doesn’t reply to my messages, andhe only seems to remember that he has a fiancée when it comes to controlling my life.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what, they are not going to follow me.
First thing tomorrow, Paolo and Francesco will board the plane back to Italy.
I’m fed up, Luca, with all this. Us together, it’s a joke.
The engagement is off. I had the right to call it off anyway, so I’m doing it…
Good luck with your next fiancée. I hope you’ll be happy! ”