Chapter 33
Elena
ANGEL IS A LITTLE JUMPY TODAY. HE IS A BALL OF ENERGY AND HE HAS nowhere to put it. “Ellie… we go play?”
“Hey buddy, sure, we can go play. Should we play with your blocks? We could build a castle, how about that?”
“No! No blocks.” Angelo looks up at me with big sorrowful eyes, his lips pouting and his eyebrows knit in the most adorable frown.
I smile at him and ruffle his hair. Angelo’s hair is thick and black, just like his mums. A conclusion I’ve come to from observing all the haunting photos of Victoria adorning the house.
She was beautiful indeed and her little boy, equally so.
“Alright Angel, no blocks. Tell me, what would you like to play?”
“Park!” He shouts excitedly.
“You want to go to the park?”
“Mmhmm.” He replies and nods holding his sippy cup and swaying from side to side in anticipation.
“You, me go park play sand.” He murmurs in his broken English but I understand him just fine.
The poor boy is lonely. He wants friends.
Enzo specifically said not to take Angelo anywhere without him being present, but we have the driver and Enzo is due back today anyway.
He works hard to provide the best life for his son, especially now with the company expanding from just selling real estate to now buying, revamping and then selling at a substantial profit.
It’s been an extremely successful endeavor thus far and has been growing rapidly as a result, hence the longer working hours and the trips away.
I know the child is lonely and craving social interaction. There’s only so much I can do to keep him occupied and happy. To be honest I think Angelo is getting bored with me and I don’t blame him in the least.
“Papa’s not here Angel, so we can’t go out I’m afraid.”
“Nooooo, we go play, we go play now!”
His face turns red as he stomps his tiny little feet on the floor and starts to cry.
It hurts to see him like this. I feel sorry for him but what can I do?
Enzo was clear that I was to take the driver with me if I needed to run errands and not to go to the park without him.
He has a fear of Angel getting hurt on the swings or slides, or worse yet, getting hit by a stray baseball.
I had promised not to take him to the park.
Taking the child now would be a breach of trust with Enzo but not taking him and keeping him cooped up in the house is just…
mean. Angelo continues to weep. I bite my bottom lip while I mull over whether to break the heart of the world’s most adorable toddler or appease him and incur the wrath of his overbearing father.
I can handle Enzo; he’ll forgive me when he sees how happy Angelo will be after a fun time at the park.
I know he’ll be full of tales to share with his Papa.
“Tell you what, why don’t we try to call pappa and ask him if we can go to the park, just this one time. What do you say to that Angel, sound good?”
“Yay! call papa, call papa!” He jumps up and down, his joy is infectious. His eyes light up with excitement; they almost look translucent. He really does have unusual eyes, the same shade as his dads. The most intoxicating green I’ve ever seen.
“Okay, Angel, let’s call papa.”
I take out my phone and scroll through the contacts; I select Enzo’s name then select dial and wait for it to ring.
Angelo looks up at me; his breathtaking jade green eyes look up at me hopefully.
Gosh he really is a cute kid. People say that a lot about all kids but Angelo really is the most beautiful child I’ve seen.
Urgh, the call goes right to voicemail. Frowning, I try again, perhaps it’s just poor network.
Voicemail. Again. I sigh, looking down at Angelo, waiting expectantly, his chubby little fingers fidgeting while he waits patiently.
I decide to call Enzo’s office. I have his direct line in case of emergencies. It rings twice and I hea-
“Mr. Marino’s office, Nicole speaking. How may I help you?”
Urgh is she always this chirpy? I can practically see the broad toothpaste grin on her face.
Her striking white teeth reflecting the lights in the office and I feel the onset of a migraine.
What the hell was that? I like Nicole, she’s friendly and sweet and she has the patience and tolerance of a saint.
She’d have to, to work for Lorenzo Marino.
“Hi Nicole, it’s Elena. Is Mr. Marino available?”
“Hi Elena, how are you? Mr. Marino is on his way back from New York, I won’t be able to get a hold of him till he lands. Can I take a message and get him to call you back? Although I’m sure he’ll come straight home when he lands.”
“Uhm,” I’m mulling over what to do when-
Nicoles voice cuts through the line then.
“Hello? Elena, You there?”
“Uh yes, I’m still here. Just in case he comes to the office first can you please let him know that Angelo was really upset because he wanted to go to the park so I’m going to take him out for a bit. Just to make him feel better. We’ll be back in about an hour.”
“Sure thing. Is there anything else?”
“No, nothing else. You have a good day. Goodbye.”
I hang up and smile at Angelo, he’s nodding his head in question and I smile at him and nod back and I am rewarded with a wide grin.
“Okay Angel, I guess we’re going to the park.” I crouch down so that I’m at his level. He launches himself at me in a big tight hug. I pull back after a bit to look at him and his eyes are lit up like the fourth of July. He wiggles free of my hold and runs off to get his ball.
The park is buzzing with activity. Children of all ages partaking in all sorts of games and activities. Some hang precariously from the monkey bars. There’s a group of boys playing soccer and others are running around playing catch. All the swings are occupied so we make our way to the sandpit.
“We can go to the swings later when it’s free sweetheart. In the meantime, you can play here in the sandpit.” He beams up at me and mumbles,
“Uh huh.”
There are 3 other children in the sandpit, a cute little boy around 4 years old and 2 older girls, twins.
The girls wear pretty, yellow summer dresses with an assortment of vibrant flowers printed on the fabric.
They both have matching pigtails. One of the girls sees me approach and gives me a wide grin.
I smile back noticing her top front tooth is missing.
Both girls have a halo of blonde sun kissed hair.
The one smiling up at me has slightly darker hair but otherwise the pair look identical.
The girls immediately take to Angelo and gush over his chubby cheeks.
One of the girls lends Angelo a plastic shovel to scoop up the sand.
I stand there like a smiling fool, watching on in adoration.
It warms my heart to see him interact with other children and smile.
He’s been a good child for the most part but he's been getting restless and crabby recently. It’s understandable seeing as he has no outlet to release all that pent up energy.
Blonde pigtails number 1 seems more reserved while number 2 is a ball of energy.
“Your eyes are strange.” Blonde number 2 states to Angelo as a matter of fact.
She blurts out the statement with the innocence of a child, no care in the world and I can’t help but smile in response.
Kids truly have no filter. They’re the most honest a human could ever be.
She’s not wrong though. To her, I suppose Angelo’s eyes are …
strange. To any adult, they would be unique, beautiful.
“What kind of green is that?” Angelo doesn’t bother to respond.
I’m not even sure he knows that the little girl is speaking to him.
Seemingly oblivious, Angelo picks at the sand with his borrowed shovel looking for pirate treasure.
A little chuckle escapes me, thinking about his little adventures that he conjures up in his vast imagination.
“You have blue eyes.” Blonde number 2 informs me.
“Yes, I do. You’re very good with colors.” I smile down at her, some of her hair has come loose and it flies around her head in the breeze.
“What’s your name sweetheart?”
“Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzy.”
“Hello Lizzy, it’s nice to meet you.” The little girl nods in response.
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. I turned away for a sec to get something from my bag. I hope Lizzy isn’t bothering you.”
I turn around to see a pretty, blonde lady looking my way and then glancing at Lizzy with a frown. I assume this must be the twins mum, apart from the same hair color, the girls have their mums pretty face.
“Oh no, not at all. Is this little girl yours? She’s an absolute delight.”
“Hah!” She lets out a throaty laugh. “You’re too kind, and far too polite.”
“Yeah, she’s mine. Lizzy is the feisty one. Katelyn over there is more reserved.”
“Well, they’re beautiful, how old are they?”
“Thank you. They turn six in a few weeks. I’m guessing this little cherub is yours?
I haven’t seen you both around here before.
First trip to the park?” Angelo plays happily with Katelyn and the other little boy while Lizzy hangs around her mum and I.
I can tell she much prefers the company of adults as opposed to the banter and chatter of the other children, or I’m reading this completely wrong and she’s just a clingy child. What the hell do I know?
I’m still chatting to Lizzy’s mum but I keep glancing over to where Angelo is, keeping him in my line of sight. He’s busy grabbing hands full of sand and holding it in his fist before raising his hand up and slowly releasing it back into the pit like sands through an hour glass.
“I’m Jennifer, my apologies for rambling on without even properly introducing myself.” She laughs a hearty kind of laugh, like the type you would hear from grandma when one of the grandkids did something funny.