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He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Why do you have to be difficult?"
I didn't say anything. It was only a few crumbs on my plate. I took it from the table and brought it to the sink. It clanged pretty loudly when it landed. But I didn't care.
I stayed upstairs for the rest of the day. There was a TV in the bedroom that had become my best friend. I watched terrible sitcoms from the '90s to keep myself occupied. It was like I was melting in bed. I had almost become the bed sheet. Lethargic was probably the best term for it. I like to motivation to do anything, and this was a tribute to the fact that I hated uncertainty. When it came to my future. I just wanted to know what was going on. It was stupid because you couldn't predict the future. You weren't even guaranteed the next day. But damn. I wanted to know the story's ending, Tomaso and Angelina.
Maybe two hours into my melting, Tomaso poked his head into the door. "You going to meet my father tomorrow."
My heart started to race at his words. "Tomorrow?" I sat up in bed. "Don't you think that's a little short notice?"
He shook his head. "First, you're dying to know when you'll meet him, and then when you find out, it's too soon."
I rolled my eyes. "I mean 24-hour notice. It's pretty soon. Especially after me telling you I was nervous." I tried not to say it with an attitude, but unfortunately, that's how it came out. He could handle it, though.
"Well, that's when my father is coming to see us. I'm sure you'll do fine. You don't have to stress as much as you are. I have faith in you. I wouldn’t have picked you for the contract if I didn't." His head disappeared from the door before that door closed.
Again, my mind spiraled a bit. Picking me for the contract, I took it and made it sound like I had won a contest or something. I made everything seem like a business, and I guess it was. I just wanted more, though. Maybe, just maybe, if I did well with his father, he might see me differently. It was so stupid. It was a hopeful thought, but if I could fit them old and impress him in that way, it might pay off.
I had wished the time would go slow until meeting his father so that I at least had some time to gather my thoughts and prepare. But, of course, that didn't happen. Time flew by. It was the next day, and I found myself getting ready before my mirror. My heart raced while I did. The anticipation was killing me. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to do a good job. I didn't want to let him down. I also didn't want to let myself down. I saw it all as a challenge. I saw it all as breaking out of my comfort zone. Even if the end result was fairly unpredictable.
When I finished doing my makeup, the second the lipstick left my lips, Tomaso poked his head into the room. "My dad's downstairs. You okay and everything?"
I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that he cared. I loved that he was checking on me. Of course, I couldn't deny the bigger situation and why we were there in the first place but still. At least he was comforting. I didn't feel alone.
I looked at him and flashed what I would like to call a sarcastic smile. I had to do everything to not roll my eyes even if I didn't feel that way. It was a defense mechanism. "I'm good. I'm ready." Both of those statements were lies.
Tomaso believed them because he took his head from the door and was the last I saw him.
I took a deep breath before the mirror and told myself I could do this. All I needed to do was be myself. There was no character that I needed to play. I didn't need to up the Italian to fit in with the mafia life or anything like that. I just needed to be me, Angelina. But the scariest thing about it was knowing I was lying to a man. And I wasn't just lying to anyone. I was lying to the mafia. What long-term implications could that have? Tomaso could frame it in any way that he liked. He could tell me till he was blue in the face that they would not take it personally if the lie ever came out. Because who was I at the end of the day? I know. I was a person. I was a person that the mafia could kill for lying to them.
It was just one of those things I had to push into the back of my head. It was like getting on an airplane and ensuring you didn't think about crashing. I was a human, yes and being human sucked sometimes for the way our brains worked.
In any case, I brought myself downstairs. The second my foot hit the floor, my heart started to race. I took another deep breath. Because I could hear his father talking to him in the living room. The man had an Italian accent, but his English wasn't bad. Suddenly it all felt real. The fear went away, and it was replaced with this sense of me belonging there. I wasn't scared for the briefest second because what if I wasn't lying? If they came to me and said how dare I lie to the mafia, I could tell them that I care for Tomaso. And I do wish we were together. It can't be a lie if you believe it yourself.
"Hi, how are you," I said to his father as we met.
The smile that he wore while shaking my hand gently was rather comforting. But the fact that some of his men were standing outside made me realize the severity of the situation. I was still involved with the mafia business; at any moment, I could be killed for it. Granted, I didn’t think Tomaso would let anything happen to me, but at the same time, if his father wanted to whip a gun out and kill me. But it was Tomaso who was the stiff one. But that doesn't matter to me. My goal was to win this man over.
"So this is the secret fiance. I can't see why he kept you a secret just by looking at you."
My cheeks went red at his father's words.
"Such a suave man, my father, is."
I laughed. Anyone in my life would have thought that it was a fake laugh, but in all actuality, my cute little giggle was genuine. Dare I say I was having a nice time.
The chit-chat in the living room went by quick. Before, anyway, we were at the dinner table. His father never wavered in his posture. His shoulders never slumped at the table. His elbows never hit the table, either. Tomaso was a different type of man. He was like a caveman and a suit. But I liked that about him.
"So what do you want? Like a really big wedding? Of course, you do." His father said while plucking a piece of food from his fork.
Of course, every girl has always thought about having a wedding. Maybe I'm generalizing. So that answer came easily to me. "I do want a big wedding." My eyes quickly drifted over to Tomaso just to see his reaction. His eyes remained glued to its plate as he ate his food.
"Well, just after meeting you, I couldn't imagine my son marrying a better woman. You're everything that he needs. He needs a strong woman. He needs someone to keep him grounded. He also needs a little bit of wit and charm."
I couldn't tell if he was genuine because I knew the situation. At the end of the day, Tomaso was supposed to marry Linda. But his father's words did seem genuine enough. And I don't know, call me crazy, but it gave me some hope that maybe, just maybe, we didn't need to end the contract.
But that was obviously something I needed to not think about. Because the future was mighty uncertain.
His father could have killed me. But he didn’t. So there was at least that.
