AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Frankie
The bar tonight is busy, much busier than normal. There are so many young girls here, all of them fully made up, looking ready to go to a nightclub rather than a neighborhood bar; it is not something we see often. Alf and I are busy and positive energy flows between us as we dance around each other trying to keep up with customer demands. Sofia is even helping out, and Alf has just put in a call to his casual worker to see if he can come and help for a few hours.
Marco and I have been talking and texting all day like a pair of lovesick teenagers, and I float around the bar on cloud nine. Alf huffs and puffs beside me while I wipe down the bar with a grin on my face as he restocks the fridges.
“Is there a reason you are so happy tonight, Diletto?” Alf asks as he fetches a few bottles of beer for his next customer. With one eye on me and the other on his customer, he waits for me to answer.
“No, no reason,” I reply with a smile and walk away to refill the ice bucket with a skip in my step.
As I pour ice into our large bucket at the bar, my mind wanders to Sebastian. He still hasn’t arrived, which fills me with dread because it means something has happened. I hope he is all right. I know that he is because the mob is one big grapevine, so if something were to have happened to Sebastian, Alf would certainly hear about it quickly and Alf hasn’t heard anything yet, so I am trying not to panic.
The night is a whirl of activity, and I don't even get a break. We are completely run off our feet, and I would estimate that it has been one of our best nights yet.
Eventually, the crowd begins to thin out and the bevvy of girls start to leave. Sofia retires upstairs, no doubt to put her feet up, not used to being on them behind the bar for such a long period of time. It has been a big night and now it’s close to one in the morning. Alf is seeing the last of the customers out and locking the doors.
“Diletto, tell me you are being safe.” Alf turns to me, concerned and watches me closely as I grab my bag to go. “Tell me you are not getting involved with him?” His voice is almost pleading. There is no hiding from Alf; he is extremely good at reading people and has had years of experience at it. There is nothing I can keep from him.
“I just... I mean, I tried...” I can’t even finish the sentence because the look on Alf’s face says everything. He is disappointed in me, and my heart drops because I know I have let him down.
“Diletto, I told you to stay away from him. He is going to lead people to you, and they will find you. Everyone knows him in this town. All it will take is one photo of you to surface online and your Papa will know exactly where you are!” Alf says as he grips my arms tightly.
“I am being careful, really careful. I am not going out with him. I am laying low...”
“And what about when he wants to take you out, huh? What about when he wants to take you to dinner at a fancy restaurant, or to the movies, or out where people will see you together. They will take your picture, what then, Diletto?”
“I don’t know, okay!” I bite back, defeated. “All I know is that I really like him, Padrino, I like him a lot.” Not only am I exhausted from work tonight, but I am exhausted from the battle I constantly have between my heart and my head.
Is it meant to be this hard?
I feel Sofia come up beside us and her hand reaches out to mine. “Sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants, DiIetto. We want you to be happy, but please be careful.” Sofia pulls me into a hug and Alf wraps his big arms around us both, our family fully enclosed with love for each other. We are just missing Sebastian to complete our family puzzle.
I kiss them both goodbye and slink out the back door. I snake my way home and text Marco along the way. My phone rings in reply, so I answer.
“Hey, beautiful,” he says, sounding half asleep.
“Hey, what are you doing awake?” It is now well into the early hours of a new day.
“I wanted to talk to you. How was your night at the bar?” he asks, sounding more awake with each word he speaks.
It is at that moment that I realize I should have known talking to him on my walk home was a bad idea because I’m distracted. I’m not being as careful as I normally am. I do not have my wits about me, and that’s why I don’t hear the footsteps approaching or the man behind me until he literally grabs me from behind.
I scream and my phone falls to the sidewalk. I can hear Marco’s panicked shouts as it lays at my feet. I feel my attacker attempting to take my handbag from me. He is trying to mug me. He is a young, fit guy, pulling hard at my handbag, trying to dislodge it from my grip. I pull back just as hard which makes him angry, and he swings his hand out and it connects with my cheek. It stings, but I have no time for pain. I have been hit before, this isn’t my first rodeo.
I lift my leg and kick him in the ribs before quickly kicking his groin.
“Puttana!” he yells, but the kicks cause him to let go of my bag to clutch his balls and gives me enough time to scoop up my phone and make a run for it.
I sprint home as fast as I can and don’t look back, not once. As I reach my apartment, I open the main door and slam it closed before running to my apartment door and doing the same thing. I go straight to my bedroom and look down to the street below but don’t see him or anyone else. Panting, I let my handbag fall to the floor in my room as I try to catch my breath.
As I sit on the edge of my bed trying to calm my breathing, I am startled by the buzzer to my apartment and my heart rate picks up again. I go to the security screen and look at the camera feed that shows who is at my door, and I am surprised to see Marco.
Dressed in boots, jeans, and a long sleeve t-shirt, he is panting just as hard as I am. He must have heard the whole thing. I quickly buzz him in, again watching as the door closes and locks behind him before I rush to my apartment door and open it. He doesn’t talk, just stalks in and grabs me, pulling me close to him, squeezing me so tight I struggle to breathe.
“Marco,” I pant out, and he loosens his grip.
“Fuck, Frankie, what happened?” He pulls back and then gasps before letting out a growl. “Your face! “Who did this? Who did this to you?” he demands, and as if on command, the pain starts coming back as my adrenaline wears off. I touch my cheek and it is hot and hurts a little.
“I’m okay, let me get some ice before it gets too swollen,” I say as I walk over to the kitchen and grab an ice pack from the freezer which is there for this exact purpose. I place it against my cheek and let out the breath I was holding. The cooling sensation not only dulls the pain but also cools my body temperature.
