una volta un amico, sempre un amico
однажды друг, всегда друг
une fois un ami, toujours un ami
once a friend, always a friend
"There was a cat, and I didn't want to trample it."
"Ah, I see."
"But then you went ahead and tried to trample me, so I'm not sure it was worth it."
"I told you," he said conspiratorially, "I wanted to ask you something."
"Do you always ask your questions so aggressively? I'm not sure you'd make an effective interrogator."
"Perhaps you're right," he conceded with a small smile. "But I'm too impatient for that line of work anyway."
I zeroed in on the golden flecks in his dark eyes, trying not to lose my train of thought. There was always something about Adrianno DeLuca's eyes "So what's the question?"
"Well," he said. "At first I wanted to know why you were spying on that house. And then I started to wonder why you suddenly decided not to stick around when I noticed you?"
He wasn't smiling anymore; he was studying me and I understood what he meant — he knew I had been running away and he knew I was not scared of him. But now, looking at him, I couldn't remember why I had felt that has always been my best friend ,almost like my gay right hand brother who never let me down...it' skits I wasnt there for him for years
"Were you running away from me?"
I shook my head too hard, making my cheeks jiggle. "Nope, definitely not."
"Oh, really?" he pressed, smiling broadly this time. It rearranged his face beautifully, raising his brows and softening his jaw.
"I prefer to think of it as casual hobbling."
He pulled back from me and, slowly, I became aware of the rest of the world again. "I'd call it frantic sprinting."
"Semantics."
"I'm sorry if I hurt you," he said. "I'm Adrian, by the way, and this is my sister ,Caitlin ."Adrian gave me a good shake to the shoulder ,pecking my cheek and hugging me.I was glad that the time and distance hadn't changed a single thought about me
Even though I was standing between my brothers, I had barely registered Zeo. He had stopped studying his menu and was resting his interlocking fingers on top of it. I offered him a smile. "Welcome to the States the west side story "
"That was boring for me," Zeo replied. His voice was sharp with impatience, and scratchy, too, as though he had a sore throat. "But it's nice to know you're planning on being somewhat professional this evening, Catalina."
I blanched. What got into Zeo?
He gestured back and forth with his index finger, first at Adrian, and then at me, like our conversation was his business, too. "Are you ready to focus now, Adrian?"
Adrian ,the poor hopeless lost puppy of a man took offence at the was pissed.
"Hey Zeo ,Maybe you could dial down the bossy rude person you got goin' on there"He snapped his finger back and geared to Zeo's body
I sighed and called the waitress over
"We' ordering more food guys !stop fighting
Zeo looked alarmed by my interruption, like he had forgotten where they were. He opened his menu again, scanned it for five seconds, and pulled back with a frown. "A coffee. Black. Strong."
He gestured at Adrian
"I'll have the steak sandwich, rare, with fries and please put the gravy on the side. And a glass of milk,low fat no sugar ," Adrian said finally, before shutting his menu and shifting his gaze back to me, "please."
"Is that everything?" I held eye contact with him, feeling my lips twitch into a shy smile.
"Addriano!, that is all!" Zeo hissed into the space between us.
By now, I was used to dealing with difficult people, but Zeo's attitude was unparalleled, and I found myself losing my temper quicker than I normally would I didn' tended to lash out on him when I already had Adrian talking "I'm sorry, but is my presence in the place where you moved in WITHOUT your own sister knowing ,disturbing you !?"
"As a mater of fact it why did you have to bring along your gay friend ?"
"Hey !stop discriminating!"
"Guys ,please .Cut it out,Were meeting up after a long time and I don't want to make bad memories out of it"
I didn't have to say much more than that ,because the boys kept to themselves and stopped rest of the dinner I narrated all the Flash tales I possibly could fit in an hour.
Zeo was taken aback because I never called
Adrian was beyond freaked out and decided it would be best if everyone just left the city of 'paranoia' and he coined it.I found it rather odd that they would still look at me like in their baby sister,even when I'm 27.
I pushed them out the door of the diner after a long conversation ,since the chef wanted to take the rest of the night easy.
I hailed a cab and we squashed ourselves inside the sedan ,Zeo got off at the Manor,gave me a few words of deep thought on how the next time someone asks me out I should get him to get that person thoroughly invites me for lunch the next day ,I didn't exactly want to return to the Manor but I would have to
"Guess it's just us!" Adrian zoned out after the cab taxied (see what I did there) from the gate of the Manor.
"Where are you staying by the way ?"
"Oh ,this little backpackers lodge by high super posh and you will not believe the sales going on at backstreet Gucci ,like .I was genuinely stunned !"
His enthusiasm made me laugh
"Well ,tonight your not going gonna have ourselves a sleep over"
"You're kidding"
"Nope!"
"You're totally kidding"
"Hey ,drive us to The twin towers in CBD"
"Sure Maam" The Punjabi driver replied and took a sharp left into the city
"Oh My Gosh !Who are you what have you done to Caitlin !Your hosting a sleepover"
I ogled my eyes "since when have I not thrown a sleepover"
"Ever since you and that weird kid from AP biology broke up !girl you have gotta hav-"
"There will be alcohol" I cut through
"Alcohol?"
"Yes,Booze? Heard of it ?or are you still nerdy from graduating highschool ?!" I winked
"Cait-who stocks on champagne knowing they're gonna have a gay friend visit any one soon ?"He deadpanned
"That's true ,But Raj here can get us to some good store ,can't you Raj !"
The driver simply laughed heartily and drove on.
un uomo morirà, ma le sue promesse rimarranno
человек умрет, но его обещания останутся
un homme va mourir, mais ses promesses resteront
a man will die, but his promises will remain