Hard Shell, Soft Heart
Chapter 1
Bonjourno; that's Italian for hello! My name's Ezio Falcerone. I'm one tough bastard, but ho boy have I got a story for you! It all started when I moved from New York, and not the city, thank you… more like the lovely town of Nyack, to sunny Californ-I-A. My dad's a businessman, see? Ran a division of a steel company before he got bumped up to the big boss of a new location, hence the cross country trek. But this particular tale starts about three-ish years down the line, during the summer of fifty-eight.
So I was at the Frosty Palace, and had just walked in when I saw somethin' that broke my heart… a girl cryin'. I walked over to her.
"Hey sweetheart," I said gently, "what's the matter?"
She sniffled and looked up. "He's… he's gone," she said thickly. "He just… left, poof, it's over."
This poor thing was a redhead with brown eyes, and tears were runnin' down her cheeks.
"Aw don't cry," I said, grabbing a napkin and drying her face gently. "Don't cry 'cause it's over. Smile 'cause it happened."
She smiled weakly and sniffled again.
"What's your name, honey?"
She let my wipe her eyes. "Well… they call me Frenchy," she said.
"I'm Ezio Falcerone. I… I really like your hair. Fair warning, I got a weakness for redheads."
Frenchy giggled as I kissed her hand. "I gotta process that breakup but you know what? You seem sweet."
"Thanks," I said. "I don't wanna leave you to stew all alone, but… I don't wanna infringe either."
"You're not infringing!" She said softly. "I actually could use some company."
I sat down on the other side of the booth and smiled. "So," I said, "Whaddya do for fun?"
She smiled. "Experiment with different cosmetics mostly. I also love sleepovers and in terms of movies, gimme comedy and romance. I also have a thing for westerns."
"Comedies and westerns, I like," I replied. "Romance I take on a case by case basis."
"I'm thinking of going to beauty school," she said
"I'm thinkin' you're selling yourself short," I replied. "What if you studied chemistry? You have a knack for it. We shared a teacher for two years, so I know. Design your own cosmetics."
Frenchy's mouth opened in surprise as she completely froze.
"Oh my god," she said, dumbfounded. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"You'll outshine Sephora. You watch."
Frenchy smiled. "You've just cheered me up, Ezio," she said. "A hairdresser? What was I thinking?!"
A couple hours later, we were both headed out the door.
"I wanna see you again," I said. "Same place Saturday?"
"Friday," she replied. "I'll be here with the girls around noon. I want you to meet 'em. If we're gonna have anything to do with each other, I want my friends to know about ya."
"Sounds fair," I said. "See ya Friday, Frenchy."
I hopped into my red Thunderbird and drove home, feelin' mighty pleased with myself.