Part Three – The pasta course

I hear a knocking on my door and I roll out of my bed, it felt so early right now. When I check my phone I see that it's updated to local time to see that it was already going on for oh-nine-hundred! I jump out of bed, grab a fresh pair of underwear, undershirt, and pit-stick. I trip over my own feet and slam down hard in front of my door just as I twist the handle and pull the door in as I fall. From above me, I hear soft laughter before a voice speaks to me in Italian, "Oh my Captain, is that how you plan on dressing for your time here?"

I look up as I push myself off the ground to see one of the cruisers from yesterday, the one with the red hair. But this time she isn't in that tight green and black uniform, rather she seems to be in black leggings and an oversized t-shirt with thick black straps keeping it in place, it also has the Empire's coat of arms on it. I'm trying to rack my brain for her name, but it's just not coming right away. She bends at her hips, knees together with one hand on her right knee as she holds out her left hand to me. I take it and let her help me back to my feet, she smiles I guess sensing my confusion as she says, "Zara."

Right, Zara, that's her name.

I dust myself off and tilt my head to the side and ask, "What brings you knocking on my door this early?"

She fluffs out her red ponytail before turning slightly to close the door as she says to me, "Vittorio asked me and Pola to help you find the things you need in town. She would do it herself, but there are demands on the Eternal Flagships beyond her control."

I nod and head into the kitchen and see that I hadn't set the coffee maker last night. I hang my head and sigh, from behind me I hear Zara chuckle as she links her right arm through my left before saying to me, "Come, Captain Harrison, we can find you some Americano while we are shopping."

As we head downstairs, it wasn't lost on me that she was holding my arm tightly against her. I risk looking to my left and I find that I'm tall enough to see down her top, and that was something that wasn't lost on her apparently. Zara looked up in my direction and winked as she teased well tugging down her top a little, "Do you like my top Captain, or is it something else you are interested in?"

I felt my cheeks get very hot as I mumbled out in Italian to her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend."

She laughed before saying to me in English with a thick Italian accent, "Perhaps we should-" she paused her brow knitting together before she used Italian, "speak with English?"

I nod as we go down the last flight of stairs as I agree, "Perhaps until my Italian gets better."

As we got through the front door, I spotted the other one from yesterday, the one with the purple hair, she to was in a white shirt, but she had a light coat on to go with her black leggings, she looks up from her phone and asks her sister, "What took you so long?"

Zara unlinked her arm from me and ran a hand through her hair as she said, "I had to get him off the floor and wait for him to finish getting dressed."

The one with the purple hair gave her sister a sideways look as she asked in Italian, most of it I knew except for one word, "Did you scoparlo?"

Zara winked at her as she reached out and patted her cheek as she teased, "So what if I did Pola, would that make you jealous?"

I watch as Pola gets red in the cheeks before saying to me in English, "Come along Captain, there is much we need to do and little time to do it."

XXXX

Several hours and many shopping bags later, I flopped down in a chair at this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant, I was exhausted. Shopping with sisters like those two is so very draining, but I had to admit they had good taste in clothing. But the strange thing was with this shopping trip, every time I went to pay the shopkeepers told me it was already covered.

I looked across the table to see the sister that was sitting with me, I'll admit her red hair does make her very attractive and the playfulness was such a change from Brooklyn. Brooklyn, how I missed her, I sigh and look off to the side, out at the harbor and I ask, "Zara, can I ask you something?"

She nodded and kept looking out at the water, so I ask the safe question, "Why was everything already covered during this shopping trip?"

I watch as she reaches into her top and takes out a black card, keeping her eyes on the water as she says, "Vittorio gave this to me, told me to give it to the shopkeepers when it came time to pay." She pauses to appraise me with her yellow eyes before asking, "Why would Vittorio go out of her way like that for a foreigner?"

I sigh and rub the back of my head before I say, "I'm sure she has her reasons."

"Oh, I'm sure she does, I was just wondering if you knew them. I mean she went all the way out the runway to welcome you here herself." She says to me, watching for my reaction.

Thankfully I was saved by the return of Pola with coffee and three things that were some kind of fried dough filled with a white filling, she looks at me as she takes one and says, "Cannoli siciliani, they are delicious."

With a shrug I pick one up and bite into it, I close my eyes as I enjoy the crispness of the dough, the sweetness of the filling. I put it down after my bite and ask, "Where has this been all my life?"

The sisters look at each other and laugh for a moment before everything becomes dead silent, I open my eyes and twist slightly in my chair to see what they were looking at, I see Vittorio walking towards us and I hear Zara say, "Looks like we have kept you company long enough Captain, Vittorio is here now. Have a pleasant day."

"Bye." I say as the sisters link arms and start walking away. I'll admit, I titled my head to watch them walk away, the leggings they both had on made for very shapely sterns. It wasn't lost on me to see them both look back at me and wink.

Vittorio sits down across from me, taking my attention off of the two sisters as she asks, "Did they look after you well enough, Cristiano?"

I lift up the bags as I say, "I think so? Zara was wondering why you'd send her with a black card for when it came time to pay."

Vittorio looked at Zara's cannoli and Americano, likely inspecting them to see if they'd been touched, before she lifted the cup and sipped from it before saying to me, "That actually brings up the point of something I wanted to talk to you about, aside from Littorio, no one here knows about or the nature of our relationship."

I nod, I think I understood where she was going with this and I say to her, "I understand, you don't want to say anything."

She coughs, covering her mouth as she says; "No, no, no! Not at all, if anything I want to shout it from the rooftops that my son has come home. But I've avoided doing that because I didn't know how you felt about it."

Somewhere deep inside me, I was relieved to hear it, but after the sudden heartbreak from Brooklyn, I wondered if it was the truth or she was just telling me what I wanted to hear or not. I stir my coffee a little before looking off to the side as I ask, "What do you think the general reaction would be from your people?"

Vittorio is quiet for a moment, taking a bite of her captured cannoli before she says, "You might find it easier to find someone to get over Brooklyn with." I laugh and shake my head before she adds, "I saw the way you were looking at Zara and Pola when they were walking away."

I felt my cheeks get so hot and I cough to clear my throat before I rubbed the back of my head and mumbled, "Sorry."

Vittorio leans forward to pat my left hand as she says, "It is understandable Cristiano. Zara and Pola are both very attractive and I'm sure neither would take offense."

I sigh and give a weak smile as I say to her, "I just miss Brooklyn, a lot."

She nods and pats my hand again as she says, "I know, but it will get better."

"I hope so." I sigh out and look back to the water before I ask, "So, what exactly am I going to be expected to do here?"

Vittorio shrugs and sits back as she says, "Make sure we are going to comply with the agreement, by staying out of the conflict in the Iris and the fighting between the Royal Navy and the Iron Blood."

"That's it?" I ask.

She nods and sips more coffee as she says, "Yes."

I laugh and shake my head as I say, "That's going to make this job extremely easy."

She nods before saying to me, "It should be, this assignment was more or less a pretext to bring you home." She snaps the fingers on her right hand before reaching into her jacket and taking out a document pouch and she adds, "These are yours, your proof of citizenship, including your birth certificate."

I nod and open it up, aside from the documents I see a photo of Vittorio, a man I didn't know, and an infant in her arms, I look up from the photo to see Vittorio smile at me so very warmly as she says, "That was the only photo I had of you, it kept me going, knowing that I'd find you one day."

I put the photo down and point to the man and I ask, "Was that my father?"

She nods and looks out to the sea before nodding as she says, "He was, but he died fighting the Royal Navy. He was commanding a fleet and a shell from Warspite hit the conning tower, killing him instantly, not long after that photo was taken."

She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand as she tells me, "That was a hard time for me. I lost two people I loved deeply in short order." She paused to touch my hand again as she changes gears by adding, "But at least one of them has come back to me."

I understood now, she hadn't been trying to keep me a secret; rather she was being careful and mindful of what I would want. I touch the back of her hand with my other one as I tell her, "Tell who you want about the nature of our relationship. You've suffered enough I think."

She smiles at me before getting up and offering me her arm as she says, "Then let us go in search of some real pasta, not something from a blue box."

I laugh and link my arm through hers as we walk off to find a place to eat something akin to lunch.

XXXX

XXXX

It was late by the time I made it back to my apartment, I was surprised how easy the day had been with Vittorio, and even more surprising was to see how deferential everyone was to her. After I put my keys into my door and open it up I notice the smell of fresh flowers. I close the door behind me and carefully and quietly move through my apartment once I had set down my bag quietly. I listen try and figure out if someone was here and I hear the popping of a cork. I lean around the entry to my kitchen and see long green-haired woman lift up a wine glass that was full of red wine, swirl it around before bringing it back down to sip from it before she says, "What is your end game? I love my sister dearly, but I will not tolerate you hurting her or taking advantage of her."

Littorio.

I sigh and walk into my kitchen and take the bottle from her to pour my own glass as I say, "For now, my end game is to get to know my mother, get to know my family and the place of my birth." I pause to sip some of the wine. I was surprised by it being slightly fizzy and an almost pleasant bitterness to it before I add, "And if I'm lucky, find someone to spend that time with."

She moves to lean her stern against my kitchen drawers, tilting her head to the side as she asks, "Not satisfied with your," she paused looking for an English word before saying a word I didn't know, "figa abbronzata, back home?"

I sigh and look off to the side as she smirks and says to me, "I don't judge, I prefer to share my splendor with everyone."

I shake my head as I say, "She broke up with me a month ago now, just after I got the news I was being assigned here."

I hear her put her glass down before she crossed the room and pulled me into a soft embrace as she said, "I had no idea, the last I saw and heard you two were very close with one another."

I put my glass down as I say to her, "I thought we were happy. I have no idea why or how things went wrong."

She rubbed my back before telling me, "We need to get you out there, even if for a one-night stand."

I sigh and smirk before I say to her, "While I thank you for the offer I'm not sure I'm ready for that, besides, I've had a really long day."

She lets go of me and goes back to her wine and sips from it before asking me, "So, if you are going to be looking, any idea of what you'll be looking for? Based on your last woman, I think you should look for someone that is different."

I sigh, picking up my glass as I drink from it I say to her, "Maybe. But she can't look like a destroyer; it'd feel too wrong for me."

She gives me a sideways look before gesturing to her chest as she says, "So someone with a shapelier figure then?"

I shrug and drink more wine before I say, "Probably, but that's not something I'm going to concern myself with tonight." I pause to look at my couch before I change the subject by saying, "Just as a heads up, Vittorio is likely going to be talking about my relation to her starting tomorrow, so be ready for questions."

Littorio flicked her hair and shrugged as she says, "Then I will give the truth, I didn't even know about you till last month."

I watch as she finishes her wine before she starts to head to the door as she says, "I just wanted to get an idea of what you intend towards Vittorio, and from what I saw and heard, I'm satisfied that you're being honest, so good night Cristiano, rest well."

I open the door for her and as she leaves she adds, "You should drink that bottle tonight, best to not let it go to waste."

I nod and say, "Thank you Littorio, I'll do just that."

She smiles and leans in to offer me another embrace before turning and heading down the hall to a room across from my mother's.

I close my door and walk back to my kitchen and take the bottle before I flop down on my couch and start to drink directly from it as I take out my phone and start to look up Brooklyn on Juustagram to see what she's been up to.

XXXX

When I wake up, I'm on the floor of my living room, an empty wine bottle on the floor beside me. My mouth is dry and feels like a carpet, I push myself up and notice a wet spot on the floor, near where my mouth was. I guess I must've been drooling in my sleep, Brooklyn always told me it was cutie when I'd do that. I feel around on the floor to find my phone beside me, I roll it over to see that I have a message from Brooklyn on it. I rub my eyes just to make sure that I'm not seeing things so I open it up and see that it's just her asking me to not text her again. I scroll up and feel my insides drop as I see that I texted her, a lot last night. Telling her how I missed her, that I wish we could work something out. But it was her second to last message that really felt like a dagger was shoved into my chest, and I read it out loud, "It's over Christian, you need to accept that."

I put my phone down beside me and lay on my side as I sigh out, "It really is over."

I push myself up and go to my kitchen and make breakfast and try to figure out what I'm going to do today before I start my first real day in my new job tomorrow.

Just as my eggs hit the plate, there is a knock at my door, with a sigh I go and answer it to see Zara standing there in a massively oversized green shirt with a big white belt around her midsection and she grins as she says to me, "Good Morning Captain, are you busy today?"

I shrug as I say to her, "Not really, I had planned on some self-pity as I got ready for my first real day in the new job, why?"

She laughs and steps inside my door, her hand folded behind her as she asks, "Why would you-" she stopped talking as she moved deeper into my apartment before she said, "It's gorgeous in here, I didn't notice it yesterday."

I close the door and go back to my kitchen as I ask, "I was just about to have something to eat, would you like some eggs?"

"Yes, if it's not any trouble." She says as she keeps walking through my place.

I get some eggs, bacon, and hash browns on a second plate and put it down on the small table in my kitchen before I let her know it's ready. Once she takes a seat, I see her look out the window and she asks, "If it is alright, Captain, may I ask why you would be having some self-pity today?"

I sigh and put my phone on the table and unlock it before I go to a picture of me and Brooklyn before I slide it over to her and say, "She broke up with me last month and in a drunken state I messaged her last night only to have her tell me that I need to accept that it's over."

Zara looks at the picture and asks, "She is kansen?"

I nod and Zara nods slowly after putting down my phone as she says, "You need to get back on the whores then."

I laugh, really hard, before I say to her, "Get back on the horse. That's the saying."

She gives me this mortified look before saying, "Why would you do that with a horse?!"

I laugh, harder this time. After a moment I wipe my eyes from the tears that were at the edges of them as I say to her, "The saying has nothing to do with 'that', it's about falling off a horse and just getting up and trying again."

She nods slowly and takes a fork full of the eggs as I ask, "So, what brought you by today?"

She swallows and smiles before saying, "I was going to invite you to the pool to enjoy the day, but now I am demanding you come. You need to move forward and live in the moment."

I sigh and rub the back of my head as I say, "I've got no swim kit with me."

She grins and pulls that black card back out as she says, "I'm sure we can find something."

XXXX

After I had gotten on my new swim trunks I got out onto the pool deck, I looked around and didn't see Zara, or anyone else for that matter. With a shrug I got down into the water, it was nice to be in the heated water, once I was about halfway into the pool I felt something brush up against me and I looked down just as I saw the water break and Zara was surfacing right in front of me. Once she was standing, really close to me she gave me this saucy look and asked, "Why Captain, it is just the two of us right now, perhaps we should see what talents you have, no?"

I was a little confused by her question and she reached out to touch my chest, running a hand up and down it as she said, "We don't need to do any swimming if you have something else on your" she paused as her hand slid down to my waistband as she added, "mind."

I give her a sideways look and ask, "Are you sure? I mean we don't know each other."

She shrugs and says while one hand starts to undo the string on my swim kit, "I think you're cutie, and I know you think I am too. So why not enjoy the now?"

I gave it serious thought, it'd been a while and this just might be what I needed right now, meaningless sex. I give one last look around the pool and push her towards the edge of the pool before I lift her by her hips slightly so she's wrapping her legs around my hips with her arms sliding along my shoulders. I lean in to kiss her just as I hear from behind us, "Zara!"

Zara rolls her eyes and I twist slightly to see her sister Pola standing there in a yellow bikini, her lips pressed tightly together. Zara slides her legs down before whispering to me, "Maybe next time, Captain."

She slips out and around me to the ladder letting me get an eye full of her stern as she climbs out of the water and goes over to her sister. At this moment I knew I needed a few minutes to calm down before I tried to get out of the water.

XXXX

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A/N: And now we get to the start of things! I do hope you have enjoyed up to this point and are looking forward to more.