I love her…. I love her. I love her. I love her. I love her! Man, I could say that over and over again and never get tired of it! God…
I'm so in love with Ilaria!
I couldn't stop sneaking peeks at her when the three of us went into town. Ilaria and I were going to register for the race while Massimo was…. Well actually, I don't know what he was doing but who cares?! I waltzed beside my girl with this air of profound confidence. Or I did until we ran into two of Massimo's friends in the two square, at some place called a "cafe-ah"? They sure gave me the run through, diminishing what ego I might have had that afternoon. This was quickly rectified when Ilaria and I left Massimo to go sign up. I smiled at Ilaria as she walked beside me. Beside me…
Where she belongs.
The sign-up table was pretty busy; I guess this race is popular. I made sure to keep an eye out for you-know-who as it was our turn to approach the booth. The old lady manning it didn't even look at me once, rather her attention was immediately on Ilaria. Her wore this surprised expression… for some reason. Meanwhile Ilaria simply grinned and placed the money- which is made of paper, by the way; how stupid is that?- down in front of her.
"Uh, team of two, please." "You two…. aren't from around here." How would she know that? Well I mean, she's right but still! Ilaria's head nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I'm from Florence; Massimo Marcovaldo's niece." Oh! Guess it's my turn. "And I'm from…." Wait… Oh, crap! I can't remember where it is Ilaria keeps telling everyone I'm from! Thanks for failing me yet again, brain! I leaned in a bit closer to Ilaria, hoping the lady wouldn't hear me. "Um, where was it again?" I think she heard me- oops. "Along the Italian Rivera," was Ilaria's tart reply. She obviously wasn't impressed with me just then. But that's ok! At least we saved face on that front. "Yeah, there," I acknowledged with a nodded, only to see the old lady wasn't looking at me but still at Ilaria. I don't know what her deal was with Ilaria, but she clearly had something on her mind.
"Florence?! Why young lady! What on earth are you doing in a town like Portorosso? Shouldn't you be in Rome for the Season?" She gasped. I instantly frowned at her. Uh, excuse me! No, she shouldn't. What does she mean what is Ilaria doing here in Portorosso? Didn't she just hear Ilaria say that her uncle lives here? And what season? It's summer! Where's she supposed to spend it? Rome? I don't know where that is! Sounds stupid! No, Ilaria's not going anywhere; not for this or any other season.
I folded my arms while Ilaria looked like she was having a mild freak out. "Oh no! I am much too young for that! I haven't even come out into society yet." Uh, what are you talking about, Ilaria? You "live" in a society; you're out and about every day. It's not like you're walled up inside or anything. Ilaria's shoulders arched back here a little. "A-And it turns out I don't have to. M-My…." She paused here, though I'm not sure why. She was making perfect sense to me just now! "My family wants me to make a more…. local match." Local match? We're supposed to be matching things now? What kind of things? I swear, humans overcomplicate everything. She's probably talking about boats or something, though as to why I'll never understand. "What the heck are they talking about?" Same with the obnoxious boy standing right behind us, I inwardly rolled my eyes at his pointless question. The next guy to talk was not so nice. "Hey! Would you hurry it up?! Some of us wanna register too!" Oh, you wanna play it like that, do ya? I didn't hesitate to fire off a glare in their direction. "Hold onto your horses, will ya! We're going! We're going!" Actually I don't think we're going anywhere fast but I don't care! Ilaria will be finished when she's good and ready- not a moment sooner. Those jerks will just have to wait.
Looking back, I was stunned at the face the old lady was now giving Ilaria. Scowl is too mild a word; she glared up at Ilaria with downright disgust. The old crone leaned back in her chair a little. "Does your father know you're trying to enter the race, young lady?" What the….?! What kind of question is that?! I didn't know Ilaria's dad but he didn't seem like the type of guy who would approve of such things. But why does that matter?! No one asked me if I had my dad's permission, so why would they ask Ilaria? It didn't make sense! And I didn't like her tone of voice right now either. Like she's scolding Ilaria for even wanting to enter the race. Seriously, why does everyone care so much what Ilaria does all the time?! I mean, I care but that's because…. I paused here for a second, my eyes widening a little. Because I love… her. My chest couldn't stop itself from fluttering a tiny bit. Yeah, it still felt good to think that, even if I couldn't say it.
Ilaria, for her part, took a few deep breathes, visibly upset. "My uncle, yes. He's my new permanent guardian." Hey, hold on! That's a good point! Massimo said we could enter the race; he helped us earn the entry fee. "Wait, I thought Massimo said we could enter the race? We earned the entry fee and everything," I just rehashed everything I just thought out loud. That's when the old, unhappy lady glanced my way fully for the time. "You're entering together? On the same team?" "That's correct. Ilaria Marcovaldo." Oh, I guess we're supposed to say our names now. Alrightly then! "Alberto Scorfano," I quickly tacked on, crossing my arms again. Then we signed our name on this list and the old lady took our money. Surprisingly Ilaria didn't seem as ecstatic as I was right after this.
"Great! Now we're all set up for the race!" Now I'll show that Erco-lame a thing or two. Ilaria smiled back at me. "Yes, dear." I gave her a gentle slap on the back, hoping to lift her spirits up. I know that old lady was mean to her for some unknown, bizarre reason, but that's all in the past now! And I wanted to make sure she knew as such. "Don't worry, Ilaria; we got this!" Of course her voice wasn't too thrilled in responding to me. "It's going to be hard, Alberto." "Yeah! Hard to lose. We're going to win!" There was no doubt in my mind whatsoever. Ilaria, however….. "Your confidence is refreshing, but don't forget, we're going to have to go up against…."
I've never had my mood soured more quickly than it did just then. All it took was that voice…. That vapid, idiotic, malicious voice. "Champion coming through! Ciao, ciao, ay!" Erco-lame! He sauntered in, waving his stupid hand around like he owned the place. While Ilaria cowered, it took everything I had not to turn around and deck this creep in the mug. If Ilaria was standing right there, I'd….. Maybe I could distract her by saying I saw a bird of there, far away. Then she wouldn't hear me beat the stuffing out of Ercole. But alas, it was just not to be- unfortunately.
The old lady looked equally as unhappy and unimpressed to see his not-so-serene highness walk up to her booth. "Aren't you a little old, Ercole?" "Signora, I'm twenty!" Ha! Maybe like five years ago. "You said that last year," she wasn't buying his nonsense either; honestly, who was? "But this year it's true. You might want to save your money, ragazzi. This year Ercole's gonna break the record and make it six in a row." Oh boy, what a bragger. Does this guy have any social awareness? Any at all? Judging by the looks of it, most likely not. My anger really flared up though, when he had the audacity to speak to my frightened girl; all while practically ignoring my existence.
Or the fact I was standing right beside her.
"Tesorina! Is that you? I almost didn't see you there, my little one!" Uh, yeah; that's kinda the point, you moron. She doesn't wanna talk to you! Course he was too dense- not to mention narcissistic- to comprehend that. He grinned at her and that's the closest I've ever come in my life from punching anyone flat in the face. "Come to cheer me on? Awe, that is so sweet of you! What a good wife you'll make!" Oh yes, she will make a good wife. Just not "your" wife, asshat. Ilaria's cheek's turned a sizzling pink as she looked utterly mortified. "Ercole, please! We're in public!" No offence babe, but what difference does that make? He shouldn't be talking to you like that anywhere- public or private. Especially not in private! Ercole's disgusting grin merely grew at her telling him this. I think he got the wrong idea… again. "You're so right, my princess! Best to let everyone know you'll be supporting me from the side during the race. Hear that, everyone? This angel will be cheering for me!"
I wonder if it was possible to kill someone just by glaring at them? Seeing as Ercole was still alive, I'd say no. But if looks could kill…. How dare this jerk belittle and talk down to Ilaria like that?! He thinks I'll let him get away with it?! Fat chance! Let's see how you like being publicly embarrassed for once!
I straightened up my back, which was effectively shielding Ilaria from Mr. Creep over here. My eyes locked onto him so hard that I thought they might fall out of my head. I'll show him! "Actually, we're going to race too, Erco-lame," ok, maybe not the best response I could have come up with, but I was feeling a lot of pressure at the moment! Give me a break! Ercole certainly didn't give me a break. He finally looked at me and I swear we both wanted to kill each other in that instant.
"Hey, hey, hey! What is this?! Didn't I tell you to stay away from my girl, you vagrant!" Vagrant…. He keeps calling me that and I have no idea what it means. Probably something bad. But I wasn't about to lose face in front of jerkward here. I sent him the most vicious smirk I could muster. "You can't tell me what to do. Ilaria's my friend and we're entering the race together." Yeah! Way to go, Alberto! Hit him where it hurts; in the "ego". I had my little internal victory dance before Ercole could formulate his reply, which took all of five seconds.
"I already told you, you stupid boy: boys and girls can't be friends! You are not friends with my fiancé!" Ok, correction. That was the closest I've ever come to punching someone. Ercole would have lost a few teeth if it wasn't for the fact that Ilaria was standing right at my side. Unlike us men who handle things the easy way, women have to complicate everything to try and resolve things "peacefully". It's not Ilaria's fault; she just didn't understand that my beating Ercole up was the most logical solution there was. A man would understand, but I had to pacify my rage for her sake. I doubt Ilaria'd be ok with me knocking someone out in front of her.
But she wasn't happy with Ercole either now. "Ercole!" Her voice cracked. I sneered at him, my hands balling into fists. "Boy, I knew I was smarter than you, but I didn't think you were "that" stupid. Ilaria wants nothing to do with you, in case you didn't get the picture," my own tone was dangerously threatening. Ercole's, on the other hand….. "Course she does! She worships the ground I walk on. Every girl in Portorosso can't get enough of me, right boys?" Oh, hell no! My anger was flaring up again and I was starting to see red. How dare he talk about Ilaria- my Ilaria- like that? How dare he?!
"Then go marry one of them cause Ilaria's not interested! So do us all a favour and get lost, will ya?!" It's not the same as punching him in his smug, smarmy face, but yelling at Ercole like that still felt good. At least I got to revive some steam. Now it was his turn to sinisterly smirk my way, clearly fighting his own urge to strike me. "You know, I'm actually glad you're entering the race. Then I can wipe the floor with you! You won't think you're so tough when I beat you in front of my tesorina and all the other contestants. Then she'll see that I'm the best, which she already knows of course." This guy…. Ilaria's right when she says he'll never take the hint. It's like the notion of him losing or Ilaria not wanting to marry him are impossibilities that his brain literally can't process. I'd honestly feel sorry for the boy if I didn't hate him so much. I saw my chance here though.
"Oh, really? Well I can't wait to see the look on your smarmy mug when we cross the finish line first." "Don't fool yourself, vagrant. It's you who my sweet, small one wants nothing to do with." Uhhhhhhhh, does he notice how much time we spend together? Or does he just block out those mental images? "Do you know who she is? Clearly you don't, otherwise you wouldn't have the gull to talk to her," Erco-lame continued. What does he mean by that, I wondered. Course I knew who Ilaria was, and I did have the gull to talk to her. Why wouldn't I? Ercole's eyes sharpened onto me. "You don't know your place, which is very dangerous. So I suggest you go back to whichever rock you slithered out from. But if you do intend to stay, I won't mind kicking your ass in the race. Don't expect a wedding invitation either, you good-for-nothing bottom feeder." What did he just say to me?! And I momentarily forgot everyone else on earth but this one asshole standing before me. My vision went completely red for two second- two whole seconds.
"Why you little….!"