Morning came with a blaring alarm clock and an obnoxiously ringing cell phone. In the bedroom, Lovina let out a groan and sat up slowly. With a loud thump, she hit her head on the nightstand beside her bed. She yelped and stumbled to the bathroom to grab her phone from the floor. Half awake, she returned to the bedroom and slapped at the alarm clock until it stopped screeching at her. Without trying to see what time it was, Lovina flopped backward onto the bed.
When she woke again three hours later, the sun was streaming through the window, lighting the room to an uncomfortable brightness. She let out a groan, sitting up. Her face was dry, but bore prominent tear tracks from the night before. She yawned, wincing as she stretched. Apparently sleeping on the floor of the bedroom had not been the best of ideas. Her cell beeped from the nightstand, reminding her of missed calls and awaiting text messages. She sighed and dragged a hand across her face while opening the message from Elizaveta.
No working. If you come to the office, I'm locking out. And if I find any files edited on your computer tonight, I'll delete them. Today is your fun day.
Lovina groaned and flopped back onto her pillows. "Well, shit. What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
She sad up again slowly, looking around the room. Her spare key glinted at her from the floor beside her dresser. She felt her throat tighten as she recalled the night before. Mentally chastising herself, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. The young Italian woman pushed hair back from her face, letting her breath out in a huff. She stalked to the bathroom, mumbling to herself in Italian as she started water for a shower.
After a long while, when Lovina was finally beginning to calm herself, there was a knock at the door. She cussed and turned off the water, grabbing a towel and rubbing it through her hair. "Just a minute!" She wrapped the towel around herself, ignoring the fact that she was, actually, still dripping as she padded barefoot down the hall to open the door.
"Yes?"
"Lovina, please listen, I'm-"
She slammed the door in his face. "I'm not in the mood, shithead."
Out in the hallway, Antonio shuffled his feet sheepishly. "Open the door, cariño, please."
"Shut it, skippy."
"I have your mail."
After a moment, the door opened again. Lovina stood there, looking annoyed as her hair dripped water down her back. One hand holding her towel in place and the other held out, she fixed him with a glare. "Give me my mail."
"Listen to me first."
"Antonio, I just got out of the shower. I am dripping water all over my apartment and I am wearing a towel. It's not the time and I don't want to talk. I'm not reliving last night any longer than I already have. Give me my mail and go away."
Antonio took a step back, looking down at the floor before back up at Lovina. His expression was pained, eyes listless. "Please, Lovina, I need you."
"Well, I don't need you," she shot back. Her voice quieted suddenly and her eyes suddenly lost some of their fire, but she repeated herself. "I don't."
The Spaniard's breath slowed, unsteady. He handed her the small stack of envelopes- she didn't dare look in his eyes. Without a word, he turned and headed down the hall. Lovina clutched her towel tighter, wincing when she heard the elevator doors. By the time she stepped into the hall to call after him, the doors had closed and he was gone. She mentally kicked herself before retreating into her apartment again. As she passed the kitchen, she tossed the small stack of mail onto the table.
In the bedroom, the small auburn woman leaned against the wall and studied what she surrounded herself with. Suddenly it was no wonder to her why she had spent two weeks sleeping on the couch. Everything in the bedroom had ties to Antonio. The sheets were green- he'd picked them out; he'd bought the stuffed animals; the pictures were of him, mostly; the curtains were a Christmas present from his mother; the turtles in the corner were his birthday present.
"So if I really wanted to forget him, I would have gotten rid of everything."
Lovina sighed, finally removing her towel and finishing her drying process. She strode to her dresser, pulling out random pieces of clothing. Half an hour later, she was wearing a pair of tight jeans and another of Antonio's sweatshirts. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. She picked up her phone and pulled up her inbox, licking her lips before sending a message. Afterward, she jogged through her apartment and out the door, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. She waved to Lee as she passed through the main doors, now dialing and pressing the phone to her ear.
"You'd better not be on your way to work right now."
"I'm not, Lizzie. I just need to talk to you."
"In that case, I'm all ears. What's up?"
Lovina paused, glancing both ways before jogging across the street. "Antonio's back." The other side of the line fell silent. "Elizaveta? You're still there, right?"
"I'm here. You mean he's back back? Like… for good?"
"I don't really know. That's what he said. He was the one texting me yesterday and sending all the presents."
"I kinda thought he might be until you told me you broke up. A little bit afterward, too, but I didn't really think it was a good idea to tell you. You hurt enough already yesterday."
"Well apparently not," Lovina quipped, checking her reflection in a store window. She crossed Lincoln street and mentally counted how much further she had to go. Three blocks ahead and two blocks right. "He showed up at my apartment last night, wanting me to listen to his shit."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. I guess I just wasn't in the mood last night. But I have no excuse for this morning. He stopped in again and I slammed the door in his face."
Elizaveta's laugh trickled through the tiny speaker. "God. So are you going to see him again?"
"No idea. I told him I didn't need him earlier. Hell, I think that's the biggest lie I've ever told anyone. Except maybe that time when I was ten and I accidentally killed Felicia's fish. But that wasn't my fault, I mean, she should have known better than to leave for a week and let me take care of it. In any case, I lied and I don't really know how to fix it."
Elizaveta paused on her side of the conversation. "So what are you going to do?"
Lovina glanced up at a billboard as she crossed another street and shrugged. "Talk to Feli. She doesn't know yet but she should. And I figure, sure, she gives good advice sometimes."
"So you're actually going to her for help?"
"I guess, yeah."
"Holy shit! Are you sick, babygirl? You don't ask for help. Ever."
"I'm fine. Just feel like I kicked a puppy. Like I divorced Toni or something. Hell, we weren't even married, I don't get it."
"You wanna meet me for lunch somewhere and we can talk? I mean, Bella already told me she can't make it tonight, so it would be just the two of us. Unless you wanted to be alone, in which case I'll just see what Roderich's up to."
"No. I'm not far from Gepetto's right now. I'll just eat while I'm talking to Feli. I'll let you know about the alone thing, depending on how today pans out. I uhm…. I'm going to try and talk to him."
"Really? Are you sure? I mean, you still get upset over the mention of his name. Knowing you, I'm sure you broke down after he left last night. Maybe even this morning. You're sure you want to see him face to face again, even after what you said?"
Lovina clenched her jaw and sighed. "No. But I was a bitch and I need to let him tell gis side of the story before I burn everything he's ever bought me."
A sad laugh drifted through the speaker. "Tell me how it goes, alright? I've got to get back to work now."
"Yeah. Yeah, sure. I'll call when I can. Bye, Lizzie."
"See ya!"
The connection clicked off. Lovina sighed again and slipped the phone into her sweatshirt pocket. She bit her lip, staring at the sign for the diner that her sister worked at. After a long moment of hesitation, she pushed the door open. A jingling bell signaled her arrival and a young man poked his head out of the kitchen. "Hey, Lovina! Want me to fetch Felica for you?"
She nods, giving him a dry smile, and goes to sit in a booth near the other end of the diner. After a few minutes of her staring out the window and absentmindedly tapping her fingers on the table, a happy shout drew her out of her thoughts.
"Sorella!"
Lovina looked up as her twin approached. For the first time in a long time, a genuine smile invaded her lips at the sight of her sister's bouncing optimism. She stood, letting Felicia hug her.
"Hey, Feli."
Felicia sat down in the booth, completely ignoring the fact that she should probably be working. "It's been a long time since you came to visit me during work, sorella. Did you eat last night?"
Lovina struggled not to roll her eyes, sliding back into her own side of the booth. "I did, Feli. And it was delicious, grazie."
Felicia gave her a mega-watt smile, shrugging. "It was my pleasure. I love cooking for you, Lovina. So what brings you back to Gepetto's?"
"I want to talk to you."
Felicia's smile faltered ever so slightly. "You don't like talking to me."
Lovina huffed and actually did roll her eyes. "Not always, sorella, no. But I've been keeping something from you for a long time and you really deserve to know."
As if sensing the news was not good, Felica lost her smile and reached across the table to take Lovina's hand. "What is it? Are you sick? Did you lose something?"
"No, Feli, not… not exactly. I… uh…. Antonio and I broke up."
Felicia didn't answer for a long moment, as if she were processing the fact that after six years, her sister was not dating Antonio. She blinked, raising her eyebrows. "Wow. When did that happen, sorella?"
"January. Kind of. We just stopped talking. Neither of us really knows how or when it happened."
When Felicia gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, Lovina was suddenly fighting tears. She proceeded to spill every small detail of the previous months to her sister, half choked and struggling not to completely break down. The moment Lovina finished her story, Felicia slid out of her side of the booth and scooted up close to her sister, pulling her into a tight hug.
"I still love you, Lovina, no matter who you love or what you say or what you do. I love you and Nonno loves you and Marcella loves you and Elizaveta and Bella and everyone. Even Ludwig loves you, as much as you two argue. So what you're going to do today is you're going to be a strong woman and you're going to talk to Toni and you're going to fix things. And if you decide you can't or you don't want to, you're going to come talk to me again and we're going to make things better. Got that, sorella?"
Lovina sniffled, wiping her face dry and nodding. "Grazie, Felicia." She opened her mouth to speak again, but suddenly noticed a glint on her sister's hand. "Oh my fucking god."
Felicia pulled back slightly, confused. "What?"
"My fucking god, Feli! The potato freak proposed to you?"
A sudden flush spread over Felicia's cheeks. "Oh… si… Si, I was going to tell you, but I kinda forgot, but um… it was last night."
Lovina huffed indignantly. "I've got to have words with him, he didn't even offer me a dowry."
Felicia laughed, shoving her sister's shoulder lightly. "Stop that, sorella, he talked to Nonno. And he was going to ask you over for dinner with us tomorrow. But right now, you've got to get going. You'll be late to talk with Toni!"
Lovina held her breath for a moment and nodded, hugging Felicia once more. "Thank you, Feli. I mean it. Sometimes you aren't so bad to have around."
Felicia smiled, practically dragging her to the door and pushing her out. "I love you, Lovina, but I'm not the one you have a date with, so get going!"
In a sudden surge of childishness, Lovina stuck out her tongue before turning and running down the street, trying not to laugh. It had been a while since she felt so relaxed after a conversation with her sister, much less a conversation about something she usually guarded so closely. She reached up to brush her fingers across the necklace lying on her collarbone and bit her lip.
She pulled out her phone to check for messages and struggled to keep her good mood as she saw the sender of the waiting text. After a moment of brief panic, however, she opened it and a nervous smile crossed her lips.
12:10 Crossroads?
It took her a long moment to reply, due to shaking fingers, but she managed to type a reply. Bet you I can beat you there.
No you can't, the reply said, surprisingly lighthearted. I always get there first.
Do not!
Do too.
Not this time.
Winner buys, then?
You're on, asshole.
And for a moment, things felt almost normal again.