Giulia did not know how to feel; for the first time in a long time, she felt welcome; on the other side, it was a sea monster that made her feel that way.
Talking with Luca had been the best experience she had had in a long, maybe because of his kindness, or that she found his curiosity tender, or maybe-
Because he was adorable, it was strange to say that about a sea creature, but his appearance was charming; with his big eyes, his smile, and his fins, he could not have hurt Ercole.
That led her to think that maybe it had been the other one; was he as friendly as Luca? Or was he a real monster?
Luca seemed fine, so his partner was not territorial; maybe he was also a gentleman, or at least not dangerous; after all, she would be lying if she said that she had never wanted to hurt Ercole.
«He must have done something to provoke them.»
However, that day she would find it out, she planned to keep her promise to Luca, selecting a few songs that he might like, and she hoped they could make his stay there more- pleasant.
The doors opened, Giulia passed in with the car; the scientists had already left, something she was grateful for since she wanted to see Luca immediately, and something told her that the researchers would make that difficult.
She left the car against the wall and ran to the pool.
"Luca, Luca?" She spoke to the water, but there was no response.
In the depths, Luca and Alberto kept biting their chains, without it working, in that they heard the voice of the girl and both looked up, then at each other, Luca with a pleading look and Alberto with a frown.
"Alberto-"
"No!"
"Come on-"
"Luca! Stop thinking about that human and help me break these!" He added as he took his chains with both hands and swam backward in an attempt to break them.
Luca sighed, glanced at the surface, and notice the shape of Giulia, the girl was a little more inclined than she had been yesterday, with more confidence, and she was looking in the water. He stared at Alberto again and noticed that he was still fighting; it was his chance.
Without wasting time, he swam upwards, making sure to stick his head out slowly as he could. Alberto realized not long after, let out an angry sigh, and shook his head, but went back to fighting with his restraints instead of going after Luca.
As soon as Giulia noticed the boy, she smiled.
"Giulia, you came back!"
"I work here so, I'm obliged," she laughed nervously, but when she saw Luca, she noticed he was saddened, so she quickly added: "But I did want to see you!"
She didn't want him to believe she did not care; Luca raised his eyes, Giulia tried to send him her most sincere look; she seemed to convince him as he rises again.
"And I kept my promise," she took her cell phone out and placed it on the shore.
Luca smiled at the device and placed both hands on the surface; Giulia pressed the play button.
At first, the song was only instrumental, so the boy turned his head in confusion.
"And the voice?" he asked.
"That's the instrumental part; we humans use instruments to support our voice in songs; what you hear are the instruments playing before the singer enters."
"Are instruments like tools?"
"Yes, and there are different types, which generate different sounds; there are wind, repercussion, strings, and many more."
Luca seemed surprised to hear that.
Viva la pa-pa-pappa
Col po-po-po-po-po-po-pomodoro
Ah viva la pa-pa-pappa
Che è un capo-po-po-po-polavoro
Viva la pa-pappa pa-ppa
Col po-po-pomodor
Luca smiled, closed his eyes, and shook his head happy; Giulia smiled.
"I have to clean this place; you can listen while I work- can I trust you not to get it wet?"
"Promise."
Giulia smiled and got ready to wash while Luca continued to enjoy the tune.
La storia del passato
ormai ce l´ha insegnato
Che un popolo affamato
fa la rivoluzion
Ragion per cui affamati
abbiamo combatutto
Perciò "buon appetito"
facciamo colazion
At first, he settled for just moving his head, but the desire that song gave him was too much to stay in the same place; he circles around the pool kicking gently; Giulia only looked at him from time to time and smiled at how happy he was.
Luca stopped and looked at the bottom, that song was good, and it made him feel great; it wouldn't be fair for Alberto to miss it out.
Alberto always introduces him to new and exciting things; it was time for him to do the same.
Viva la pa-pa-pappa
Col po-po-po-po-po-po-pomodoro
Ah viva la pa-pa-pappa
Che è un capo-po-po-po-polavoro
Viva la pa-pappa pa-ppa
Col po-po-pomodor
Luca submerged; Alberto was still fighting with his chains, now hitting them; Luca rolled his eyes and swam up to him, grabbed him with both arms. Alberto looked at him confused; Luca pointed a finger up.
Alberto looked where he was pointing and then at him, shaking his head; Luca rolled his eyes and began to swim upwards, pulling Alberto with him; his friend put up resistance and looked at him with a scowl.
"Silenzio Bruno."
Alberto opened his eyes and pointed at him with a waving finger.
"Dirty move."
Luca smiled, and Alberto could not help but smirk when he saw his friend's cunning; he had trained him so well, so he stopped fighting and accompanied his brother to the surface.
La pancia che borbotta
è causa del complottto
è causa della lotta:
"abbasso il Direttor !"
La zuppa ormai l´è cotta
e noi cantiamo tutti
Vogliamo detto fatto
la pappa al pomodor !
At first, Alberto seemed confused, looking in all directions, possibly looking for a human who wanted to harm them. But when he heard the song, his eyes lit up, his fins moved back and forth, and he began to wag his tail involuntarily, as the rhythm of the music.
Luca smiled and began to move sideways while waving his hands happily; Alberto looked at him and smiled, moving his arms back and forth cheerfully, but in doing so, he splashed a lot of water out of the tank.
Viva la pa-pa-pappa
Col po-po-po-po-po-po-pomodoro
Ah viva la pa-pa-pappa
Che è un capo-po-po-po-polavoro
Viva la pa-pappa pa-ppa
Col po-po-pomodor
Viva la pa-pappa pa-ppa
Col po-po-pomodor !
Giulia turned around and almost had a fit when she saw the fender they were making.
"Santo Pecorino!" She put both hands in her head.
The two boys turned to see her and screamed in terror as she approached.
"Luca!" She stopped when she realized another being was in the pool.
Alberto immediately narrowed his eyebrows and bared his teeth; Giulia put a foot behind but did not back down; she just stood still. Luca noticed the threatening face of his friend, so he quickly stood in front of Alberto to protect Giulia from his gaze.
"Oh Giulia, this is my friend Alberto Scorfano; Alberto this is Giulia Marcovaldo."
Giulia examined Alberto; he was a bit like Luca, only his hair was dark purple, his skin a lighter shade, and his eyes were green. In addition, his features were more threatening than Luca's.
The girl stayed still, not knowing how to react to him, she knew Luca would not hurt her, but she wasn't so sure about Alberto.
The boy looked between his two companions; he knew Alberto was only violent if provoked, but he distrusted humans, so perhaps he would not hesitate to attack Giulia to scare her.
"Nice to meet Alberto," Giulia finally said; maybe if she showed that she was not a danger to them, Alberto would do the same; she took small steps towards the pool.
Alberto opened his eyes in surprise; he did not expect that movement; Luca felt a little calmer; Giulia reached the edge of the pool and extended her hand, now she was playing with fire.
Everything was quiet for a while, without anyone moving a muscle; the tension was such that Giulia began to sweat, and Luca passed his eyes from one friend to another in case he had to interfere and save Giulia.
Alberto slowly pulled his hand out and brought it closer to Giulia's; until the two reached in a friendly handshake.
Luca sighed in relief.
"Piacere, Girolamo Trombetta," Alberto replied, still somewhat hesitant.
As for Giulia, she remembered the scaly sensation of Luca's grab,
so this time the chill was not as intense.
"What does it mean?" She asked once they parted.
Alberto was silent and looked at Luca; he saw him back and then the two at Giulia.
"That thing you said, what does it mean?" She asked again, but she didn't get an answer, "Well- I'm glad you like the music, but please try not to splash; I don't have the whole day to clean this lab."
"Oh, sure," replied Luca.
"We will," added Alberto.
Giulia smiled.
"Thank you guys, let me put you another song."
As Giulia resumed the music, Luca looked at Alberto with a confident look, which clearly said: "I told you so."
Alberto rolled his eyes but smiled at him; he had to accept when he was wrong.
...
Giulia pushed the cart out but still looking back, Luca and Alberto watched her as they waved goodbye; she did the same before the doors closed.
She was feeling weird, she had finally met the other creature- boy, the other boy, and even if he seemed scary at first, it did not take long to get used to him.
Alberto was older than Luca and much more impulsive; the two seemed to complement each other well, a good pair of friends.
"And Alberto was the one who ripped Ercole's fingers off."
It was not difficult to see it, but neither was to imagine Ercole doing something to provoke them; whatever the case, she did not care, the boys had been good to her, and they made her feel welcome; that was the only thing that it mattered.
Giulia was moving down the hall when someone called her, turning she saw Ciccio approaching her.
"What is it?"
"Ercole, he wants to see you."
...
Ercole had his office in the control room, with a secretary working in the waiting room, a young blonde woman wearing a white dress, behind a brown desk with two turquoise chairs; the wall separating her from Ercole's agency was of glass.
The other room was very similar, the key difference being that behind the desk, stuck into the wall, twelve televisions broadcasted recordings of the security cameras of the entire complex.
The only rooms without surveillance were the E-3 laboratory and the dressing rooms.
Giulia was sitting in front of her childhood nemesis; his hand was bandaged, with both fingers in place; Giulia wondered if they cooked them well.
Ercole had his eyes on a blue folder; surely her résumé.
She kept her eyes straight ahead she would not be intimidated by him, yes he was her superior, but he did not frighten her; and planned to make that clear to him, Ercole from time to time looked from one of the corners, but she did not lower her gaze, so he just went back to his reading.
"Whatever you have to say, just tell me and let's get this over with," she thought angrily.
Finally, Ercole lowered the folder, settled in his chair, placed both arms on the table, and stared at her; Giulia did not change her position.
"So Giulia, you have been here for three months, and in all this time, you have shown to be an exemplary employee, punctual, without problems, quiet, some might say, even submissive."
"I just want to be the best employee I can be," she replied unfazed.
"It also says here that you studied the first semester of the astronomy career, but you dropped it- May I know why?"
He had struck a chord; Giulia clenched her fists under the desk so he would not see her; she couldn't show weakness.
"Things… didn't work out."
She tried to sound disinterested, but apparently, she had not fooled him, as Ercole was grinning wickedly, as if he had spilled salt on an open wound, but he would not beat her so easy, as she had teeth too.
"I'm glad to see you're okay; it must have been painful," she nodded at Ercole's hand.
He opened his eyes and saw his injured limb, lifted it so she could see it.
"Oh, this- ten hours in surgery, but it looks like it turned out good, almost like new."
He seemed to follow the same technique, to act like it was nothing, but Giulia could feel that it had affected him; they had hurt him where it hit the most, not in the body, but his pride.
"Which brings me to my next point," he lowered his hand so they could see each other face to face; "Surely you already saw the things we keep in there."
Giulia was bothered that he called them things, they had names, and in just two days of meeting them, they had been more kind and considerate to her than he in all those childhood summers.
"Yes, I have seen them."
"Oh, then you know there are two."
She nodded with the head.
"How much have you interacted with them?"
She could not say that they could talk and that she had spoken with them, she had the feeling the boys had only confided that to her, and she did not intend to betray them, and less to someone like Ercole.
"Nothing, sometimes they watch me while I clean, but that's it, I think they're shy."
Ercole gave a mocking laugh and slightly turned his head away; she used that moment to stick her tongue out at him before composing herself.
"Sure- well Giulia, I'm glad to hear that those things-"
"Luca and Alberto!"
"-don't bother you; because I want to tell you your job is simple."
He leaned forward a bit to be closer; now Giulia did step back a bit, but only because she did not want to have his stinky breath on her.
"You clean that lab and get out! Those things are animals, do you understand?"
Holding back the urge to yell at him, Giulia swallowed her pride and just nodded. Ercole smiled, savoring his supposed victory.
"All right, that was it; you can go now."
Without being told twice, Giulia got up and went to the exit.
"Oh, by the way, try not to be bothered by the smell."
Giulia stopped and looked at him over her shoulder.
"We would not want another accident, right Spewlia?" And he pretended to vomit, covering his mouth.
Without wanting to listen to him anymore, Giulia resigned herself to open the door, and almost trotting, she left that horrible place. Ercole followed her with his eyes, with a stupid smile of triumph on his face.
...
Giulia was walking furiously through the corridors, with her lunch bag in one hand, and cursing Ercole with all her soul.
"Stupid, stupid- stupid- damn it! If only I had something to compare it to insult him."
Suddenly she felt sad again, he damn knew how and where to hit her, and she hated to admit that he had done well, like a boxer who attacks the weak point of his rival.
Sigh trying to calm her down; she hoped that at least the silence of the cafeteria would help her collect her thoughts, but right there she stopped, a very crazy idea had just come to her head, there was no need to eat alone again-
She studied the lunch her dad had prepared for her, a sandwich and four boiled eggs; the sandwich should be enough for her, she could share the rest with them; after all, the food from that place did kill.
Giulia smiled at the idea, not only because she would directly disobey Ercole's commands but also because- she could spend more time with them.
Feeling happy about this, she ran to the lab, flipped her card through the switch, and hopped inside.
"Luca, Alberto," she called in an audible but not so loud voice; she didn't want to attract the attention of third parties.
The two poked their heads out as she sat down on the first step; they both seemed surprised to see her again.
"Giulia… what is it?" Asked Luca.
"Oh nothing, it's just that it's my lunch hour, and I just noticed that my dad sent me too much, so I was thinking, why don't we share?"
Luca and Alberto looked at each other, and she laughed as she took the eggs out of the bag.
She handed one to Luca and the other to Alberto, both of them stared at the appetizer with thoughtful eyes. Giulia led out her sandwich as they saw her, took a bite, and closed her eyes as she savored it.
Luca and Alberto exchanged glances; Alberto shrugged and ate half the egg in one bite; while chewing, his eyes lit up, he smiled and began to eat more slowly, enjoying each flavor. Luca no longer had any doubts and began to devour his.
Giulia smiled and took another bite; Luca looked at Giulia's position and had an idea, moving closer to the shore, turned slightly so that his hip was touching the wall, then he rested an arm on the surface and looked directly at his friend. Alberto knew what he wanted to do, so he imitated his friend, only on the other side; that way, Giulia was in the middle of the two.
The girl smiled, leaning her back against the wall so she could see them both more easily.
"Wait, I know how to make this better."
She took out her cell phone and set a new song, one more calm and peaceful than the previous ones, perfect for the moment.
Why do robins sing in December,
Long before the springtime is due?
And even though it's snowing
Violets are growing,
Luca and Alberto were delighted with the tune, for they seemed calm as if that moment of peace could overshadow all their fears and worries.
She handed them the rest of the eggs, and they ate in silence, although enjoying each other's company very much.
I know why and so do you...
Why do breezes sigh every evening?
Whispering your name as they do?
And why have I the feeling stars are on my ceiling?
I know why and so do you...
When you smile at me
I hear gypsy violins
When you dance with me
I'm in heaven when the music begins...
I can see the sun when it's raining
Hiding every cloud from my view
And why do I see rainbows when you're in my arms?
I know why and so do you!
