Cafe Letters | Ethan Torchio

"La Famiglia"

Placing the ball of paper on the table, she went to the front of the store to buy another coffee. Standing in the line, Aurora felt her phone in her pocket buzz. She pulled it out and almost dropped it. Her brother's name flashed across the screen and Aurora went outside the shop to answer.

"Matteo?" She whispered, unsure of what to expect. The call remains quiet for a few moments and Aurora questions whether he hung up again. 

"Sorry, I just didn't know what to say for a second there. I just wanted to apologize for when you last called. I was just shocked because it had been a while. I never thought we would hear from you again." She nods before realizing he can't see her.

"So was that it? You just wanted to say sorry," her words come out harsher than she means, but she doesn't care. Aurora just wanted him to continue speaking.

"No, I wanted to know how you were and what you've been up to." She debates telling him about her struggle with homelessness. If she tells him, he could either feel really bad and guilty which would make Aurora feel poorly. Or he could tell their mother and she would feel all high and mighty about how Aurora struggled without her. Deciding against it, she goes on to tell him about her modeling.

"I'm currently in Milan. I actually got signed to be a model a little while ago, it's going really well. I've made friends with the people here and I don't think I have ever been happier."

"That's so amazing. I used to always tell mom about how you should be a model, maybe I am a psychic," Aurora hears him chuckle at that last bit and she imagines him sitting in his room, looking out the window with his phone to his ear, smiling.

"I miss you," she says softly. "Maybe you can come here one day and we can just hang out like we used to. I can show you all my favorite places here."

"Maybe," she notices his voice sounding more distracted and upon listening harder, she hears her mother's voice in the background asking who he is talking to. He almost said her name before catching himself and changing it to a different name and saying it was a friend from school. Her heart dropped slightly. She was hoping that after a year, her mother might have changed but after hearing her, she knew she was wrong. 

The arguing between Matteo and their mother went on so Aurora hung up and sent him a text saying not to worry and they would talk more later.

20 minutes had passed since Aurora stepped out of the cafe. In her distracted mindset, she decided to go back to her apartment, completely forgetting the balled up paper she left at her table. 

____________________

Next chapter is when she will go back to the cafe to get the paper. I've realized that with a couple hours passing the paper would have probably been thrown out by an employee when they clean the tables, but lets just ignore that. 

Should I add social media parts to the chapters? Like if/when she posts on instagram

Comment and Vote please, I'd love to hear from any readers :)

-Sophie