Torna a Casa | Damiano David

VIII. Strange behavior

The car ride was calm as usual, a lot of singing to the radio songs and not a lot of talking.

The streets of Rome were busy as always, it was a Saturday evening after all. I reassured that Damiano was looking at the road instead of me or else we were going to crash. For a short time I played with my wooden rune bracelet as we waited for the green light.

After a while we arrived at this restaurant not far from the city center. When we got inside the chandeliers were the first thing that caught my attention. It looked so expensive and elegant here, I was glad I picked out the outfit that fits in.
Damiano confirmed the reservation he made and the lady walked us to the table.
He requested the smoking area so we would be able to enjoy our evening without the nicotine cravings. Finding our table minutes later, he grabbed my chair pulling it out for me to sit in. Tucking me into my seat, I thanked him thinking of what a gentleman he was.

We ordered white wine and appetizers first and lit our cigarettes at the same time.

"Do you like it baby?" he asked reaching out to touch my hand.

"Are you kidding me Dami, this place is gorgeous. Thank you!" I intervened our fingers blowing out the smoke from my mouth.

"No need to thank me, a girl like you deserves this.. And a lot more."

"What do you mean a girl like me?"

"A girl that is like the sun. Outshining the others with her talent, her confidence, her beauty. With her warmth, with those olive eyes and that copper hair."

"Stop it, don't flatter me please." I said blushing a little.

"I'm just telling the truth, but in a poetic way. Well what else do you expect from a songwriter?" He said looking me deeply in the eyes not noticing the waitress coming to our table with the orders..

"Divertiti! Siete una bella coppia comunque!" (Enjoy! You are a beautiful couple by the way!) said the blonde woman and walked away.

My eyes moved back to the alluring man infront of me, realizing that his eyes never left the sight of me. Now with the glass of wine in his left hand, he drank slowly still looking me directly in the eyes. My fingers searched for his hand for a second, until reaching it and gently stroking it with my tumb.

He finally broke the silence between us, that was not uncomfortable just tense.

"You know, I'm actually glad you weren't comfortable meeting my parents yet." stopping to get another sip of the drink. I looked at him confused. Why was he glad? The anxiety inside of me came rushing in as my eyes filled with the salty body liquid.

He saw that and tightened his hand that was intervened with mine.

"Know why?" looking at me questionably. "Cause if we did, I wouldn't be enjoying this moment with you."

And he made it right again. The gut feeling I had that he was genuinely telling the truth was there. Like somebody confirmed to me that there was no need to worry.

"I am glad that we're here too." I put down my cigarette slightly smirking and continuing to talk.
"So.. Are you writing songs at the moment? Soon you'll have the opportunity to record."

"I have some ideas, but nothing specific for now. I was planning on showing you some of the lyrics later, when we get out of this place."

I just nodded my head and reached for another cigarette. Like a true gentleman, Damiano grabbed his zippo lighter, thanking me for letting him light the cigarette for me.

"What about you mia bella, have you heard from your band? Do you have anything in plan for this summer?"

I bit my lips because his words reminded me of Luca. We still haven't talked after the night at the gig.

"No baby, we haven't planned anything. Luca doesn't want to talk to me, Mateo is doing his own thing and Alessio is like always there for me. I mean, Mateo is getting his master degree and him I understand. But Luca.. he just can't handle rejection. Can we change the subject? I really don't want to ruin our date with my problems."

Damiano brought my hands to his soft lips and kissed it.

"Marlèna, your feelings is all I care about. Don't ever think that talking about them will bore me or ruin our fun." I looked at him while he was saying that and the urge to kiss him hard was just growing inside me. Why was he so good to me?

I couldn't help but think that maybe this was his way of getting in my pants. Trust issues were arising even tho I met this man two months ago. If he wanted to use me for sex, he would have done it the first night he slept over right?

I did not notice that we sat in silence the whole time I was deeply thinking.

"Did I say something wrong, bella?" he grabbed on my hand.

"Oh no, I was just thinking. I'm sorry for ruining our evening."

He looked at me reassuring me that it was fine and that I didn't ruin anything. "I just hope I wasn't the reason for your worry."

I lied of course.

The waitress came again and we ordered my favorite, l'amatriciana.

"You know, you won my heart the night you made us dinner."

"Well not going to lie, I was trying to impress you. That's the evening you showed me your cat, right?" I rolled the spaghetti with my fork and took a bite.

"Yeah, Bidet. You know, I showed her your pictures too? I think she already likes you."

This man was precious, he's not going to use me.

"Has somebody ever told you that you're one of the sweetest people? Cause if they didn't, I'm telling you. You care about cats, you are talented, you validate my feelings. Why are you like that?" I asked him as he pour himself another glass of white wine.

"Cause I want you to feel special. You know, Barbara never acknowledge my feelings, needs.. And I just know you're not like her and that you deserve all of that."

"Am I a rebound?" I asked in confusion.

"No." he stopped making a face of disgust. "And I know what you are going to think, 'Would I even say it if you were?'"
He knew this was coming. "Well, it's not for me to tell you but show you. I mean I can do it right now if you don't want dessert?"

I was stunned. I just shook my head as he called the waitress to pay the bill. Slapping my hand lightly as I reached for my wallet, he payed and reached out for my hand to take.

I did so, following his steps out of the restaurant. The car was parked near, as we reached it, we got in not saying a single word. I turned on the radio, but Damiano turned it off.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Not going to lie, this was kinda scary. No music, no talking, Damiano just driving not even glancing at me with the side of his eye.

"You'll see." that's all he said. The fact that he was acting so strange was obviously a new thing that I haven't seen. I mean I don't even know him that much. Where is he taking me? What if he's a sociopath or a serial killer? Okay, I'm exaggerating now but you never know.

The strange behavior continued as we reached the outskirts of Rome. All I could see was the road surrounded buy large trees and a river that was near the road. Where the hell was he taking me?

"Damiano, if you don't tell me where we are, I'm going to jump out of the car!"

He just stopped the car and looked me dead in the eyes.

AN: Hope you like this chaper! Another one is coming immediately after this one so you'll have two as an a apology for not updating!  Thank yiu for reading!