Raison D'être

Jealousy

She woke up the next morning refreshed. Deciding to put her burst of energy somewhere, she quickly gets ready before rushing down to make breakfast.

As the bacon simmers, Lorenzo walks through the living room adjusting his tie, "smells different."

"Is that good?"

"A very good different," he grins. Before he continues his phone buzzes, "Amoretto," he speaks. He mhms several times, as she whisks up some scrambled eggs. "Oh," it doesn't sound like a good 'oh', so she turns to face him only to see that he is already looking at her. His face falters from sadness to stoic as he turns his full attention over to the conversation. Tony informs that she ran away from her orphanage for reasons unknown. "She never filled out any college applications, and her record is spotless. It's as if she doesn't exist. All there is, is a job application for a 24-hour Diner."

"That's it?"

"That's all. This girl has been under the radar since she was 17, so whatever you're looking for you're going to have to ask her."

"Thank you, Tony," he ends the call, turning to Anastasia giving her a small smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. 

"Is everything alright?" she asks.

"Yes, just some business."

"Stocks not doing well?" she jokes.

"Something like that," as he picks up a strip of turkey bacon he tries to think of ways to ask Anastasia about her past.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asks once more. She wonders if it is about last night, if he regrets what almost happened.

"Everything is fine." They eat in silence as the morning birds chirp and the occasional fork hitting a plate.

The entire car ride is silent as well, with her staring out the window and him on his phone. Every now and then, she feels him looking at her, but she is nervous to make contact with him. She finds herself asking again if it was about the almost kiss last night. As she gets out of the car, Lorenzo calls for her, "Anastasia."

"Yes, Lorenzo?"

"We have training today. And don't worry about dinner," he smiles.

The smile is enough to assure her that maybe it wasn't about last night. Maybe he even forgot about it. She laughs, "okay then. Bye, now Lorenzo."

"Goodbye tesoro."

Blushing at hearing him speak his native tongue, she waves shyly before walking away to face Carla's sly grin. The next thing she sees is Luka, the best-looking of Joe's kid's walkout. "Hey, Anastasia!" He yells as he walks over to embrace her.

"Hey Luka," she smiles walking into his arms.

As they embrace, Luka whispers into her ear, "Carla paid me $50 to come out here and hug you. You have some explaining to do missy?"

She laughs and hugs Luka again while glaring at Carla through the window.

Before turning back, she sees that Lorenzo's car is still there and he is looking out his window. She makes eye contact and waves shyly before Luka takes her hand and drags her inside. Lorenzo pretends to not see her and goes on his phone as Brent drives off. Maybe he didn't see me, she thinks. But he did. 

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Photo Credit: @frenchhlove