The Pilot

Chapter Twenty Five

Ok, let's get to this bar then.

Kevin had already asked the valet to bring the car round to the front and was loading all the luggage. "Kevin, I'm fairly certain that should be my job as the driver" Danielle laughed. "Ah, Dani, you're probably right but my mum brought me up to be a gentleman and I'm not about stand by and watch do this" He smiled "this... you can do though." He said throwing the key to her. "I had one too many whiskies last night and I should definitely not be driving" he winked as he joined the others in the back of the car. Danielle made her way to the driver's seat to see Stefania sitting in the passenger seat. "What are you doing up here?" Danielle asks with a smirk. "Well, there's only 4 seats back there so one of us had to sit up here with you. Why not me?" Stefania replied matching Danielle's smirk.

The traffic was light and they arrived at the bar in record time. Danielle led the team inside greeting Andrew as she got through the door. "Hey, good morning D." He said giving her a warm hug. "You came mob handed I see" he said laughing. "Well we thought it would be easier for everyone to come here with me and we could just head straight to the airfield from here" the blonde replied. "Yeah that's cool. It makes sense." He smiled letting go of his best friend. "OK so let me introduce you to everyone then." Danielle continued . "So you met Stefania the other night all be it briefly. This is Chandra and her husband Jason, and these two are Kevin and Caterina." Everyone greeted Andrew with smiles and handshakes. "Can I get anyone anything?" Andrew asked. "Tea, coffee, juice... alcohol?" "Well, I have a jet to fly in a few hours so I'll just have a coffee" Danielle said.

Andrew got to work preparing everyone's orders. Wine for Stefania, Coke for Chandra and beer for the guys and Caterina. Danielle helped him by serving the drinks out to everyone. "Guys, there's a pool table in the back room there if you want to go through there whilst Chandra, Andrew and I go through this contract stuff?" Danielle asked the other four. "Yeah that sounds good. We can play doubles" Kevin said "you and me in a team babe?" He asked Caterina. "Yeah ok" she grinned but blushing at the little pet name. "I guess that puts you and I together then Boss." Jason winked. "Yes it does indeed" Stefania replied smiling but immediately looked at Danielle. She could see the blonde frowning again and her jaw was tensed. The two women locked eyes with each other and Stefania ever so subtly shook her head and mouthed "breathe" without anyone else noticing. Danielle closed her eyes momentarily and took a deep breath. "Ok, I'll come rig it up so you get free play and don't need a bunch of quarters for the table." She said. The 2 men and Caterina walked in front of her whilst Stefania walked behind her. She held her hand out behind her and Stefania instantly grabbed hold of it. She moved closer to Danielle and whispered in her ear so the others wouldn't hear "you're ok Bambina. Right here, right now, I'm just Stefania. Don't stress" Danielle let go of the brunette's hand and whispered "ok" back. She rigged up the table and returned to the bar joining Chandra and Andrew in one of the booths.

Chandra started to speak first. "Alright, Andrew, Danielle and I drew this contract up earlier. She gave me all the details and I believe the money is ready to transfer as soon as you sign on that dotted line right there. But please, take your time to read over it and if there's anything you're unhappy with, we can discuss it and change as necessary." "OK, that sounds good. I know I don't know you but I trust Danielle. I'll read it but I guarantee everything will be fine." He read the contract through and without saying a word, he signed it. "Ok D, I believe it's your turn to sign now" he grinned handing her the pen. "Yeah? You sure?" She asked. "Of course, now get on with it" he laughed. Chandra then countersigned and Danielle hit transfer on her banking app. "Alright, this calls for a celebration now" he grinned. "When do you guys need to be at the airfield?" "We start our taxi down the runway at 4:20. So as long as we're there and boarded for 4 it should be fine." The blonde replied. "Well alright, let me phone Gee and get her down here. We can all hang here for the afternoon and then have food before you head off?" He asked. "Uh... yeah" Danielle said looking at Chandra. "Yeah I'm sure that would be fine but you better check with the..." "Stefania, yes right" Danielle cut her off not wanting to hear the word BOSS again. "STEFANIA" the little blonde hollered through the bar. The brunette appearing in the doorway to the back room "you called Danielle..." she said with raised eyebrows. "Uh... yeah..." Danielle was now suddenly very shy under Stefania's intense gaze. "Andrew was wondering if we wanted to stay here for the afternoon and have a little bit a celebration now that the deal is done and this place is officially mine?" "Si, that sounds like a marvellous idea." She smiled.

30 minutes later Giovanna walked through the door greeting Andrew and Danielle with hugs. "Gee, let me introduce you to everyone else." Danielle said guiding her over to the group. "Everyone, this is Andrew's wife Giovanna. Gee, this is everyone. We've got Caterina and Kevin sat here. Over there is Jason and Chandra and this..." she said dragging Gee over to Stefania. "Is Stefania Spampinato." "It's a pleasure to meet you formally this time Giovanna." Stefania laughed shaking Gee's hand. The 8 adults took it in turn pouring drinks, shooting pool and playing darts until Caterina spotted the Karaoke machine up on the little stage. "Oh let's get that bad boy fired up!" She squealed after having had another 2 pints of beer. "Yeah, sure, let me go turn it on" Andrew said. He looked directly at Danielle before announcing "come on then D. Give us a touch of the old Savre magic" "Ohhhh... no no no, no way. I am not singing. Not today. Cat, you can go" Danielle said nudging the Canadian towards the stage. Andrew returned to the his wife's side pulling her for a sideways hug and announcing to the group "I'm hungry. Should we order in some pizza or something?" "Excuse me Andrew, indeed we will not. Is that not a kitchen back there? Is it stocked?" Stefania was quick to say. "Eh... yeah... to both questions there." "Well then, you have two red bloodied Italian women here right now. We will go and make food for us. Come on Giovanna" she said taking Gee by the arm and dragging her off into the kitchen.

As the two Italians were busy in the kitchen, Cat, Kevin, Jason & Chandra went back to the pool table leaving Danielle & Andrew to sit and chat. "So, are you going to tell me about yesterday then?" He asked. "Mmm, I really like her Andrew. She's so gentle & sweet. I had one of the best dates of my life yesterday & it wasn't even a date! We went for lunch at Toscana before she took us up the Space Needle. Then we walked to the Ferry Terminal through the sculpture park. She had booked a ferry to Bainbridge Island! What are the chances of that?!" The blonde asked, astounded. "Woah... that's... fate?" Andrew asked. "Maybe... but there's more. She had organised for the best picnic I've ever seen to be already set out for us arriving. We lay there under the stars and I felt so comfortable with her. So, I walked her along to my Dad's place. I told her the whole story about my dad dying and me being adopted by Italians. She even knows that my family are the DeLucas and that you're also adopted and now technically my brother." She laughed at the last part still trying to wrap her head around that information. "And then this morning I told her a little bit about Paula and the shit she put me through. I didn't tell her everything and she doesn't know that it was Paula but she knows I've been damaged by a previous relationship which is why I'm so nervous about her." "Alright, and what did she say to all of that?" "Well she's not bothered at all by the DeLuca thing. She was mortified when she realised, I'm fluent in Italian and she told me that I deserve to be loved and that she wants to be the one to glue my broken parts back together again with love. As soon as she said that to me this morning, it was like a switch flicked in my brain and I jumped on her. Let's just say I gave her a very 'good morning' just before we left the hotel." The blonde laughed at the look on Andrew's face. "You know what Andrew, I'm going to marry that woman one day" "I'm so happy for you D, truly. I'm glad she's going to be the one to bring back the light in your eyes and the sunshine in your smile" he said hugging his best friend.

Just then the two woman returned from the kitchen carrying trays of spaghetti, macaroni cheese, bruschetta and sliced fruit with different sliced meats. "Thank you baby" Danielle said giving Stefania a loving kiss. This took Stefania by surprise though and Danielle could tell. She quickly disconnected their lips flushing with embarrassment and apologising before taking a step backwards. Stefania was quick to grab her hand though. "Hey, no no no. You're ok. I was just surprised because you said that you didn't want people to know that's all" she leaned in offering a quick kiss of her own. "Well, I've told Andrew everything and he'll surely fill Gee in. That's fine. Plus the other four are through the back there, they can't see us." Danielle smiled. "Ok, we'll let's take this through to them then will we?" Gee asked.

They went through to the pool room joining the others and laid out the food. They all sat enjoying the freshly prepared Italian food, laughing and chatting when suddenly they heard a voice shouting from the bar area...

"DELUCA, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! GET YOUR SORRY LITTLE ASS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"