Simone Valentino

~~~4~~~

The stones under my shoes clicked as I stared at the houses on the opposite side of the street, making guesses as to who lives there. The blue one on the corner had to be that basic American dream of a family, the one beside it on the other hand, definitely belonged to an addict. I saw my door, white and plain, and smiled. Then I saw the window. It was closed all the way. I always left it barely open, so when someone climbed in threw it, and shut it I'd know. The question now was who was in my house? John has three spare keys and no one else would care enough. So I'd been robbed? No, that's unlikely. Apartments in this part of town were not necessarily a thief's paradise. No, this was done by someone who wanted to see me.

Fear ran through my veins like water.

He has no reason to kill me. I said to myself and held my breath.

With my nerves as calm as they will be in this situation, I walked in.

The tall mobster with his slick-backed hair, dressed to a T was looking through my cabinets. He turned and smiled at me. "Where's the sugar? I only drink my tea with sugar."

"I think  tea is perfectly fine without it." He gave me a glare, "it's in the top drawer next to the oven." He glided over to the cabinet and poured two spoons of sugar into my favorite mug.

He turned around and took a sip, smiling at me with one eyebrow raised.

"How'd you know where I live?" I asked

"How'd you know who I was?" He demanded, his demeanor changing. He lifted himself onto the counter and crossed his legs.

"I asked first."

"I asked better." Valentino says and winks, his lips turning up at the corners. He sips his tea and his stare sends goosebumps down my arms.

"Simone's is not a very common name. And to be honest, I didn't. You confirmed my suspicions. Now how the hell did you find my house?"

"I'm in the mafia. How do you think I found your house?"

I lean on my wall and look him up and down.

"Where's your husband?"

"My husband?- oh yes John. He's wonderful, just at wo-" The well-rehearsed response came easy but it was cut off by keys in the lock.

"Eleanor! I had the best idea for din-" The words died on his lips as John walked through the door, he lifted his eyes and stared at the tall Italian sitting on our counter.

He froze and stood there, mouth open. Simone grinned

"How do you do, Mr. Johnson?" John blinked about 34 times then simply backed out of the doorway. Closing the door and locking it from the outside.

Simone tilts his head in confusion and turns to face me.

"So, that was your... Husband." He pauses and looks at the door. "He seems nice."

"Oh, I assure you. He is."

We stand there, watching each other in silence.

"He's not your husband is he?"

"Oh, not even a little bit." I say and laugh. I look up to see him smile.

Simone pushes himself off of the counter, and with only three quick strides he's arm's length away from me. He takes a deep breath and puts his hands in his pockets, fiddling with something that made a loud clicking noise.

"While you are lovely Eleanor, you and I both know I'm not here just to chat," He moves his face closer to mine and widens his smirk, "I want to make a deal with you."

"What would this deal enclose?"

"Well, two main things. Your 'husband' works in the police department's files, correct?"

"You work fast. Yes, he does."

"Well, I need to see what they have on us. Name a number and you'll have it in your bank account as soon as you've completed whatever you choose to do."The kettle Simone put on for tea starts to shriek.

Simone moves his face away and walks back to the counter where he left out a teacup with the te bag already nicely placed inside. He pours the hot water into the cup and I watch as the smoke rises from the spout. He turns to face me as he searches the drawers for a spoon.

"On your left." I quickly say and he opens the drawer, holding up the spoon and nodding his head towards me as a way to say "thank you".

He grabs two spoonfuls of sugar before placing the spoon in his cup and stirring. He closes the cutlery drawer and places the spoon beside the hot cup of tea and turns to face me.

"And one other thing," I listened attentively as the mobster lifted the hot cup of tea to his mouth, sipping only a little before placing it down and licking his lips. "Well, this is a more unusual request. I need a date for a family dinner. You know how parents can be." He tilted his head and grinned, once again picking up the cup and taking another sip.

I had a feeling declining would be a very bad idea. Simone placed the teacup down again and smiled.
I felt this little deal we had was leaning towards his side more than my own. Of course, I knew I had no other choice but to accept as I was too afraid to know the consequences of declining. I sat there and muttered to myself as the thought hit me.

I'd get to meet the Valentinos. I said to myself, still staring at his piercing grey eyes.

I gave him a small smile and tilted my head.

"Okay." I said before I could convince myself not to.

Simone looked a little surprised.

"I was going to give you the night to choose but then again I wouldn't pass up the chance to go out with me either." He snickered at his own comment and I rolled my eyes, fighting a smile. Simone chugged the tea and gently placed the cup on the counter. He puts the spoon in the sink and closes the sugar bowl, being careful to put it back where he found it. He slowly walked to the door, his hand placed on the handle when he pauses. "Hope to see you soon. To work out the details of course." He opened the door and breezed out.

A stunned looking John watching him, wide-eyed and panicked.

"Goodnight Mr. Johnson," He tilts his head to John in respect.

Simone looks back at me and gives me a smile.

"Mrs. Johnson." Simone quickly walks down the stairs and disappears into the dark of the night.

John slowly turned his horrified face to me and I did my best to give him a composed shrug.

"He seems nice."