𝙇𝙖 𝙎𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙙𝙧𝙖 𝙓 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 HIATUS

𝙋𝙩. 17

The rule of staying together was disobeyed by everyone but you. You sat beside Prosciutto at the bar, both of you were tipsy. You gave up on talking to Risotto after the conversation dropped dead after a few minutes when you ran out of conversation starters. Prosciutto on the other hand was great at holding a conversation with you, at least while he was drunk. You thought that Risotto would stay sober incase a fight broke out with an enemy, but even he was relaxing. It was you that struggled. You knew Melone was okay, and no one around you seemed dangerous, yet you couldn't shake your tense muscles and on-guard mindset.

The music around the two of you was tempting you to dance. Everyone around you had grabbed a partner or went solo as the music tempted all of them to go out and do their best Tango's. You weren't into fancy music all that much, so whenever someone beside you shouted out in glee as their favorite song came on, you just sat there awkwardly and sipped another drink. The Hotel could afford a live performance of violins and piano, and the music was overall very nice.

Illuso was dancing with some random broad on the side of the dance floor, and Risotto was still in the corner like a creep. Formaggio was trying to hide how awkward he was while standing there alone near the entrance of the room, and his excuse was that he was watching for anything suspicious since you can never be too careful, but you knew he was just bored and had nothing else to do. You couldn't see Ghiaccio or Pesci in the crowd, but that might have been because your vision was tainted by the number of alcoholic beverages you've had.

"It's so glum sitting here all night, want to have a dance before we leave?" Prosciutto suddenly asked you. His question surprised you, since you've never been asked to dance with somebody, not at a fancy party like this at least, and surely not with a guy like Prosciutto. But it also surprised you that it was Prosciutto asking you to dance, the guy never showed interest in you romantically yet here he was asking for a dance. You checked your phone, seeing that it was nearing Midnight.

"Sure." You tucked your phone away. "One dance." You smiled cheekily, taking Prosciutto's hand as he guided you off onto the dance floor. Once the two of you were in the middle, he put his hands on your hips.
"I don't know how to dance," You smiled sheepishly. "So-"

"It's alright, let me show you." It was this dancing juice that was making him do this, there's no way Prosciutto would dance with you if he wasn't drinking. He lifted your hands onto his shoulders and returned his to your hips. "It's easy,"

"To you." You rolled your eyes, trying to hide your flushed cheeks. You shot a quick glance at Risotto from across the room, and he was already staring at you. He was giving you a disapproving look as he eyed the two of you holding each other.
Suddenly, Prosciutto began to sway to the rhythm of the music, holding you securely. You stared into his eyes, and it seemed like the world around you vanished. It was just the two of you on this dance floor, no one else. You were an amateur at best at dancing, but you felt so light on your feet as he swayed with you, his eyes were like an ocean, and you were drowning in them. You smelt his cologne, that sweet cologne you smelt on the first day you met him. His scent made you exhale with relief as you were finally able to relax on this night, on this night you relaxed within Prosciutto's arms, and you'd be lying if you said you didn't like it.

He swung you around and dipped you which caught you off guard, you laughed a bit as he raised you up again. He was a great dancer; you would've never known unless you were here right now dancing with him. You were beginning to be thankful you agreed to dance. For the first time you weren't nervous around him, or anxious that you would say something stupid that would make him treat you the way he did on the first day you met. You felt like he was open to you, like an open book and you read every page with interest. Your heart fluttered as he ran his hand up your waist.

"You're a great dancer." You complimented, distracting yourself from your emotions. He nodded slightly, spinning you around,

"You aren't too bad yourself for someone who said they had no idea how to dance." He nudged you playfully.
Once you two were back in the original dancing position, the music changed to a slow tempo, it was heavenly. The musicians were very talented, and you considered complimenting their work afterwards. You set your head on his shoulder, still staring at him.

"I want this moment to last forever." You whispered to yourself. This was the best you have felt in a while, with the difficulties of Risotto finding out about your betrayal, and the Boss's inevitable finding out about your betrayal has been stressful. Today has really taken off a lot of weight from your shoulders, and this was like a cherry on top of the good-feeling sundae.

Prosciutto let out a small hum, holding you close to his chest as the music soothed you. It was so comforting being held like this.

"Well, that was one dance." He carefully teared himself away from you. You lifted your head disappointingly. Even drunk he found ways to play with you. He grinned at your distraught composure, and he lifted your chin to him.
"It's late, are you tired? We should gather everyone and turn in." He looked towards Risotto.

"I suppose you're right..." you groaned. "I'll go find Pesci." Your mouth curved into a smile as you turned around to look for Pesci, but Prosciutto pulled you back to face him as he gave you a peck on the lips, holding you by the waist again.

"You can't dance with me like that and leave me without a kiss." He smirked. "I'll go tell Risotto, meet at the entrance in five." And with that, he disappeared into the crowd of people towards Risotto's corner. You stood there holding your bottom lip for a moment, but quickly snapped back into reality when Pesci nervously passed you nearby like a fish hurrying from a predator. You chased after him and grabbed his shoulder, scaring him.

"I'm sorry," You apologized quickly. Pesci's face eased upon seeing you. "Prosciutto said we should turn in for the night, go to the entrance and wait for him." You pointed over where Formaggio was standing. "Tell Formaggio too."
Pesci nodded and went off. You stared at Illuso who was still dancing with that broad from earlier, and you thought not to bother telling him to meet at the entrance. If he wants to hook up with somebody, who are you to object? So, you went off to find Ghiaccio. He was arguing with a random guy about how to properly pronounce Italian words, turns out that man was a tourist visiting from Germany and mispronounced 'Toilet' when he was asking someone where he could find the bathroom. It took more than five minutes to get Ghiaccio away from that argument.

***

"Alright, is everyone here?" Risotto asked, looking at the group. "Where's Illuso?"

"He's dancing with somebody, I thought we should just tell him in the morning what our next move is." You shrugged, Risotto nodded and started down the hallway. Pesci, Formaggio, and Ghiaccio followed him. Risotto seemed a bit wobbly but managed to stay upright and still seem intimidating. This left you alone with Prosciutto again.

"I had fun tonight." Prosciutto said, giving you a smile.

"Me too." You replied, not able to make eye contact with him. The feeling of his soft lips on yours still lingered, and so did the butterflies from when you were dancing with him. "We should get going..." You suggested, seeing that Risotto was already at the elevator. Prosciutto nodded, and not another word was exchanged on the way towards the elevator. You weren't upset about it, but you would want some more insight on that kiss. Was it just a kiss for the dance? Or was it a kiss indicating interest in you. You were too nervous to ask.

Your emotions were also conflicted; you weren't sure if you liked Prosciutto in that way. You had to stay professional when it came to this sort of thing, and the professional thing to do is to politely tell him you aren't interested in him. The only problem with that is that you are interested in him, and you aren't the best at hiding your emotions. Risotto was already suspicious before when Prosciutto held your waist on the way to the party, and he might have seen him kiss you earlier. You were starting to think that coming to this hotel might not have been the best idea.

So much for that good-feeling sundae.