𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 ⚔︎

12

"jesse!" a light-hearted voice coming from outside awakened giovanni from his slumber, followed by the sound of sweet, girlish laughter. "put me down!"

giovanni sat up and yawned, stretching his arms in front of him, his triceps flexing at the motion. his rolex on the bedside table pointed to a few minutes after ten — it was finally morning. he saw gigi laying next to him on the bed, curled up, her little pink nose buried in her white paws. he stroked from the back of her head to her fluffy tail and smiled to himself as she mewled in her sleep.

he got up and started to get ready for the day ahead. from his closet, he picked out a red ralph lauren polo shirt and denim jeans to wear with his white nike cortez trainers. he had some errands to run for eddie and the guys today, and not the kind of 'errands' he normally would do for them. this time, he had been given actual chores to do, such as picking up their suits from the dry cleaners and visiting the captains to tell them about the run-in with the costellos that had occurred yesterday. eddie had also given him the task of repairing one of the porch lights that somehow went bust a few nights ago.

after brushing his teeth, shaving, and washing his face, giovanni headed downstairs, curious as to where the laughter that woke him up had came from. he wandered into the kitchen where cecelia was hastily wiping the countertops, a soapy white cloth in hand. she nodded to him and they exchanged greetings. he rummaged through the cupboards and reached up to get the toolbox. he then poured himself a small cup of coffee.

when he walked through the foyer and opened the front door, he was met by jesse and the same girl he had seen with him last night. in the circular driveway, right in front of the water fountain, jesse was sat sideways on his motorcycle while the girl stood in front of him, her hands on his shoulders. they were both laughing quietly about something. he snaked his arms around her waist. at giovanni's arrival, they pulled away from each other.

jesse shot him a grin. "hey."

giovanni dipped his head, putting his toolbox and his coffee down beside one of the big, white pillars on the porch. "hello," he said, avoiding his eyes.

jesse stood up and put his arm around the girl. "baby, this is giovanni, a good friend of mine." he dipped his head to the other young man currently crouched on the porch, rummaging through the toolbox. "giovanni... this is my girlfriend, tallulah."

ah, so this was the tallulah that jesse had been talking about.

even from just one sideways glance, giovanni could tell that tallulah was a very beautiful girl — he was no idiot. men are always visual creatures. she had voluminous, wavy blonde hair that stooped just above her chest, graciously framing a heart-shaped face. her skin was lightly tanned and she had a slim, athletic build. a straight, buttoned nose and lips with a rather pronounced cupid's bow upon them paired well with blue eyes, which looked like gems of turquoise when the sun hit them. she wore a white, twist-knitted, tightly fitting v-neck sweater tucked into light-wash denim jeans.

needless to say, she was an ultimate bombshell. tallulah looked like she had just hopped up off the cover of vogue magazine.

she smiled brightly at him as giovanni stood up to shake her hand. "hi, nice to meet you. giovanni's a really cool name."

he dipped his head. "thank you. as is yours."

he watched in silence as jesse's hand slipped from around her shoulder and down to her hips, pulling her closer to him. giovanni did nothing but stare at the way his fingers played with one of her belt loops.

jesse spoke again. "well, we should probably head off soon, huh?"

"yeah," tallulah said, nodding in agreement. "oh, wait— i left my keys upstairs. i'll quickly go grab them."