During the Thunderstorm (Natural Disaster) ✔

Chapter Nine

"I can't wait for this to be over, take a shower, eat something cheesy, sleep, and never socialize again," Allegra claimed as soon as she buckled her seatbelt.

Federico clipped his seatbelt and looked at her with arched eyebrows. "In that order?"

"No. Not socializing is my top priority now. I don't want to see anyone in like a month," Ally snuggled in her seat. It was leather pressed against her hot skin, soft and comfortable. She could remain in this car for a long while.

Even the company wasn't as bad. Or not bad at all.

Throughout the flight, she couldn't deny she wished it was Federico next to her instead of the old lady—who Ally never caught her name because she was disturbed by other mouthy matters. Ally wouldn't mind Federico rambling her ear off, he'd been doing it for the past twenty-four hours, and she had yet to be bored or out of topics to discuss.

"That woman did traumatize you," He muttered with mirth as he retreated from his parking spot and steered to the ramps and highways. Ally smiled.

"Yes. So tired. I don't get how people manage it."

"Manage what? Talking?" Fede shot her a look from the corner of his eye as his lips curled.

"Yes. I didn't even talk, and I'm exhausted for her."

He chuckled. "Don't know what you're talking about. Talking is one of the joys of life."

"Gah, don't be one of those people who say humans are sociable creatures by nature and need socializing."

"Aren't we? Don't we?"

She crunched her nose. "Yes. But to what extent?"

He shrugged. "I don't mind it."

"Don't you find it tiring to search for topics to talk about? I don't mean to sound rude or cruel, but I don't want to know a lot of stuff about some people. What's the point? I'm not going to see most of them again. Unnecessary random facts that would occupy my memory. And then there are some which I don't care about, they don't have anything interesting or important to say. I rather have a talk in my head with myself."

His smile was secretive as he looked at her. "Some people are surface level; I give you that. But then there are other people who you find fascinating, and you just want to learn all about them. What are their dreams, what they do in their free time, what they are scared of."

A blush crept in her cheeks as Federico continued talking.

"You want to know what's going on in their heads," He said as he gazed at her. "With this kind of people, I don't have a problem searching for topics to talk about. It's endless."

She nodded. "Yes, but that kind of connection happens with few people. Seldom, I would say one person every three years?"

Fede chuckled at her calculations. "You'd measured this?"

Ally shrugged. "Yes. I can count on one hand how many people I have a great connection with. Then I divide it by my age, hence the result."

"Accuracy before anything."

Ally laughed and nodded. "Correct."

"But going back to the topic, a deep and instant connection you might be meaning to earlier. Haven't you been exposed to some people for long bouts, you ended up learning you have more things in common than what you expected before?"

"No," Yes. Maybe you but I'm still unsure about it.

Federico shot her an incredulous look, full of mirth since he knew she was lying.