Falling For The Mob

24 Perfect

Zoë

Running an eyeliner over my lower lids, I study my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

This afternoon I had my hair done, and I even pulled this classy short black dress from the back of my closet. It has been months since I have been out, and even longer since I have been on an actual date. I should be more excited, but again, just like every spare moment this week, all I can think about is Sam.

Two weeks have passed since our talk, and I had expected to have moved on by now. It is infuriating knowing that I have so little control over my own mind. There is a part of me that regrets not even trying with her, but then again, we can't even agree on what to try, so what would the point be? I am not what she wants, and she is not what I need. This is for the best.

After putting on the final touches, I walk out of the bathroom just as my doorbell rings.

My fingers tremble a bit as I reach for the doorknob, even if I have been on countless dates with Vinny, this somehow feels different. I have no idea how the night will go, but at the very least, I will have my mother off my back.

"Ready?"

He greets me with the same charming smile that made my heart beat faster when I was sixteen.

Like the perfect gentleman, he holds the door open and helps me into the truck before running around to the driver's side.

"What's on the agenda for tonight?"

He chuckles a bit when starting the ignition. "What ever happened to your sense of adventure, the 'go with the flow' Zoë that I used to know?"

"Well, it's been almost ten years, I'm not the same person I was back then."

He flashes me a sweet smile before turning on to the highway to exit the city. "The important parts of who you are will never change, that's what matters." A smile forcefully tugs at the corner of my mouth. "I'm sure the old Zoë is still in there somewhere, and my plan for tonight is taking you on a nostalgia tour till she comes out. We are going to go on the same date we always went on in high school, minus the sneaking out part."

I laugh remembering the countless times I was caught sneaking out or back into my bedroom window by one of my brothers.

"Would you look at that, maybe tonight won't be as bad as you thought." He says in the same mocking tone that used to drive me up a wall. I can't deny that he knows me at least a bit more than I thought.

Half an hour later, he pulls up to an unpaved, dark parking lot and turns the car off. All I can see around us are trees and a few more parked cars.

"You're still a size eight and half, right?" From the back seat, he grabs a pair of flip-flops. "We ain't doing fancy stuff tonight, so take those heels off." His over the top accent forces a laugh out of me.

I step closely behind him as he walks through a rusty metal gate and begins walking through an unevenly lit path with a backpack slung over his shoulder. If I was with anyone else, I might have second-guessed doing this.

"Vinny, what are we doing here?"

"Well, this is the part where I lure you into a dark place and murder you, don't you remember?" Even though he can't see it, I instinctively roll my eyes and smile. A few more steps brings us to a park clearing where a large white sheet is stretched into the air with a projector shining on it. This was definitely the same date we always went on, back home we watched movies like this at least twice a month.

Taking me by the hand, he drags me to the back, where he spreads out a blanket for us.

"How am I doing so far, feel like running yet?" It comes out as a joke, but I know him well enough to know how hard he is trying right now.