DD's // SAUDADE

- FIFTEEN -

Florenzo and Sara Vitale were living in a small two storey house. It was about twenty minutes away from Liverpool's centre, but they were okay with it. They had their own garden, and it was filled with various flowers. They knew how much James loved roses, so they planted some for him.

When the doorbell rang, Sara looked at the door with a smile. She walked towards it while holding a cloth. Sara wiped her hands on it and opened the door, thinking it was her daughter. Instead, she faced a young woman. She was panting, and her hair was up in a messy bun.

"M-Mrs. Vitale!"

The girl spoke excitedly with an awkward smile. She could hear someone walking down the stairs, soon after, she faced James. James glared at Deetra with wide eyes and an open mouth. He thought that his sister had arrived and wanted to welcome her but was left speechless when he saw his girlfriend instead.

"Deetra, my dear, is that you? Come in!"

Deetra nodded with a smile walking and letting the suitcase by her side. She knew that James' eyes were stuck on her, but she was looking away shyly.

"What are you doing here? James told me that something occurred to you, and you couldn't join us!"

"Well, I took care of it faster than I thought, and I remember your address as James had mentioned it, so... I thought it would be nice if could come here...."

"Oh, that's so wonderful! It's such a pleasure to see you after so many years, Deetra! I'm so glad you managed to join us!"

Sara held Deetra's hand with both her hands and a toothy smile. Deetra glared back at the woman with the same smile and a nod. Mrs Sara was always such a nice woman to her eyes, she liked her a lot. Deetra went to James' house only once or twice when she was in high school. At that time, they were living in London, quite close to their school. Their old house was bigger than this and had a pool, but they didn't look dissatisfied with this one.

"What's going on? Who are you?"

They all looked at the man that made the question. Deetra gulped, seeing the tall man, understanding in seconds who he was. He looked at Deetra and then at James.

"Dad, this is my girlfriend, Deetra. Deetra, this is my father, Florenzo."

James glared at both of them as the girl raised her hand with an awkward smile. Florenzo looked serious as he held her hand between his fingers and gave it a kiss with a soft grin.

"So you're the young lady that my son can't stop talking about, hu?"

"It seems so."

"A pleasure to meet you, Deetra."

Deetra bit her tongue; the words seemed to not leave her mouth. She was still scared of the man in front of her.

"The pleasure is all mine. Mr Vitale."

"Oh, just call me Florenzo, Deetra!"

He smiled widely as Deeta laughed softly with a nod.

"Let me help you with your suitcase -"

"I'll help her dad; it's okay."

James grabbed it in seconds, holding onto it with all his strength. Florenzo was hiding his smile, seeing how polite his son was.

"I thought you wouldn't come, Deetra."

"There was a problem at work, but I managed to solve it quickly! I thought it would be a total shame to miss the dinner!"

"We are more than thankful to have you here, Deetra. James is really secret about his relationships, so when he announced he had a girlfriend, we couldn't wait to meet her!'