Bella Danza | #Wattys2015

F i v e

*edited*

F i v e 💃 August 18th

"Isabella," Noni all but growled while she glared at me.

I smiled as if nothing was wrong. "Yes, Noni?" I said, putting on my Italian accent. She was always much nicer when I was full Italian. She was biased that way.

"Do you have-uh any-ting tuh tell me-uh?" she asked. Her Italian accent was heavier than ever and sent chills down my body. Not good chills, either. The sort of chills you get when watching a scary movie and the freaky nursery rhyme song came on.

"Eh," I said, looking around. "Oh!" I said, snapping my fingers. "Mr. Rizzo said hi."

My lie didn't have the effect I was hoping for. Noni just glared even more deeply at me. "When you get-uh home, we weel talk-uh." She warned, and then held out her hand to me. "Keys." She demanded.

"But I need them to get in-"I began, but she cut me off.

"No," she said shortly. "I weel buzz you-uh in."

I pouted while I reached into my purse and handed her my keys. Noni took them and with one last glare, she sashayed her way out of the restaurant.

I was not looking forward to my meeting with her at all, and I did everything in my power to stay as late as possible at Rizzo's, but Mr. Rizzo had somehow overheard my conversation with Noni and forced me to leave at nine rather than staying and waitressing the pub.

I sulked all the way to my apartment.

There were two ways that this fight could go down. Noni could fight with me and forgive me, or she could not fight with me and hate me. There was never a third option or an in between. It was always one or the other and had been that way ever since I was a child.

I pressed the button when I reached my apartment building and said into it, "Noni? I'm here." I knew which one she picked when all she did was buzz me in.

I didn't want to go inside, but something told me that I had to. Noni was my family. She was my grandmother and mother put in one. She taught me everything that I knew. She showed me how to dance. She was my lifeline. I couldn't go on without her.

So, I pushed open the now buzzed open door and treaded heavily up the stairs. When I reached my room, I heaved a big breath and knocked softly on the door. Noni's voice rang out from the other side saying, "It's open."

I turned the knob and pushed open the door and walked into my apartment. Noni was sitting in one of the chairs at my dining table, staring out the large window at the beautiful night sky.

She didn't glance at me at all when I walked in and shut the door. I set down my purse on the coffee table and walked to the table. "Noni?" I questioned.

She didn't look at me.

I pulled out a chair. I sat down.

"Noni, please talk to me."

She just kept staring out the window.

"Per favore," I begged in Italian. "Mi dispiace." I said quietly, looking down at my hands in my lap.

Silence hung in the air.

I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding when Noni finally said, "Do you know why-uh I forbade-uh you from that-uh comp-tee-she-on?" she asked. I looked up at her so I could read her facial expression. She wasn't looking at me, but I could tell she was hiding her feelings from me.