Book 1: Valentina

Chapter 28

Marco

I checked my watch again, it was now 9:25 and I'd missed the window to tell my dad about the threat that Naomi had made, so I'd have to call and hope that this would be one of those rare instances where he answers the phone or calls me first.

"Marco, aren't you gonna eat?" She asked.

She wanted to come to Olive Garden to celebrate our anniversary after a day full of doing  shit only she enjoyed, especially given that I was being forced.

"I'm not really hungry." I said.

"Look, you don't have to do that, at least pretend like you're having a good time." She said.

"You want me to pretend like I'm enjoying myself, in a situation that I'm forced to be in?" I asked.

"Situation? This is a date. And you'd better get in a better mood fast because you don't want me to end this night in a bad mood." She said.

I rolled my eyes and on the other side of the restaurant I saw Danny being seated with Nate and Artura. Then my heart dropped and I started feeling butterflies flying in my stomach, when she took her cap off and the purple curls fell to her face.

"Marco, what do you want to eat?" Naomi asked.

I shifted my gaze back to her and tried responding before she turned around and realized that Artura was here, too.

"I-uh just-uh." I stuttered and I kept stammering because all I kept replaying in my head was Artura and words weren't forming.

"Just get him the spaghetti, he's Italian they like pasta." She said.

"And for your drink?" The waiter asked.

"Water." I said.

Ten minutes later Naomi and I were sitting in front of each other dead silent, I looked over to the table where Artura and the others were sitting but it was empty, I figured that she'd seen me and Noami here because the view from her table was a clear shot to mine.

"This isn't anything personal, Marco." Naomi said placing her napkin in her lap.

"What?" I replied returning my eyes back to her.

She watched as the waiter sat our drinks on the table, said thank you and watched as he walked off.

"It's not personal. " Was all she said.

"What goes through your head for you to think up something like this, how crazy must you be, Naomi." I said.

"You've kept me from my family, for more than 24 hours, you've threatened my father and, you-"

"Kept you from Artuta?" She said.

The waiter came back and placed our plates in front of us and left again. She'd been staring at me since she stopped talking. I just wanted to leave and talk to m dad and explain everything to Artra,, but it was like she knew and was purposely keeping me away.

"You cant keep me away forever, you know that, right?" I said.

"I don't need to keep you away forever, just long enough." she said.

"Long enough for what?" I asked.

She only smiled and started eating her salad, she was upsetting me and I didn't know if this was part of some plan for her to expose my father to her uncle but it was working and I needed to calm down.

"I'm going to the restroom." I said standing and walking off without letting her speak.

I walked across the restaurant, and to the restroom. I stood at the sink tryin to figure out how I was going to explain this to Artura, how  was I going to make her see that it wasn't Naomi that I wanted but her. There was no way to persuade her now that she's seen me with Naomi.