the age of innocence | lewandowski

6 : you

"In a world that drowns me in ugly,
your beauty gives me breath."

//

Robert had gone from being a nobody to his office to being the top man, and it happened suddenly.

Maybe nobody was an understatement—he did have an important job, and was higher than a lot of other people in the office. But never before did women stop by his office to say that they were going to go get coffee, and wondered if he wanted them to get him something; never did the other men ask if he wanted to join them for drinks after they got off.

Giuliana seemed to finally be coping with her fate, though Robert could still see how sad she got whenever she thought about it. The truth was that she really did want to go to university in America, and the only thing that kept her from breaking down over it was the fact that the acceptance letters hadn't been sent out.

When Marco asked her what university she planned on going to, she told him she didn't plan on going. He stared at her, completely flabbergasted.

"What?" He spoke, shocked. "You have so much intelligence, Giuliana—I can't watch that go to waste."

Giuliana's face turned red. "How do you know? I'm failing your class."

"You're not failing anymore." He spoke, handing her their most recent test. "You got an A. You're improving rapidly."

Giuliana sighed. "Thanks." She put it in her bag, and they began to walk to the parking lot. Today, Robert had promised to pick her up, a product of his guilt.

"I'm serious, though. You're very brilliant. What do you plan on doing, if not going to university?"

Giuliana shrugged. "I don't know."

He stopped walking, and turned to face her. "Then why won't you go?"

Quickly, she stammered out a lie. "I...don't know."

Marco looked her up and down, confusedly. There were a few bruises—more hickeys, he was guessing—on her neck. Suddenly, he spoke. "It's not that boyfriend of yours, is it?"

Giuliana's face reddened. "No," she lied again. "It's not him."

They continued walking. Marco sighed. "Thanks again for helping me out the other day. Though I didn't know that was Chiara Corleone—it was so dark in there."

Giuliana rolled her eyes. As aforementioned sometime during this story, Chiara was a popular model, and rejection was pretty rare when it came to the Italian beauty. "If you knew it was her, would you have talked to her?"

Marco's cheeks turned pink. "I don't know, maybe. Probably not. I have this situation already, but I'm trying to get out of it."

Giuliana looked up at Marco. "What's your situation?"

Marco looked at his car. "Well, it's a long story. Do you need a ride—"

Giuliana spotted Robert's car. After all, he drove with the top down, as it was a hot day, and looked incredibly—enviously, in the eyes of a male—handsome in his sunglasses, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to expose his forearms and a nice watch on his wrist.

"—this is me." Giuliana waved at Marco. "See you tomorrow," she spoke, before going and getting in the car. She kissed Robert's cheek, knowing that wasn't exactly a gesture that was always romantic, before speaking. "Hello."

He squeezed her thigh. "How was your day?"

Giuliana sighed, melancholy, and looked out at the road. "It was fine. Can you take me to see Mats?"