/sei/
Smiling brightly at them, the seventeen year old greeted the two priests, bowing her head at them out of respect. "Good morning father Cesar, good morning father Kim. Its nice to see you here this morning."
Quickly shaking his head, Jongdae corrected her, "Please, just call me Matteo. It's my Catholic name. I know my first name is harder to pronounce and I don't want to go by my surname."
The previous day, when Father Cesar had tried to pronounce his name--Jongdae--it had come out sounding butchered and wrong. Like Yong-da-eh. Jongdae didn't have the heart to correct him, so he instead insisted to be called Matteo. Although, he knew he wouldn't mind if Fiorella were to mispronounce his name. He knew it would still sound good in her voice.
She nodded, noting the information down in her mind, and continued, "What can I get for you today?" The smile remained on her face.
Her honey colored eyes watched the dark eyed priest expectantly. He looked around for something like a menu, and then admitted to her sheepishly, "I don't know anything about Argentine food, or even food from this part of the world. Maybe you have a suggestion for me?" He smiled a bit nervously, his lips curling up ever so slightly at the edges like a baby fox. She made him nervous, but it was in a way he didn't mind.
"I'll order for you, son." Father Cesar offered, taking control of the situation. "I'll have the usual and Father Matteo will have the same."
Fiorella jotted the order down in her notebook, already knowing what the older priest had every morning for breakfast, and asked another question. "And drinks?"
"I'll have a beer." Father Cesar said simply, as though it weren't a problem.
Jongdae was surprised that he would be drinking alcohol, especially so early in the morning. When Fiorella looked to him for a drink choice, he replied, "I'll just have some water please."
Soon Antonella Vanella came to them with their food. It was eggs, beans, and beef empanadas. As she set the food down on their table, she asked them with a smile, "Anything else for you two?" And when she grabbed Father Cesar's hand and kissed it, Jongdae thought she was a bit too nice to the older priest. He knew kissing a priest's hand was a sign of respect, but he got a strange feeling about the two of them. They were just too familiar with each other.
Jongdae gave a shake of his head in response. The food smelled great and his stomach was rumbling with hunger, he didn't need anything else. All he needed at that moment was to start eating.
Placing a hand on the young priest's shoulder, she asked, "My little Fiorellita said she met you yesterday. She said you were very handsome--" A grin was plastered onto her lips as she spoke. Her words managed to tint Jongdae's cheeks in the slightest shade of pink.
"Antonella," Father Cesar scolded with a stern voice. He was clearly not pleased that the new priest was getting so much attention, but female attention no less. "That is not something you should tell a priest."
"Your daughter was very nice." Jongdae assured her with a smile, clearing his throat nervously. Even mentioning her plagued his thoughts with the steamy images of his dream from the previous night. In front of her mother and Father Cesar, it was making him a bit uncomfortable. Without saying more, Antonella hurried back to the kitchen to resume cooking for the other customers. The restaurant was only run by her and her daughter and sometimes it got very busy with one person cooking and the other taking orders.
-
Jongdae didn't know how he found himself at the construction site alone with Fiorella Vanella, but he was there. He had decided he would avoid her for the sake of his soul, but it seemed the universe, or perhaps Satan were trying to push them together. By some circumstances of life, Father Cesar was summoned by the archbishop of the Pampas district, and had to leave town for two days. In that time, Jongdae was to run everything in his absence.
Since Father Cesar still wanted Jongdae to see the new hospital, he sent him with Jose, one of the rectory workers but Fiorella managed to tag along. Once she saw Father Cesar wouldn't be there, she found her chance.
She led Jongdae down one of the hallways while the construction crew worked all around them. Jose had gone to talk to the architect, who was going to give him information on the progress of construction.
"This is where the nursery will be located, and on the next floor there will be the care for the elderly people." She explained to him matter-of-factly, but Jongdae heard nothing of it. He was just lost in the sound of her melodious voice, and her angelic face. She could have asked him to do anything in that moment and he might have agreed, if only to hear her speak one more time. It was something he had never felt before. He was letting his desires take over in the place of his logic. But it was also the first time any women had paid attention to him. At the seminary, he never had any interactions with the opposite sex. Now he was getting extra attention, and it was attention from a beautiful girl.
"Father Kim," She tapped him on the shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. Her honey colored eyes looked directly into his stormy dark ones. The way in which she pronounced his name, in Spanish, sounded similar to the way he would pronounce it in Korean, but it was also lovely. It was so painfully beautiful to him that he wanted to hear it over and over. "Were you listening to anything I just said?" She wondered, doe eyes watching him intently, tilting her head curiously to the side in a cute gesture. She had just noticed how distracted he was looking.
He shook his head to clear his mind. "Of course I heard you, child. And will you stop calling me father? I told you to please call me Matteo."
Fiorella crinkled up her nose, displeased by one word he had called her. "Child? Is that the way you see me, father? I'm no child, we're nearly the same age!" If by nearly, she meant that he was only six years older than her. Still, it was a stretch of age. By now they had paused in their path and she turned to stand in front of him, hands on her hips like she was going to scold him.
But he didn't see her as a child.
Two days in Argentina and he was already sinning in his thoughts.
-
i haven't posted anything for this story in about a week or two. so i thought i would post something. right now though, i am kinda upset because last week some guy crashed the back of my car.
and he didnt want to get the insurance into it because he said he had just gotten his license. so i gave him a chance.
we took my car to his friend who fixes shit like this, and now my car has been at their shop for over a week. i want my car. my dad said if we didn't get it back today, he would go pick it up himself and let the insurance settle it.
im gonna get my car fixed either way. but i was trying to give this guy a chance. its up to him what happens now. i want my car back.
-clary
