Lorenzo's Lucky Number

8| ohana

"Lorenzo, take the pizza out of the oven, hurry! Eleonora, set the table!"

The closer it was until Evelina came, the more nervous I was. There were so many things on my mind; so many things that could possibly go wrong. What if it was awkward? What if mom didn't approve? It was unlikely, but it was possible. Somehow I've never thought about all this before with other girls, but of course, Evelina meant more to me than those other girls. Worst case scenario, if my dad suddenly decides to not spend the night at some bar or with some woman and comes home—it won't end well. In other words, we'd all be fucked.

How do I know my dad sleeps with other women? I just do; whenever he goes out he comes home at least after one in the morning, sleeps in his clothes and smells like perfume in the morning. And for as long as I could remember, there were condoms in his car's glove department. We all know, we just don't talk about it.

Once I carefully removed the freshly baked pizza I sliced it into eight thin equal pieces. "When's dad coming back?"

"Never I hope." mom replied. A few moments later she properly answered my question, "I told him to come back in the morning and he was pretty happy."

Suddenly the doorbell rang and a wave of panic washed over me. Before I even made it to the door, Eleonora had already opened it.

"Hi Lorenzo's girlfriend!" she shouted excitedly.

And wow, she was stunning.

The first thing I noticed besides her face was the symbolic rose necklace. She wore a navy blue long sleeved skin-tight dress that perfectly flaunted her curves...

Was it too early to think of marrying her?

"Evelina!" my mom greeted happily as she made her way to the door, "You look amazing, honey. I can see now why my son is so interested in you."

Evelina giggled bashfully as my mom pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Mrs. De Luca!"

"Please, call me Allegra."

Allegra meant cheerful or lively; happy. A perfect description of who my mom once was before my dad became an alcoholic, when he was everything I could've wanted in a father. I will forever cherish those memories...I just wish Eleonora were old enough at the time to remember. These days I hardly ever see her happy, but the second my sister opened that door to reveal Evelina, my mom was happier than she's been in a long time.

Evelina just had that effect on people, I swear.

EVELINA

"How did you two meet?" Allegra asked as I placed a slice of pizza onto my plate.

The memories of when we first met in that humid gas station flooded back to me.

"I was selecting numbers on a lottery ticket at the gas station..."

'My lucky number's seventeen.'

"And I told her my lucky number." he continued with a cheesy smile.

"You wanna know why Lory loves that number so much?" she asked and laughed when Lorenzo groaned, probably at the nickname, "May seventeenth was the day Eleonora's birth was predicted to be, but she came a bit later.

"The universe saved me from having to deal with her until a few days after." he added. "Then my life was ruined."

I could feel Eleonora kick him under the table, hard. "Ow!"

"It can't be that lucky if I haven't won yet." I taunted.

"Well you know what they say, good things come to those who wait." said Allegra.

"It's true, I had to wait eighteen years for you, Lina."

I took a sip of water to hide the embarrassment on my face while Allegra laughed.

"How charming, Lory. No wonder you've gotten so many girls."

"So many?" I asked curiously.

I was not jealous. Not jealous.

"So many that we've lost count by now!" Eleonora exclaimed jokingly.

"Ellie!" he cried, "T-they weren't meaningful."

"What about you, Evelina?"

After seeing the puzzled look on my face, she clarified herself, "You get a lot of guys, yes? I mean, before Lorenzo."

"I did but...I stopped paying attention to them."

Except Lucious. I mentally cursed at myself, why did I even bother with him?

"You stopped?" she inquired.

It was true; earlier on in high school there were several boys who were interested in me but they came and went. The ones I did get involved with left me broken hearted and crying in the washroom—so after that, I just gave up; until Lorenzo.

"Boys kept breaking my heart." I said as I bit into my third slice of pizza...it was thin, and I was hungry, okay?

"Ah, I see. Lorenzo won't break your heart, right figlio?"

Everyone instantly turned to him and he looked so alarmed I nearly choked on water.

"N-no! Never!" He stammered.

"Renzo always break girls' hearts!" Eleonora chimed in.

"Eleonora, please shut up." Lorenzo ordered, trying to sound calm.

At this point Allegra and I were trying to stop ourselves from bursting into laughter.

"Remember Jessica, Isabella, Samantha, Renée-"

"Stop!" Lorenzo screamed in a panic, while I was laughing so hard I was struggling to breathe.

"Alright, Ellie," Allegra said, still chuckling, "Let's give Lory a break."

Lorenzo was crossing his arms with a look of clear annoyance on his face. I would tease him even more—but I did not want to piss him off further.

"One day when you bring a guy home for dinner, Imma do that to you, just wait."

"Nice try, but Eleonora won't be taking any boys home anytime soon. Right, figlia?"

Eleonora smugly grinned at Lorenzo, "Exactly, so I won't have to deal with boys like you!"

"Hey, what's wrong with me?!" he asked, concern dripping from his words.

"Nothing's wrong with you, honey." I said, trying to console him.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed, still irritated by his family.

In that moment, I realized that this boy who I once saw as an enigma was definitely more of an open book. Being in his small apartment room with his loving and fun family who welcomed me with such open arms, and knowing I fell in love with a boy who always put me first made me feel like nothing was wrong; like I was at peace with the world.

Then I heard the door unlock followed by someone stumbling in.

***

can't wait until i get to introduce the real problem in the story ;)

much love :* jess