The Vacation

Chapter Thirteen

"I...what? Take a deep breath. It'll be okay. This may not make you feel better, but it was bound to happen. I mean you're here for another 17 and a half months and he's there. Also....I don't...I didn't think you had a boyfriend?" Alessio was hugging me and rubbing my back for comfort...the exact opposite of what his words were doing to me.

I stopped crying and took a huge breath. "Well, yeah. Not anymore I don't. That little snake. But um yeah. His name is Garret and we were together for like our whole lives -"

"I don't care about his life story. You don't like him, I don't like him. End of story. But I didn't know you had a boyfriend. When I came out to you and I predicted that you weren't a cheerleader and you didn't have a quarterback boyfriend...remember? Well you said I was right, so I guess I just assumed..." He interrupted me before I could get any farther.

"Yeah, you were right. He's not the quater back of the football team. He's a pole jumper. He runs track. Garret and I...I don't know. I thought we were meant to be. But I guess I've always just been the naive little bitch that everybody uses for her skill in bed, apparently.

"But it's whatever. Just let me wipe this mascara off my cheeks and then we can go to your party. Okay?" I finish abruptly as I stand up, grab makeup wipes, and head to the bathroom.

Ali calls after me, "Um...I meant to tell you...it's not actually a party...it's just gonna be you and me and my brother and a friend of his. You know, hanging out. Maybe playing board games or something." Oookay, that stopped me in my tracks. I was looking forward to going to a party and getting very, very drunk and maybe going to bed with an English stranger. "Oh and dinner," he shouted again. "Are you okay with homemade cheese toasties and some fizzy drinks? We wanted to keep it simple."

My hand froze once again, this time with the eyelash curler inches from my face. "Uh....I don't know what either of those things are but sure. I'm down to try some London-y things." Really hope I wouldn't regret that. With my luck, it was probably code for escargot and goat sausage or something. But Alessio was teaching me that being open minded wasn't so bad after all.

***

Alessio stopped his Corsa and shut off the ignition. We stepped out and I almost fell backwards with my first glace of his house. Or should I say mansion? It was four stories tall, all stone on the outside, and had shaped bushes in the front yard. Lawn? I don't know; I'm not into fancy terms for landscaping. It was a fabulous place. I can't believe that Alessio and his brother, whom I still didn't know because Alessio refused to tell me his name or his instagram, and Mr. Cararra were the only ones that lived here. Sitting just on the outskirts of the main hubbub of London, it looked like it could fit at least sixty people, all with their own separate bedroom and bathroom inside.

Alessio leads me up the front walk and opens the large, heavy looking wooden door. As we walk in, he shouts down the hallway, "Marco! We're here!" A large dog comes bounding around the hallway corner at the sound of Ali's voice. Is his dog's name Marco? Must be. He starts wagging his tail and barking loudly until Alessio bends down to pet him, and then comes to me. Hesitantly, because dogs really aren't my thing, I reach down and pat his head. "Hello, Marco. You're...um...very excitable, aren't you?" I say awkwardly.

Alessio starts laughing so hard he has to lean on his knees to hold him up. He looks up at me, tears streaming down his face, and says, "What...what did you call the dog? Did you call him Marco? That's the funniest thing I've probably ever heard!" Then he turns away from me and yells to places unknown. "Marco! Did you hear that? Jessie thinks you're the dog!"

In answer, a voice calls back, clearly trying to hold back laughter. "Yeah, I heard!" And a guy appears from down the hallway. If I thought Alessio was a 10, this guy was definitely a 13. I mean he had these crazy blue eyes and a smile that I already knew never left his face. He was tall, freckled, and based on the dirty apron across his chest, a cook. He came up to me, grabbed my forearms, and kissed me on my left cheek then my right. "Ciao, bella. The dog's name is Lasagna and I'm Marco. But you can play catch and let me put my head in your lap anytime." He winked.

"Um..." I stutter. I have trouble wrapping my head around this. So this is Marco, eh? He's very forward. Very suave. Looks nothing like Alessio but I'm guessing they're brothers.

Alessio, still laughing, saved me. "Jess, meet Marco. My smarter, handsomer, straighter, older brother. Now, shall we go eat? Marco makes an excellent cheese toastie." I followed him into their massive, chef quality kitchen, stopping in the doorway to take it all in. There were three walls lined with a dark type of wooden cabinet and fancy dark marble countertops. There was an island in the center, with a stove on top and barstools on the side. And sitting on the griddle were nothing other than three grilled cheese sandwiches! So that's what a cheese toastie is! I think to myself with a grumbling stomach.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Mangiamo!" Marco says with a grin as he hands us each a sandwich and a can of soda. "Fizzy drink," in England, I remember.

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Thanks for reading, dears!

Also, mangiamo means "let's eat" in Italian.

Don't forget to vote/comment/share if you like this story! I really appreciate it!

Ciao, bellas. Till next time,
Hannah

P.S. I included that picture of Marco a while back so you guys knew who he was, thus making the situation when Jess thinks he's the dog more ironic. Hope you liked that! It was a new writing style I'm thinking about trying where all the characters are introduced so you know them all but you don't know when or how they'll be introduced and I'm hoping makes you want to keep reading ???? Tell me what you think about it!