Blank Canvas (A Risotto Nero Love Story)

Old Faces and New (Edited!)

The conditioned air of the local store breezed past her face. Aurora fluttered her eyes open and shut to adjust to her surroundings, her eyeballs thankful for the cool temperature. Rusty barked happily and immediately dashed forward, only to slip on the tile and skid around. The young woman rolled her eyes and giggled.

"Ah, Buona sera! Come sta?" An older gentleman greeted her warmly, offering a large smile as he swept. As he opened his wrinkled eyes to focus, he looked surprised. "Oh, Aurora! It's such a pleasure to see you!" The old man rested his broom to the side and hobbled over to her.

"Buona sera, Singor Pottel! I'm surprised you remembered me so quickly!" Aurora said with slight astonishment. It had been quite some time since she last visited, so she was shocked to find he could remember her.

"Oh nonsense! You used to come in daily if I recall correctly! Just because you don't stop by as much anymore doesn't mean I'll forget! Then again, I have forgotten what I had for breakfast this morning... bah! No matter! How are you; are you well?" His voice was loud and warm as he spoke, ushering her into the store. Rusty licked the man's hands as he reached down to pet the pup. Aurora couldn't help but smile at the reunion.

"Ah, well, to tell you the truth, I've just had so much going on! I haven't had the time to really get out," She replied honestly while still keeping her actual story a secret. It was something she had gotten used to after her paintings were noticed, but that didn't mean she particularly enjoyed keeping it to herself. She wasn't a big fan of lying, but it was her only solution for a semi-normal life. Well, was a semi-normal life.

"That's too bad! You really lighten up the store! Why, I swear, my sales went down when you stopped visiting. People must have known!" He jested, making the young woman laugh. The old man always knew how to brighten her day.

"Oh hush! Anyway, I just had some free time today. Brought Rusty along, too!" She chimed, watching as the corgi stole a toy from the shelf. She rolled her eyes, fishing out some money.

"Oh stop that! It's on me!" The old man furrowed his brow and swatted her hands away. Aurora grinned, bowing her head in thanks as she ripped the small tag from the now drool covered toy. Rusty growled very menacingly at his foe, lunging forward to deliver a finishing blow!

"Ooo you got 'em! Get it! Good boy!" Aurora cheered on, pumping her fist in the air. The old man beside her chuckled, shaking his head as he returned to his broom.

"Just let me know if you need anything."

"Will do!"

It wasn't long before Aurora was on her way home again. She couldn't loiter for very long, after all. After giving her phone a quick check, she sighed. Still nothing from the guys. Maybe she should start to plan her defense? Or was that note a joke?

"No, that's too much of a coincidence," She mumbled to herself. She had to treat this like an actual issue. She took a deep breath and began to think again. Thankfully, there were no more suspicious letters on her door or in her apartment once she returned home. Rusty hopped up onto the couch, circling around before flopping over to take a nap. "Me too," Aurora said with another sigh. Sadly, there was no time to rest. Aurora grabbed a spare pencil and went to work!

After quite some time, Aurora wiped her brow with a confident smile. This stand of hers was actually really helpful once she got to understand it some more! After taking a moment to look over her work, she decided it'd be best to actually try and rest now. The day was coming to a close and she realized she hadn't eaten all day. If some bad guy didn't do her in, it'd surely be starvation!

"Leeet's see. Hm. Frozen pizza? Gelato? Uuuuh... oh, that's all I have. Frozen pizza it is!" She chimed, kicking the fridge door closed to preheat the oven. As she waited, she checked her phone again. Nothing. She snapped it shut with a grimace. Why was she obsessively checking? Was she really that bored? Why was this such a problem all of a sudden? The jiggle of a doorknob broke her from her thoughts.