Damsel In Distress (Arcana Famiglia FF)

Chapter 8: Felicita

"Luca," says Felicita, "Have you seen Angelica?" She asks, meeting him in the hallway. Surprisingly, Luca wasn't in his usual obsessed-with-Milady-self lately. Not to mention that Pace stopped being all sweet with her, and even Debito stopped calling her Bambina. She was happy at first but eventually started to miss the attention she used to receive from the boys. She figured that they might have started having feelings for her. Well. . . they finally gave up on her. She slapped her cheeks and scolds herself for having such thoughts. She already has a boyfriend for Pete's sake!

"Good morning, Milady!" Greets Luca who didn't seem to have noticed her slapping herself.

"Wow. He's awfully happy this morning. He still calls me Milady, at least." thought Felicita.

"Well, I last saw her in the garden," says Luca, "She even has a lovely Zianese cat with her. You can't find any of those around here." He continues.

"Okay, thanks!" She says and runs off.

"She sure is in a hurry." mutters Luca, smiling. His fingers held the brim of his hat and fixes it before he

walking away.

********

Running as fast as her legs could, she hurries to the garden. It didn't take long for her to find Angelica since she seemed to stand out everywhere she goes. It was almost like she came from another world. The way she acts and her speech makes her appear that she originated from a high class family. It makes her wonder more and more about this forever mysterious girl.

Felicita also noticed that for the past few days Angelica seemed to change more and more. So different from the Angelica who tried to create a wall weeks earlier. Maybe she is, indirectly.

"Angelica!" shouts Felicita as she approached Angelica. She was lovingly stroking her cat and as Luca said it was an elegant looking cat. Slender and graceful, not to mention that the cat was wearing an earring on one ear.

"Angelica sure knows how to pick pets that suit her." Thought Felicita.

"Ah, good morning, Felicita," Angelica says, smiling at Felicita who seemed a little nervous, "Beautiful day isn't it?"

"Yeah," replies Felicita, "it sure is. . ." She looked around at her parents' garden. The rose bushes that Luca tends to were blooming beautifully. The sky was clear and the wind stroked her hair. The sun shone brightly as well. Felicita recalls the days when she used to run around, playing tag with Nova, who happened to be her cousin.

"You have something to tell me?" Says Angelica, interrupting her thoughts.

"Why do you think that?" Says Felicita, whirling around. Surprised at Angelica's assumption.

"I simply just felt it," replies  Angelica, in a as-a-matter-of-fact manner, "I could tell by the way you act. You seem very eager."

"I-I wanted to ask you about those men from before." Felicita blurts out. Her eyes notice that Angelica somehow stiffened a little. She stares at Angelica who stayed silent for a moment before saying anything.

Angelica sighs, "I knew that you guys will start thinking about that. Of course, I barely said anything about myself. More particularly about the previous incidents from before," she says not looking at Felicita, "But I. . . I don't want to talk about it. Those men, I simply took away something that they stole from us." She says, her face turning into a frown.

"Us?" She asks surprised. "What is she talking about?" She thought.

"I'm not alone. That's all I can say. I'm sorry." Says Angelica, closing the subject. Felicita felt that she might as well change the subject since it seemed to be disturbing Angelica's well-being. She decides that since they're together they might as well get to know each other and become closer. Maybe this way, Angelica might open up.