DONATELLA
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I stared out at the barely clothed bodies, covered in fake tattoos, body glitter and jewelry, all of them holding clear cups which were definitely not filled with water. There were blow-up chairs, fake Bohemian print blankets, and tents on top of the grass. I looked at what lay before me with a mixture of astonishment and exasperation. “You brought me to TLSM?”
“Is that what this is called?” he asked me, tossing the duffle bag he’d taken off the helicopter over his shoulder. He was the one who’d brought me so why did he look like he no idea where we were? Noticing me ready to beat him to death, he lifted his phone. “I just searched things happening within a hundred miles of the city and saw this music festival.”
He’s an idiot.
I’m an idiot for thinking he was anything but an idiot.
“I’m going home—”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me back. “Donatella, have you ever lived life like normal twenty-six-year-old?”
“No, because I’m not a normal—”
“Me either,” he said seriously, looking me in the eye. “Tomorrow we can go back to being not normal people. My secrets will start to come out and when that happens, I don’t know when either of us will get to have normal day of youthful stupidity. You don’t trust me. You don’t know me. Fine. But everyone here is the same. No-one knows anyone. They don’t care; they just want to have fun. So, let’s join them and have fun.”
“WOOOOOOHHHHH!” Three random guys ran right in front us, holding flags behind their backs as if they were capes. No sooner had they gone before the music got louder as a new band took the main stage.
“You could have at least gotten me shoes,” I muttered, lifting my heel to stop from sinking further into the grass.
He flipped the bag down slightly and unzipped it, pulling out a pair of sandals. Bending down, he put them at my feet. “Anything else, your majesty?”
Saying nothing, I stepped out of my heels and into the sandals. He extended his hand to take the heels, but I took them myself and walked forward. He was so damn annoying and doing far too much.
A private helicopter ride to The Last Summer Music Festival? Who was he trying to be right now? And of all places, TLSM? The festival took place on the last day of summer each year, but because most teens and young adults were already back at school, it had just become a festival for post-graduates who didn’t have to go to work the next morning or had nothing else to do with their lives. In the middle of the damn clearing of Foster Woods.
“TLSM rules! Whoa, yea!”
“Dude, you’re like forty; shut the hell up,” I muttered at the man to the left of us as we made our way through the crowd.
Gabriel, who must have heard me, snickered but didn’t say anything. It was only then that I realized he was still holding my hand. When I tried to pull it back, he just held on tighter. Too tired to fight him, I let it go. He kept us good distance away from the massive crowd, until finally we got to where a green blanket was spread over the grass beside the tree. A thin, frail woman was standing guard over it.
“Thanks.” Gabriel handed her a wad of bills.
“No problem, hot stuff.” She winked at him then happily skipped… Yes, skipped, away from us.
“Hot stuff? What is this, 2003?” I asked myself as I watched her go.
“Be nice, she’s a paying customer of yours,” he said to me, finally letting go of my hand and bending down to bring out containers of food.
“A customer of mine?”
He glanced up at me like I was stupid and I must have been because it took too long for that to connect. Shaking his head, he finished setting up and said, “Sit.”
“I’m—”
“I know you’re not a dog, I’m just saying you’re free to sit so we can eat,” he said as if he could read my mind, lifting the box for me.
Saying nothing, I sat down on the blanket, dropping my clutch to the side. Inside each of the boxes were more of my favorite foods. Tomato galette with fetta and fresh thyme, deep-fried shrimp fritters with cornichon dressing, and honey lemon chicken with artichoke bites. “You made all of this?”
“Chef Carluccio is warming up to me,” he replied, shifting to lay on his side, his legs off the blanket. “I promise it’s edible,” he replied, taking a bite of the food. However, it must have been much harder than it should have been because he had to keep chewing.
“It is edible, right?” I asked, trying to not to laugh.
He reached over and took the box from me. “Eat the others.”
“Nope,” I snatched it back, taking one and popping it into my mouth, only to have the same problem as he did. It was so hard.
He broke out, laughing at me. “You really can’t help yourself, can you? If I say left, you will say right, even if it means going over a cliff!”
I handed him the box back, still chewing, and he smiled, shaking his head at me. He handed me a bottle of water which I didn’t want to take, but decided to man up and take it when I noticed the way he was trying not to laugh at me, fully aware I was just fighting him and choosing to suffer.
“I can’t help it,” I told him after drinking. “People have been giving me orders I’ve had to follow my whole life. I don’t like it.”
“People as in your parents?”
“Most kids could rebel… But if I did, I’d end up in a ditch somewhere and they’d have to come and save me, and then lecture me to death on why I should have listened to them and their all-knowing selves,” I muttered, stuffing a chicken bite into my mouth which thankfully tasted the way it was supposed to…amazing.
“I’m guessing that actually happened?”
I paused mid-bite, not liking how casual he was again. “Let’s talk about your parents.”
“New topic,” he said quickly, looking back over the crowd.
“What, I thought we were going down memory lane?”
“Today you are the most beautiful and happy I’ve seen you since I got here,” he replied, changing the subject completely.
“Nice try but—”
“You don’t laugh like that at home,” he said, still not looking up at me. “At home you… You’re the princess of the mafia; bloody-thirsty, ambitious, cold, and ruthless. That’s beautiful in a tragic way. But today, you are just beautiful. You saw another person and decided to change their lives for the better. You gave them hope and you enjoyed it. You laughed with her, teased her, and even made faces.” He laughed to himself before turning to stare at me. “You were beautiful in an organic way.”
“What happened to accepting me at—”
“I do accept you. I accept the darker parts of you and the brighter ones. You weren’t acting out of character today. That is who you are under those conditions. That was you, too.”
Reaching over, I grabbed one of the napkins and reminded him, “That was me working. It’s good to make sure people think we are generous.”
“True, but there were other kids sitting alone. Other kids there who could have used that generosity. You chose her because there was something about her you liked. That’s why you sat down with her, too. If not, you could have just bought the drawing and left.”
Sighing, I nodded. “Thank you, Dr. Gabriel. Are you going to become my new primary shrink?”
“Do you want me to be?” he asked blankly.
I frowned. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Act as if you’re willing to do or become anything I need you to be?”
“Because I am. That’s what people do in relationships.”
I rolled my eyes. “We aren’t in a relationship.”
“Only because you’re so damn stubborn.”
“Thank you very much.” I bowed to him, and he knocked on my head.
“Did you just…”
“What?” He grinned, taking a chicken bite and stuffing it into his mouth. Leaning over, I smacked his head and he smacked my thigh. “Do you really want to start a war right here, Donny?”
“Do you have alcohol in that magic bag of yours? I feel like I’m going to need it to survive however long we are here.”
He reached in and pulled out two bottles. “Red or white?”
“I thought you knew everything—”
“Both then,” he cut me off to say. Gabriel uncorked them both and then handed me one bottle. “We’ll switch back and forth.”
“Are you trying to get me drunk?
“Do you change when you get drunk?”
I nodded, lying. “I get much more violent.”
When he reached over to take the bottle away from me I moved back, drinking straight from the bottle for the first time.
“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
“Here’s to being young and stupid,” I said and drank, and so did he.
“If we are going to be young and stupid, then let’s go all the way,” he said, rising up and pulling me up with him. He spun us around.
“Dance with me.”
“No.”
“Dance with me, please. I love this song.” he pouted, holding me closer and swaying with me.
“What’s the name of the song?”
He paused.
“You’re such a liar.” I couldn’t help it; I laughed.
GABRIEL
I learned four important things about her today.
One: She could be very sweet when she wanted to be.
Two: She loved the band, Saturn Sun.
Three: She was a weird dancer.
Four: She didn’t become violent when she was drunk; she simply got sleepy.
I wished I had more time to find out all of her quirks and habits, but I didn’t. Tomorrow was the day everything had to come together and I had to have her decision. We couldn’t be normal longer than this.
“Where have you two been—”
“Wyatt, I went to TLSM. It was so lame and so fun at the same time.” Dona giggled…yes giggled. Leaving Wyatt to just stare, I carried her into their house on my back. Shock covered Wyatt’s face.
“Are you drunk?”
“Me?” Dona asked, shaking her whole body and making carrying her much harder for me. “A little tipsy, but a bottle and half of wine will do that to a person.”
Right, I’d learned five things. Donatella could drink wine like water, and even I, who loved a good strong red in the evening, could hold no candle to her.
“Gabriel?” she asked in a sweet voice right into my ear, making me shiver. “Thank you for the ride, but I can walk.”
“That’s what you said before—ouch.” I sighed, putting her down on her bare feet. Where the sandals I had given her had disappeared to, I had no idea.
“Peace and good night.” She actually gave us both the peace sign before heading up the stairs, leaving Wyatt and I standing alone. Ethan came out of the elevator and nearly did a double-take when she waved to him and said goodnight with a smile on her face.
“What’s the matter with her?” he asked us both.
“That’s what I want to know.”
“She had fun. That’s it. We had a fun time out together,” I answered, walking up the steps as well.
“She isn’t going to marry you,” Wyatt called out from behind me. The uncertainty in his voice gave me hope.
“We’ll see. But if I were you, I wouldn’t bet on it.”