ChapterFour
1140 Words
Noelia’s POV
“Do you know what that was about?” Talia asks as we take the path leading out of my home. We turn left in the direction of Talia’s house, the night air whistling all around us.
I shake my head, still trying to understand. “I didn’t know that Angelo was announced as CEO already. I thought Rowan was going to wait a little longer till he was done with med school.”
“Still, he had it coming, didn’t he?” Talia kicks a pebble on the road.
“Angelo is the firstborn, and if we are being honest with ourselves, Dante never had it in him to be CEO. Maybe I’m wrong since I haven’t seen them in years, but I follow Dante on i********:. All he does is post half-n***d pictures of himself with a million and one girls. And then, there’s Angelo, with a zero social media presence.”
“You’ve been searching?”
Talia shrugs. “Well, not exactly searching. I was just… curious. Yeah. I guess that describes it.”
“Curious.”
“Come on,” she drawls suddenly, pulling my hand. “You know I’ve had a crush on your cousin since we were kids. That hasn’t changed, Noel.”
“Talia…”
“Why do you think I know all about Dante’s i********:? I was looking for Angelo. I needed to know…”
“But you were just with my brother two months ago.”
She stops and looks at me, her hazel eyes fitting perfectly into the night. “You told me you would support me no matter what, Noel.”
“This is me… I… Talia…”
“Your brother bored me to death, and you know how I get when I’m bored. And you also know how I feel for Angelo.”
“So what are you asking, Talia?”
“For you to help me.” She takes my hand again. “He barely looked at me tonight, and I don’t want to think that it has something to do with me.”
“Well, for that one, you’re right,” I sigh. “Since he got here, he has been … off. He doesn’t feel like the Angelo from Christmas five years ago. He didn’t even … hug me. It felt like our closeness just dissipated with the years.”
Talia turns around and continues walking, leaving me to fall into step with her. She takes a deep breath, then tilts her head. “You are going to have to fix whatever is wrong with both of you, because I need him.”
“Need? Isn’t that too strong?”
I mean, we need air. We need water. But when I think about Angelo and Talia, need is not the word that comes to mind. It’s rage and a certain feeling I don’t like booming at the pit of my stomach. But of course, it is not important.
Nothing about me is.
“Noel…”
“Okay,” I breathe. “But what about Luca? Don’t you think he’ll mind that you are coming on to Angelo?”
“What?” Talia’s voice sounds too thin. Too high. “Trust me, your brother wouldn’t care if I dated his own brother, if he had one. When he got into college, it was hard keeping up with our relationship, and we agreed to see other people in between until we eventually fizzled out.”
This is the most information I have gotten about their relationship, but in this moment, I realise that I actually do not care.
“Luca and I are friends now,” she continues. “So there won’t be any bad blood between us. All you have to do is get Angelo to notice me.”
I don’t know about that. I mean, I should be happy. My best friend dating my best cousin is one of the most beautiful things that can ever happen. Yet, I don’t want to do it.
Maybe I’m just a horrible friend. I need to do better.
“Okay.” My face breaks into a smile. “I’ll talk to him. I’m not making any promises, but…”
“Thank you! Thank you!” She pulls me into her arms excitedly, jumping like a toddler in the middle of the road. “You are the best.”
I walk her to the middle of the distance between her house and mine before heading back. All the lights in the building have been turned off, except the one at the porch. Dropping into a reclining chair, I bring my legs up to my chest, allowing the air to tease my skin.
I’m not sure I want to be in there right now. Today has been such a long day, and I just want some peace and quiet. And maybe a little mental berating of what my head is processing right now.
A light creeks sounds to the left, and I lift my head, seeing nothing. When I return to the chair, I hear it again, along with a long sigh.
Swinging my feet to the ground, I head back out of the patio, walking along the side of the building. I find him there, sitting on our old swing, his back towards me, and a long line of smoke trailing into the skies.
“You smoke,” I whisper, stopping behind him.
Angelo doesn’t bother stubbing it out. I don’t know which I would have preferred. For him to pretend or to look at me the way he does, like I am a stranger he only met an hour ago.
He pulls the stick away from his lips, rubbing it between his fingers. “You should be in bed.”
“You told me smokers always die young.”
He shrugs. “People change.”
“I never knew that included you.”
He scoffs. “Since when am I not a part of the people on earth?”
My lips move, but no words come out. Instead, I wrap my arms around my shoulders, rubbing gently.
He comes down from the swing, brings the stick between his lips, but seems to think twice about it before he stubs it out underneath his feet.
And then, Angelo moves past me, heading back inside. “Goodnight.”
“No.”
He stops, but doesn’t turn around.
“What do you want?”
“What happened to you, Angelo?”
“What?”
“You are… different,” I breathe. “Not once have you called my name since you got here. You used to love calling it. You said it sounded perfect.”
He doesn’t say anything for a second before he moves again.
“I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot of things.”
- Writer
