C9 Chapter Nine

About thirty minutes later, she was ready to go, and her driver took her to go see Lorenzo.

she sent a message to him as she went, which said;

'I'm on my way to the Pretoria fountain, hope you won't keep me waiting? xoxo'

she sent it

Bianca inhaled deeply. she felt sick with anticipation for she was going to meet the guy she'd been chatting with since four years. she really wanted something to distract her from the pain of loosing her dad. Allegra wasn't here to do the job, and she was yet not ready to get busy with mafia business now. meeting with Lorenzo was a good option. how was he going to be? hot? hunky? lean? huge? was he going to be exactly the way she fantasised? or was he going to fit into Allegra's description of ugly? how were they going to click? how would she address him? she didn't know how she felt. they were almost at the location. she glared at the driver, wasn't he going to drive fast? okay, while she waited, she was going to practice how she'd relate with him. she'd graciously offer him a handshake after she introduced herself. no! that was too formal, she'd just....

"Miss Bianca, we are here" the driver said to her, interrupting her thoughts.

"oh!" said Bianca, they'd reached already.

"I'll call you when I'm ready to go" she said to the driver as she got down from the car.

there were people around here. there weren't much but there were still people. how was she going to find Lorenzo?

she looked at her phone. he hadn't replied her text. maybe she should call him and know where he was. that was a better option.

she called him. the phone rang. he picked it.

"It's Bianca, where are you?I'm here already" she asked,as she tried to keep her voice steady

"I'm here too. the fountain, I'm seated there."

she went nearer. the venue Lorenzo had chosen had a large fountain. she'd been here before with Capria, when they were kids. the fountain had about four people seated on it. she was still on the phone with Lorenzo.

"I see four people" she said

then she saw a guy wave at her and she figured it was him. she cut the call and went to him.

"Hello, Bianca" he said when she got to him

"hi...." she trailed off. she was right. she knew she didn't settle for less. she zoned out as she stared at Lorenzo up close. his jet black hair was gelled to the back, leaving a few strands on his forehead, his eyes were grey and inquisitive, chiselled jaw, with a stubble beard which for a split second, made her fantasise about running her hands through it. he escaped the curse of being a movie actor, only by his nose. he wore a neck roller sweater, which was good, for cladding his muscular frame. she didn't know, but she'd always felt deep down, that this man would turn out to be gorgeous when she met him but now, staring at him, he exceeded her expectations.

And there was something else she felt as she stood in the same space as him. something she couldn't quite place her hands on

"Bianca?"

"oh! um-- sorry, I was lost..."

he smiled "that's okay"

"do you want to sit or should we walk?"

"um, let's walk"

they moved away from the fountain, walking in slow steps.

"I know you told me a lot about yourself during our chats," he began "but I want to hear it from you" he looked at her

"alright," she flushed "I school at Los Angeles, I love lasagna but I'd kill for risotto"

"I love ball dances" she stopped when he looked at her

"I mean, a ball, masquerade balls, I love dancing at those events"

"what are you studying in college," he suddenly asked

"um-- law..." she said "but I don't know" she added before she could stop herself

"why? are you unsure of your career?"

"uh...kinda" she put in, she knew she wasn't going back to college again. she had to be a don. she had a legacy ahead of her. but she couldn't tell him that.

"you're being forced by your parents?"he asked

"I guess so" she lied. she wanted to study law, she just wasn't going to get the chance to be a lawyer.

"I've been there. my parents" he said "they wanted me to study the course they chose but I wasn't having it"

she looked at him, she was intrigued now.

"I built a business from the scratch, now I run a company"

"what do you guys specialise in?"

"making and selling jewelry "

"wow!" she exclaimed, she felt there were more sides to him

"so that explained that flirty text, that day"

Lorenzo laughed, a deep, rich sound, it made her insides quiver

"I didn't take it that way", he said "I was truthful about... what I said"

she beamed. "really? that means you thought about me often?"

"yes, I did!" he said. Bianca didn't expect his straight answer, she really didn't know how to feel about that now.

"if you must know, I lost my boyfriend because of that text" she said

"oh!" he was silent for a while

"I'm sorry"

"for what?" she asked "for thinking about me?"

"obviously not!"

"it's not your fault" she said "Matt just turned out to be a jerk"

"I lost my lady that day too, because of the text"

"wow", Bianca laughed "she saw your phone?"

he nodded

"we are both alike," she said "dramatic exes"

"oh, Vero wasn't my girlfriend" he said

"then who was she? a fling? hook-up?" she felt this guy was mysterious. he didn't have a girlfriend?

"yeah, something like that"

"okay" she said "so tell me about yourself, Lorenzo"

a car swooshed past them, almost hitting her but she dodged it on time and swayed, luckily, he caught her.

"are you okay?" he asked

she was far from okay. she didn't know if her heart was playing games with her or doing a beating competition right now. the part of her waist where Lorenzo held in an effort to break her fall, felt like it was sizzling. she straightened herself from his grasp.

"I'm fine" she flushed again. she'd been doing that since she met him.

"won't you tell me about yourself?" she asked in a light tone, in a bid to break the awkward silence that now went on between them.

"okay, just like you, I like risotto, but I'm really not a fan of lasagna" he started "I work, in fact, my work life takes over everything in my life"

"yes" she affirmed "I thought as much"

"you'd always tell me that you're busy with work any time we chatted" she said

"well, I wasn't lying "

"so....no girlfriends?"

"none"

"do you get how weird that sounds?" it was strange that someone like him didn't have a woman in his life. like, with the kind of physique and face he dad, he could snag any woman he wanted.

"nope" he smiled "you tell me"

"you look like this and you don't have a lady?"

"do you mean 'this' in a good or bad way?" he teased

"don't act like you do not know what I mean. don't you look at yourself in the mirror?" she knew exactly what he was up to.

"thanks for the compliment, Bianca" he said "I really don't have a woman in my life"

"my work life is basically everything"

"well, that's about to change" it was evening now, she didn't want her mom to find out that she went out. she had to start heading home.

"how?" he asked

"you have me now" she said with a tone of finality.

she wanted this. his company. someone to take her mind off the worries concerning the mafiadom and the pain she still went through because of her dad's death.

"let's meet tomorrow" she suggested " if that is fine with you"

"sure" he quickly answered. "I'll treat you to a meal"

"that's cool" she grinned "I'll be busy during the day, so let's meet in the evening" she had martial arts training with June in the morning and her uncle Luigi, was going to take all her remaining time.

"fine" he said

she smiled at him again. she was really going to anticipate meeting him tomorrow.