Chapter 4.3 - Valentina

"What bullshit?"

"Allison bullshit." She says, as if it's supposed to give me any information. "Do you want to go home? We can sleep at Adrik's place."

"Why not at your hotel?" Isabella asks, indirectly agreeing to my idea.

"I think Raisa's brother is there."

Isabella nods. "Call an Uber. I'll wait here."

I set out on a mission to find our coats, call an Uber, and also inform Adrik of our decision. I find him on the balcony, smoking a cigarette with Matteo, Marco, and Allison.

"I'm leaving. Give me your key?"

Adrik makes a face but starts looking through his pockets nonetheless.

"You going alone?" he asks, switching to Russian.

"No, I'm going with Isabella. I'll leave the door open."

"I'll sleep here." Adrik announces and I shoot him a weird look.

"Since when?"

Adrik shrugs. "Since now?"

"Fine."

I hold out the hand to him and he places his apartment keys in it.

"The address is on the family groupchat." He adds in English.

"Yeah, thanks."

I wait by the bar for a couple of minutes until a driver accepts my ride then go to find Isabella when he's five minutes away.

The apartment is on the twentieth floor so getting downstairs in front of the building from the inside of the apartment takes just about five minutes.

"Do you have your phone?" I check with Isabella while we wait for the elevator. "Yes." She smiles, not opening her eyes.

When we get inside the elevator, she leans against the mirror, exhaling.

"In case you're wondering what my problem with Allison is." She starts, keeping her eyes closed. "She made anything she wanted out of Matteo's life for four years. Was jealous over my friendship with him and filled his head with lies. She's not a nice person. And I thought Matteo was over it, I mean, it's been over a year. But she's here, and if they start again I'm going to lose my shit. He deserves better."

I smile. "You love him?"

"Of course, I do. That's why I want what's best for him."

I nod, just as the elevator comes to a halt and the double doors open to reveal an empty lobby, save for the one night-shift receptionist. The car is already outside, so I help Isabella climb inside and lean against the other window.

"I'm not going to sit by and watch him be a doormat anymore." She drunkenly says out of nowhere, before she dozes off against the window for the rest of the twenty-five-minute car ride.

***

I wake up around two in the afternoon the next day, well-rested but with a puffy face and a weird taste in my mouth. Isabella is still sleeping next to me in Adrik's bed, so I grab my phone from the nightstand and quietly walk out of the room.

I open one of the kitchen windows and light a cigarette as I pull up my texts with Adrik. Valentina: where are you?

While I wait for an answer, I choose the cappuccino option on the coffee machine and look at the photos taped to the fridge.

There's one of our family this year in August for Adrik's eighteenth birthday, smiling from ear to ear because we went to Sardinia for the occasion. There's another one of him and his teammates at an ice hockey game championship they ended up winning last year. There's several more of him and his friends from school, at parties, and in aesthetic places.

I've never even seen these photos because he only posts on I*******m three times a year and doesn't really share his life with me or my parents. At least, not as much as I'm starting to.

My eyes fall on a photo buried under three other photos in the down right corner of the fridge. I crouch down and take it off the fridge. It's of Adrik on the beach, kissing a girl's temple. She has blonde hair curled at the ends and is turned with her back to the camera, hugging Adrik's waist. I recognize the beach. It's in Capo d'Orlando, where we would sometimes go at night to eat dinner by the sea.

The phone buzzes on the counter so I put the photo back and go to check my messages.

Adrik: on the way back now

Adrik: u?

Valentina: your place

I lean against the open window with my coffee and another cigarette. Who's that girl in the photo?

Fifteen minutes later, the intercom rings and I let Adrik in the building. "You look well." I sarcastically say when I see his disheveled hair and dark circles. "Spare me." he replies, dropping down on a chair in the kitchen.

"Do you want some coffee?" I ask, even though the actual thing I want to talk about is that girl in the photo.

"Yes, please."

We listen to the coffee machine getting to work, neither of us saying anything. "Are you hanging out with Marco Giudice now?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Since when?"

He rolls his eyes at me. "Since last year."

"You have any girlfriends?" I continue, realizing that I sound exactly like mom. "You sound like mom." Adrik says, running a hand through his hair.

"I saw a photo on your fridge with a girl." I say, cutting straight to the point. He raises his eyebrows and leans back in the chair.

"And?"

"Who's that?"

"I can't tell you."

"Oh, come on."

He shakes his head. "She asked me not to tell. Plus, that's over now."

I purse my lips, not satisfied with the answer at all, but knowing it was the most I'm going to get for now.

"Do I know her?"

"Valentina." He sternly says, crossing his arms.

"So I do." I smirk, then put the coffee in front of him.

"Don't start snooping, I mean it." he says, pointing his finger at me. "Just find something to do, I swear."

"Ouch."

"I'm serious, Valentina. I promised her nobody would find out."

I laugh. "Seriously?"

"Yes. We ended it when school started."

"Fine."

I watch him drink his coffee. "Are you okay though?"

He nods, looking genuine.

"Fine. Then I'll stay out of it."

Adrik squints at me. "I don't believe you. You can't let stuff go."

I feel offended for a moment, so I sit down at the table across from him so he can look me in the eye.

"I can let stuff go, and I have. I won't bother you about it. I just want to know you. We haven't talked in months."

He shrugs. "I've been busy with school, and you're in university now. I'm fine, I just don't share that much."

I sigh, but then I get an idea.

"Oh no, no." Adrik says, shaking his head.

"What?"

"You've got that look on your face when you're about to suggest we play a game. And if I lose, I have to share something with you."

I pout. "No I wasn't about to do that." Lie.

Adrik looks me straight in the eyes. "Valentina. I used to love those games when we were younger, but right now things are more serious and we both have responsibilities."

"Right." I snort, remembering how my senior year was mostly me going out and not having any responsibilities. And up until now, my first year of university is looking pretty much the same.

Adrik stands up from the table. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"What if we played on your Xbox?" I try, following him into the living room. "Haha, you wouldn't last a second."

I raise my eyebrows at him. "Try me."

"Fine. But we're playing Fifa, and you're not allowed to use overhead controls."

We shake on it, and five minutes later I've picked my Spanish team and he's gone with his favorite team.

The game is boring, and by halftime it's 5-0 for him, but I've missed doing anything with him. Before I even get the chance to tell him that, the second half of the game starts and I end up losing 8-1.

"You did put up a fight at the end, I'll give you that." He says, watching the screen go black. "I missed playing with you." I tell him, and he stops by the door.

"I missed playing with you too." He smiles, then disappears down the hall. "But these constant games you keep wanting to play will be the death of you."

---

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