7. DATE NIGHT

When I leave, you'll finally understand why storms are named after people.

A week had gone by quicker than expected, the news of the robbery at the charity event had quickly faded into thin air and were now nothing but a rumour. As for me, my wound was healed enough… I no longer needed to wear a bandage around my head anymore. But Sadly, that also meant I now had to go on a date with Dino. Speaking of which, we went on a two hour drive to Acireale… the town I grew up in with my siblings before our parents moved us to Sicily.

To make me feel and I quote “more relaxed and comfortable” on our date, Dino had decided to bring me to watch the carnival in Acireale just outside Sicily near Catania and if I were still the same girl I was five years ago… I would've been ecstatic. Of all the famous carnivals in Italy, the Acireale carnival used to be my favourite. I remember I used to get giddy with excitement during this time of the year. I liked its concentration of merriments and sense of humour along with its allegorical grotesque floats… I found them both scary and funny at the same time like clowns. The carnival always livened the streets and squares of the historic city, creating a truly unique and artistic display for both citizens and tourists to enjoy.

But that was when I was a child, too gullible and naive to see the carnival for what it really was. A time of the year during which citizens are allowed the freedom to make fun of those in power.

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I looked down at the parade as it was about to begin from the Catarina restaurant's balcony. I leaned forward, resting both my hands on the glass railing and took a sip of my red wine.

“It's beautiful, isn't it??” Dino said, standing next to me. I nodded, my eyes not leaving the now moving parade. If I were down there, I would've definitely felt out of place in my black clothes… they were a complete contrast to the beautiful decorations. The streets were full of bright colours and lights were hanging everywhere. People were dancing and laughing to the loud music playing on every corner. Even the air smelled different, a delicious mixture of flowers, sweets, lemons and oranges.

“Does that mean I get a second date??” Dino jokingly asked. I chuckled softly, looking away and shook my head.

“No Mr Magliolo but I will need you to drive me back home, I have a very important meeting tomorrow” I told him.

“Of course, lead the way,” he said. Turning around, I walked back inside the restaurant and gulped down the rest of the wine in my glass before putting it down and grabbed my purse. Dino and I left the restaurant and walked up the street to the parking lot. He opened the passenger door for me, I mumbled a small thank you as I lowered my body inside the car. He smiled, closing the door and jogging around the car to get in the driver's seat.

He reversed out of the parking space and got back on the road. He drove me to my house and pulled up in the driveway. Undoing my seatbelt, I turned to him and said “Thank you for the wonderful evening” before opening the door to get out.

“Eva” he called just as I was about to close the door, I halted and looked back at him “...Goodluck with your meeting tomorrow” he said. I smiled and wished him a goodnight before closing the door. He waited until I was inside the house before driving away.

Locking the door behind me, I took off my shoes and slipped on my sleepers before making my way into the kitchen in search of water. I pried the fridge door open and took out a bottle of water before going upstairs to see Dr Sanchez.

“Dad??” I called, pushing his office door open and walked in. I frowned, looking around the dark room with only the light from his computer to illuminate it and flicked the lights on. The excessive light got Dr Sanchez's attention, he looked up from his computer screen.

“Back already??” He asked. I nodded before asking “Why are you working in the dark??”

He shrugged and said “I've been in here since you left, I guess I forgot to turn the lights off” I rolled my eyes, walked over to his office window and looked outside at the small luminous dots up in the night sky.

“How was it??” He asked, referring to my date with Dino.

“Good” I told him honestly, It was surprisingly good. Dino turned out to be less of a jerk than I expected. Having dinner with him tonight, he didn't exactly seem like the playboy the internet painted him to be. He was nice or maybe it's too early for me to judge?? After all, he's Lorenz's son and for all I know… this could be a family trick. A way for them to gain a girl's trust, by being nice to her until they don't have to anymore.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts by the ringing of my phone. Turning the screen around, I frowned at the unknown number and put the phone on speaker mode before receiving the call “Hello??”

“Good evening ma'am, am I speaking to Miss Evangeline Sanchez??” a polite, feminine voice asked from the other side of the line.

"You are" I verified.

"Miss Sanchez, I'm sorry for disturbing you this late… this is Mr Magliolo's secretary Anastasia speaking from N&J PUBLICATIONS …” my brows relaxed at the mentioning of the familiar name. I had applied earlier for a contract with N&J PUBLICATIONS to become one of their writers.

“ …I'm calling to remind you of your meeting appointment with Mr Magliolo tomorrow at 11 pm" Anastasia continued.

“Thank you Anastasia, I'll be there” the call ended, I turned to Dr Sanchez and said “...That's odd” thinking out loud. Companies don’t normally call to remind a person of a meeting they already know about unless they're desperate for something. As if having thought of the same thing as me, Dr Sanchez nodded and grabbed his phone from the desk. He typed something on its screen before putting it back down.

“I just told Bruno to check it out, I'll let you know if he has found anything. '' I nodded, mumbling a small thank you and wished him a goodnight before leaving the office and going to my room. Putting the bottle of water in my hand down on my bedside table along with my phone and purse, I stripped out of my dress and got on my bed in just my panties. I snaked under the covers and fell asleep the exact moment my head touched the cotton pillow.