7. HE’S UNPREDICTABLE

Robert walked into the mall majestically, like the king he was. The owner of the store muffled in fear, he had no idea what was going on. But he knew one thing, he had to keep his cool.

“Good day Mr. Roberto.” He greeted trying too hard to make his smile realistic.

“I need a dog.” Roberto uttered ignoring the old man’s greeting.

“Which breed if I may ask sir.” The old man said and Roberto looked around.

“A German Shepard.” He said and the man bobbed walking to another section in the store where he kept the German shepherd breeds.

“There are the ones here sir. You can pick your choice.” He said and he stepped backwards so Roberto could move forward.

Martina trembled under the counter where she hid. She saw a tiny space on the counter where she peeped at Roberto from.

“He is always cold.” She said to herself as she kept watching them. She turned to look at her chow chow in the cage and smiled faintly.

The dog looked at her and she moved closer to her.

“We’d be out of here soon okay? We need to make sure this asshole is out of sight before we go anywhere.” She said to her dog in a whisper and her dog winced giving her a reply.

“You think so about him too? I knew there was a connection between the two of us immediately I saw you.” She whispered blowing her a kiss.

She wanted to lean back and peep at Roberto, when her hands mistakenly hit the chair that was in front of the counter, and this made a loud screeching noise.

Martina’s eyes widened in terror, and she felt great uneasiness immediately. She clamped her left hand and put her right hand on her mouth.

She moved to the small opening and peeped through it, she saw everyone in the store looking at the counter.

“F**k! This isn’t happening!” She cried internally. She stopped peeping and she shut her eyes tight, resting her back on the counter. 

“It is nothing Mr. Roberto, it is presumably a dog that has gotten out of its cage. I’d check it later.” The old man spoke with his heart beating very fast.

“This girl is going to send me to my grave earlier than I expected.” He thought as he still kept a smile on his face as he stared at Roberto.

Roberto looked away from the counter and shifted his attention to the dogs again.

“I’d love to have the Black and Tan one o we there.” He said pointing to one of the dogs, it was sleeping peacefully.

“It’s a male.” The old man informed and Roberto smirked.

“Even better.” He muttered and the man bobbed. He walked up to the cage and was about opening the cage when Roberto stopped him.

“I’d take him with the cage.” Roberto said and the man stepped backwards. Two of Roberto’s men walked up to the cage and lifted it carefully. They carried the dog out of the store, and the man watched them quietly.

He wasn’t sure how he was going to ask Roberto for his money. He was scared for his life.

“How much is it?” Roberto asked and the old man felt unlimited joy inside of him immediately.

“He is 2400 Euros.” He provided feedback to Roberto’s questions.

Roberto looked at one of his men and then walked outside the store afterwards, he headed straight to his car and hopped in.

The last man in the store pulled out a card and passed it to the old man.

“I believe everything we need to know about this dog will be given to us.” He stated and the man assented walking back to the counter.

He made the payments and also wrote a receipt, he turned to the mini bookshelf that was next to him and picked up a book on the German Shepherd breed.

“This should help.” He said passing the escort the book, receipt and the card.

“Good.” He responded and turned to take his leave.

“Even his escorts are sassy.” Martina let out after she watched them drive off.

“You can come out of there now miss, thank God he didn’t see you here.” The man said and Martina exhaled standing up from the floor she sat.

She dusted her clothes with her hands and looked at the man.

“Thank you so much for keeping me here.” She appreciated and he shook his head smiling faintly.

“I’d do the same for anybody. But can I ask you why you are hiding from him? Have you offended him before?” He asked and she heaved a sigh.

“It is a long story sir, and I really have to go now. I really treasure what you did for me today, I’d never forget.” She said lifting her bag from the floor too.

“You should drop by another day, I wouldn’t mind seeing your face around here again.” He told sweetly and Martina opened her hands and gave him a hug.

“You are one of the sweetest person I have ever met. Thank you, and I promise I’d visit you again.” She said lifting the cage up.

“I’ll miss you.” The man said to her dog, bending down slightly so he could take one good last look of her.

“I’ll bring her here the next time I drop by. See you soon sir.” She said walking away.

“Wait…” The man said looking through his mini book shelf again. He picked out a book on the chow chow breed and walked up to her.

“This will be very useful.” He informed stretching the book to her. She accepted the book and took a short look at it.

“Thank you so much.” She retorted and she finally got out of the store. She headed back to the phone store, totally bypassing the reason why she left in the first place.

“You are back, you went for so long, I thought you got lost.” The attendant said giggling.

“I didn’t end up using the restroom, something more fun caught my attention.” She shared and he nodded.

“I can see that…” He responded picking the nylon next to him and passing it to Martina.

“I have done all you asked me to do, you have everything on the new phone now. And your old phone is also in there.” He said as he gave the nylon to her.

“Thank you so much. Bye.” She vocalized walking out of the store. She carried her stuff to her car and dropped the cage, the nylon, and her bag in the front seat.

She walked to the other side and hopped in her car. She wakened her engine and adjusted her interior mirror so she could see the back.

She drove out of the parking space and hit the road afterward.

As she drove, her new phone began to ring and she reached for the nylon, though she kept her eyes on the road.

She raised the phone and quickly checked the caller to see it was Caterina calling. She connected the phone to the car and picked it up.

“You didn’t tell me you would be sleeping at Alberto’s house. His wife isn’t around?” Caterina asked sarcastically and Martina chuckled.

“How are you?” Martina responded.

“I got back from school an hour ago, I was hoping I’d meet you at home and you must have prepared something nice,” Caterina mumbled and Martina sighed.

“I’m sorry okay? I’m on my way home. I’d explain better when I get home.” Martina told.

“What would you want to eat? Pasta is at home…” Caterina informed and Martina butted in.

“I’d buy dinner on my way back okay?” Martina made it known.

“Perfect. See you soon! I have a series to catch now.” Caterina replied and hung up almost immediately.

              AT NIGHT

Roberto sat at his very huge dining table, different delicacies were in front of him and he was the only one seated.

He started feasting and he started with his favorite Bice Taglioni Pasta with lobster and Truffles.

He cut some of the lobster with his cutlery and put it in his mouth. He shut his eyes and exhaled, the taste always got him every time.

He kept eating, and then remembered he got a dog.

He raised his hand and one of his men moved closer to him all of a sudden.

“Bring the dog.” He ordered and his escort gave an abrupt nod and walked away. Roberto kept eating and paused after he saw him bring the dog.

“Make him sit.” He said pulling a chair closer to himself, his manmade dog sit on the chair and moved backward after he was done.

Roberto picked up a plate of the same thing he was having and passed it to the dog. He put it right in front of the dog and the dog sniffed it.

After seconds, he began to eat and Roberto looked at him as he also ate.

***

”Can you guess why the boss decided to get a dog?” Bruno asked Sonia as they both sat outside the mansion gazing at the beautiful sky.

“I have no idea, why are you all so worried about it?” Sonia asked and Bruno shrugged.

“You know, he has never talked about Pete. Surprisingly, he wants one all of a sudden.” Bruno explained.

“Well, he is Roberto Galante, he does anything whenever he likes, the way he wants it. You should get used to that already.” Sonia stated and Bruno smiled.

“He just never ceases to amaze me… sometimes you think you know him and all of a sudden, you realize you know nothing about him,” Bruno muttered staring at the skies again.

“Two things we know about him is that he doesn’t believe in Love, and he doesn’t care what others think, he does what he wants,” Sonia uttered.

“True.” Bruno retorted sighing.

“This is so unbelievable, the dog is eating at the same table with him as we speak,” Greco said in a whisper immediately he got to where Bruno was. Bruno chuckled and looked at Sonia.

“She already taught me to get used to weird things, I’m not shocked,” Bruno responded and Greco laughed.

“This is incredible,” Greco replied and Bruno nodded.

“You two better get back inside before he notices you two are missing,” Greco added taking his leave again.

“That is true, we should go inside,” Sonia said turning to walk away.

“Wait…” Bruno said holding her back by her wrist and she turned to look at him.

“What?” She asked and Bruno pulled her to him all of a sudden. Their lips touched and Sonia’s eyes enlarged in surprise.

He disengaged and stared at her. She gulped hard and ran into the house saying no words to him.

***

Roberto was done eating, and he headed back to his room. He sat on his bed and picked up his phone, he dialed Vincenzo’s number and waited for him to pick up.

“Mr. Roberto,” Vincenzo called as soon as he picked up.

“Tell me about Greta,” Roberto ordered in an upright tone.

“There is an only ladies hang out tomorrow night, Greta would be going with some of her friends. I’d send the address right away.” Vincenzo told.

“Good. See you tomorrow evening, drop by the house.” Roberto mentioned. He didn’t wait for Vincenzo to respond before he threw the phone across the room.

He pressed the bell next to him and stood up. He headed to the bathroom to have a nice time.