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| Subject: Re: Part Two | |
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Author: Deangelo |
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Date Posted: 03:54:28 06/23/06 Fri In reply to: Rain 's message, "Part Two" on 22:19:34 06/22/06 Thu When one is awaiting the arrival of a long-lost best friend, one hardly cares about scratches in paint jobs. If she had indeed marked the exterior of the car, who gave a fuck? He'll buy the rental agency a whole new car if needbe. Just so long as she got here in one piece, they could deal with trival technicalities like scratches later. Whatever a scratch might cost him, it was well worth the price to have this most welcome visitor! And if only she knew how he had spent the long evening pacing restlessly and roving past the windows at every chance, not for worrying thanks to her phonecalls, then she wouldn't dare to think he was accepting her visit only as cordial courtesy. Ask Kris how annoying the Italian had been throughout the night, with the fidgetty wanderings and pointless tasks to keep himself preoccupied. Nothing worked, however. There was no taking his mind off of the nervous excitement of anticipation, no cure for the mounting agitation save the sight of headlights in the drive. For hours before Rain's arrival (the person, not the element, as the night had already brought the storms), he had roamed, checking and re-checking for lack of anything more satisfying to do that everything was clean, in order, and ready for his guest. Of course, the cleaning crew had come through earlier in the day to spruce the place up, as he wasn't about to turn a hand to scrubbing his own toilets. Not even for Rain. Every surface in the house sparkling, he paced the halls to the guest room, overlooking yet again everything inside, double and triple checking that all was in order and absolutely perfect in every way. The bed was laid out without a wrinkle, the vases glittering with fresh waters and vibrant flowers, the shades drawn to keep out the darkness, the adjoining bathroom gleaming... All was well. All was perfect. As it should be. Right. Okay. What time was it? Time for her to be here! Or close to it. So off he went on his laps again, leaving the guest room, passing the row of the childrens' closed doors -remembering to ease his way quietly past- he descended the stairs with a glance out the tall windows and... there! A car in the drive! He recognized that car, though it was not his own. And he was down the stairs in an instant, striding quickly to let her in as the bell rang, the door opened, and... Silence. How long it lasted, who could say? But goddamn, this wasn't the vision he expected! Of course he knew she had grown up, as had he, but... Far from the tomboy he recalled, this creature on his doorstep now, while obviously the person he had spent all day eagerly awaiting, had... really grown up! It was her, though, with that hair, those eyes, this was indeed his Rin... His long-lost pal, perhaps the one true friend who had accepted him completely for who he was... Thank the gods he didn't believe in that she had not chickened out, had not ding-dong-ditched him and fled back overseas. She was really here, right here at his door after... what, nearly ten years! First impressions said that those ten years had been good to her, even if brutally long travel had taken its toll. He could only hope that her evaluation said the same of him. Though she was right in understanding that they no longer were on quite the same common grounds as they had been while growing up. Even if she had stayed perfectly the same, he knew he had not and looking her over now, that same eating anxiety of earlier came back to make him question whether or not she would appreciate what her old friend had become. A roaming philanderer, lover to married women, father to illegitimate sons... not an overly upstanding role model and he knew it. It was a little late to change his ways, she had to take him or leave him as he was at this point, but surely friends can forgive friends! And bless her for making the first move! Somewhere between the shock of coming face to face with the only pleasant bit of his past and picking his jaw up off the porch, she stepped up for a quick hug, a greeting kiss, and a step back before he could return the gesture. But it broke the bind on his tongue and, even if she was uneasy, the grin that had been waiting for this moment all day surfaced the moment she spoke in their mutual Italian. "Rin, mia Rin, è una gioia vederla ancora! Non mi sarei mai aspettato che essere qui, nella mia casa, dopo tutto il tempo! (My Rin, it is a joy to see you again! I would never have expected you to be here, in my home, after all this time!) Following her gaze to the car, he nodded and stepped out into the rain with her without hesitation to help her with her luggage. How tired she must be, trudging so, while her childhood friend could almost have danced his way through the rain, following his Rain. But that might come across as weird, so he kept the energy in his stride to a reasonable level, taking the suitcases eagerly and following her around to the side of the car. He expected more suitcases, but one quick glimpse and he knew that was not what Rain was retrieving. Fortunate that she was half in the car at the moment the cheer faded from his face to be replaced with shock. She had brought a child? There had been no mention of a child! Doing his best to gather his wits as Rain withdrew the child from the car, he met her questions with the same loss of words, eyes on Angie as the girl snuggled into her mother. Obviously exhausted. Angela, was it? Lifting a quick glance to Rain, he found salvation from silence in the child's name and a faint twitch of a grin hopefully reassured Rain as he nodded approval. At least at the choice of names. "Un bel nome per una bella figlia. Somiglia a lei, Rin. Ha i suoi occhi... (A beautiful name for a beautiful daughter. She looks like you, Rin. She has your eyes...)" Giving Rain a warm smile, genuine even if the presence of a child had been a shocker, he nodded toward the house. "Venire, lei ha bisogno del sonno (Come, you need sleep)" Leading the way as quickly as the tired travelers could follow, he held the door open with his foot for them to pass through, shutting out the storm behind them. "Portare le scale alla sua destra, per favore (Take the stairs to your right, please)" Trailing them slowly so as not to rush Rain as she carried her daughter upstairs, he only slipped past the pair at the last minute to nudge open the door to the room prepared for... one person, really. Like a good host, he remained in the hallway until his guests had passed through and he set the suitcases gently inside the door. "Di che le sistemazioni Angela avrà bisogno? Amerebbe una stanza di suo proprio? (What accommodations will Angela need? Would she like a room of her own?)" 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