Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
All she does is glare at me while she grumbles between clenched teeth, “I mean, look at you. If your walls could talk, what do you think they would say?”
“Are my walls male or female?” I ask.
“Does it matter?” She swings her legs in front of her.
“Well, if the walls were female, they would most definitely call me a pig.” I smile at her. “But if my walls were male, they would most definitely give me a high-five.”
“You’re a pig,” she spits out at the same time the captain comes on and tells us we are preparing for landing.
“Buckle up,” I warn her and she makes sure her seat belt is on. I fold my hands on my lap, putting my head back, and closing my eyes. The past couple of days have been a whirlwind for me, I can’t even imagine what it’s been for her.
We don’t say anything to each other until we both stand up when we hear the ping for the seat belt sign. I stand, opening the overhead bin to grab my backpack and her purse before I step out into the aisle and wait for her to walk in front of me before we exit the plane.
We walk through the airport, following the signs to go to baggage claim and the exit. “I’m getting really nervous,” she admits softly, putting her hands on her stomach as we walk out of the glass doors that say exit only.
“It’s going to be fine.” I grab her hand that is beside me. She looks up at me and smiles, but it’s fake. I know it’s fake because her eyes don’t light up. If you know her long enough, you can see when she is fake and when she isn’t, and this right here is as fake as it gets. When it’s the real smile, her eyes almost squint together and they look bright like the sun.
Still holding her hand, we step onto the escalator going down to baggage claim and the exit. As we get closer to the bottom, I look around and spot Stefano before Eva does. He’s standing right in front of the escalator, his phone in his hand, and his fingers look like they are going a mile a minute as he types. He must feel me staring at him because his fingers stop moving and he looks up. I release Eva’s hand to hold up my hand toward him. Eva looks over and he smiles at her. I look over and see Eva raises her hand also to say hello to him as we move down.
He walks closer to us, and when we step off the escalator, he goes to Eva first. “Hey,” he greets, giving her a sad smile.
“Hey,” she replies softly as he takes her in his arms and gives her a hug. I suddenly get nervous about telling him our plan. I mean, he knows I would do anything for Eva. He also knows she would do anything for me. What’s the worst that can happen? He takes me outside and kicks my ass. That would be worst case, the other would be probably his father helping him to kick my ass. Then let’s not even think about the number of cousins and cousins’ cousins that he has.
“You didn’t have to meet us,” Eva says softly once he lets her go.
“Of course I did,” he says to her, holding her arms in his hands. “Can you imagine what my mother and father would have done to me if I didn’t come to meet you?” he deadpans to her, making her laugh. “Besides, if I hadn’t come, they would have, and I don’t think you are ready for all of that.”
“You are right on that,” she mumbles to him.
“I’m so, so sorry about Lisa,” he consoles her and she looks down at her feet. I see her mouth exhale before she blinks away the tears.
She lifts her head and gives him a sad smile. “Thank you.”
“My dad said he reached out to you also,” he tells her at the same time he reaches out to take her luggage from her.
“I know,” she says as we make are way out of the airport. “It’s been a busy couple of days. Every single time I said I would get back to him, I remembered I had to do something else.”
“I can’t even imagine,” he soothes, putting his arm around her shoulders. “Well, whatever help you need, we are here for you.” She just nods, and the only thing I can think is, you may change your mind once you find out what she needs from you.
“Shall we go?” Stefano suggests, ushering us out the door and toward his car.
“Shall we go and have something to eat?” He looks over at us as we walk to the underground parking garage and to his car.