ICARUS - jjba

5 - Persistence

     Bruno left Abbacchio's house and started to walk down the dimly lit street. He took a bus back to his apartment. He stared out the window of the bus, looking at the stars in the night sky. He had stayed at Abbacchio's apartment for way longer than he was supposed to. He wasn't upset about it; in fact, he wished he could have stayed later. Bruno enjoyed Abbacchio's company. He was disappointed that Abbacchio had said no to his offer about Passione. Just because he had said no, doesn't mean that Bruno was willing to give up on the offer. He was going to try his damnedest to get Abbacchio to join Passione. Bruno could tell that Abbacchio had real potential, plus he liked him. Bucciarati wanted to help him; he didn't like the fact that Abbacchio was so isolated.

     Bucciarati finally reached his home and went inside. He then decided to clean up and go to bed. The only thing on his mind was ways to get Abbacchio to join Passione.

     Bucciarati awoke the next morning and immediately got out of bed, not wasting any time. He quickly got dressed and left his apartment, and went straight towards Abbacchio's apartment. The slight morning breeze and warm sunshine felt nice against his skin. The people around the streets gave Bucciarati excited waves and happy smiles. Bucciarati returned them, of course. Bucciarati was a man that everyone in the community respected, but they didn't know a lot about. Everyone had trusted him. Being waved at, smiled at, and warm welcomes were always thrown his way. The exact opposite happened for Abbacchio. Instead of waves and smiles, he got strange looks and whispers.

     Finally reaching his destination, Bruno made sure he looked his best before knocking on Abbacchio's door. No answer. Bruno knocked once more before he heard shuffling from the other side. The door opened with a creaking sound. The tall man stood before Bruno; he looked like a mess. His hair was messy, he had the same makeup on from the night before, and he was still wearing his sleepwear. The poor guy looked completely out of it. It looked like he had just crawled out of bed. Bruno gave him a friendly smile.

     "Sorry to bother you, if you'd like, I can come back another time?" Bruno asked. Abbacchio had a blank expression written all over his face. Bruno kind of felt bad for waking him up; in his defense, it was around 9:30 AM.

     "No, it's alright," Abbacchio sighed, "Come in, I can put on a pot of coffee." Abbacchio motioned for Bucciarati to come inside. Bruno had noticed that his apartment did look a bit cleaner than when he first visited.

     "I came by to ask if you would like to go get breakfast with me? My treat." Bruno suggested. Abbacchio looked at him with his eyebrow cocked upward. Then he shrugged and shook his head.

     Abbacchio thought about it for a moment before responding, "Sure, sounds good." Bruno grinned. Abbacchio went to his bedroom to get dressed. Bruno sat on the couch and waited for him to return. He was kind of apprehensive, but he didn't know why. Sitting there patiently, tapping his hand on his knee as he waited. Why am I so nervous?  Maybe it was because he had a lot riding on this. Bucciarati needed to put together a team, and Abbacchio was the first person he wanted to ask to join.

     Finally, Abbacchio walked out of his bedroom. Bruno looked towards his way and felt his nerves worsen. He didn't understand why he was feeling this way. Abbacchio's hair was neater, his regular clothes on, new makeup on, he looked better.

"Are you ready to go?" Abbacchio asked with a slight smile on his face. His expression made Bruno's face grow slightly warm. Bruno nodded his head yes.

"Yeah, of course. Let's get going." Bruno answered back. The two of them walked out onto the sidewalk and walked towards the restaurant where they had first bumped into each other. The walk wasn't very long, but they both enjoyed it a lot. They talked about their hobbies and interests. What kind of movies they liked, their favorite kinds of foods, their favorite artists, and the usual stuff like that. They had quite a few things in common.

"This time, Bucciarati, let me pay for your meal." Abbacchio expressed. Bruno blinked at him, curiously.

"No, it's quite alright. You don't have to go that far. I do appreciate the offer-" Bruno began before Abbacchio interrupted.

"I insist. Please let me pay for it. You paid for my meal the last time; it's the least I could do." Abbacchio explained. Bruno laughed and agreed.

"Okay, since you're insisting." Bruno continued before they reached the door. Bruno held the door open for Abbacchio. This was his chance to try to talk Abbacchio into joining Passione.