Sorellina

16 - sixteen

"You and I are not leaving this kitchen until you have eaten every crumb,"

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C

hapter 16 : sixteen

When Riccardo said I should eat everything down to the crumb I didn't think he was serious. But he did take it seriously. I had to eat every crumb. It took me forty minutes to eat it all, down to the crumb. Meanwhile, Riccardo looked at me and never let me out of his sight. Finally, when everything was finished and Riccardo looked at my plate to see if there was another crumb and I wanted to leave, he said we had a family meeting. So I had to stay seated. So now I'm sitting waiting for the rest.

Bored, I tap my fingers on the kitchen island I'm still sitting at. How long do I have to wait? I'm bored to death. Waiting is so stupid. It's like waiting 10 minutes, and then realizing not even one second has passed. Usually time goes by so fast, but when you have to wait time always goes by slower. Then time plays with your feet. Most people don't have enough time and now it feels like I have all the time in the world.

"Stop," says Riccardo. I look at him confused. What am I supposed to stop doing? I start tapping my finger again and Riccardo sighs loudly.

"Stop that tapping, it's irritating," he growls. Immediately I stop the tapping.

You are irritating.

"Then say so," I mutter. Riccardo looks up from his phone and gives me the look of are-you-kidding-me. He opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by a very enthusiastic voice.

"Principessa!" Emilio enthusiastically walks into the kitchen with his arms wide. "I missed you!" He comes running to me and wraps his arms around me. I stiffen and remain seated. Emilio realizes it and so presses me against him a little more. Carefully I bring my arm to his back and pat it akward. Why is he hugging me? Emilio lets go of me and takes a seat next to me. I look back at Riccardo and see that he has an angry look on his face. Why is he angry? He looks from me to Emilio and then back to me. A frown forms on my forehead, have I done something wrong?

"We're here!" Alessandro walks into the kitchen, followed by Leonardo. They walk to the kitchen island and walk past me. As Alessandro passes me he rubs his hand over my head causing my hair to tangle. As Leonardo passes me he smiles at me before taking a seat at the empty spot next to me.

"Have you settled?" Emilio asks, looking at Alessandro questioningly. Alessandro nods his head.

"Yes he will di-" Alessandro looks at me and stops talking, he clears his throat. "Yes, it's settled," That's suspicious, he starts a sentence and when he sees me he changes his sentence completely. Emilio nods his head.