Ugly Ronney: mafia romance [English]

Chapter 8-6

Yeraz reappeared with a tray loaded with food: appetizer, main course, and dessert. I didn't want to show my mood had changed. I had just received the worst text of my life. Despite this, a nervous laughter was rising in me. I should have burst into tears, but the scene that was unfolding before my eyes took over. I laughed my head off, leaving Yeraz in disbelief. He must have thought I was completely losing it. Between two spasms, I managed to articulate a few words.

"It's obvious you aren't used to this kind of restaurant."

Yeraz questioned me with his eyes, embarrassed by the situation. I managed to calm myself down, but I could go back to laughing at any moment.

"Okay, dear Mr. Khan. The buffet is a concept whose advantage is to be all-you-can-eat. Long story short, third world humans can get up, go get their appetizer, sit down, and then go get their main dish and so on."

Yeraz sat down, uncomfortable.

"It's a convenient concept. To tell you the truth, I... I never..."

"Yes, I can see that!"

I struggled to contain my laughter. Yeraz straightened his back and shook his head with an adorable pout, amused by the situation. It was the first time I had seen him smile, a real smile. I couldn't tell what was going on at that moment, but I felt like I was really seeing him. It was like time stopped. For a brief moment, he had just made me forget about an old, intense pain in my chest.

He got himself together fairly quickly and the black veil slowly fell back into his eyes to hide the world he wasn't letting me see. His gaze glided briefly over me before disappearing over my shoulder.

"Good evening."

My brother had come out of his room, a rare thing, which proved that the treatment was working. He politely greeted Yeraz, whom he had never seen before, and then took a chair at the next table to sit with us. I thought he looked better, although his features were still drawn, and there were huge dark circles under his eyes. All the glimmers of weariness and resignation were clearly visible on his gray face.

"How are you?" I asked, anxious.

"Much better. I'm happy to meet your boyfriend. Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. Elio, Ronney's older brother."

I looked at both of them with the fear that Yeraz would answer him with the same disdain that he usually had for me. But it wasn't the case. He remained courteous, perhaps out of pity, or to better get into his character. I released the pressure on my shoulders as discreetly as possible. My brother then turned into a lawyer in a courtroom and began to ask him a thousand questions. Yeraz didn't shy away and didn't make a single mistake. Both of them seemed to have known each other forever. Elio even managed to get a laugh out of him. Even though I knew he would return to his cold and stiff self when he walked through the restaurant doors, I keep the moment in my heart. To see Yeraz letting go was the only image that I wanted to keep of him once my contract with Camilia was finished.

Elio moved his hand in front of my face without touching it and asked me, "Did you break your glasses? The last time I saw you without them, you were around six years old."

I saw myself at that moment running around the yard in front of Aunt Maria's house. Olivia and Hailey had taken my Ariel doll from and were having fun tossing it around.

"Four-eyes Ronney! Four-eyes Ronney!" they shouted.

Olivia tripped me and knocked me down onto the sharp rubble. The lenses of my glasses had shattered from the impact. The completely gratuitous act was just one of the many nasty things I had been subjected to by the other kids. The memory remained intact in my mind. I had kept an infinite sorrow from my childhood and adolescence. There was absolutely nothing happy in my past.

Yeraz's voice came into my thoughts.

"Ronney? Is everything okay?"

He sounded worried. I shook my head vigorously.

"Yes. About my glasses. I have to get them back next week."

"I think you're very pretty like this, too."

My brother's words made me uncomfortable. I looked down at my plate.

"Stop it," I whispered, embarrassed.

"You are, I assure you, baby sister."

His hand brushed my face and I decided to get up, carefully avoiding Yeraz's gaze, who must have thought my brother's looks were much worse than mine after all.