CAPO

23. Dinner

"How's school?"

Arabella almost sighed but spooning a large bite of pasta in to her mouth stopped her.

They were halfway through dinner now. Giovanni was sat across from her, next to Fiona. Her blonde hair was tied up and away from her face and every now and then, she would push up her glasses and stick her tongue out at Arabella, making her giggle and look away.

Arabella and Fiona were very good friends through her entire years of college and when she came out to Arabella one day, Arabella immediately told Olivia and now they were newly engaged—her bestfriend and her sister.

Arabella looked at her mom, "It's okay," She said softly. The woman nodded, "You get along with the other teachers well, yes?"

Arabella absentmindedly looked up at Giovanni, seeing him already looking at her, slowly chewing a bite of his food. The angel cleared her throat softly, "Mhm, they're nice," She replied, taking a sip of the glass of water next to her plate.

Her father cleared his thought, noticing his daughters uncomfortable habit of grinding her teeth. He looked up at Giovanni, smiling, "Say, Giovanni? Your name sounds Italian?" The man said, tilting his head.

Giovanni nodded, taking a sip from his own glass. "I am Italian, actually. Gypsy too," He said, sharply observing how they reacted to the Gypsy part. Many people shy away from Gypsy's, many hate them. But Sean had no expression, he merely nodded, smiling at the man.

Kristen on the other hand looked like she was a deer in headlights.

"You're Gypsy? That's interesting," She muttered, smiling a tight-lipped smile at Giovanni. The man raised an almost challenging brow, and Arabella watched as he licked his lips, looking at her mother with a dull expression.

"Is it, now?" He started, "Interesting in what way, Mrs Jones?"

Kristen shrugged, "Well, I just know they've got a bad reputation. Especially in Birmingham,"

"Well, a bad reputation is mere speculation, no? You can't give something a bad reputation if you don't know the entire history and everything about said something?"

"True, but—"

"It's like of I said all Londoners are snobs. I don't know enough people from London to call them that,"

Arabella and Olivia were both appalled by Giovanni.

Arabella more than anyone. Marcus had never stood up to her mother in the entire time he accompanied her to her parents' house. It was almost attractive to her; seeing Giovanni's hand move as he spoke, hearing his voice drop lower and his Italian accent sounding clearer than ever.

"But alas, there are Gypsies who give us a bad reputation with their use of black magic for no purpose other than to cause ill, but I can assure you that neither me or my mother are that,"

"W-well that's good then," She stumbled, gently clearing her throat.

Olivia and Arabella shared a look, the girl turning to her right, seeing her sister covering up her laugh with her glass. Olivia then too cleared her throat, "Giovanni, of you wouldn't mind me asking, what is it that you do?"

"I invest in a few schools, colleges and orphanages. I own a few businesses too,"

Olivia hummed, "So you're rich?"

"Oli!" Arabella protested, shaking her head. Giovanni smiled, "I wouldn't call myself rich, Olivia. I'm merely comfortable,"

"That's something a rich person would say," Olivia joked. Giovanni laughed, "Perhaps." He murmured, shrugging in his usual. nonchalant manner.