Bambina

4 Not your regular cafe

School's over and Danielle and I have sat us down at a local cafe. As I have some explaining to do, might as well do it somewhere people are minding their own business.

Given Raphaelle's gruffness, I don't think it's a good idea to be all gossipy about us. But it's Danielle. I tell her everything. She's my best friend in the entire world.

"Danielle? Hello?" I call on her, as her eyes are stuck on the barista preparing our cocoas. "Sorry, he's just... I've been here weekly ever since I first saw him. He's so beautiful."

I give him a quick glance... sure he's not appalling, but he's nowhere near Raphaelle's level of beauty. This barista guy is more of a guy next door type of beauty. He's not the Hollywood epitome type of beauty. He wouldn't be a model seen in a runway show. Raphaelle could've been. He's the out of this world type of beauty. The once you look at him time freezes and your eyes focus on him only. Everything else becomes a blur.

I shouldn't think of him. I shouldn't do anything to make me more attracted than I already am. Actually, I need him to hit me with a car so that I'll be smart enough to run away. But I know that unless he hurts me severely, I won't know how to. He's got me hooked. It's kinda frightening.

"So that's why you wanted to come here?" I tease her. If she's gonna scold me for who I happen to be attracted to, I can at least tease her about her own silly attraction. "Oh shush, at least my crush is a bartender and not a psycho gang-member."

"Capo dei capi," I mumble, remembering what he said yesterday.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," I reply, shaking the memory off of me.

The bartender comes to our table with our cocoas, and he smiles that boy-next-door-ish smile that has her melting like chocolate in front of me. Danielle soft... never thought I'd live to see the day.

I take a sip of the cocoa. Actually, the flavor is amazing. Probably one of the best cocoas I've ever had.

"So, tell me in detail what exactly happened after I got dropped off yesterday? How did you get his number? Why did you let him?"

She's slightly scolding still, but not as prominently as she was earlier today. Which calms me a bit. At least she doesn't sound pissed. Yet. I mean, there's always a chance.

"First off, nothing really happened. He told me that it was my choice if I wanted to get to know him or not. And then he put his number in. Then he told me not to go out after the streetlights come on. And then I went inside. I wasn't planning on calling him at all. I had made my mind up soon as I was inside and free of his charm and the whole package." I begin to express calmly, then my head lowers at my next confession. "But then I had a nightmare. I dreamed of him getting shot. And before I even realized it, I had ended up calling him. And then one thing led to another and he was driving me to school."

I sigh, looking back up to scan her reaction. Nonchalance. Or feigning nonchalance. I know she's a master poker-face. It's really hard to know what she's thinking at times.

"You dreamed about him getting shot?" She's confused about this, I can tell. I nod. And to be frank, I'm pretty confused about it myself. "That's odd," she murmurs quizzically.

"I know. I've been trying to make sense of it myself. I just... I can't seem to figure it out."

"You like him," she says matter-of-factly. I nod again. "I shouldn't. I know. But I can't help it. He has this pull on me. It's out of my control."

She nods, looking over at the barista again. "I get it. It's the way it is between me and him. But on my part it's entirely one-sided."

I look over in his direction as well. "You don't know that," I say in an attempt to cheer her up. But honesty, I'm rather certain it's entirely one-sided on my part as well. He treats me like a child. If anything it seems like he wants a daughter to look after, not a girlfriend. And would I even want that? With someone as handsome as him, every girl I'd ever look at would be a potential threat. It seems exhausting.