Oblivion

Chapter Twentyfour - Cooking Skills

Third Person

"Did you hear that from Luke?" Matteo asked carefully as they sat in Riccardo's room and ate homemade ice cream from Maria.

"Yes," Riccardo said shortly and Matteo tried to keep a neutral face. It was no secret that the two didn't particularly like each other; probably because they were too similar in many things; but so far at least Luke had retained some dignity. Matteo couldn't quite explain why he posted a photo of himself in bed with Riccardo's former girlfriend in the morning. The picture had since been deleted, but it had long since been sent to anyone who was interested or not. "She can do whatever she wants and with whomever she wants. We are no longer a couple."

Matteo raised his eyebrows in surprise. That sounded too forgiving and mature for his brother. "Riccardo. Whatever you think you want to do, please don't do it. It's not worth it and he isn't like that."

Riccardo turned his head towards him and twisted one corner of his mouth into a grim smile. "Did you know his sister goes to our school?"

"Yes, and do you know how old she is? 15. The same age as our sister. I beg you, just leave her alone and him too. It's only a year and a half left and then you'll never have to see him again.", Matteo tried to reason with him. If it weren't for Josephine, he wouldn't have cared what Riccardo did or not, but at some point she would join this school too and she did that best without carrying a target on her back.

"She's not our sister."

"She will be in the eyes of the law. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be for both of you." Matteo thought for a moment. "And for me. Do you know how stupid it is for me to stand between you two? She hasn't done anything to you and yet you're just punishing her for her existence in our lives."

Riccardo didn't answer him. How could he explain to him what Matteo wouldn't understand anyway? Not to mention the fact that it wasn't clear whether she would stay or not. She clearly wasn't a bad person, but Riccardo wasn't willing to build a sibling relationship with her just so that one day she would be gone again. It just wasn't worth the effort to him. Aside from the obvious problems she brought with her, he still couldn't understand his older brothers' motivations. As sad as it was, there were thousands of homeless youth with difficult pasts. So why her? Annoyed because he couldn't find an answer, he changed the subject. "I didn't think I'd say this, but I'm looking forward to school."

His brother heard Vito's car approaching and quickly looked out the window. He watched thoughtfully as his brother and Josephine got out. Vito said something to her as he gently pushed her towards the door, but whatever it was, it didn't change her compressed posture. "And I didn't even think to say that I'm happy about Vito's return. I'll be down in the kitchen if you can get over your ego."

__________

Matteo arrived in the living room at the same time as the other two. Josephine smiled slightly at him while Vito raised an irritated eyebrow. "Can I do something for you?"

"No, I actually wanted to ask Josephine if she would like to cook with me," Matteo replied and when no one spoke after a few seconds, he continued talking. "Because Maria is already gone and I wanted to make lasagna."
He looked at Josephine, who was eyeing him uncertainly. "I can't cook," she said quietly, looking at her hands. That was probably the truth, because she had never cooked in her life. At least she didn't remember that.

"Not a problem at all! Everyone can cook, just not everyone is good at it. Don't worry, I'll show you what you have to do. And lasagne is not very complicated. Basically it's Bolognese in layers baked with cheese. It's basically a child's play, so to speak. The bechamel sauce is a bit more complicated, but it doesn't look that difficult when Valentino makes it and if necessary we just ask him if he can help." He thought about mentioning the panna cotta, but decided against it. That might be a bit too much.

"Sure. Why not?" Josephine said without sounding the least bit sure. "When do you want to start?"

Matteo grinned. "How about now? Or do you just need some rest after the appointment?"

Vito followed the conversation with a silent smile. He was pleased to see how much effort Matteo showed when he would otherwise find it difficult to approach new people. He pulled out his cell phone, excused himself from having to make a phone call and left the two of them. On the way to his office he decided to really make a phone call and called his lawyer to ask about the current state of affairs. It annoyed him that this whole process was taking so long, but as he was repeatedly assured her case was already being prioritized. Still, it couldn't hurt to keep the pressure on.
The moment he finished the conversation, Domenico called him. Shaking his head, Vito accepted the call. "How do you know we're - have you tracked us again, Nico?"

"Don't ask questions that you either know the answer to or don't want to hear. So, how did it go?", his brother sounded as if it was the most normal thing in the world to check his siblings' locations. Vito was inclined to roll his eyes, but he had known his brother too long to be seriously surprised or angry. They had long since missed the point where a conversation about privacy would have been appropriate. So instead he told him what he had heard and the agreements that had been made. A little annoyed, he also talked about the postponement of the appointment because of the dogs, but

Domenico didn't seem to be able to fully understand it. "But it's her job."

"Yeah, but we're lucky to find someone she can trust enough for now so she can give it a try and it's not like he sits in his office all day just waiting for her. "

"Yet he found another appointment, so everything's fine. Are you coming to the company straight away? The KitKat guy was there and for reasons unknown to me, he preferred to just talk to you about the club expansion. I told him that you will contact him. By the way-" Vito heard Domenico take a drag from a cigarette. "-you do owe me one. You know exactly how much I hate representing you. All this nothingness!"

Vito suppressed a sigh and rubbed his face. "It was only two hours and apparently there was no disaster, right? So relax." Instead of answering, Domenico hung up without saying a word. His brother shook his head and put the cell phone aside, happy for the silence that had ensued.

In the kitchen, however, it was anything but quiet. Music was playing in the background, part of the onions were being fried in a pan, the other part was being cut by Josephine while Matteo was peeling tomatoes. He had told Josephine peeling tomatoes were harder than cutting onions, but she got the impression he was lying a bit. It didn't bother her; on the contrary, she actually found it quite pleasant to talk to Matteo. Sometimes she even found herself asking him questions herself and perhaps it was her own paranoia, but she found him very adept at not answering some questions. That was okay, everyone had the right to secrets, Josephine decided.

"Are you excited about your lessons?" Matteo asked interestedly. He had tried to remember what he had learned over the last few years, but he had no idea how she could possibly catch up.

Josephine nodded as she added the onions to the pan. "Excited may sound too positive. I'm definitely nervous. It's been a while since I learned consciously and before that I wasn't good at these things."

"You know no one here expects you to be perfect, right?"

"My foster mother did." Josephine continued cutting thoughtfully. "She was the last person who expected anything from me, to be honest."

"That's not true, I for one expect you not to let the onions burn," joked Matteo and was pleased to see that Josephine had to smile too. She gave a playful salute before quickly turning the onions. It took a few more attempts at cooking before she realized onions didn't burn as easily as her brother wanted her to believe and little did she know that lasagna would become one of her favorite meals.

__________

Later that night, Riccardo was still awake in bed. He was watching a series which was slowly approaching the season finale and he wanted to know who was behind the attacks. It was quiet in the house; Valentino was out and everyone else was in their respective bedrooms. Even through the open window he didn't hear barking or anything, but he could see the snow falling again. Maybe it would be enough in the morning to have a snowball fight with Matteo and Valentino. Maybe, Riccardo thought with mixed feelings, Josephine could play along.

That night, he got a glimpse of the terrors she faced while sleeping.
That night, he heard her scream from her nightmares for the first time.