Letters to Italy

20. Happy birthday?

It was the 21st of July, a very special day! It was the Belgian Independence Day. A national holiday, so my parents didn't need to go to work. Nice for them.

...Oh and it was also my 21st birthday.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Aline..." my parents and sister sang not very enthusiast, but smiling. It was a formality.

"So, are you excited for tonight?" Liene asked.

"No!"

Everyone stopped smiling.

"Why do you all look like that? NO! I'm not excited. That you still need to ask that after yesterday."

"But you're probably going to see him on another day! Then you can celebrate your birthday too! So you can celebrate it twice!" Liene tried to cheer me up.

"I don't want to celebrate!" I said stubborn.

"Not without Gianluca!"

"Well, that's easy for us. Now we don't have to pay for food and presents anymore," my mom said angry. "We try our best to make your day as fun as possible. And you just don't want it? Very grateful of you!" my mom said sarcastic.

Deep inside I felt she was right. But as long as they responded like this on me missing Gianluca, I didn't want to do anything anymore. Not with them. It seemed like they didn't accept the fact that a beautiful Italian singer was in love with their daughter. They ignored it most of the time. Only Liene and Jonas accepted it. Jonas for the fact that he was just my best friend, he was always happy for me. And Liene accepted it for the fact she thought it was really cool, that her big sister was dating a superstar.

I didn't want to eat anymore so I ran upstairs. To my bedroom, which was papered with Gianluca pictures. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I asked to one of the pictures. It looked like he was not going to respond.

I decided to read some old letters from my brother again, to think about something else. That was always fun to do. It's a bit like a diary.

Dear Aline

I'm very happy you like my new friends. Maybe one day, you can meet them too. I think you would like that, don't you?

So, to answer the question how I met them. Basically, I was shopping some clothes because I need some too of course. But for a boy it's not that fun, so I decided to go to a very popular and good place to eat something delicious. There was just one table left. Because there were a lot of people who wanted to be there too. Very popular place, like I said.

A few minutes later, three guys entered the place. They didn't want to look for another eating house, it seemed, so they decided to stay. And because my table had three empty seats left, they asked if they could give me company. And so we started to talk to each other. They were very friendly and they heard I wasn't really Italian. So they asked further, and that's how we kept talking. But of course they talked to me, it would be very strange if they sat at the same table without talking to me.

After a few minutes I noticed, a lot of people were looking in our direction. So I whispered to them: "Everyone is looking at us? Weird!" They immediately laughed and explained why. So apparently, I sat at a table with three Italian superstars. But they're so nice and humble, I thought they were just normal, but very nice, Italian guys.

And the next day, I met them again, somewhere next to the place their concert would take place. And they asked me to stay for a while. And now, a few weeks later, I have their phone numbers and we sometimes meet each other too. They're really cool!

that evening

My parents didn't cancel the party for family and friends that evening. They all arrived about 8 pm. And because I was a well-mannered girl, I greeted everyone and thanked them for coming. I opened every present but there was nothing I really needed or wanted. "Oh, a guitar pic with my name on it!" I tried to say in an enthusiast way. "Thank you very much, I can really use that since I play the piano!" I thought pissed.

"Oh a book, 'Italian for dummies'! Nice. But I already have one."

"Ha, nice, a colouring book for adults!" My uncle couldn't know I didn't have coloured pencils anymore.

"Oh, look, coloured pencils!" Little did my niece know I actually hated colouring.

"That's done!" I thought. But there was still one little envelop lying on the little table in front of me. "Well, aren't you going to open that one?" my dad pointed to the envelop. They seemed very enthusiast about it. I was already feeling guilty for the fact I probably wouldn't like it either.

Normaly, I liked all my presents. Because it was not important for me. It was the gesture that counted. And the company, even thought I was the most quiet girl of the whole family.
This time, the presents didn't matter either. But now only because of Gianluca, who wasn't here.

I took the envelop and found a little piece of paper in it, which I unfolded.

"My sweet principessa"

"It's from Gianluca!" I said surprised. My parents nodded to confirm. Liene was clapping excited in her hands. Like she already knew what I was going to read.

"I'm really sorry I'm not here today. I hope you understand why it's not always possible for me to leave Italy. If you were in Italy right now, I was standing next to you, for sure! But now that's impossible because tomorrow morning we have an interview for a big radio station.

But still, I owe you a very big present because of that! And what's better than just being with each other as a present? So I bought you plane tickets! To Italy! Your parents agreed and you leave tomorrow morning. (So don't make it too late tonight! Haha) Then we have 5 full days to hang out together! FIVE days! That's more than last time! I hope you like it! And now, please enjoy your birthday party. You deserve every bit of attention tonight and starting from tomorrow, we will celebrate your birthday for five full days!

Oh, I also had to tell you from your parents you need to study very hard when you're back in Belgium afterwards! But first, a few days vacation!

For tomorrow, your parents know more details! And I'll pick you up at 'Aeroporto Internazionale d'Abruzzo'. Good luck! It's your first time alone on a plane! But it's all worth it! I promise!

un bacio per la mia principessa! X

Gianluca

I was the happiest girl in the world that moment! Why did I ever doubted Gianluca? He still was Gianluca Ginoble, the very romantic one from Il Volo. So I should've known he was planning something big for me. I felt guilty for reacting like a very stubborn person before. My parents were even helping Gianluca with his plan. I thanked them a thousand times, and I embraced my sister like never before.

The rest of my party was as nice as the previous ones. I smiled a lot! More than ever. But it was not because of that bad joke from my uncle, or because of the story about the sweet little kittens, my grandmother told me about. No, it was all thanks to Gianluca!