The Devoted Gentleman (EDITING)

Chapter 2

The chatter of people inside the cafe was blocked by the sound of a middle aged man narrating the audio book as he talked about the different ways of handling financial crisis. While people walked back and forth as the street outside was filled with the crowd, Allegra Altieri was spinning the spoon on her second cup of latte. She had been waiting for half an hour, the only thing which managed to keep her busy was the latest episode of her favorite financial podcast. It was a habit of hers of always coming early whenever she had an appointment with anyone. But sometimes there were people like her friend who liked to keep her waiting for much longer.

Right when it almost ended, the cafe's door opened and Valeria came in rushing with her large tote in her hand. Like usual, she was dressed in a rather modest, conservative attire with a long sleeve off shoulder blouse and a knee length burgundy skirt which surprisingly looked good on her. Her hair was let loose after a long day of work, where usually it was tied up in a simple ponytail, a small golden cross necklace was hanging around her neck as she walked toward her best friends with a small apologetic smile on her face.

"The early bird is here." Allegra spoke with a hint of sarcasm. Valeria chuckled and took a seat across of her. She pretended to pull the menu to see what was available. It was simply  unnecessary. They had been there dozens of times before, it was merely a gesture she conducted for the sake of it.

"Sorry, I had some things to do." She excused.

Ah, here she goes again.

Allegra rolled her eyes and smirked mockingly, it was just another excuse she always used. There was not exactly a day when Valeria Valenza was not busy. She was after all, a woman with plenty of needs, which equal plenty of works. However, judging from the way she was dressed and the fact that her hair was a mess, she knew that day Valeria actually meant it.

Valeria has worked as a music teacher in a prestigious Catholic academy in Rome. She was quite famous within the academy because everyone secretly knew who she was, in short, she was the local celebrity. What happened when you become famous in your community? People would want to befriend you, they would make small talks just to gain a portion of your time to boast it to others. Sometimes they would try to dig up your deepest secret or something just to have a juicy material to talk about. Of course, Valeria was yet to reach that level. At least she thought so. Still, beside being actually busy, she was also quite ambitious, which meant anything she did needed to be done to the utmost perfection or to very least, they best she could do. It was proven in her way of teaching and making herself known. She often accompanied her students in competitions which is why she had plenty of connections in the classical music community.

Both of them have known each other for a long time, they had been friends since high school. Although the two of them were very different in both appearance and personality, they seemed to have an opposite attract effect to each other, Allegra Altieri was the savvy businesswoman, as the eldest daughter of The Altieri family, she had been educated and trained to take over the family business after her father passed away. It suited her personality for she was ambitious and dominant, very alluring. She was the kind of woman that possessed a slightly intimidating air surrounding her and it was completed with her sharp tongue which counterbalance her sharp mind. As an individual, she could be a bit mean to those whom she disliked, but toward Valeria, she was just a friendly and warm person. She always look put together with her strawberry blonde hair up in a bun and and light green gray eyes who could kill anyone with a single glare. While Valeria was the more mature, rational, calm and collected friend with an air of elegance around her, it did not matter if she wore a blouse with trousers or a dress, she always appeared classy and affluent. Which was why she often stood out from her other colleagues.