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episode three ____________________________________
Lorenzo spent the next couple of weeks staying as far away from Jackie and her group of friends as he possibly could. This meant purposely ignoring every ring the house phone made as he knew it was always Jack Burkhart calling to have the boy accompany his daughter somewhere.
Instead Lorenzo immersed himself into his father's accounting work. It had been something he did often back in New York before the two Rossi men left. Finding peace in corrupted numbers and bank statements. The boy has always known the man was a crook but by God if you're going to be bad, at least be good at being bad. And his father was. Domenico planned for his son to be as well.
Gone were the days Jack Burkhart thought of Lorenzo as a simple babysitter for his daughter, the Rossi boy was rising in ranks and proving himself to be just as useful as his father. And so with that revelation made to Jack, Lorenzo began to attend every meeting and council with his father, held by Jack Burkhart with men just as crooked as himself and Domenico. Lorenzo, finally having time to himself and not needed to look after a prissy girl younger than himself every day, sealed his name in the line of work. He grew to be proud of it. Of himself. And so was his father.
With how much work he was throwing himself into, he hardly had time to think about Jackie and when he did, he'd push the girl to the back of his mind. He was getting good at it. It didn't hurt as much anymore when he would accidentally make eye contact with her as she walked past the foyer of her home with Kelso's hands clasped around hers.
His big house didn't seem so lonely when he was hardly ever in it anymore. In some ways he suspected the house was like his mind. A metaphor, of course. It was grand and much more upscale than other other house. It was filled to the brim with priceless decor but still so empty, so bare the slightest sound would echo. The same went for his mind. It was elaborate, calculating and critical. Just like the decor, thoughts of everything filled his mind, he was no stranger to getting headaches purely from thinking too much. But the thoughts about Jackie.. they echoed and they bounced and he could do nothing about it anymore it seemed.
There were times where he couldn't push himself into his father's work and there were times when the thoughts of Jackie took over so much that nothing could stop his splitting headache. But what helped was spending the dirty money that fed his family's wealth. New cars filled the garage and driveway of the massive home. He could have his own personal car show if he wanted. It's not like there wasn't enough space, in fact there was too much of it.
Jack Burkhart, Domenico Rossi and Bob Pinciotti as well as a number of other men sat lounging in the Burkhart home. Smoke from numerous lit cigars filled the air as the men sat around talking about President Ford visiting the state and passing through Point Place. Lorenzo Rossi was also in attendance of the meeting, though personally finding his presence to be unnecessary. Despite being told about how the two families made their money and afforded their rich lifestyle, he wasn't exactly trusted to be told everything so although knowing that the Burkhart man organized and arranged for it, he had no real idea why the President would be in his small city.
He had no time to contemplate it further when Michael Kelso shoves his way through the entrance into the small smoke filled room. The boy beelines for a platter of food set out on a table, "Are these for anybody?" Many of the men ignore him, including the boy his age.
Lorenzo looks away from Michael knowing wherever the boy was, Jackie was soon to follow. Lorenzo had spent several weeks cleansing himself of the girl and despite being in her home, desperately wanted to not see her. But as he expected, Jackie sauntered in behind her boyfriend.
"Hi daddy. Hi Mr. Pinciotti." Jackie pretended to not notice the green eyed boy counting money on a machine and taking notes on a pad sat neatly in front of him. Jack Burkhart swiveled in his chair to look up at his daughter, meeting her eyes, "Hi kitten, we're talking about adult stuff here. Why don't you and your friend head up to your room."
Against his better judgment, Lorenzo looked up to the couple that quickly made eye contact with each other before grabbing each other's hands and leaving the room frantically before her father could realize what kind of invitation he just gave the two to do. Lorenzo, sick to his stomach of the idea of what the two could be doing in the girls overly pink room, went back to his accounting. As the numbers filled his head and his father's gruff voice over his shoulder whispering words into his ear to help the process, Lorenzo let himself get lost in his thoughts.
Jackie, in the few seconds she saw him before being dismissed by her father, had never felt such a burning desire for the boy who was occupied counting money and going over the financial statements of his father and her father's collaborating businesses.
After running out to the room, she told her boyfriend to meet her up in her room while she stayed behind to do something or another. Michael didn't question it so when she was by herself, she peeked out from behind the oak door as his nimble fingers and quick mind went through the cash. It astounded her how good he was at what he was doing. She didn't want him to be good at it, she wanted him to be hers. But those kinds of thoughts only came to her at night. During the day she was too preoccupied with her boyfriend and her friends.
Donna still pestered her about the incident that happened weeks ago but she just can't find it in her heart to tell her new best friend. She knows she cheated on Michael and she loves him, she really really does! But saying what happened out loud will only make it more real and letting someone else know was a disaster waiting to happen. No matter what, she figured, there was always going to be that desire for Lorenzo.
• edited august 07, 2021
ITS BEEN SO LONG IM SO SORRY!!!! I WAS SO WORRIED I WAS RUSHING THEIR STORY OR ADDING TOO MUCH COMMENTARY AND NOT FOLLOWING THE PLOT BUT I LOVED READING ALL YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT JACKIE AND LORENZO!!
I haven't written anything mostly because I was too busy almost flunking out of college and trying to find a site that would let me watch That 70's Show since it was taken off of Netflix but i am back babies. I also went ahead and created a new cover for the story and I really like it.
