Chapter 1
Attention: There will be some Italian translation to follow in a later chapter. If you must know feel free to translate. Also, there is explicit language and sexual content throughout the book, you have been warned.
Chapter 1
Our story begins with two best friends closing one chapter of their life and preparing for the next. It isn't just an ordinary morning, for them it is the begin of their journey. A journey that is presumed to be full of adventure, at least for one of these friends. Their preconceived opinions about how their day will end are about to be challenged unbeknownst to them.
“Knock, knock…Ximena?” The sounds of Lucia's voice comes from the other side of my bedroom door.
“Ugh…She’s not here right now!” I yell through my pillow, which rests over my sleepy head.
I hear my bedroom door creak open followed by quick footsteps. Lucia runs through my now empty bedroom. The walls are bare and the furniture missing. The only sign that someone inhabited the space is my bed which I currently occupy. All my furniture was sold to avoid hiring a moving service. As for my personal items they were all packed and loaded in my SUV. This is the last morning Lucia and I will be living in our two bedroom apartment. We moved in just three years ago after sharing a dorm together freshman year. This apartment was very fancy compared to most other college student residences. I was lucky enough to have a best friend who came from a well off family, that insisted on only the best when it came to our living situation. I am going to miss this place and my next place wont be as spacious as this one. I will definitely downgrading. I don't mind moving from this spacious two bedroom, two and a half bath apartment into my new studio apartment. The only thing I will miss is Lucia's company.
“Oof!” Escapes me as Lucia jumps on me.
“Luciana!” I exclaimed my voice muffled by my pillow.
“What was that? I thought I might have heard “Luciana” but that can’t be right.” Lucia questions me in a playful tone.
“Luciana Maria Savellini!” I yell.
“You are gonna get it now!” She begins to tickle me relentlessly.
“I give…I give...” I wheeze out in between laughs.
“What’s my name?” She asks as she continues to tickle me.
“Lu...Lu…LUCIA!” I can barely get out as she relentlessly tickled me. Every time I tried to say her name I failed due to all the laughter. The tickling stops, once she hears her preferred name.
“That’s what I thought. Now get your lazy ass out of bed. We gotta go soon. I already made breakfast. All you have to do is get ready.” She commands me to do that last part.
“Five more minutes please,” I beg.
She snatches the pillow off my head and rips the blankets away. Then she stuffs them in my last moving box and taped it closed.
“Hey! You forgot my sheets,” I exclaim.
“Buy new ones. Those are too childish for a grown woman anyway.” She says as she leaves the room with the box. I look down at my sheets.
“I guess she has a point.” I sigh. I guess I am too old for unicorns and rainbows sheets. I snicker at how ridiculous they are.
“Stop messing around Ximena.” I look up and see Lucia is standing in the doorway. I stretch my arms and legs, while yawning dramatically.
“Yes, Mistress Savellini,” I jokingly say as I get out of bed.
“You know I hate when you call me that just as much as I hate when you call me Luciana.”
“Okay okay.” I walk to her and squeeze her tight. She gives me the stink eye. I put my most adorable face on and bat my eyelashes at her.
“Come on Lucia…you know I’m only teasing.” I tilt my head to the side and bat my lashes furiously. She cracks a smile.
“You are lucky I love you or I would have to kill you.” She says this with a smile on her face but an ominous voice. I shudder. Sometimes her playful threats don't seem too playful. At the moment she is giving off the impression that she might actually kill someone if they angered her.
“Stop being such a creep,” I say as I pinch her cheeks and laugh. Her demeanor changes and she is back to the lovable Lucia I know. This happens every time I bring up Mistress Savellini or call her Luciana. I only call her that when she is being super demanding. I never understood the mood change I’m only joking with her. Of course, I don’t really think that she is a Mafia Boss. But her Italian roots and her sometimes demanding attitude make me want to tease her. Lucia is my best friend and roommate. I have to correct myself knowing we wont be roommates anymore. We have been inseparable since the day we met.
… (Flashback)
I walk down the hall of my dorm scanning the doors as I pass them. The hallway is wide not the standard size you would find in a home, It's all a bit larger then what I am used to. The campus, the town, the stores, and the buildings, are all much large than my small town back home. I traveled across the country to get here. When I applied to college I wanted to escape the quiet place I grew up in, so I applied to a school as far East as I could. Thanks to hard work and excellent grades Cornell University accepted me on a full scholarship.
It’s move-in day and I’m searching for my dorm room. My roommate assignment was random, though we are supposed to have things in common. The email I got said that we were roomed based on major. So maybe we can be study buddies. I keep searching, all the doors are labeled with two names, and from what I have seen it’s based on the last names of the occupants. Come on. I cannot believe they just expect people to randomly search an entire floor to find their room! Due to some sort of technical difficulty with the computers, the staff that greeted all the new arrivals was unable to tell us an exact room number just the floor on which we could search.
“Mercado…Mercado…Finally,” I mumble to myself.
“Mercado was it?” A beautiful voice calls.
“What?” I ask as I look towards the voice. In front of me is a girl just as beautiful as her voice. She has long raven hair, perfectly symmetrical features, and gorgeous water blue eyes with a hint of gray in them. Her eyes are a stark contrast to her black hair, but it suits her perfectly.
“Savellini.” She extends her hand to me. I grab it and laugh, she’s my roommate.
“Mercado,” I reply with a smile on my face, which she returns.
“Did I hear that correctly?” A nasally high-pitched voice exclaims. We both look to the owner. She is the stereotypical white rich girl. She is a Blonde-haired blue-eyed bimbo with her face caked with make-up. I mentally prepare myself for the word battle that is to come. I hate having to do this. I am not the type to be argue, but I learned along time ago that in this type of situation it is best to put the person eager to mistreat you in their place. Doing this now will prevent repeatedly incidences of verbal abuse.
“Savellini and Mercado…ugh! They let anyone in these days.” She fake laughs and high-fives one of her minions. “Ladies lookout we have a Mafia Mistress and her gardener here.” I feel rage boil inside me. Rage is not an emotion that I ever feel and I don't like it.
“Don’t be bitter because you had to use your riches to become “Beautiful” while we on the other hand are simply blessed.” My roommate burst out in a fit of uncontrollable laughter upon hearing my reply to the disrespectful girl in front of us.
“Do you know who I am!?” Blondie yells.
“Yeah, the local plastic surgeon’s guinea pig. You might want to find someone new; your nose job is obvious, and you will need a miracle worker to fix those nonexistent lips.”
“AAAHHH!” She yells while self-consciously holding her nose. I turn my back on her, she’s not worth my time.
“Come on Savellini, we have better thing to do than to listen to Miss Piggy snort.” I take my roommate by the hand and open the door to our dorm room and lead us in. Her face is shocked. I turn to close the door and wanna be Barbie is still standing there with her mouth open.
“Close your mouth your attracting flies.” That is the last thing I say to her before slamming the door in her face. As soon as the door was closed a musical peel of laughter could be heard behind me, it almost sounding like bells.
“That was priceless…You are like a word samurai.” She laughs one last time before wiping a tear away from her smiling face.
“Takes years of practice. But honestly don’t judge me on my harsh words. The Samurai only comes out for racist bitches promise.” What I told her was true, this wasn't really what I was like. I was a little disappointed that she was getting the wrong impression of me right off the bat. Now she thinks I'm some quick tongued badass and that is far from who I really am.
She puts her hands in the air like she is surrendering. “Who’s judging?”
We both hear three consecutive knocks coming from the door.
“I guess Barbie finally has a comeback,” I laugh as I open the door. “What can I do for you Miss P…” I stop as soon as I see it’s not her at the door. It’s a handsome man in his early 20s and I’m at a loss for words.
“What is it you said…close your mouth your attracting flies,” He says with a smirk. I quickly close my mouth and look down blushing with embarrassment.
“Capo!” Savellini says sternly. Dang, I need to ask her first name. I feel weird referring to her by her last name.
“Yes,” He replies almost like he has been scolded by his superior.
I look at my roommate and she has a stern look on her face. What is happening right now?
“I tuoi ordini non avrebbero mai interferito nella mia vita!” Savellini says rapidly.
What? I caught “your” and “no” and “my life”, Italian is similar to Spanish but not enough to fully understand.
“Le mie scuse Padrona.” His eyes are on the ground as he replies to Savellini. I know an apology when I hear one.
“Da quando sei stato cosi lo quace? Questo e il Massimo che ti ha mai sentito parlare. E sedare atua facia di peitra puo tariffa? Qualcuno ha una cotta? È molto bella, vero?” She fires at him.
I’m clueless. I think I heard the words “speak” and “expression”. I have no idea what to think. I look at him. He shot his head up upon hearing her last words, which seemed like a question. He glances my way and blushes then looks down again. What the heck did she ask him? He does not reply to her question.
“Ahh, as much fun as this immersion into Italian is….,” I leave it open to hint at my confusion.
“Sorry Mercado,” she says.
“Ximena,” I say giving her a chance to call me by my first name.
“What?” she asks confused.
“My name is Ximena. I mean Mercado is my name too, but I prefer to be on a first-name basis.” I ramble nervously. I feel his eyes on me again.
“Luciana…call me Lucia,” she corrects herself.
“Ok great…Now who’s this guy?” I ask as I glance at him. He is staring, jeez dude there are other things to look at.
“No one. Capo, why are you here?” I am glad she is using English now. He drops a duffle bag on the floor that I did not even realize he was carrying.
“I told you I would be back for my things.” She responds to the duffle bag being dropped.
“I’m just doing my job,” he emphasizes job. It seems as if he is referring to something I’m not aware of.
“Do your job discretamente. Non voglio che lei sappia nulla e non voglio vederti di nuovo a meno che non sia necessario.”
…
Man, that memory seems like a lifetime ago. I had forgotten about the man altogether. I have never seen him since that day. And I never asked Lucia about him either. He seemed like he was an employee or something the way she was scolding him. Shoot, I’ve been standing here doing nothing this whole time. I rush to the bathroom that is attached to my bedroom. Lucia and I both made sure we had our own bathrooms when we were apartment hunting all those years ago. I need to get ready before “Mistress Savellini” appears again. I laugh once again at my thoughts of her being a boss lady.
