10 Mar The Mafia: Chapter Seventeen

*This rough draft is entirely a work of fictional writing*

Maria decides to accompany Avi on his hike up a moderately difficult trail – the scenic route is always worth the pain.

Maria starts whining, “My feet are starting to hurt and how much further are we walking?”

Avi hands Maria a water bottle, “Maria… we haven’t even gotten to the trail yet.”

Maria points down at her shoes, “Look. My brand new sneakers are getting dirty – you never told me that we’d be going off-roading.”

Avi sighs with frustration, “Mara. Then go buy a new pair of sneakers? It’s not a big deal. Why’d you even come if you’re going to complain the whole time.”

Maria is slightly offended, “Oh I’m so sorry that I’m not a nature person. God forbid I try and spend some time with you.”

Maria then stops walking and says, “Hold my hand.”

Avi quickly replies, “No.”

Maria pleads, “Please.”

Avi re-affirms, “No.”

Maria continues to plead, “What if I fall down?”

Avi sighs yet again, “Then you get back up? Listen Maria… hikes aren’t really the ideal place for romance.”

Maria stomps her foot into the ground, “Avi. I am not moving from this spot until you hold my hand.”

Avi gives in and reluctantly walks over to Maria, takes her hand and they continue walking toward the trail.

Maria uses a sleight of hand and quickly takes a photo with her phone of her and Avi holding hands – Avi doesn’t notice.

Maria smiles, “This is such a beautiful moment – don’t ya think?”

Avi jokes around, “Maria… my hands are sweaty as shit – this doesn’t feel all that romantic.”

Maria rolls her eyes, “Sheesh. You brothers have been so grouchy lately.”

Avi is confused, “What do you mean? How are we being grouchy?”

Maria forcefully speaks sweetly, “Why has D been acting like such a macho man recently?”

Avi ignores her question, “Why have you been so intensely pressed on him lately?”

Maria responds condescendingly, “Um. Maybe because we were like a hairline away from getting a divorce?”

Avi lets go of Maria’s hand, “He never said that he wanted a divorce… people get into arguments sometimes – you should know that the most out of anyone.”

Maria elevates her attitude, “Whatever.”

Avi continues on, “There is a group of people patiently waiting at a crosswalk when the pedestrian walk signal finally turns green. At that moment, each person has the same sense of urgency to cross the street before it switches over again, yet some people walk swiftly while others take their time. Why do you think that is?”

Maria takes a few moments to ponder. “Avi… I’m sweating like crazy and feel gross. I really don’t want to sit here and contemplate human psychology nor try and decipher your illustrious use of anecdotes. And besides, I tried to reconcile with D at a nice dinner when some girl named Selena texted him! Right in front of me…”

Avi looks at Maria then says, “Okay… what’s the big deal? Maybe she’s a business associate or something – you’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt sometimes.”

Maria looks back at Avi and says, “She sent him a smoochie face emoji…”

Avi tries not to smile, “The one with the heart or the regular one?”

Maria gets slightly annoyed, “The one with the heart!”

Avi gently laughs, “Girls love D.”

—

Lilly and Jay are at a French Coffee shop – they are seated outdoors when the waitress comes up and asks, “Hi. How are you both doing? What can I get you two started with?”

Jay stares deep into the waitress eyes and then says, “We’ll just take two coffees and two sugars. Thank you.”

The waitress looks at Lilly and says, “Would you like anything else?”

Before Lilly can respond Jay abruptly interrupts her, “Like I said. We’ll just take two coffees with two sugars and that’s it.”

The waitress whistles then says, “Oh… okay, well I will be right back then.”

Lilly looks at Jay and is outraged, “Wow Jay. That is the most disrespectful thing that you have ever done to me. You have some nerve! What makes you think that you have the right to decide what I order or don’t order?”

Jay leans over the table and speaks very quietly, “The waitress is mic’d up.”

Lilly immediately calms herself and also speaks quietly, “What? Really? How do you know?”

Jay continues to speak almost inaudibly, “I’ve learned to fine tune my intuition. When you speak in an empty room it sounds quite different than a room full of ears – the sound density is dynamically different. I’ve been in this business for a long time and I have learned to know when there are ears in a room that should not be.”  

—

D walks into his private office at the house with his hair slicked back like he’s Michael Corleone from The Godfather movie. He is startled when he sees Selena standing in the middle of his office.

Selena politely initiates the conversation, “Hi D! Wow… I’m liking the new hair style – you look so macho.”

D appreciates the compliment, says thanks then takes a seat at his office desk, “What are you doing here? How did you get in here?”

Selena takes a seat in front of the desk, “Oh, well I got Lilly’s contact at the pool that one day so I texted her and said that you wanted to have a business meeting with me. She brought me in through the side entrance – no one saw.”

D replies, “I never said that, but since you’re here – how are you doing? It’s good to see you…”

Selena takes a few seconds to apply some lip gloss to her lips then says, “I texted you three times and you couldn’t take some time to reply back? I hope that you didn’t think that we could have a romantic day-drinking day at the pool and then you just disappear on me – did you?”

D stays leveled, “Look… Selena – I think you’re awesome but my situation… well my situation is kind of complicated.”

Selena raises her eyebrow, “Your situation… as in you being with Mary, Jane and Maria? How is that working out for you?”

D is surprised, “How did you know that? And yes, like I said – it is a complex situation. It just kind of works itself out, we fall in and out of love with one another at different times, sometimes it is kind of harmonious.”

Selena impatiently taps her finger on the desk, “Interesting. Everyone loves you D… it’s kind of like they just want to lock you up in their house and keep you all to themselves.”

D nervously looks around, “First of all, how would I eat then? Secondly… I hope this doesn’t offend you but this kind of feels like a red-flag type of moment, I have seen way too many horror/thriller films where shorties talk like that and then the main character suddenly starts getting chased by zombies or other miscellaneous killers.”

Selena laughs, “I’m so glad that you have a good sense of humor.”

D also laughs, “That I do, that I do.”

Jay suddenly walks into the office and feels like he intruded, “Whoops. Sorry. I’ll stop back in later.”

Selena joyfully gets out of her seat, runs over to Jay and gives him a hug, “Oh my god Jay! I’ve been dying to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you… my name is Selena Morena – it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Jay awkwardly responds, “Wait. Selena Morena as in Romano Morena’s daughter?”

Selena smiles, “Yup. That’s me. Romano is my dad.”

Jay glances at D then back at Selena, “Wow. What a special surprise. You know our dad and your dad were great friends. They routinely did business together. I actually met your father once when I was younger.”

Selena is elated, “I had no idea! I’ll have to talk to him about it. But, I’ll let you and D get back to work…” she sensually looks back at D, “Call me later.” Then walks out of the office.

Jay takes a seat at the desk, “Bro. You need to be careful with that one. Romano and their family are no joke. He doesn’t let anyone date Selena. Do you have feelings for her?”

D plays it super cool, “There’s just some low-dose feelings, nothing too potent or cerebral yet.”

Jay continues to talk serious, “Well it certainly looks like she’s overdosed on feelings.”

—

*To Be Continued In Chapter Eighteen*