Page 54 of Bella Rosa
My heart drops. What do I want the answer to be? Do I even care? I guess I really just want to know if I was capable of getting the job after all this time.
She clicks the screen. I can see her eyes moving back and forth as she reads. Her face lights up as she looks up at me, I barely hear the front door of the restaurant open and close behind us. "You got the job!"
A smile spreads across my face. I did it. After all these years. I look behind us to find Matteo standing there, a hurt look on his face.
I stand to go to him, wanting to share the good news. As soon as I stand the front door opens and an employee runs out, panic consuming his face.
Matteo
"That's fine. Just put out some more sides. No one will notice if we run out of a few things."
The crowd is a bit bigger than expected. I didn't even realize we knew this many people. I make my way through the kitchen to my dad’s office. His door is open, but I knock anyway. "Everything okay back here?"
He looks up from his desk. His face is a bit more red than usual. This place is getting hotter by the minute with all the people dancing. Maybe I should open the doors and windows for a while.
He smiles and nods his head. "All good. Go enjoy yourself."
I make my way back out to the main room to grab some water and ask an employee to open the windows and doors before I go out to sit with Rosa and Juli. I spot Luca dancing with a few girls we knew in high school. He has a shit eating grin on his face. I just shake my head and walk out the front door.
The smile fades from my face as soon as I hear four simple words come out of Juli's mouth, "You got the job!" Rosa's face lights up.
I feel like my world just crashed down around me. Like I'm free falling and there's nothing I can do to stop the fall. I shouldn't be surprised. This is what she was here for after all. We haven't talked about this, I guess that's my fault. I just thought we had more time. Rosa spots me. She gets up off the curb to come to me. I already feel myself withdrawing, putting up walls to protect myself.
I'm bracing myself to hear the words I have dreaded since I looked into her eyes in that disgusting shed on the side of the road, covered in mud and soaked to the bone. But before she gets the chance, one of my employees rushes out the door. There is panic written all over his face and I go rigid.
"Matteo! It's your dad! I think he's having a heart attack!"
My heart drops for a second time tonight. This time for an entirely different reason. I'm running before I can even comprehend what is happening. The music is still playing and there are people on the dance floor.
I catch Luca's eye and his face shifts to confusion. He moves through the dance floor and is by my side in seconds. "What's wrong?"
I can barely form a complete sentence. "It's my dad."
I bust through the kitchen doors and I'm met with pandemonium. People running everywhere. I think someone is crying, but I can't be sure. All I can see is the lifeless body of my father laying on the ground. I hear someone on the phone requesting an ambulance. I run to his side and get down on my knees next to him. I look to Luca since he has gone through some medical training. "Tell me what to do."
Luca strips his jacket and rolls his sleeves up to his elbows. I follow his lead and do the same. Luca puts his hand under his nose and I see some of the tension leave his body. "He's breathing." I feel my shoulders slightly relax. He checks his pulse next. Luca looks over at me. "It's weak. Help me turn him on his left side." He points at a waitress standing over us. "You. Get some aspirin. There should be some in the first aid kit."
I look at her over my shoulder as we begin turning my dad to his side. "The kit is in my office in my top right desk drawer." I hear her footsteps as she walks away.
I feel myself going numb as I see blood start to pool under his head. It feels like it takes the waitress an eternity to return with the aspirin, and even longer for the ambulance to arrive. I step out of the way as the paramedics swarm my dad with machines I hope I never have to see again.
They are all talking so fast it is like a low hum in the distance. Luca is suddenly in my face, both hands on my shoulders. "He's going to be okay. I'll take care of things here. Go with him. I'll drive Rosalie and Juli. We'll be right behind you."
Rosa. Where is Rosa? My vision clears, my eyes having trouble focusing. I see the paramedics wheeling my father out the door of the kitchen. I follow after them. There's no sign of Rosa or Juli in the main room. I just hope like hell my dad is going to be okay.
34
Listen Closely
Rosalie
MyheartsinksasI watch Matteo run back through the doors. Juli stands and puts her hand over her mouth. "Oh my god. He has to be okay."
Her voice is like a low roar in my ears. I feel light headed. Memories of that day crashing back into me. Crying while the paramedics held me. Asking everyone around me over and over again where my dad was. Watching as they drug his lifeless body from the water's edge. The social worker trying to shield me from the horrible sight that will forever be ingrained in my mind.
I'm suddenly being shaken, a small voice growing louder and louder. "Rosalie! Rosalie!"
I shake my head as if I can clear my mind of all those memories. I blink a few times to clear my vision. I look around me. I'm sitting on the ground on the side of the parking lot of Moretti's. Juli is kneeling down in front of me, worry etched on her face. I run my hand along the rough pavement, the gravel leaving scuff marks on my hands.
