Chapter 18: Chapter 18
“No, that’s not what I want Luca.” I shift in my seat and turn to look out the window.
I take a minute to think.
“This isn’t going to work if you don’t take a chill pill and let me do as I please.” I turn and look at him again.
He flinches slightly before he sighs loudly, and runs his fingers through his mused hair.
“When will I see you next?” He says as his eyes bore into the depths of my soul.
“You have me now Luca... Isn’t that enough?” I move closer to him resting my head on his shoulder, and entwine our fingers together.
“We agreed to take this slowly and that’s exactly what we will do,” I say soothingly to him resting a hand on his chest.
If only my damn heart could follow suit!!
The car comes to a stop. Cullum gets out and opens Luca’s door. I take a deep breath in and exhale long and hard trying to silence my inner bitch. The last thing I want to do is argue in public causing an unnecessary audience to appear. Luca opens my door and offers me his hand. I take it sliding out of the car. I thank Cullum and wait patiently for Luca to finish talking to him privately.
“Venire.” Luca puts his hand on the small of my back and ushers me inside the restaurant.
We are shown to our seats at the front and we are seated at bench tops off a small Island kitchen. Sushi chefs are making fresh sushi, placing them on small plates and putting them on a rotating conveyor belt. The long lines of different, exotic sushi pass us.
‘What is this place called?” I look around fascinated.
“It is called a Sushi Train Restaurant.” He looks at me amused.
“I’ve never been here before. Didn’t know the place even existed.” I laugh trying to cover up my embarrassment.
“You just pick up a plate that gets your attention.” He winks at me.
“Right…”
I look around and watch other diners picking plates up and placing them down in front of them, then satisfyingly devouring them. I pick up a passing plate and stick the salmon sushi in my mouth.
Mmmmm... So good. I do a little happy dance with my feet.
“Very good.” He picks up a few plates and places them in front of us.
I happily continue to eat off the continuous plates that Luca keeps placing in front of us. He's been here multiple times so he'd definitely know what's good and what whats not. But I do swipe the odd plate off the rotating conveyer whenever it snags my appeal.
“What will you do tonight?” I ask, taking a sip of green tea.
“I have some work I need to catch up on. It seems like a certain temptress has been distracting me. ” He winks.
"Right, Well... the next time this certain Temptress distracts you, I advise you to turn and run in the opposite direction." I wink back at him. "Real... fast." I titter.
"Si, You're absolutely right Tesoro." He abruptly stands, with a big grin on his face.
"Sit... Sit down Luca " I quietly demand. I can sense multiple pairs of eyes are trained on us.
He looks around meeting everyone's stares slowly as he sits back down. He picks up his chopsticks and continues to eat.
“You haven’t exactly told me what it is that you specialise in.” I wipe the side of my mouth with a napkin.
“I am a neurological surgeon.” He smiles proudly and puffs out his chest.
“Wow… No shit?” I look at him in awe.
“No, I followed my father’s wishes to become a doctor. I just went beyond his expectations.” He picks up his napkin and wipes his mouth.
‘You don’t say?” I laugh scoff. “And your brother, is he a doctor too?”
“No. He chose another path.” He mutters.
“What hospital do you work at?”
“I do clinical work while I’m here in New Zealand.” He shifts in his seat and faces me.
“While you're here in New Zealand?” I scowl.
“Si. I travel between New Zealand and Italy regularly.”
“Oh...” I tuck the loose strands of my hair back behind my ear.
“So… Uh... When were you planning on informing me?” I look at him confused.
“I don’t know. It hasn’t crossed my mind to tell you.” He shrugs.
“Nice, that’s just…. Considerate huh?” I stand, sliding my chair in, and place a few notes in the chefs' tip jar.
“What did I do wrong this time?” He looks a little bemused.
Luca stands, throwing a heap of notes on the table while putting his suit jacket back on. I walk out of the restaurant, smiling, and thanking the hosts along the way. I step outside and instantly start walking the pavement as fast as my heels will let me.
“Vanessa!” Luca strides beside me. “Hey, what's wrong?” He grabs my arm, stopping me.
“I just thought that after we slept together you would have gained an inkling of respect for me to be able to share this valuable piece of information with me.” I sigh.
I can't help but feel hurt and upset that it didn’t cross his mind to tell me. He’s the eager one who wants to keep doing... Whatever the hell it is that we are doing. I hate not being in the loop. I especially hate being side blinded by other people. Men in particular.
“We're not in a relationship, remember this Vanessa. You're the one who told me I can’t control you, vice versa.” His voice is clipped and harsh.
“You are so… Right.” I laugh, shaking my head.
"You're the one that demanded we take things slowly." He protests, sounding annoyed
"Oh, so now it's my fault?" I yell at him
“But you lose your shit when you find out I’m having a civilised lunch with another man. Yet.... you plan to fly back and forth between countries and you haven't bothered to bring it up yet?”
"I still don't see what the problem is Vanessa! Maledizione!"
"It's been weeks Luca." I throw my hands up in the air
"Si, I can count" He muttered.
"You had multitudes of opportunity to bring it up." I glare at him.
He still stands there looking puzzled as if he's the wounded party here.
“Boy… You are something else.”
I give up!
I quickly walk up the street and jump into a vacant taxi. I lock the door just before he grabs the handle. Luca tries to yank it open forcibly as he yells in Italian. I instruct the driver to take me back to the academy, I slightly roll the window down just enough for me to look Luca in the eyes, and say.
“I’ll see you around Luca.”
His eyes darken, while he slams his hand against the window as the taxi takes off merging into the free-flowing traffic.