AUTHOR'S POV
Rick sat at the diner, phone on the table and a bag by his side. It took only about a minute of waiting before Melinda walked in the diner door.
Her eyes looked around for a second before they settled on Rick. She walked over to him and sat opposite him.
"Are you okay?" Was her first question. She had a worried expression on her face.
"Well, quite so" Rick shrugged his shoulders lightly.
"You've been distant for the past few days and you don't look too good" Melinda noted out, referring to the bruises on his face and Rick simply pressed his lips into a thin line for the next few seconds.
"Should I have remained close, then?" He finally spoke, directing his gaze to her.
"Tim is no longer with me. He... He is unwilling to let go of what happened." Melinda sighed softly.
"As it should be. You ruined whatever was left of this entire friendship, Melinda." Rick accused.
"Don't put the entire blame on me" Melinda shook her head lightly.
"Then whom do I put it on? Tim? For loving you? Or myself for being drunk that night while you were around?" Rick asked and drew in a deep breath.
"Look, I am only meeting you because you said we need to talk and I thought it would be nice to have one last chat with you."
Her brows arched
"One last chat? What do you mean?"
"I am leaving the country" Rick replied and the confusion on Melinda's face grew even more.
"And why? Because of the shitty state of this friendship? Because Rosaline is in love with her uncle and not you? Because Tim won't be friends with you anymore?" She asked a series of questions.
"I have a lot more I am dealing with, Melinda. And listen, a lot of what happened was my fault and I am taking the consequences. I will go to another country and I will start my life afresh as best as I can. You should try to figure something out too. That's the best I can tell you since we were ex best friends"
"Ex best friends? That is what we are?" Melinda questioned.
"What exactly is your deal? Are you still obsessed with Rosaline? Or is it that I sucked so much at sex that you don't like me at all?" Melinda continued with the questions.
"That sex..." Rick gritted.
"Happened while I was drunk. A drunk person, under strong influence doesn't consent. I didn't consent to that sex and you know what that makes you. And now as to if I am still obsessing over Rosaline, that is not for you to be concerned about. I lost her, as a lover, as a friend, I have lost her completely and that is the only thing you should know. If I will move on when I get out of this country or if I will spend the rest of my life regretting the things I did and the things I didn't do, that is none of your business" Rick drew in a deep breath.
"You.... I wish you good in life" He got up to his feet with a small groan, picking up his phone and grabbing his bag.
He walked past Melinda, a bad limp in his steps. He had only walked a few steps away when Melinda grabbed his hand.
"You..."
Rick looked at her hand on his hand and then looked at her.
"I know I sound shameless right now, Rick but... Things don't have to be completely ruined. We could... We could continue being friends or whatever..."
"I am not interested in being anything with you any longer" Rick groaned, annoyance in his tone as he pulled his hand out of her grip.
"Again, move on."
Rick walked out of the diner and got into his car. He dropped the bag in the passenger's seat and grabbed the wheels of the car tightly.
Walking was still a bit of hassle for him especially since he had gotten two toes of his right leg chopped off. Russo had had it done and had threatened to get rid of him if he said a word of it to Rosaline.
He drew in a quite shaky breath as he leaned back into the car seat and searched for Rosa's contact.
He stared at the contact for a few seconds before dropping his phone and dropping his head to the wheels. Would things have been different if he had confessed his feelings to her years ago? If he had not kept quiet like a coward, would he be the one beside Rosaline today?
He picked his phone back up and began to type a message.
'I have betrayed our friendship and I know I do not very much deserve the mercy you showed to me by asking Massimo to spare me. I wish I did things differently but I didn't and I regret it but regrets don't erase things and it won't erase the shitty things I did. It sounds weird to say this but I really did love you but I messed it all up. I love you and maybe I will forever have feelings for you but I know I will never be able to have you now, not even as a friend. But I wish you happiness, Rosa. I wish you are forever happy with Massimo and I wish he treats you so well that you never have to shed another tear. I wish he becomes the best thing that ever happens to you. Love and live well, Rosa.'
He stated at the message for a few seconds, his thumb shaky as it approached the send button.
"Fuck this" he cursed and shut his eyes tightly.
He pressed down on the send button and dropped his phone as soon as he had done so.
RUSSO EL MASSIMO
"Cara?" I pushed the door of our room opened but there was no signs of her in the room. The bed was still made and the book she had picked out to read in the morning looked untouched.
I removed the cufflinks of my sleeves and rolled back the sleeves.
"Caramia?" I called out again but there was still no response.
I walked back out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar as I slipped my phone out of my pocket.
I dialed her contact and she picked up on the first ring.
"Russo" Her voice. She sounded beautiful and happy.
"Cara, where are you?"
"You are back home? I didn't notice the car driving in. I am in my old room with Diane" she replied.
"I'll come over" I ended the call and slipped the phone back into my pocket.
I headed to her old room, wondering a little what she was doing in there. The old room was mainly filled with her old stuffs that she didn't want to get rid of.
I could hear that giggles and soft speaking as I got closer to the room. The door was slightly open and I pushed it open a little bit more, stepping into the room and leaning against the wall beside the door.
A smile played on my lips. Cara was dressed in a fairy costume and Diane was dressed in a blue dress. Diane noticed me first and waved at me with both little hands.
"Russo" Cara's attention was turned to me and she had the biggest smile on her face.
"You look..."
"Oh my, don't say it." She blushed with a smile.
"You look beautiful in this costume" I completed my words and she walked over to me, a wand in hand.
"Are you going to help me, fairy godmother?" I asked.
"What do you need help with, lowly human? I will grant it for you"
"Would a fairy godmother call humans lowly?" I asked.
"Well, this one would" she laughed and I pulled her closer to me. She however stepped back, her eyes squinted at me.
"This isn't the shirt you wore when you were leaving. What did you today?" she whispered the words to me.
"Diane is here. We can talk about what I did later on, Love" I pulled her back in and kissed her forehead. I was definitely not going to tell her in here that the reason I had to change was because I had gotten bloody yet again.
Not my fault. I had to get Dark Caster out of the way.
"Diane" I looked from Cara's questioning gaze to Diane.
The little girl was still standing a bit away from me. She waved at me again with a smile.
"Are you as nice as Miss Rosaline said you are?" She asked, taking a few steps closer.
"Well, I don't really know yet if I am very nice but I try" I shrugged lightly and crouched down.
She took more steps towards me, a pink headband in her hands.
I pulled her cheek gently. She was adorable and I think I could see why Diane wanted to badly adopt her.
"What are you playing as?" I asked and she gave a twirl.
"Cinderella. These are my glass shoes" she raised her dress up, a proud smile on her face.
"They are pretty" I commented.
"Thank you sir. Here, have this..." She stretched the pink headband to me.
I looked up at Cara, my brows arched.
'Take it. Don't hurt her. She's just getting happy, don't make her sad and just take the headband' her eyes told me that and I smiled at Diane, taking the pink headband from her.
"I prefer the colour black though"
"Why? Pink is so beautiful and bright."
"Right, why would anyone not love pink?" Cara chipped in standing by Diane.
Nice. I was going to lose a lot of petty arguments from now on.
I chuckled at the mini gang up against me.
"Alright, pink is beautiful and bright. I love it too. Such a pretty colour, how would anyone not love it?"
"Unfortunately the headband is small sized, I can only wear it like a hand band" I slipped the headband to my wrist.
"Actually, there is a big size somewhere there" Cara had a big grin on her face as she said that.
"Cara"
"Russo" she called me in the same tone I called her name.
She hurried over to get the pink headband and Diane hurried after her to search for it. They both had big smiles on their faces and I knew in this moment that I would do anything, anything at all to make sure they always wore those happy smiles.