'BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!!!'
Angelo's alarm clock blared loudly and harshly, almost like it was yelling at him to stand up and do something with his life, Angelo sighed disappointedly, "It's morning already" he thought. Every day felt the same to him now, it had been almost a week since that lovely Easter gathering with Walter, his family and Sophia, he rose his back from the bed and took a sitting position, he had only shorts on, his hair was rough and untidy, his eyes were gloomy, he looked around his tiny apartment, asking himself the same question that he did every morning for the past several days; "Is this my life now?" 'BEEP!!, BEEP!!, BEE...!!!' Angelo slammed the digital clock and shut it off instantly, he sighed and rubbed his face, he heard a notification from his phone and picked it up, it was a text from Sophia "Hi, how are you doing?", Angelo read it in his head with her voice, he looked at the mirror across his bed, his reflection helped him to answer Sophia's question "I'm doing shitty" he muttered under his breath, but he opened the message and replied her "I'm okay, you up already?" He stood up from the bed and went to clean himself up, brushed his teeth and had a much needed shower, he looked at his mirror again, his eyebags had gone and his face looked bright again, it was probably just 'early morning syndrome' that made him look so wasted. Angelo opened a box where he had some jewelry and cash, his money had almost ran out, and he had no one to turn to this time, he took the notes and counted them, it was just enough to survive another two weeks, but he couldn't continue living like this anymore, it was high time he got a job, any job at all Right at that moment, a call came through on his phone which was on the bed, he dropped the money back in the box and locked it then picked up his phone, it was Walter "Hey man what's up?" Angelo greeted "All good bro, are you gonna be free today?" "Yeah I guess...it's not like I've got anything to do at the moment" he replied, Walter laughed briefly over the phone and Angelo scoffed "Can you come over to my place, I need to pack some stuff outta here cuz I'd be leaving for Sydney tomorrow..." "Tomorrow?!!..." Angelo exclaimed "Yeah...is there a problem?" "Well...no...I just thought you would tell me sooner or something, I mean come on man" "Oh right I'm sorry about that, I really thought I had told you earlier" "It's alright, it's fine" Angelo rubbed his head as he thought, "I'd be on my way" "Alright" Walter replied and ended the call, Angelo sighed and gazed at the wall, thinking of what to do next, he threw a dark blue sweater over himself and wore a pair of jeans then bounced out of his room. Walter had a truck outside of his apartment block, he and some other guy were packing all his stuff out of the house this time because he was going to be visiting London a lot less frequently from now on and there was no longer a need to be paying rent for this place. Angelo walked in on Walter and the other guy carrying a wardrobe and trying to load it into the truck so he rushed in to assist them. Walter was breathing and sweating heavily, the other guy didn't seem to be fazed at all, Angelo assumed that he must be the truck driver and was used to this job. "Thanks a lot man, I almost passed out back there..." Walter gasped harder for air and Angelo handed him a water bottle "So uhm... you're really leaving tomorrow huh?" he asked with his eyes on the truck, Walter just took huge gulps of the water he drank "Yup, and I really don't know the next time I'd be here, probably Christmas" "Christmas, that's a long time" "I really want to settle down in Sydney completely, just forget about this place and put all of my time and attention on my job in Australia" "Makes sense" Angelo thought. "What about you, what are you gonna do now?" Angelo was quiet for a while, he had been asking himself the same question for a long time now "I really don't know to be honest, I'd probably just get a job at some retail store or something" he replied with a chuckle, "My dad thinks I can't live on my own so I gotta prove him wrong, working a normal job can't be that bad right?" Walter put both of his hands in his pockets and turned his gaze to the truck as well; "Why don't you come with me to Sydney?" "What?" "Think about it Angelo, I know a lot of people there, people who can help you make out something for yourself you know, yeah you don't have a college degree but if you've got some skills at anything at all then I could find someone who could help you earn a decent living from it" Angelo's eyes were widened, he knew that Walter was actually capable of all these things he said, after all he had lived in Sydney for five years now, he must have had a lot of connections, this was really the opportunity of a life time "So what do you think Angelo?" "Well uh...I mean you're leaving tomorrow, so how I'm I supposed to follow you?, you should have told me earlier or something" "That's really not a problem Angelo, jeez" Walter scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I just wanna know that you are actually ready to do something and I'm gonna help you get a flight of your own to Sydney as well, maybe in a month or two though, I know that you must be going through a really tough time, the way your family treated you and all that, it was really messed up" "I know man, I know" Angelo added "So are you in?" Angelo's face was filled with glee, "Sure, why not?..." he paused when he heard a notification from his phone in his pocket, he picked it up to check and it was another text from Sophia;, "I was wondering if we could meet at the cafe this evening and talk a bit, it's been a really long week for me Angelo" He read it in her voice again, and that was when he remembered, if he ever left London his hopes of building a relationship with Sophia might be sabotaged, they had been talking online for a week and he could tell that she was getting comfortable with him, he wondered what she would think, how she would feel if she found out that he would be leaving London very soon, his cheerful face quickly turned into a distressed one, and Walter noticed this change immediately "Is something wrong?" he asked anxiously, Angelo looked at him with heavy eyes "Eh...no...it's nothing, I'm fine" The truck in front of them was switched on and it released a loud whirring sound followed by blaring horns, one of Walter's neighbors cursed out from his apartment, pissed off by the loud vehicle "Alright man I'll be leaving now", Walter shook hands with Angelo and hurried to the truck, "Just text me when you're ready!!" he shouted as Angelo was now far from him "I will!!" Angelo yelled back, they both laughed and Walter went off with the truck, Angelo watched them until they were out of sight, he took out his phone and read Sophia's message again, a little smile drew across his face, he replied her message then put the phone back in his pocket and happily went on his wayAngelo walked around town all afternoon searching for a good place to work for the meantime, the city was bustling with people and roadside businesses, the honks of cars and public vehicles as well, Angelo paid close attention to the vendors by the road side, Ice cream, hotdogs, jam, peanut butter and other kinds of groceries, they sold all kinds of stuff, he wondered if he could just do that, all he needed was a little capital to start and a good spot, he thought about the idea for a while until he came to a conclusion; "Nah..." He came across a restaurant that had a post of job vacancy, "Red Hot Wings?" he thought as he read the name of the restaurant which was brightly displayed by a large neon signboard above the entrance, "I guess we could start from here" he said to himself, he opened the glass doors of the establishment and observed the place, the place was filled with customers, which really surprised Angelo as there was a lot of competition in this area, which meant that
Angelo walked out of the manager's office with the application form and a brown envelope he borrowed from there, he gently slid the form into it "How did it go?" Angelo turned and saw Kelly smiling, she and the other waiters seemed to be less busy "It was good, I'll be back tomorrow" he answered and smiled back at her, the both of them waved each other goodbye as he stepped out of the door and left the establishment, he looked back to the large neon signboard above the entrance, "Red Hot wings" he chuckled and continued going Today was an especially sunny spring afternoon, Angelo sat on a bench at a park as he munched down on a burger which was supposed to be his lunch and scrolled through his phone, he had just taken passport photographs earlier for his application form and the interview finale which was scheduled for the next day, it was just a fastfood job yet they made everything seem so formal, or maybe that was how all jobs were and he just never knew because he had nev
Back at the "Red Hot wings" restaurant, a blue Lamborghini Urus drove recklessly into the parking lot, almost hitting an old man who cursed at the vehicle and whoever was driving it, the car moved into one of the parking spots and stopped, the vehicle registration plate didn't have the standard figures and letters you'd see on almost any other car, instead it just read "GOODMAN", the front door of the driver's seat slowly opened up and the loud punk music which was being played in the car was now audible to the public, a young man stepped out of the car, he had shiny black hair which was parted at the middle with a very clean undercut, he wore a white polo T shirt and Gucci shorts and had a pair of Jordans on his feet, he had a Richard Mille's watch on his left wrist and some bracelets on his right, a silver chain dangled on his neck and dark shaded glasses covered his eyes, his chin was chiseled and completely beardless, he sipped some latte out of a Starbucks cup as he bounced into
Angelo and Sophia were still talking and having laughs at the table in the Ginger lady cafeteria, Sophia was doing most of the talking while Angelo just sat back and watched her go, his 'conversation starter' turned out to be very effective eventually, "Yeah, there was this other lady who just stormed in here a few weeks ago, she was like, really mad and angry, she brought a freaking baseball bat with her and just went berserk, she was screaming and cursing everyone, swinging her bat around like she wanted to destroy everything and everyone in this cafe" "Really?, why?" Angelo asked, he seemed to be fully immersed in the gist "She was saying something about her husband having an affair with someone who works here, which I found funny cuz she was like, really old, she was so old her arms looked like they were about to fall off her shoulders everytime she swung the bat, and it was almost half her height" Angelo laughed briefly and so did Sophia, she picked a cup which was on th
Wash away beach, Sydney. The sun gradually set on the horizon of the Pacific Ocean, it's dull orange glow simmered over the water surface and the evening sky, the tourists and beachcomers were scattered over the coastal sands, either packing up to head home or still having fun A huge tidal wave swept over the ocean, rushing towards the beach, everyone who stood on the sands watched in awe as the waves rushed towards them, and on top of it, a young handsome man surfed over the waves. They all cheered and applauded him, increasing his confidence, he let out a wide grin as he tamed the waves, surfing with grace and elegance until of them suddenly washed him off his board while another one rose up and drowned the surfer completely, the crowd that cheered him let out a unanimous gasp, followed by a period of quiet as they waited for him to resurface...which he did The cheers were on again in a celebratory style as the surfer rose out of the water with his board tucked in his left arm
Palermo Falcone Airport, Sicily Angelo stared out the window as his private jet touched down on the airport runway, it was the first time in so many years that he'd be stepping foot on Italian soil, his homeland, the place he was born, and he didn't know how to feel at the moment, so many memories in this city, some of them good, most of them not so pleasant He could still remember the day his mother died and how close he was to joining her on that bloody afternoon, she had come to pick him up from the mansion where he was being home schooled, which he did because his father knew how dangerous it would be to let him school in the public. His mother was escorted by two black cars stacked with body guards as expected, and these were the kind of sights that Angelo grew up to experience everyday. An enemy of his father who had perfectly prepared their ambush attacked the three vehicles containing himself, his mother and all the guards, and they were all murdered that day as nearly
Angelo Salvador calmly walked into the large room, all eyes were fixed him as he went, the three body guards who had been following him the whole time made sure that there was space between him and the crowd as they walked by him at both sides while the other one marched in behind him, the first son and heir of the family had arrived and his entrance alone had already made a statement. He walked up to his step mother Lucia and her sons, his half brothers, who were having a conversation with Mr Silva and his wife Juana, their distant relatives from spain, the couple were happy to see him of course but Lucia and his brothers were cold and startled, it had been almost a decade since any of them set eyes on him, the last time was when he left to the US to study in college, but dropped out of the institution and never set foot home again or called any of them. A lot of parties, events and gatherings just like this one today had been held during this period, so many family members and gue
Bonucci Salvador stood over the crowd which had filled up his mansion, he looked down to his two sons who had been engaged in a heated brawl just a few seconds earlier, body guards and bouncers quickly rushed into the scene only to see that the fight was already over. Gio and Angelo patiently waited for their father to speak "Giovanni Andreas Salvador, so this is how you welcome your elder brother home, by disgracing our family in front of the whole world right?." Lucia held on to Marcel tightly, she was very frightened once she realized that Bonucci was vexed at Giovanni instead of Angelo, her plan had badly backfired "Honour, respect and loyalty, these are the three things our family pride ourselves in the most, but you've broken them all today by displaying such shameful behavior Giovanni, and I used to think that you were smart..." "Father I..." "Utter another word and today will be the last day you'd have a tongue, by challenging your elder brother you have proven to me