Chapter 9

Angelo and Sophia spent the rest of the day talking and having meals with Walter's family, Sophia was already a member of the family at this point as she had known them for almost five years, Walter was her first ever customer when she opened the Ginger lady cafe and they had been friends since then. Angelo got a lot of questions asked about his family and background by Walter's parents and siblings, he made up a lot of stories and Walter covered the rest for him. Sophia found it a little awkward as Angelo's stories sounded a lot like the ones she made up about her own background when she first met Walter's family, it was probably just a coincidence, she thought.

Once the day got dark, Angelo and Sophia decided to head for home and exchanged final pleasantries with their Easter hosts, it was a heartwarming event and they definitely looked forward to another holiday gathering.

The both of them stood outside the house as they were the only ones who were leaving today.

"What a lovely family" Sophia commented, "Really lovely" Angelo added, both of them stared at the lonely and quiet road in the neighborhood, the only sounds that could be heard were distant chatters from the surrounding homes

"So uhm, where are you headed" Angelo asked her, feeling obliged to start a conversation

"Oh me, I live at Stamford street..."

"Stamford street, that's a long way from here don't you think"

"Yeah I know, I just need to get to the end of this street, I should get a bus from there"

"Well, I thought maybe I could walk you home you know" he sighed and looked up to the moon then back at her, "but I don't think that will be possible anymore"

"Awwn, that's so nice of you", Sophia's made that her cheeky smile again, the one Angelo always crumbled for, he turned away so that he wouldn't blush himself, he needed to preserve his masculine aura

"Well what about you, where do you live?"

"Just down the street" he pointed to his left, "I just moved in today"

"Oh, well I'm also heading that way, the end of the street is over there"

"Really?"

"Yeah" she bumped his arm with her fist, "so I guess I would be the one who's gonna walk you home"

"Haha!!" Angelo exclaimed and laughed wildly and so did she, she locked her hands with his and pulled him gently, her special smile still on her face, Angelo followed up and began walking, he felt weightless as they walked down the street, he couldn't tell what was so special about Sophia that made him feel like this, so ecstatic from just her presence alone, she was really pretty, that was certain, but she definitely wasn't the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, or even slept with, but something about her just felt very different, like the both of them were two pieces of a puzzle which had come together to complete a masterpiece, he needed to know more about her, he needed to get closer to her, she was the only thing in his life at the moment that made him feel like he had a purpose...ahh yes that was it, that's the reason he felt this strong desire to be with it her despite knowing her for just over a day, it all made sense now, probably.

"You seem to be really familiar with Walter's people, you were so much fun back at his place, are they like...family friends to you?" Angelo asked, Sophia chuckled.

"Well, it's something like that, family friends, but not like 'my family' friends, there just...my friends, but it's a whole family, sort of, you gerrit?"

"Yeah I think I do"

"You know, when I came to London for the first time, almost five years ago, I didn't really know where to go or what to do, I had no one in this city, so with the little money I had, I started a small coffee shop business, and Walter was my first ever customer..."

"Damn"

"I know right, I told him how special he was, being my first ever customer and all, he was shocked and excited, we talked a little and since then, we just became friends, then every Easter and Christmas I'd go visit his family and spend the holiday with them, they are always so nice to me"

"That's cool"

Sophia looked up to Angelo, "and how about you?, are you a childhood friend or something?"

"Nah not really, we just met in Sydney"

"Oh that's true Walter works in Sydney, you said something back at his place, that your grew up in Italy, and left there to get a better life in Sydney?"

"Yeah?..." Angelo answered in an uneasy manner, he hadn't properly rehearsed his 'backstory' yet

"So what brought you to London?, you surely didn't come all the way here just to spend the Easter holiday, right?"

"I decided to settle down here instead, uhh, yeah, Walter advised me to come over here, he's familiar with this city and uhm, he put me through everything I needed to know and, yeah, this place is a lot cheaper to live in and start up something so I just agreed, I just needed to get away from Italy, things just weren't working out for me over there"

Sophia thought about Angelo's story for a minute, it really was a lot like hers

"What about you?, why did you come to London"

"Well, uh, you see, I was born and raised in a small village in Ireland..."

"Wait, you're Irish?"

Sophia scoffed and rolled her eyes, "I mean, isn't it obvious?"

"Well, you could be Scottish too, they still got a lot of redheads, that was the first place I thought of when I saw you"

"I understand, I get that a lot"

"So you were saying?..."

"Oh yeah" Sophia wheezed and continued, "Once I grew older, I realized that there was a whole world outside the small village where I grew potatoes and milked my Dad's cows, so I told my parents that I wanted to leave and search for better opportunities, and London was just the place for me"

"Do you still talk with your parents?" Angelo asked with a very straight face, Sophia paused for a while, that question seemed a little too direct

"Yes...of course...why not, of course I still talk with my parents, we don't...talk a lot though, but I still try to reach them...once in a while, maybe I should make it more often...is there something you want to say Angelo?"

"No, I was just curious"

Sophia's eyes narrowed, Angelo started to appear suspicious, she could tell he was hiding something, either something about himself, or even worse, he probably knew something about her, she began to think of so many uncomfortable thoughts

"Hey we're here" Angelo stopped at the front of an apartment building, he began to smile again which made Sophia feel more at ease, she realized that she had just been overthinking

"You live here?"

"Yup" Angelo replied gleefully.

"It's a really nice place" Sophia remarked

"It's even better on the inside..." Angelo froze once he remembered that he hadn't even furnished his place

"Cool, I'd love to come in but it's really late right now"

"I mean, you could always come over whenever you want to, some other day"

"Yeah sure", Sophia embraced him and he did the same

"Goodnight, Angelo, it was a really nice day"

"Yeah, it sure was, I'll come see you at the cafe tomorrow, we could talk more over there"

"I'd be waiting for you!!" Sophia smiled and waved him goodbye as he walked into the building, the street over here was more busy than where they'd come from and was safer for her to walk on her own, she kept going forward until she got a bus and headed home.

Angelo crashed on his bed, breathed deeply and smiled at the roof, he'd fallen for Sophia and had every reason to, the way she talked, her perfect smile, her charisma, she was everything, and she seemed to be interested in him too, the ball was in his court, he just had to play his game right and she could become his, he thought.