Simone (The Ciprianos of Kellington Book 2) (2 page)

Chapter Two

“Yes ma’am, I will make sure that our
guys have that desk brought to your home on Wednesday. You’re most welcome,
have a wonderful day. Goodbye,” Jaslyn said, hanging up the phone. She looked
up and saw Delia coming into the shop. “Hey girl, we’ve got another sale.”

“Wow, that’s great, so
who did we sell to this time?” Delia had brought in a bunch of bags from the
farmer’s market. Helping her friend with the bags, they decided to stay in and
have lunch at the shop, just the two of them. Since Jaslyn’s relationship with
Renzo had taken up most of her time during the weekends and sometimes during
lunch, Delia thought it was good to just be with her best friend for a change.

“Mrs. Hawkins, another
friend of Filomena’s. Let me go and get the tablecloth and I’ll put the sign up
on the door,” Jaslyn said, walking toward the door. Soon they had cleared off
one of the large tables, put down the tablecloth and had begun taking out all
of the goodies Delia had brought. They had gotten out the plates and forks and began
serving themselves and pouring iced tea into their glasses.

“A toast,” said Delia
as they both stood. “This toast is to a lifetime of happiness, a lifetime of
love and a lifetime of sales.” Both of them laughed as their glasses clinked
together and they both took a sip before sitting down. “So how have things with
you and Renzo been going?”

“Absolutely wonderful,
everything has been going just like I’ve wanted. We’ve taken our time with
things and he’s so understanding and sweet to me. You know, you were right when
you said we were meant to be together. How about you and Rodger? How are things
going there?”

“Well, he wants me to
go with him to see his parents, and this will be the second time I’ve gone to
meet with them. I’m not looking forward to it, either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, his parents are
rich, and I’m talking like Beverly Hillbillies rich. I think they put up with
me because Rodger loves me so much. But the first time they met me, they looked
me up and down like I was some kind of beggar or something. I brushed it off
but then the questions started, like what I do for a living, about my family
and all. I swear
,
it was like I was being interrogated
by the FBI. Well, I ended up setting them straight, and when Rodger spoke up,
they listened. But that first and last time was over a year ago, so now they
want us to visit.”

“I never knew that
Rodger’s family was rich,” Jaslyn said, munching on some of her salad.

“I know, he didn’t tell
me until the day we visited his parents. I asked him why he hadn’t told me
sooner and he said that he wanted me to like him for who he was and not because
he had money. He told me that he’s always wanted to do things his way, so he
came here to Kellington to make a new start where no one would know who he or
his family was. I admire him for that, though, because honestly, you don’t find
many men like him. Despite the fact he has millions, he wants to do things on
his own to prove something to his family.”

“Well, it seems we have
two good men, don’t we?” Jaslyn smiled, taking another sip of tea.

“That we do. I talked
with Andrew yesterday and he’s supposed to come for a visit. He’s going to
spend the whole weekend with me. I honestly can’t wait though, because I
haven’t seen him in months--since he’s been in California.”

“That sounds great, I
can’t wait to see him too, he’s always been fun.”

Delia snickered a bit
just as the phone rang. “I’ll get it,” she said, getting up. “Hello, Timeless
Treasures, this is Delia.”

“Hey Deedlebug, how’s
life been treating you?”

“Hey there, Simple
Simon, life has been treating me well, and you?”

“Life has been good
even though I’m dealing with a case right now. Thought I’d give you a call and
see how you were.”

“You’ve been doing a
lot of that lately, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Calling me up out of
the blue like this. You’ve never called me this much at all, even when you were
away at college you would only call me like once a month or so. Plus, this is
the first time you’ve called me Deedlebug in a long time, penny for your thoughts?”

It got really quiet on
his end and she wondered if maybe he might have hung up but then he said, “I
was just thinking about you, missed hearing your voice.”

She had to smile even
more because she thought it was so sweet, “Well, I hope that everything is all right.”

“Yeah, everything is all
right, listen I’ll talk with you sometime later. Take care, Deedlebug.”

“You too, Simple Simon,
take care.” Hanging up the phone, Delia stood lost in thought for a moment
before walking back over to the table.

“Who’s Simple Simon?”
Jaslyn asked.

“Simone. That was the
name I gave him when we were young. I had made up names for each brother
including mine when we were young. Simone was Simple Simon, Gianni was Johnny
Appleseed, Federico, let me see, he was Agent Fed and Andrew was Andy Panda.”
Both women laughed out loud. She knew that they sounded silly but this was from
when she was a kid, just a silly kid.

“What about Renzo? What
would you have called him?”

Delia cackled when she
heard Jaslyn ask that question. “Rin Tin Tin.” Soon they both started laughing
to the point that both of them were snorting, which only caused them to laugh
even harder. “I dare you to say that to him while you guys are making love,
just scream out Rin Tin Tin and see what happens.” This only made matters worse
as Jaslyn fell to the floor, still laughing.

“That is hilarious as
hell, and don’t think I won’t do it, too.” Jaslyn told her, gasping for air as
she pulled herself back up into her chair. After they composed themselves for a
moment Jaslyn told her friend, “But you know something, Simone has been calling
here a lot, though. It seems like he’s called here every other day.”

Delia couldn’t
understand it either and pondered it while drinking her tea. Lately, she’d been
so busy with work, family and Rodger that she honestly didn’t have time to talk
with any of her other friends besides Jaslyn. “There is no telling with Simone.
He’s probably just calling to be calling.” She shrugged it off, continuing to
eat her lunch and make idle chitchat.

* * * *

After they both cleaned
up from lunch, Delia heard the delivery truck out back and knew that Rodger had
come back from doing a delivery out of town. Thankfully they didn’t have many
people coming in and she had saved him something for lunch. When she went to
greet him, he was pulling down the door to the back of the truck. He was
casually dressed in pants that looked worn from the wear and tear of hard work,
a pair of black Converse sneakers and a gray wife-beater shirt that showed off
his light brown muscular arms and back which glistened in the sun. When he
turned around to see her standing there, he smiled that whiter-than-white smile
of his. “Looks like I’m going to have to open this back up again, huh?”

Once it was open again,
he grabbed one of the blankets they used to protect the furniture and spread it
over the tailgate. She never thought that she would have been with someone for
as long as she’d been with Rodger, especially not someone she worked with. But
Rodger was different from most of the guys she had been with in the past. When
he first came to work for them, she just thought of him as nothing more than
the guy who moved stuff. But one day she got a glimpse of him helping a little
old lady who had tripped on the sidewalk, causing her purse and its contents to
fall on the ground. Thankfully, Rodger had been close behind her and he ran to
catch her before she fell on the hard ground. Once he’d helped her regain her
balance, he returned her purse to her, then continued to help collect her things
and put them back. His reward was a kiss on the cheek from the lady herself.
After that, Delia decided to accept his request for a date when he asked her
about a month later. That had been about two years ago.

“So, how has your day
been?” he asked her, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Rather slow inside the
shop but so far, so good. I know you guys have one more delivery to do.”

“Yeah, luckily it isn’t
anything big, just some tables and chairs and then I have the rest of the day
off. I had to drop the guys off to get themselves something to eat so they
should be back in a while. Listen, why don’t you come to my place tonight and
I’ll make you dinner.” His smile was brilliantly white, a smile that she loved
to see every day on his handsome face.

“I’ll bring the movies
for afterwards and I’ll come by around seven.”

Softly his lips
captured hers for a moment as his long fingers reached into her curly brown
hair with its hints of honey highlights. She felt him slowly tracing along her
jawline, and could tell by the look in his eyes that he was up to no good at
that moment. “Want to do a little something before you head back inside?”

Delia looked around and
was thankful that no one was in the parking lot in the back of the building.
“Can’t you wait till we meet up at your place tonight?” He placed her hand over
the front of his pants and she could tell that he wanted to do something.

In a way she wanted a
little something too.

“I know where we can
go.” Delia grabbed his hand and they went toward a door that led into the
basement, where a lot of remodeling was being done by some of the guys. Luckily
no one was down there today and once they locked both doors, they quickly
started to kiss. Delia was thankful to be wearing a long skirt as his hands
hiked it up, touching the smooth skin of her thigh. She moved some tools and
other things off the work table and leaned back against it. But then he told
her, “Baby, I think my friend needs some of your attention.” When she looked at
him, she saw his thickness jutting out from between his unzipped jeans. She had
to admit she loved it when they made love, especially when it was quickies like
this, always feeling like they would get caught. Honestly, she didn’t know why
the excitement of getting caught thrilled her so. Grabbing hold of him, she
heard him moan a bit while she stroked him slowly, feeling his familiar length
and thickness in her hand. He helped her get on her knees as her mouth quickly
engulfed him. “Oh yes, baby. Man, your mouth feels so good.” He sighed while she
continued tasting, licking and sucking on his cock. Tasting some of the pre-cum
that rolled up along the tip. “Come on and let me hit it from the back real
quick before I really explode.”

Getting up from her
knees, Delia took off her underwear and leaned against the table once more as
he quickly entered her from behind. Both moaned from the sensation of their
union as he held onto her hips, holding himself deep within her for a moment.
Once they began, it was an experience that she always treasured between them.
He knew how to make her feel good as his hips relentlessly drove into her own.
“Oh God, baby, I’m sorry but you feel so good.” Rodger moaned and thrust a
couple of more times before she could feel him emptying himself within her.

Thank goodness for the
pill.

He leaned up against
her and whispered in her ear, “Tonight, I promise to make it up to you.”

Smiling when she heard
that, Delia knew that he meant every word of what he said.

Chapter Three

After dealing with
court for what was going on the third week now, the weekend was a welcome
relief for Simone. He had planned on grilling some steaks, watching the
football game and drinking an ice-cold beer. Going out on the patio with some
steaks on a plate destined for the grill, he heard the phone ring. Walking back
into the kitchen he grabbed the phone. “Hello.”

“Hey man, what’s
shaking?” said the laughing voice on the other end.

“This isn’t who I think
this is? Man, how the hell are you, Andrew?” Simone made his way back out to
the grill.

“Well, I am doing just
great, man. Listen I wanted to come by your place. I’m headed back home to
spend some time with Delia this weekend,” Andrew told him.

“Well, come on by, man.
I’m doing steaks out here on the grill.”

“Well, I guess you
might as well put one more on the grill and hand me a beer!”

Looking toward the
gate, he saw his friend standing inside the backyard and making his way to the
patio. Once he got close, the two best friends hugged and laughed. “Man, it’s
good to see you!”

“Hell, it’s great
seeing you, man. Go and grab some beers out of the fridge while I put on these
steaks.”

Soon it was just like
old times between him and Andrew as they caught up on what was going on in
their lives. Andrew had been his friend since they were both in elementary
school and throughout their friendship, they had been more than just friends,
he was just like one of the bros. Always getting into mischief and trouble,
they’d always had each other’s back through thick and thin. “So how’s Diane?

“Oh, she’s doing great.
She’s in England on business for the next two weeks. Which sucks big time of
course, but with her job, she does have to travel. But I can tell you that this
will be her last time going out of the country, though,” Andrew said, taking a
swig of beer.

“For real, why is
that?”

“Let’s just say you are
going to be a godfather, my friend.”

Simone looked shocked
at his friend then started smiling as wide as the Cheshire cat. “No way, man,
you guys are going to have a kid? That’s great, man, how far along is she?”

“She’s only a month and
a half. Man, it’s a wonderful feeling, too. I can’t believe I’m going to be a
father now. Can you imagine that I’m going to be a father?”

“And it couldn’t happen
to a better couple. Here’s a toast, to your lovely child and my lovely godchild.
Salute!” Both of them clinked bottles and laughed before taking a swig of their
beers.

“Why don’t you come
with me to town for the weekend, man?”

“Today is my day of
rest from working my ass off for weeks on end. Plus, you know Mom makes dinner
every Sunday, so you know I won’t miss out on that.”

“Oh hell, yes, I always
loved your mom’s Sunday dinners. I plan on visiting her but I also plan on
making it for dinner on Sunday with you guys. Just as long as you don’t eat up
everything in sight then I’ll be all right. So besides that, has anybody caught
your eye yet? I mean it would be nice to see some little Ciprianos around
here.”

Simone smiled and shook
his head, “I haven’t found the right girl yet, even though I honestly have to
say that I’ve been thinking about someone for some time now.”

“Oh you have, huh? Do I
know her?”

“Yeah you know her but
I rather not say who she is. At least not yet though. It’s kind of
complicated.”

“What do you mean
complicated, bro?”

Running his fingers
through his dark brown hair for moment, he thought about what to say to his
friend to make him understand. “For the past couple of months, I’ve been
thinking about her constantly. I’ve sat around my office for hours thinking
about when we all were teenagers and how much fun we had. Then I saw her at
Mom’s party and now I can’t seem to get her face, much less her smile, off my
mind for a second, man.” He looked over at his friend who was listening to his
every word and he decided to continue. “And now she’s with someone else and they
both seem real happy with each other. But deep down I honestly don’t know what
the hell to do.”

“You’re in love with
Delia, aren’t you?”

He was about to correct
him but Andrew put up his hand to stop him. “Listen, we’ve known each other too
damn long not to know what the other is thinking. I told you years ago when you
took her out on her first date that you guys looked nice together. Besides,
she’s really happy with Rodger, they’ve been dating for going on two years now.
I’ve never seen a couple so happy together like those two are. Did the fact
that you saw her with another man bring out these feelings or was it because
you just put them in a drawer and said, ‘Well, I’ll just leave it there for
another day?”

“I honestly didn’t even
know she was dating anybody until I saw her at the party that night. Plus, my
feelings for Delia were put on hold because I didn’t want it to ruin our
friendship, man. I didn’t want you getting mad at me for being all over your
sister and shit.”

“Simone man, you know I
wouldn’t have cared if you’d gotten with Delia. Honestly, I would have rather
you had gotten with her in the first place. But of course, things happened,
feelings change and so do people. If you really care about her man, just let
her be happy right now.”

“That is easier said
than done, my friend. Especially when you care too much about someone you’ve
known for most of your life.”

“Honestly, have you
ever told her how you feel?”

“Hell no man and the
reason why, you may be asking, is because of you and I. I respect you as a
friend, hell you’re like another brother to me. I would have felt completely
uncomfortable going out with my best friend’s kid sister.”

He watched Andrew
sitting there shaking his head, “I want to thank you for saying that, bro,
because I’ve always respected you as well. But if you had wanted to date Delia,
I wouldn’t have minded. Hell, I know my mom would have loved it if you guys had
dated. She always thought you would have been great together because Delia
would talk about you to her all the time. Hell, I thought when you guys went
out on her first date that of course it would have sealed the deal. What
happened that night? Because when she came home, she had the biggest smile on
her face.”

Simone laughed when he
saw Andrew smiling. “Let’s just say it was something to remember always.”

It
had been months since the diary fiasco and things had finally cooled off
between Delia and the guys. It almost seemed like what had happened between
them never really happened and in a way Simone wanted it to be like that. There
was way too much history between all of them to let something stupid like
reading her diary break up what they had.

He
found her sitting in the courtyard, where some of the students would eat or
read. Her naturally curly hair was up in some kind of high messy ponytail,
wrapped in a peach-colored scarf that matched the long skirt she wore. A
beautiful white peasant sleeveless blouse complemented her ensemble. Simone
thought as he approached her that with the beams of sunlight coming down over
her and the courtyard, she looked like one of those women in those paintings
he’d seen at the museum. Walking slowly behind her, he knew she would probably
scream bloody murder as soon as his fingers made contact with her ribs. The
screeching echoed around the courtyard while everybody looked over at her, and
the book she had in her hands went flying into the air until he quickly grabbed
hold of it. When she looked over and saw it was him, she shook her head and
laughed. “Oh my God, that was totally unfair of you Simone. You sneaking up
behind me like that.”

He
sat down right beside her, handing her the book she was reading but not before
he took a good look at the cover. “Jane Eyre, really good book, one of the
classics.”

“I
swear, sometimes Andrew has to take the book away from me because I always end
up getting so into the books that I lose my train of thought. So, Simple Simon,
what brings you over here to scare the shit out of me today?”

“Well,
I wanted to scare the shit out of you and I’ve done my job pretty damn well.”
They both ended up laughing and he had to admit he enjoyed hearing her laugh.
“But no, seriously, I wanted to ask you something and I’ll give you time to
think about it.”

She
looked concerned for a moment but nodded, as he continued. “I want to ask you
out on a date this Saturday.”

The
look she gave him was neither shock nor surprise at first but soon a smile
spread across her lips. “Are you serious?”

“I
am very serious and I would like to take you out on a date if you want.”

“Why
are you doing this, Simone? Does it have to do with my diary and what I said in
it?”

“Honestly,
I must admit that when I first thought about asking you out a while back, it
was because of the diary. But honestly Delia, I would be honored to go out on a
date with you, show you a lovely time. Plus, when your brother showed us that
diary of yours, I was the first one who took it from him. I know if you were my
sister, I wouldn’t want anybody reading your personal thoughts and ideas.”

Delia
leaned toward him to hug him around the neck, and Simone held her for a moment
and heard her say, “Thank you so much for doing that, it really means a lot,
hearing it from you. And yes, I don’t have to even think about whether I want
to go out on a date with you, Simple Simon.”

“Great.
Now, you’ll have to dress up for where I’ll be taking you because I want it to
be a very special night for you. So Saturday at seven, I’ll come and pick you
up. See you later, Deedlebug.”

She
waved goodbye as he walked out of the courtyard, feeling like he had
accomplished something great.

“I remember her coming
home all giddy and smiling. She told Mom that she had a date with you on
Saturday. We were both in shock over it because honestly, I never thought you
would ask her out in the first place. Mom thought it was sweet though and they
went out and bought her a really nice dress and she helped Delia put her hair
up and all. I honestly have to say that I have never seen Delia more of a
nervous wreck than that night.” Andrew chuckled, downing the last of his beer.

“She wasn’t the only
one who was nervous as hell. I mean I was taking your sister out on a date. You
want another beer?” Simone asked, getting up from his chair.

“No, even though I’d
love to. I’ve got to get back on the road so if you can get me a water that
would be great.”

Nodding, Simone went
inside to get another beer for himself along with a bottle of water before
returning outside to the patio. “Thanks, man. I wish you could have seen how
she was acting before you came to pick her up that night.” Andrew opened the
water to take a swig.

“Mom
does my hair look all right?” asked Delia for what seemed like the fifth time
that night.

All
Andrew could do was look at his sister scampering around the house, a
completely nervous wreck.

“Baby,
your hair looks just fine, please come and sit down now before you wear a
groove in the floor,” their mother reassured Delia who finally sat down on the
loveseat. He had never seen his sister look so beautiful in his life. The dress
she wore fit her perfectly and was in her favorite color of lavender. She’d had
their mom put her hair up, framing her face with a bit of curl here and there.
He had to admit that his sister looked beautiful, even though she was his
sister.

“I
wonder if this is just a joke.” Delia asked Andrew.

“Come
on, Delia, this is Simone we are talking about. Plus, you know that if he did
stand you up, I’d kick his ass.” Andrew smiled as Delia nervously giggled.
“Don’t worry sis, he wouldn’t back out on your date.” Giving her a small kiss
on the forehead, she seemed to calm down a bit until the doorbell rang. They
all stood up as Andrew went to the door and opened it to see Simone standing
there with a smile on his face, a single red rose in his hand and wearing a
white long-sleeved shirt with a black tie and slacks. “Hey there man, come on
in.” When Simone walked in, Andrew could tell by the look on his friend’s face
that he was just as flabbergasted as he had been when he first saw his sister.

“You
look beautiful Delia and we are going to have some fun tonight.” Simone told
her, handing her the rose.

“Thank
you, you look handsome.” There was an odd moment of silence in the room while
everybody stood watching the two looking equally nervous until Simone said,
“Well we’d better head on to our destination. Have a good evening everybody.”
Holding his arm out for her to hook, they headed out of the house. Andrew stood
at the door and saw that instead of Simone’s car being there, a black Cadillac,
with a chauffeur, of all people, stood waiting for them to get in.

“I swear I had never
seen anybody as beautiful as Delia looked that evening when I picked her up. I
was completely in shock when I saw her wearing that dress. I had to struggle to
compose myself when we headed out.” Simone admitted to Andrew.