Simone (The Ciprianos of Kellington Book 2) (8 page)

Once she started to eat
those pancakes, a satisfied feeling came over her as she smiled while the
sweetness of the syrup mingled with everything else. She saw Simone eyeballing
her pancakes. “Want a taste?” Digging her fork to cut him off a piece, she
added a piece of strawberry along with some cream. Reaching over she watched
him open his mouth, taking a bite of it, the fork sliding from between his full
lips. He smiled while slowly chewing what was in his mouth. “That was good.
Here, taste this steak, it’s amazing.” He cut into the steak and let her take a
bite from his fork as she chewed on the meat.

“I should have gotten
the steak.” Delia chewed the steak even more before swallowing it down. “Now,
that’s what a steak should taste like.”

“Say, why we don’t do
this. How about we split our food and we’ll share.” Simone suggested. Soon the
couple found themselves sharing their meals and enjoying the time they were
spending together. But while Delia ate, thoughts of all that had happened to
her up until this point began stewing in her mind.

After they ate, they
headed out to get her car from impound. Thankfully, it wasn’t too expensive
even though Simone paid for it. “So, what are your plans for the rest of the
day?” he asked her after handing her a pair of keys. They walked through the
parking lot as she saw her car sandwiched between a rundown looking Nissan and
a brand new Land Rover.

“Well I plan on going
home to take a shower and go to sleep. What about you?”

“Probably do the same
exact thing myself. Just call me when you are done with your nap. Are we still
on for Saturday?”

“Of course we are still
on for Saturday if you want to still go with me.”

“Well, that’s a silly
question because you know I want to.” Simone chuckled.

“Well, for some strange
reason, Andrew doesn’t want me going with you. We ended up in the biggest fight
I think we’ve ever had and I still don’t have an answer for it. So, maybe you
can tell me why he was acting this way?”

“Maybe Saturday I’ll
let you know everything.”

“You promise?”

“I promise I’ll tell
you everything on Saturday.” He held her in his arms for a moment. “You call me
when you get home and make sure you call Andrew up as well.”

She could see him
watching her as she got into her car, turned it on and slowly pulled out from
between the cars and he waved as he saw her leave the parking lot.

Chapter Nine

When she saw the
‘Welcome to Kellington’ sign, Delia breathed out a huge sigh of relief for she
was finally home and near familiar surroundings. Even though she needed to get
home, she had to try and go by the shop to see Jaslyn. She headed straight toward
the shop, getting a parking spot nearby. Once out of the car Delia was thankful
that the place wasn’t closed. “Hello! Is anybody here?”

Seeing Jaslyn coming
from around the back, Delia smiled when she saw her friend running toward her
to hug her. “Oh my God, you’re safe and sound at last!” Jaslyn said tearfully.
They looked at each other while wiping the tears away.

“I’ve got to call
Andrew.” Heading toward the desk, she dialed her brother’s number. After the
second ring she heard him say, “Hello?”

“Hey there, bro, I’m
out.”

The deep sigh of relief
on his end told her how happy her brother was to hear her voice, “Thank God,
are you all right?”

“I’m fine, I was headed
home but I came by the shop to see about Jaslyn. I’m going to be at home for
the rest of the day to sleep. I didn’t get very much while I was in that cell.”

“Oh, I bet. Just go on
home, get some rest and give me a call when you are up to it.”

“Before I get off,
there is something that I have to ask you.”

“Sure, what is it,
sis?”

“It’s about Simone,
Andrew. I want to know the truth about why you acted so funny about us going to
the movies? I think I have the right to know, don’t you?”

It was completely
silent on his end and at first Delia thought that maybe he had either hung up
or dropped the phone. “Andrew!”

“Listen, Delia,” she
heard him sigh deeply along with a frustrated moan before he continued, “I’ll
tell you the truth, but you may want to sit down for this.”

Going toward one of the
tables, she grabbed a chair and sat down, “All right, I’m sitting down.”

“Before I came over to
see you this past weekend, I went over to see Simone. When I had told him about
us having a baby, I kind of joked with him about whether or not he had found
himself a girl. We even joked about how neat it would be to see some Cipriano
babies around. He told me that he hadn’t found a girl but he had been thinking
of one. He went on to tell me that he had been thinking about this girl for
months. He told me he couldn’t get her off his mind to save his life. That’s
when I asked if he was still in love with you.”

It felt like her heart
had completely stopped. She was at a complete loss for words and even Jaslyn
could tell that something was wrong. Delia couldn’t believe what she was
hearing. It was news that she honestly hadn’t thought she would ever hear. “He
was what?”

“Delia, sweetheart,
Simone has been in love with you for years, now. I wouldn’t lie to you by
telling you all of this but it’s true. He told me he didn’t know that you had
been with Rodger until he saw you that night at the party. I told him to just
be happy for you while you two were together but I knew he was very much in
love with you, regardless. I talked with Renzo about it and he was concerned
about it too because we all wanted you to be happy with Rodger. Simone would
just have to get over you and move on. But sis, I swear he’s madly in love with
you and still has been ever since we were kids.”

Delia couldn’t believe
what in the hell she was hearing. After all this time, could it be true? Her
first true love was in love with her…still after all this time? “I’ve got to
go, Andrew. I love you.” Handing Jaslyn the phone, she took her purse and
headed out the front door in a complete daze. Why hadn’t he told her how he
felt about her from the beginning? Getting back into her car, she drove home,
still perplexed by all that she’d just heard.

Simone Cipriano was in
love with
her
.

After taking her shower
and grabbing herself a cup of tea, she sat down on her bed, contemplating the
fact that the man she had loved since they were kids was in love with her.
Delia went into her closet, pulling the small chain so the light bulb shone
brightly. She moved some shoeboxes she had on the shelf and felt around for
what she was looking for. A smile brightened her face when she realized that
what she was looking for was still there. Pulling back, she had in her hand the
infamous leather-bound diary from her youth. It was something that she had
never gotten rid of, for even though she had written in diaries for most of her
life, this particular one was special to her. She remembered writing page after
page in her diary about him. It wasn’t that she couldn’t get a date or anything
but it was just that Delia wanted Simone and only Simone. Surprisingly, despite
her being a thick chick, she always had the eye of most of the guys in school.
It was the one whose eyes she wanted on her body who never bothered to look her
way. Simone was always too busy with sports or the other girls pining for his
attention. The only time she did get a chance was after football games or
whenever he was around Andrew, those were the only times she was able to have
fun with him. She got the chance to know the real Simone, the laid-back Simone
who loved going with her to watch old movies at the theatre, who would often
help her in the kitchen when she made desserts for the bake sales at school.
Those were the days when it was fun between them.

Now that she thought
about it, she thought of their date together when they were young and her very
first kiss from him. Delia never thought that anything else would come after
that date because she always thought he was just doing it to make her happy.
But it seemed that after that date, after that kiss, that things seemed to
change for them.

The
telephone rang and she picked it up quickly, “Hello?”

“Hey
there, Deedlebug, do you want to go to the theatre to see a movie tonight?”

It
was Saturday afternoon and it had been about four months since their ‘date’.
She thought that the time they had spent together was something out of a dream.
In a way it was something that she always had wanted to have, Simone alone.
Whenever she was with him, it was like paradise. “What’s playing?”

“Freaks,
Creature from the Black Lagoon and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

“Wow,
a triple creature feature, I see. Well, I am all for it, when are you coming to
pick me up?”

“I’m
down the street at this pay phone, come on out and I’ll be there to pick you
up.”

“Lord.
All right, let me get my shoes and purse.”

“No
need for a purse, I’m buying.”

“All
right, I’ll be out then.” Hanging up the phone, she grabbed her white sneakers
and headed out of her room. “Mom, I’m going out with Simone to the movies!”

“All
right, sweetie, make sure you’re back before ten.”

“I’ll
try momma, it’s going to be a triple monster feature. So we might be just a bit
late, though.”

“All
right then, have a good time.”

Leaving
the house, she waited for Simone at the end of the driveway. She soon could see
his red Mustang coming from up the street then he was pulling up
beside
her, waving and smiling. Once she got in, they drove
off and headed into town to the theatre. Every other Saturday, the theatre
would play old movies from the silent era onto the sixties. Most of them were
pretty cheesy but the two of them didn’t care how cheesy they were, just as
long as they were worth watching, it was all good.

“I
can’t believe they’re playing a triple feature tonight.” Delia told Simone,
looking at one of the movie posters along the wall.

“Come
on.” He grabbed her by the hand as they walked inside but she soon realized
that something was wrong.

Where
was everybody else?

“Simone,
why are we the only ones in here?” But he never did answer her question as they
walked into the movie and found absolutely no one here except for them. “What
the hell Simone, no one is in here.”

They
both sat in the middle row and in the middle seats, which is where they
normally sat as the lights began to slowly dim. She kept looking around and it
felt really weird that they were the only ones in the place. “Simone, why are
we the only ones in here tonight?”

He
wrapped his arm around her shoulder and smiled, leaning in toward her to plant
a soft kiss on her forehead, “I just thought it would be neat to have the whole
place to ourselves tonight.”

Delia
smiled at him, leaning against his chest while watching Creature from the Black
Lagoon. She couldn’t believe that he would have done this for her. The entire
evening he catered to her every beck and call--when she got hungry, he went and
got her popcorn, soda and her favorite candy Milk Duds. She always had the
habit of putting her candy within her bag of popcorn, and shaking it up before
she ate it. It was the salty, buttery sweetness that she loved and it made for
a good snack. The entire time they were together he had been so affectionate
with her, always making silly comments here and there, which was something they
would frequently do when watching the movies. He would take her hand in his; sometime
he would kiss it softly. The feel of his lips along her skin sent shivers
through her body every time they touched. Sometimes when they got together like
this, Delia often thought that maybe he was only doing this to just be kind,
show her what she was missing, just doing it because he and her brother were
friends.

After
the movie, he decided to take her over to the only drive-in restaurant in town,
Stokey’s, which was more like the ones from back in the 50’s where a carhop on
roller skates would take your order at your car. They both decided to grab
something to eat and head back to her house since it was starting to get a bit
late. When they got to her house, they sat out on the swinging bench out in the
yard to eat. At first they didn’t say very much while they ate but while
munching on her onion rings, Delia had to ask him, “Simone, why are you being
so nice to me?”

He
looked puzzled by her comment and wiped his mouth, “Why do you ask that?”

“I
know that you took me out on a date because you said you wanted to. It’s just
that lately I’ve felt like even though we go out to the movies and hang out and
stuff, you’ve never at least told me that you love me. I know you like me,
you’ve always said you liked me but not one time have you said that you loved
me.”

Taking
a sip of his drink, he told her, “I do care deeply for you Delia,”

“But
do you love me, Simone?”

“Even
though we’ve known each other for years and years, I’ve always known you like
you were my sister. I care so much for you and about you that I honestly wanted
to show you that I cared for you even more. I can’t say that I love you just
yet, Deedlebug.”

It
wasn’t the words she had wanted to hear from him at that moment. She wanted to
hear him say those words that she always remembered saying to him. All she
wanted to hear him say was, “I love you Delia.” When he didn’t, it made her
feel as if she was just a charity case or something. Now she realized that
basically that’s all she was to him…a charity case. “I think you better head on
home, Simone, and I think this will be our last time going to the movies.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
meant just what I said Simone, I can’t be with someone who thinks of me as
nothing more than a charity case. That’s how I think you feel about me, you saw
that taking out your best friend’s sister would make her feel good about
herself since no one else would take me out. You don’t understand Simone, I
love you and I’ve loved you since the first time Andrew brought you and your
brothers over to our house. There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t thought
about us being a couple, actually dating and letting others know that we were a
couple. So, I think that from now on, we’ll just remain the way things were
before you found out how much I loved you.”

“But
that’s not what I want Delia, I don’t want that for us.”

Getting
up from the swing bench, she walked toward the door but not before saying to
him, “Goodnight, Simone.”