IPNOTIZZANTE - Damiano David

Americano

After a long and tiring conversation with her boss regarding being late to work for the second time that month, Amelia had gathered all of her strength to not have an instant panic attack, but she was quickly comforted by the embrace of her best friend, who had noticed that she was upset. 

"What did he say to you?", Lena asked while still holding her. 

"One more mistake and I can look for another job.", Amelia sighed. "I really messed up this time."

"Shh", Lena caressed her head while giving her a tighter hug. "It's going to be okay, you won't lose this job.", she then let go and looked her straight in the eyes. "And besides, what is the worst thing that could happen? You can still move back to Rome and begin all over again there."

Lena knew everything about her past and her family stories, since they basically grew up together. "It's not that easy. You know I'm not ready to go there yet.", Amelia explained. "The memories of them still haunt me.", she could feel the tears brimming her eyes and the last thing she wanted to do was to cry in front of numerous people at her workplace. 

Lena glanced at her wrist watch. "You still have around half an hour left before your shift begins. I'm gonna take a small break and we can talk about it, okay?" 

Amelia nodded. "I'll go take a seat in the corner."

"Deal.", Lena replied with a small smile on her face and walked back to the counter to take off her apron and make herself some coffee, as well. 

They talked until the beginning of the afternoon shift and Amelia was getting ready to start with work. The melody of the song that she had heard on the street still played in her head, and she couldn't help but think how the voice which was singing was so mesmerizing and lovely. 

"Ipnotizzante", her grandmother would always say, with her Italian accent and gentle voice. 

The thought of her family brought a smile to her face now, rather than tears in her eyes and she felt the need to wander the fields of Italy or stare at the waves crashing on the coast. She knew many parts of Italy by heart, rather than just Rome. She had hoped that she would be finally able to go next Summer after gathering the courage she had lacked for a while. 

She was a brave girl, but the thought of losing someone she really loved always made her uneasy and weak. 

"Good luck tonight, babe.", Lena said as she walked pass the counter behind which Amelia was standing now. "Don't stress yourself out and call me if you need anything."

"Thank you so much.", Amelia blew her a kiss. "For everything."

Sometimes she felt as if she didn't thank the amazing people around her enough for some things that they were doing for her. She was relieved and blessed whenever she remembered that she was not alone, and that her family and friends got her back in any situation. 

Although her relationship with her father was not the best one, especially since he was very strict and overprotective (even to the points where it would drive her mother crazy), she knew that he would never let anything happen to her mom, or her. Her Father, Niccolo and Amelia didn't talk much, and ever since she had moved out of her family house in Amstelveen and actually rented a home a bit more nearer to the city, he would barely ever call and almost never visited. That hurt Amelia's feelings a little bit, but luckily her mother was the one who would call every other night and listed to her ranting about her day and what annoyed her the most at work. 

Half of her shift had passed and it was already 10 P.M. The cafe was about to close within half an hour and the guests slowly started leaving, which made Amelia sigh in relief. The day was very busy and she wondered how she managed not to mix-up the orders although she had been working there for a while. She had noticed her co-workers had tired expressions on their faces as well, David and Maribel, who were managing to notify the last few guests to slowly start leaving due to closing hours.