IPNOTIZZANTE - Damiano David

Stranger

Her little black dress had fit perfectly on her curvy and elegant body shape. She was wearing black heels and carried a small purse containing only her cigarettes, cellphone and keys. Niccolo had forbid her to carry her wallet since he wanted to be a gentleman and handle the costs of the evening.

She was getting ready in the bedroom, which she had redecorated together with the rest of the house within a few months after moving in. She had sold her house in Amsterdam and invested that money into renovating the old family home. Now she had a more modern and comfortable place for living with a hint of traditional style that her family had.

Niccolo had entered the room, wearing a white shirt unbuttoned at the top and a black suit. He looked like a gentleman and the two were perfectly styled together, but yet, Amelia couldn't feel the right connection between them. They didn't live together, but he had spent most time with her, just so she could get used to living at a new place.

"Wow.", he stood at the doorway. "You look absolutely stunning."

"Thank you, Niccolo.", she had smiled over her shoulder and took a glance at his appearance. "You look amazing as well."

"Oh, well, thank you, mi amore.", he smiled brightly. "The evening is a bit chill, maybe you should carry a blazer or a light sweater in case you get cold."

"Sure, no problem.", she was struggling with putting on her earrings. "Can you please grab a blazer for me while I change my shoes, these won't work, they're uncomfortable.", she asked him politely.

"Of course.", he had opened her closet and grabbed the nearest clothing piece he could find. "This looks interesting."

Amelia had turned around to look at the option that he had chosen and her heart had stopped for a bit. She had completely forgotten about the fact that she had kept the jacket she was not happy to see.

It was Damiano's jacket again.

She was annoyed by the fact that she could find pieces of him everywhere, no matter what happened and how much she was trying to forget about his existence. A week before, she was reading announcements all around the city about their concert, a day later her friend had called her to go with her and she hung up. For months, her feed was filled with his pictures and snippets of his interviews. She was constantly getting messages from his fans, asking her about whether she was still with him and whether they're secretly living together now that she was in Rome. It was tiring for her. She cursed the day that Damiano David had entered her life.

"Give me that, please.", she had walked up to him, clearly upset and snatched the jacket out of his hand. She walked over to the window, opened it and threw it out. "There. All gone now."

Niccolo looked at her, clearly confused. "What was that for?"

"Just an old memory that I don't need anymore.", she offered a fake smile. "Should we get going?"

"After you, gorgeous."

At dinner, they've had a great time talking and laughing about some anecdotes from their past and considering some plans for their futures. The restaurant was a five star one, in the city centre, and all of that seemed a bit too much for Amelia, who was more comfortable with eating at McDonald's or any other smaller restaurant, rather than a two-story, fancy place where the servers seemed even too polite and the food portions were too small for the pricing. But, she knew that she had to get adjusted to Niccolo's way of living and his preferences to be classy.

"I need to use the bathroom, excuse me.", Amelia said and took her clutch and went to the bathroom on the second floor. She was washing her hands when she had felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up in the mirror and her eyes widened at the sight of Victoria.

"Amelia, hi.", Vic greeted her awkwardly.

"Victoria... Hello.", Amelia smiled. "How are you?", only after she had pulled Vic into her embrace, she had felt how much she was missing her company.

"I'm great, yeah.", she was happy to see her. "Just went out for a casual dinner."

Amelia laughed. "Can you really have a CASUAL dinner at this place?"

"Well... Depends.", Vic laughed as well. "Want to go out for a coffee sometime? I know you've moved here."

"Uhm...", Amelia scratched her head awkwardly.

"Oh.", Vic had realized. "Just the two of us, as promised. No one needs to know we're talking."

"Sure. I'll text you the address and maybe we can have some coffee or wine at my place? I've renovated the house."

"That would be even better! The paparazzi are constantly around me, it would be great to have a peaceful evening somewhere away from it all.", Vic agreed.

"Sure. I'll let you know when I'm free."

"Take care, Amelia.", Vic hugged her goodbye. "And, you look gorgeous."

"Thank you, Vic. So do you.", they've each went their separate ways.

On her way back to the table, she felt nervousness and melancholy. She could feel a bit of anxiety kicking in and she couldn't wait to see Niccolo's familiar face and calm down. The brief meeting with Vic had upset her a bit and she needed some confirmation that everything would be okay.

Suddenly, as she had looked over to the other side of the restaurant while passing by, she could notice the brown eyes covered with a bit of hair, which was falling over them staring right into her soul and carefully watching her pass. She had quickly turned away and started walking faster towards her table.

Please don't walk up to me. Please don't be him. Please make it seem as if this is a dream. Please,please...

One last look and she could see that Victoria had seated herself at the exact same table as him and that both Thomas and Ethan were there, too.

His eyes were still on her. Staring cautiously, his lips twitching, his face pale and shocked.

She had finally reached her table and Niccolo had noticed her worry.

"Is everything okay, babe?", he asked.

"Can we please go home?", she spoke nervously. "I don't feel very well."

Her anxiety was getting worse. She had felt as if she was going to faint.

"Sure.", she had picked up her blazer and rushed through the door, Niccolo following her.

"Whoa, whoa.", he had finally caught her in front of the restaurant and pulled her closer. "What happened?"

Just as she was about to answer, the reason himself had followed the pair and started approaching them.

Damiano had stopped dead in his tracks when he had seen the boy standing next to his Amelia, gently pulling her by the waist. His heart sunk into his stomach and after a few moments of staring at them, he had returned back into the restaurant.

"Who's that?", Niccolo asked her.

"A stranger.", she sighed, heavier than ever. "Only a stranger."

And then everything turned black.