Nothing Else But You

by Elle Wright

  “Jesus, Ro.”

  “I call ’em like I see ’em.”

  Natalia stared at her Keds to keep from laughing. The topic wasn’t funny, but Ro slayed.

  “I’ll call tomorrow night. Let the dust settle.”

  “Ha. This shit’s just kicking off. Be prepared, bro. Bet you a hundy Nonna calls tonight and asks you to come home for the weekend.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah, well, Nat’s your buffer now. Mom and Dad never met her, so they’ll keep their shit tight. Nonna talks about Nat like she’s known her for fifty years, so she’ll let it rip. Either way, Nat can handle it.”

  “I appreciate your confidence in me.”

  “You got my brother’s nose wide open, so I know you have skills.”

  Gio shook his head. “I’m hanging up now, Ro.”

  Ro made chicken sounds, then hung up.

  “She doesn’t know about your father bringing me home.”

  “Apparently her ‘strategic listening’ didn’t yield that piece of intel.”

  Natalia laughed.

  He laced his fingers through hers and they began walking up Hope Street. “She got one thing right, though.”

  “Hmm?”

  He leaned down, pushed her hair aside with his nose, nipped her lobe, then whispered in her ear, “My girl’s got wicked skills.”

  The next morning, Natalia, sweaty and lying on Gio’s chest, was puffing breath into his neck after having a monster orgasm when his phone went off.

  “Fuck whoever it is. I can’t move. You drained me dry, Ace.”

  “Same.”

  He squeezed her ass. “How’s that cognitive neuroscience class?”

  “I’m getting into the neural network software, and I’m thinking I can design software like that.”

  “Piece of cake. You could rule the world if you wanted to.” His phone dinged for VM.

  She kissed his chest and ran her fingers through the dusting of black hair across his pecs. “Medical software might be challenging. I’m really enjoying the computer graphics class too. By the end of the summer, I should know which way I want to lean.”

  “I predict you’ll have your own company within five years of graduation, and you’ll be making bank.”

  “You’re an optimist.”

  “I’m a realist, and I know what I got in you.”

  She snuggled against his chest and thanked the universe for sending him to her.

  Barus & Holley Building

  Brown University

  Gio

  Standing in the hallway after his Complex Analysis class, Gio stared at his phone and knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. Nonna had called twice and left messages both times. He knew what she wanted. He hated telling her no, but he didn’t want to go home this weekend. Never mind ducking the drama. He had to study. Organic chem was no joke, and this math class made his brain hurt. He had to get an A in every class this year or he wasn’t getting into medical school.

  He waited until his professor exited the classroom, then ducked back in. First message was a call-me-back. The second astonished him.

  In Italian: “I’m coming to Providence tomorrow. One of your father’s men is driving me there and back. You, me, and Natalia are going to meet at The Capital Grille at six-thirty. Don’t be late.”

  Gio knew Natalia was in class so he texted her.

  G: Meet me outside the SciLi after class.

  She kept her phone on vibrate during class, and he knew she wouldn’t answer unless it was an emergency. He didn’t want to freak her out. One of them bouncing off the walls was enough.

  He went to the library center and forced himself to study. Surprised that he got into it, he lost track of time and jolted in his seat when she bent her head down and whispered, “I’m here.”

  Gio turned his head and kissed Natalia’s tasty lips. “Hey, baby. Let’s go out onto the mezzanine.”

  “It’s starting to rain.”

  “Really? Okay. Let’s see if we can find an empty study room.” He grabbed his jacket and backpack, and then followed her as they hunted for some privacy. A group of people was leaving a room and Gio slipped in and held the door open as the last person walked out.

  “What’s up?” She draped her coat over a chair and threw her backpack on the table.

  “Listen to this.” He played Nonna’s message.

  Her head jerked back and she gave him big eyes. “Has she done this before?”

  “Never.”

  “She drives, right?”

  “Yeah, but only around home. You know, to go shopping or meet her friends.”

  “Your mother worries.”

  “My father. If Nonna wants to go to Boston, he insists one of his guys drives her.” He shook his head. “He’s a fatalist.”

  “Seems appropriate.”

  Gio had to smile. “Yeah. Right?”

  “You know what she wants?”

  “It’s got to be about the whole Sofia drama.”

  She nodded. “So. I guess we’re having dinner tomorrow night at The Capital Grille.”

  They got there at six-fifteen and were shown to their table. Nonna arrived five minutes after they sat down. Gio stood and gave her a big hug then kissed one cheek, the other, then back to the first. Nonna turned to Natalia, who had stood while Gio was saying hello to his grandmother, and gave her a hug. Gio helped Nonna into her chair before he and Natalia sat back down.

  “How was the ride down, Mrs. Conti?”

  “Nonna. I’m your nonna now.”

  Smart enough to know there was no arguing with the tiny general, Natalia nodded.

  “Bah. Too much traffic.”

  A waiter came over and asked them if they wanted something to drink. Gio had scoped out the wine list and ordered a bottle of Barolo. The waiter disappeared and Nonna wasted no time getting to it.

  “Did you talk to Sofia today?”

  Natalia answered. “We spoke to her for a few minutes this morning. She was still a little tired from the flight and the time change.”

  Nonna smacked the table. “Cazzata.”

  Natalia looked at Gio, who mouthed, “Bullshit.” To which he got big eyes with lots of blinking.

  “She’s walking around like a…” Nonna held out her arms in front of her and lolled her head, “zombie.”

  Gio tried not to crack up. “Happens when you’re tired.”

  “Happens when you become stupid over a man.”

  Thank God, the waiter arrived with the wine, poured a small amount in a glass and was about to give it to Gio, who shook his head and then tilted it toward Nonna. She took a sip and nodded.

  After their glass were filled, the waiter asked if they were ready to order, and Nonna told him to come back in five minutes.

  No way this conversation was going to be over in five minutes. To make sure they didn’t starve, ’cause it smelled delicious in the restaurant and Gio was near salivating, he suggested they look at their menus so they’d be ready when the waiter returned. After a little discussion, Nonna decided what to order for the table, and who should eat which entrée.

  For the table they had lobster and crab cakes, pan-fried calamari with hot cherry peppers, and burrata with heirloom tomatoes. Nonna’s entrée was seared citrus-glazed Alaska king salmon with Marcona almonds and brown butter over haricot verts. Natalia ate pan-seared Chilean sea bass with baby carrots and sake miso butter sauce, and Gio had the rib eye with aged balsamic in a porcini mushroom crust with a side of Parmesan truffle fries.

  Thankfully, Nonna respected food too much to disturb their meal with family drama. She asked about school and Gio’s quad-mates, and Natalia told her a few Fiddler’s Rest stories. After the ladies had sampled Gio’s warm double chocolate cake with port-infused cherries and ice cream, and Nonna had finished her espresso, she wasted no time getting to why she had come to Providence.

  “Your mother is beside herself. She wants to wrap Sofia in a blanket like a baby. Sofia needs to grow up and
get her head out of the clouds. The two of them are walking around the house like someone died.” She smacked the table. Again. “A basta.”

  Natalia did the hand cut under her chin. She got a basta meant enough.

  Nonna kept going. “Smoke comes out of your father’s ears every time he looks at your sister. This much I know.” Nonna made a zigzag in the air with her finger. “Matteo Parisi, colpito da un fulmine the minute he laid eyes on Sofia. He’s too old for her, and she needs to concentrate on school. Your father respects Don Parisi, and they have been friends a long time. They agreed. It’s best for Matteo and Sofia to be apart. But nothing is going to change the mood in that house unless we have something to be happy about. That’s where you two come in.”

  Natalia brows went up, and the hair stood up on the back of Gio’s neck.

  “What do you have in mind?” Gio asked, not really wanting to know.

  “You need to announce your engagement.”

  Natalia froze and paled out. Gio reached under the table and grabbed her hand and squeezed. When she squeezed back, he took a deep breath and said, “We get to decide when we do that.”

  “Rispetto.” She dipped her chin. “You know you belong to each other. You get married when you want. What is it you say? No pressure. An engagement is a promise your family can celebrate. Please. Say you’ll think about it.

  Natalia answered. “We will, Nonna.”

  “Such a good girl.” Nonna patted the table. “Come. Walk me out to the car.”

  Their ride back to campus was a silent one. Gio wanted to push the words back into Nonna’s mouth and make them unsaid.

  His girl had a thousand reasons not to believe they could be happy together for the rest of their lives. It had taken him nearly four months to get her to admit they were going to be together forever. He feared his grandmother set his efforts back to zero.

  They walked hand in hand back to the dorm, her head down and her hair covering her face.

  Fuck.

  They went into their room, where she took off her coat and stepped out of her shoes, and put both in the closet. She grabbed her little bag and a face towel and walked out.

  Goddammit.

  He went through the connecting door into his room in the quad, undressed down to his boxer briefs, talked to Evan for a minute, said “Hey” to everyone else, brushed his teeth, did his business, and then went back to their room. Natalia wasn’t back yet, which wasn’t like her. His girl didn’t linger in the bathroom. He locked the interior door and got into bed and sat with his back against the headboard.

  Five minutes and she hadn’t come back.

  Ten minutes.

  At fifteen minutes, he got up, pulled on a pair of jeans, and threw on a t-shirt. His hand was on the door to the hallway when she yanked it open, then jumped back when she saw him in the doorway.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yep.” She walked by him, took off her clothes, pulled one of his t-shirts over her head, picked up her laptop, and climbed into bed.

  Again, he got undressed and climbed into bed, his back against the headboard. She was tapping away on her laptop and looked thoroughly engrossed in what she was doing. Fuck it. He’d man up and give her the headspace she needed, and thought he might as well get some studying in too.

  Forty minutes later his email notification dinged. He ignored it and kept on studying. About ten minutes later, she closed her laptop and crawled down the bed to put it on a chair. Shit. He’d gotten a spectacular shot of her ass peeking out from under his t-shirt and now he was so hard it hurt. She scooted back, tucked herself under the covers, rolled over so he got her back, and muttered, “’Night.”

  “’Night, Ace.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  He couldn’t study anymore, so he checked his email. The message was from an address he didn’t know and the subject said, “Nine months later.” He almost deleted it but thought it might be from someone in Fiddler’s Rest about Rita and the baby, so he opened it.

  Hey, G. So much has happened since my last letter. Yeah, things are always crazy in my little town, but I’m not there anymore because I met this guy.

  I could describe him physically down to the arches in his big feet, but his soul is complex and deep, and though I swim in it 24/7, I don’t think I’ll ever reach bottom. He’s a bit of a prince in the sense that he has everything money could buy, and everyone loves him, but he doesn’t act like it. For sure, he’s cocky and a bit arrogant, but he’s sweet, and so kind and generous. He’s a good friend to all the guys in his quad, he’s a jock and enjoys being part of a team, and he’s an amazing brother. He treats his sisters like they’re the most precious things on earth. He adores his grandmother, and she him. Their relationship goes far beyond their familial ties. I’ve never seen him with his mother, but I’m guessing he treats her well too. No surprise since he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

  He and his father, though, are another story. His dad is a powerful and demanding man, who I’ve met and have spent a little time with. My guy would be surprised how well his father knows him and how much his father loves him. I don’t think they’ll ever be friends, but at some point, after my guy has finished school and starts working – he wants to be a doctor, how noble is that? – I think they’ll find a place of mutual respect where they can stand toe to toe and enjoy each other’s company.

  I have been living with my guy for about four months, and odd as it seems, in some ways it feels like I’ve known him forever. He’s stood by me through some difficult shit, keeps me safe, fucks me blind, and loves me in ways I didn’t believe were real. He took my past on board like it was NBD, and believes in me like I’m an Einstein. He has taught me how to trust in the good, even when shit swirls around us.

  So, this weird thing happened earlier. There’s this major family drama playing out, and we’ve been dealing, but tonight his grandmother told us that it would help the family focus on a happy event if we announced our engagement. Officially, we’ve never had the “marriage talk,” but pretty much since we got together we seemed to have understood that this was it. As his grandmother said, we belong to each other. He talks about “the long haul” and our kids like it’s carved in stone, and while I don’t say much about it, truth? I’ve been all in long before we met in person.

  Here’s the thing, and I want your honest advice, I’ve been thinking about what his grandmother asked of us, which, he told her as nicely as possible, it’s up to us what we do, not her, and I can’t find a reason not to do it. Why not announce our engagement. We can get married whenever we want, but if it helps the family focus on something positive, and it gives his parents a reason to throw a big party, it doesn’t change anything for us. We’ll still go to school, study until our brains crash, watch Mel Brooks movies in the quad, and break tables in hotel rooms.

  Do you think I should ask him to marry me?

  Your turn.

  Ace

  Gio read the letter four times. The first two times were blurry. He closed his laptop and slid it beneath the bed, then he scooched down under the sheets and got up behind his girl.

  He pushed her hair aside with his chin and laid his head on her shoulder. “Yeah. I think you should. Unless you want him to ask. I know you’re not into traditional roles and all that shit, so go for it. I bet he’ll say, ‘I’ll marry you every day for the rest of your life.’”

  She turned in his arms and with her lips against his she told him, “I’ll be sure to ask every morning before we get out of bed.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Elle Wright has been writing stories since she was a child, which led her to a career in journalism. She enjoys reporting life as much as making up a world she can control. She lives on the east coast of the United States where most of her large, noisy family resides. When she isn't in front of her computer, she loves to travel, garden, hang out with her dogs, and take in the brisk sea air that she's told is supposed to help calm her. She's been testing that t
heory for a while now.

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  Twitter: @ElleWright18

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  FB: facebook.com/elle.wright.1460

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