'My love, I want you to meet a friend of mine. Ricardo this is my wife Avena, Avena meet Ricardo" Leonardo moved out of her way and her heart sank to her stomach as she saw whom it was.
Aurora had never been one to believe in coincidence but right before her was the biggest one of them all. She watched as Ricardo walked towards her and stretched out his hands to her.
'Gooday, I am Ricardo, Leonardo's longtime friend" he greeted her, smiling at her, knowing just what she was thinking.
'Avena, my friend is greeting you" Leonardo nudged her and Aurora snapped out of her thoughts and shook Ricardo's hand.
'Nice to meet you too—Ricardo" Leonardo stood silent watching both his wife and his best friend as they stared each other down.
'Am I missing something?" Leonardo chimed in, hoping to break the icy glare between both his wife and best friend. Ricardo quickly turned to face his friend and smiled.
'Well it seems that your wife and I have met before" Ricardo pointed out without giving further explanation as to how the pair had crossed paths with one another.
'How so?"
'Well not long ago. Funny story but your wife aimlessly wondered onto the road and I almost knocked her earlier" Aurora quickly turned her head to look at Leonardo and just as she had expected, his eyes grew wide with shock and within less than a second, Leonardo was in front of her of her observing her for any bruises or injuries.
'I am fine!" Aurora tried telling him but nothing she said got through to him and she could not fault him. The worry she saw in his eyes was that of a man that feared losing his wife and she appreciated that.
'My love, why were you not looking when your crossed the roads?" he asked her, just one of the many questions that he asked her within less than ten minutes. Ricardo came up to Leonardo's and tapped him on the shoulder.
'There's nothing wrong my friend, I made sure to stop before there was an accident" Ricardo tried explaining to Leonardo but he stopped, looking at how Leonardo took both Aurora's little hands in his, making sure to repeatedly ask Aurora if she indeed was truly okay.
Ricardo watched carefully as his friend observed his wife in making sure that she was not harmed and even when she reassured him, he was still on edge. Ricardo could not make out who this Leonardo before him was, he was concerned with the woman who he once hated.
'I am sure that Avena is fine Leonardo and you are just overreacting" Ricardo chimed in, hoping to divert his friend's attention from his wife.
'Exactly, Ricardo is right" Aurora agreed with him and Leonardo stepped back, smiling down at his wife as he then leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead.
'Go in and freshen up, I got us some food" he informed her. Aurora raised up a plastic bag from the grocery store to show him. Leonard raised an eyebrow and crossed his hands over his chest.
'What is this?" he asked her. Aurora nervously pulled out the foil container, revealing the frozen Lasagna. Leonardo raised his hands in the air as a sign of surrender and then dropped his hands, laughing.
He retrieved the lasagna from Aurora, carefully studying it and then looked at her as he held in his sudden urge to laugh at her.
'Frozen lasagna, really?"
'It's not as bad as you make it out to be" she nervously told him but she too could not contain her smile as Leonardo's smile was contagious.
'Now you know that every dead Italian grandmother would be rolling in their graves if they were to see this. Go and freshen up my love, I have already prepared lunch for the two of us"
'Okay my love" she stood on her tippy toes and kiss him on the lips. Even as she walked past Leonardo, Aurora could not help but to stop in front of Ricardo as he was looking at her strangely.
'It is my pleasure to meet you Ricardo"
'The pleasure is mine" he smiled at her, doing a little bow before her. Aurora walked away, leaving both men in the living room but even as she was gone from their sight, she could not help but feel a certain way about Ricardo. Something about the man was off and she could not put her finger on it.
Even as she got into the shower, her sixth sense were tingling and it was all because of Ricardo, a man that she did not trust.
**
'I missed you honey, please don't leave me" Ricardo teased Leonardo in a sheepish voice.
'Hahaha, that was so funny that I forgot to laugh" Leonardo not impressed by his best friend's representation of him. Something had set off inside Leonardo as soon as he found out that Aurora had almost been knocked over by his best friend. If anything had happened to her, he would never have forgiven Ricardo.
'Oh you know that I am just joking with you or do all married men become this serious after marriage?" Ricardo walked over to his friend, looking at Leonardo in the face.
'You should watch where you drive" Leonardo told him, before walking away and he began setting up the table. Ricardo threw his hands in the air as a sign of surrendering as he followed Leonardo around.
'You act as though I knew that she was your wife, even though you were criticizing her for walking in the middle of the road when I was telling you about her before she came in"
'That was before I knew that the woman you almost knocked over was my wife" Leonardo told his friend through gritted teeth.
'You are going to break that" Ricardo pointed at the side plate that Leonardo held holding onto so tightly as though his aim was to break it. Leonardo looked at his hand and lessened his grip on the plate.
'Whatever"
'Look Leonardo, I am sorry for almost knocking over your wife and I am definitely sorry for coming here without calling to inform you"
'I am not mad that you came without informing me, but I want to know why you are here?" he paused as he asked his best friend, knowing that Ricardo was not much into surprises.
'So can I not just visit a friend?"
'Ricardo, you and I know that you are not just here for a friendly visit. You have less than five minutes to spill the beans"
'But—"
'Now Ricardo!"
'Okay, okay. Your mother sent me here to talk to you, she called me over the phone crying her heart out and I know you and you are not the type to make your mother cry" Leonardo looked at his best friend from head to toe.
Even in the scorching sun, Ricardo thought it best to wear a three piece designer suit, just another way of flexing his wealth whereas Leonardo liked to keep it subtle.
'It is best that we do not talk about it"
'Is it your wife? Is she the one causing the rift between your mother and you?" Ricardo asked, his face not hiding his concern.
'Of course it is not my wife, have you seen how sweet and innocent my wife is?"
'Well that is not what you had said four months ago when your first met her"
'That was because I did not know her well four months ago, Avena looked after my mother as if she was her own mother and in the end my mother betrayed us" Leonardo jumped in to defend his wife.
'Well if you are not going to answer me then perhaps I should ask your wife"
'Do not do that"
'And why not?"
'Because Avena does not know the real reason behind why we left my parents' house, I do not want her to think less of my mother" Leonardo explained. Even though he tried to hide it, Ricardo could see the pained expression on his friends face.
Growing up Ricardo had wished he had a mother such as signora Carina but his own mother had never made time for him, she was a social climber and just her luck when she had scored big and married Ricardo's step-father. He was some rich heir with so much money that he did not know what to do with it.
'Was it that bad?"
'Yes it was, now please, let's not talk about this any longer" he pleased with his friend, Ricardo nodded his head in agreement, a sign that their conversation had come to an end.
'I'm here!" Aurora came into the dining room, she looked at both men and they were both silent, looking as though they had just had a standoff with one another.
'I hope I am not interrupting the two of you?"
'No you are not, Uhm—"
'Avena, Avena Romano" Aurora completed the sentence for Ricardo who seemed to have forgotten her name. Ricardo flashed a smile at her, one that did not make Aurora feel at peace.
'My apologies for forgetting your name so soon, I hope that I did not offend you"
'No offense taken, shall we eat because I am dying to eat what my husband has prepared" Aurora rubbed both her hands together and playfully licked her lips. Just like always, Leonardo pulled out her seat and pushed her
back in.
The conversation surrounded various topics such as the small town that Leonardo and Aurora had chosen to live and most of the conversation revolved around Ricardo talking about his wealth and often he tried to get to know Aurora more in which she made sure to block him out at every turn.
She feared that the more she spoke, the more her secrets would come into the light and the whole world would know who she truly is. Out of nowhere Ricardo's phone rang, he pulled it out and looked at the caller ID and placed it back into his pocket.
'I'm sorry guys but it seems as though I have to love and leave you two" he informed them, putting up a sad face as he did. Aurora let out a sigh of relief, having Ricardo close by and having him ask too many questions bothered her.
'But you just arrived" Leonardo pointed. Ricardo stood up from the chair, took his blazer and wrapped it over his arm.
'I know but business calls and the food was lovely by the way" he pointed out, speaking to Lombardo and avoiding eye contact with Aurora.
Both Leonardo and Aurora stood up from their seats and were ready to walk Ricardo out when Leonardo stopped her.
'No need to, I will walk him out" he offered. Aurora smiled as she knew just how caring and helpful Leonardo was.
'Okay. Anyways, bye Ricardo" to told him, not before he turned his attention to Aurora and flashed a smile, the very same smile that had made her uncomfortable before.
'See you Avena, I hope we meet again and hopefully under better circumstances" he did a little bow and turned to Leonardo as both men waked out of the house.
She could not place her hand on it but there was something definitely wrong with Ricardo and she could feel it.