Author's Note

It's only been one day and I already have the next chapter up!  I finally figured out a big part of the plot and I'm just excited to get it down on paper.  I have already gotten a couple of encouraging messages about this story in the last couple days and thank you to those who sent them!  I wouldn't expect an update everyday, but at this rate, who knows? :D  Thank you again for sticking with the story and I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 8 - The Mysterious Waiter

After touring the Uffizi Gallery, Alec drives us to the Enoteca Pinchiorri, an upscale restaurant in Firenze.  When we walk through the doors, Alec goes up to the host and talks to him in a tone too low for me to hear from this far away.  The host glances at me and holds his stare as the two walk back to the rest of us.  It isn't until he stops right in front of us that I notice that his eyes are the color of the ripe red tomatoes decorating the plate of salad I see sitting on a table a few feet away.  "Please follow me," he says with a rich accent, tearing his gaze from me and turning around to lead us to our table.  The vampire has wavy platinum hair long enough to barely touch the top of his shoulders, and it's so light, it almost looks like it's glowing.  With that combined with his porcelain skin, he looks almost angelic.  He leads us upstairs and into a private dining room, where the four of us pull out our chairs and take a seat.  "I will be back in a few minutes to take your requests," he tells us, leaving after one last glance at me.  That's when I notice that he only left us one menu.

"You guys aren't just going to sit there watching me eat, are you?" I laugh, grabbing the menu and flipping through pages of words that I don't understand. 

"No," Alec replies, "We actually have more business with Raphael that we need to take care of today."  So Raphael is the mysterious vampire's name?

"Who is he anyways?" I ask, "and what kind of business is it?"  I figure they probably won't tell me, since it's probably some big Volturi secret, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right?

"We can't tell you," Jane smiles.  I just shrug, I figured not.

"Are you ready to order?" someone asks.  I jump in surprise to see that Raphael somehow snuck back in here without me knowing.

"U-uhm," I stutter, flipping hopelessly through the menu. "Uh, I'll just have whatever the special is," I sigh, giving up on the foreign menu.

"One astice al rosmarino coming up!" he smiles, flipping his notebook shut and heading back out.  Meanwhile, I have absolutely no idea what I just ordered, but if it's as good as Antonio's cooking, I don't even care.

"That means lobster with rosmary," Jane tells me, probably seeing my puzzled face.

"Lobster?" I repeat; I haven't had lobster for years.  I would always have it at our local seafood restaurant back in the States, but Grandma hated seafood so I haven't been there since my family's death.  Honestly, I'm really excited to try it again!

My mouth is watering by the time Raphael returns with the steaming dish, and I start digging in right away as the rest of my company start getting out of their seats.

"We're sorry to leave you to eat alone," Alec starts, "Unfortunately this is the only time have to attend to the business we came here for."

"Ah, don't worry about it," I smile, "You guys have your vampire duties, I'm sure I can handle eating alone for one meal."

"Okay, we'll be right back," he smiles, heading out the door with Raphael and the others.  After the door shuts, I stab my fork into a piece of lobster meat and savour the heavenly taste. 

The meal as a whole was absolutely fantastic.  After eating, I curiously pick the menu back up and try to practice reading in Italian while I wait for everyone to come back.  I do a mental face-palm when I see English translations in small print right below where the Italian was.  It actually helps me out quite a bit as I try to correspond the Italian words for the English words.  "Pollo," I whisper to myself.  Chicken.  It's the same as Spanish!  Now whether the pronunciation is the same or not, I have no idea.  At least now I'm one step closer to being able to read a menu.

Everyone returns back to the dining room almost a half-hour after I clean off my plate.  I stand up, seeing that they are waiting for me by the door.  The Volturi crew, who look less than happy, gives Raphael a small head nod-type bow, which he solemnly returns.  His expression changes when I make my way over.  "I hope your meal was satisfactory," he smiles, glancing at my finished plate.

"It was amazing!" I nod, following the others out the door.  "Grazie!" I tell him, before turning back around.  He just chuckles and heads in to grab my plate.

"Thank you guys for the meal," I tell them, "It definitely didn't look cheap."

"No worries, we have unlimited money, remember?" he tells me, waving the gold credit card at me, the same one I used to buy everything for my room.

"Yeah, how does that work anyways?" I ask, "Is there really unlimited money on that thing?"  Heidi laughs.

"No, not technically," she starts, "The Volturi just have so much funds stockpiled up after centuries of work that there is more in the bank that they could ever spend.  Plus, the longer they're around, the more their money multiplies."

"So..." I start.

"So technically" Jane smiles, glancing at Heidi, "Technically we have unlimited money."  Heidi just smiles and shrugs in response.

We get back to the castle pretty late in the evening.  It was a very long day, but it was probably the best day of my life as of yet!  When I get back to my room, I notice that the pile of Latin books were gone.  Their owner must have came in and taken them back sometime after we left today.  I kick my shoes off and mindlessly watch some Italian movie that I don't even know the name of.  I start watching it with the hopes that maybe some of the language would sink into my brain, but I'm so worn out that I end up falling asleep right there on the couch. 

*

The next morning I decide to skip breakfast since I'm honestly still full from last night's dinner.  I head to the kitchen anyways though because I want to find Antonio and ask if he can give me some formal Italian lessons.

"Have you practiced the language at all yet?  Or do we start from scratch?" he asks, excited to have a new pupil.

"Well, I've watched a few movies, and I tried to read the menu and the restaurant yesterday, but I know nothing other than the fact that there are some similarities to Spanish," I answer.

"Yes!" he exclaims, "They are both romance languages, so there are many similarities.  Also, watching TV and reading in the language is the best way to practice if nobody's around to talk in it with you.  Things might not sink in right away, but over time it will make a big difference."

"Awesome!" I smile, finishing the last of the piece of cherry pie he gave me.  Yup, my skipping breakfast plan obviously didn't pan out, but there's absolutely no way I could've turned down his homemade pie. 

"So how do lessons every weekday before lunch sound?" he asks.

"I'm willing to practice everyday before every meal if it means learning it faster!" I tell him, excited that everything is finally getting set up.

"Oh Piccola, I hope you aren't trying to get out of your training with Felix before dinner!" he chuckles.

"Ah, you caught me," I smile, heading over to the sink to wash my plate.  "Actually, training is getting a little more fun lately.  I mean, I'm still a horrible fighter against you guys, but I like learning how to defend myself properly."  That's true too.  It may not have helped me combat Derek's strength, but I feel safer already knowing that I can at least stand up for myself if another human was the one threatening me.

"You should be telling this to Felix!" Antonio laughs.  I shake my head.

"Naw, he has a big enough ego as it is," I laugh, "What's said in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen," I tell him with a pointed glare.

"I promise," he chuckles, crossing his heart with his fingers before putting the rest of the pie in the fridge.

We say our goodbyes and I'm about ready to start turning around the corner to get to my room when somebody turns the corner at the same time as me, causing me to jump.  I tilt my head up to see that it's Caius who's blocking my path.

"Long time, no see!" I laugh nervously, unfortunately he looks less than amused.

"I have something I need to talk with you about," he tells me in a serious tone, "now."