“Tell me again why I put up with you?” she asked, quirking her eyebrows in his direction while she sipped on her tea. “I’m quickly running out of excuses for keeping you around,” Lenora stated, feigning disinterest in the bloke next to her. That was always rather difficult to do as every conversation she had with him, despite their witty banter, would leave her enjoying her day even more than before. Before he had even approached her, she had already been having a great day and now, it was definitely turning out to be better than she had even thought. Coming to this shop was a great decision and she really was kicking herself for not contacting him sooner.

“And yet, you still stick around. What, are you staying around out of pity? I feel so honored,” she deadpanned, giving him a look. “Stay out of the kitchen, got it,” she nodded as if committing it to memory. “So, who’s the best person to ask about embarrassing stories in the past few years? I need some juicy details,” the redhead grinned widely, her eyes shining with amusement. She would definitely be lying if she said she wasn’t excited about meeting his family, though she wouldn’t verbalize just how excited she was. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, her mind started wandering on what she was supposed to wear to such an event. “Uh, casual dress? Formal? Semi? You can’t leave me absolutely hanging here or I swear to Merlin I’ll embarrass you,” she threatened, giving him a look.
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Gino chuckled shaking his head. ”Cause I’m fuckin sexy. That’s why ya put up with me.” He joked running a hand through his hair. He smirked as she said she was running out of excuses. ”I don’t think ya had any excuses ta begin with.” He added with an arched eyebrow. He wished he would have owled her sooner than just waiting to run into her. It always took far too long for their paths to cross. ”Pity is such a strong fuckin word… I like ta think about it as charity for tha less fortunate.” He laughed. Gino felt more that he was the lucky one. He wasn’t the easiest guy to deal with, and she somehow tolerated all of his bullshit.

He looked over at his friend shaking his head as she repeated his warning about staying out of the kitchen. It would be amusing to see what Nora thought about his sister and her daughter buzzing about the kitchen yelling in Italian to anyone who ventured into the kitchen to steal a taste. ”Yea, cause I’m really gonna tell ya that shit…” He replied rolling his eyes. He was sure they all had various funny stories to tell her. It wouldn’t matter if he was there or not either. They would still tell her without any prompting. ”It’s jus casual. Eventually you’ll have ta go to a big dinner dance shindig.” He said giving her a look over, keeping his face serious as they really did have big fancy get-togethers a few times a year.

“I think you’ve taken one too many confidence boosters, sexy” she grinned at Gino, amused. It really was a shame that they hadn’t been closer in age; it probably would have been a lot of fun to go through life in general with this bloke, and it would have been especially interesting to see if they would have gotten along in school or not. Chances are, they most likely would have gotten along then as well. “You’re right; this tea must be really fantastic if it’s convinced me this long to stay with such company,” she teased. The more time that had passed by, the more she was thankful that she had stopped by this shop, glad that she had run into her old friend.

“Wow, you really are quite remarkable then, aren’t you?” the redhead asked, quirking her eyebrows in his direction. Gino was definitely the person she would want around if ever she was in a not-so-great mood, she noted, feeling like this conversation in general was lightening her mood, not that it was dark to begin with. “Oh, no matter; you’ll just prolong the inevitable. I’ll invite myself over when you aren’t around,” she joked. “I’ll have to, will I? And I suppose you’ll do the utmost honor of dancing with me? Or should I be finding some poor unfortunate soul?” she asked, laughing lightly at the fact that she apparently didn’t have much choice in the matter, not that it mattered. She would have gone, anyways.

Gino shook his head. ”Like I need ta take something fa confidence. That shit is natural.” He joked. Granted he was telling the truth. He was naturally confident though not as cocky as he was pretending to be right at that moment. He was sure he only did that around Nora because he knew that she had been around him long enough to know he was only joking. ”Don’t blame ya love of me on tha fuckin tea.” He chuckled before sending a wink her way. He always liked Nora, and it seemed like every time they spent time together he had new reasons to add to his list. It was hard to ever be upset or angry with her around.

”Oh I’m sure they’d love ta have ya around. Those fuckin crazy broads would recruit you to do their bidding.” He said with a shake of his head in amusement. He would be willing to bet the women in his family would try to pull something like that, and most likely succeed. Then again he wouldn’t mind in the slightest if that were to happen. Hell, he wished he could see her everyday… ”You’ll have no choice but ta go. If anything tha honor will be all yours. I’m not gonna let ya torture some otha poor guy. I’ll take on for tha team and go with ya.” He chuckled before picking up his cup and draining the rest of his contents. He was having a good time but he did have other things he had to get done unfortunately. He sighed loudly. ”Well I need ta get out of here. Unlike you some of us got shit ta do than twiddle our thumbs.” He said standing up with a laugh.

Lenora laughed at Gino’s response, shaking her head.“It’s amazing, really, how someone can be as cocky as you are,” she stated, grinning. “Is there room for anything else in that head of yours?” she joked in response. Regardless of his severe confidence, he really was the best bloke that she had known. Even if she hadn’t known him terribly long, she supposed that’s why she wanted him to meet her kids…because they all needed more positive role models in their lives. They all needed to see who they could become, a person who was successful. He would definitely be a great father one day if ever he settled down and got married. She wasn’t even certain if that was something he thought about as she supposed that was a conversation they avoided when together, seeing no need in that discussion. He would probably be getting married soon, something she frowned upon, knowing that she’d have to share him with some other woman. She supposed she’d just get in the way, just a friend in the relationship. Merlin, she really needed to control where her thoughts were leading her.

“Oh, good to hear,” she grinned, feeling slightly relieved. Perhaps meeting his family wouldn’t be terribly horrific…as long as she stayed out of the kitchen. “Oh, so selfless…you’ll be making me swoon over you soon. No other woman better touch my man,” she winked jokingly, nudging his arm playfully. She sighed lightly as he stood, kind of disappointed that their surprise meeting was coming to a close so soon. “Well, don’t be a stranger again,” she smiled, standing up and spreading her arms to embrace her good friend, wondering when she would get to see him next. This time, she supposed she would really have to start writing more.

While Gino very rarely got to see Nora anymore, she still felt like a very crucial part of his life. Sure she always seemed to tell him the things his family did, but for some odd reason she always seemed to convince him the quickest. There wasn’t much she had to do really. She had saved his ass before when it came to crazy broads. He had heard his niece saying something to the effect of ‘women know women’. Apparently she was right as Nora was able to pick up on things much quicker than he was. ”I am amazin…” He joked with a chuckle. He liked to over exaggerate his confidence. It was just one of his quirks he supposed.

He arched an eyebrow at his friend as he heard a touch of relief in her voice. He wasn’t sure what the hell made her think anyone wouldn’t like her. He was willing to bet if he were to go searching for people who disliked her they wouldn’t exist. Gino made a sound of amusement as she spoke again. ”I already got ya swoonin an shit. I hate ta tell ya but ya got some competition.” He teased before shaking his head with a grin. ”Actually, I’m dure no one else could deal with my ass.” He added thoughtfully. He really did doubt anyone could truly handle him as a whole. There were some major flaws he still had that seemed to never really faze Nora.

Gino didn’t want to leave, but he knew it was the responsible thing to do. He really did hate having to be an adult from time to time, though it did show just how much he had matured over the past few years. ”You betta not either.” He said pulling the redhead into a tight hug before kissing her on the cheek with a grin. ”I’ll see ya around.” With that he turned around and made his way out the door.

-END OF THREAD-