VI

"Can you give me just the time to accomplish my purchase?" Dominic asked her.

"Sure, I'll wait here," Jessica agreed.

Dom lied; after all, he was becoming good in that.

He had no purchase to accomplish, he just needed an excuse to drift away.

He left the shop and drew out his mobile, dialling a number so familiar that he didn't even need to search for it in the phonebook.

Matthew picked up the call at the third ring.

"What the hell do you want?" he barked rudely. It was a sign that he wasn't in a good mood.

"You've got to help me!" the blond imposed.

"If it's a 'you've got to help me' like ' I don't know where I can take her ', well, don't count on me, because I don't..."

"No, it's a 'you've got to help me' like ' I can't go out with her anymore! ' Dom clarified.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?" Matthew snapped, risking to damage forever the drummer's hearing if Dom hadn't wisely held the mobile away.

"Yeah, Bells, you heard it right. Everything changed and I have some good reasons to do that!" the blond insisted.

"The hell with the good reasons. Now you've got to explain to me every-bloody-thing!" the younger boy hissed.

"I've just met the girl with the shoe incident, remember? I told you about her. My special meeting. I thought there was no chance to see her again, so now that it happened I can't lose this chance!" the elder boy explained in a rush.

"So, tell me, as you try to fulfil your idyllic love dreams, what am I supposed to do?" Matt rolled his eyes.

Although Dom couldn't see him, he could easily imagine that.

"Well, you should... warn Gaia," the other instructed him, wavering because he could predict Matt's reaction.

"WHAT?" the redhead roared once again.

"Oh, c'mon, I can't leave her stranded and I can't go to her. Plus, I don't have her phone number. I have no idea about what to invent, find an excuse for me. After all, you have much more fantasy than me," the blond adulated him.

Silence from the other side.

"Oh, c'mon, Matt, try to understand. It's important to me, this girl is important to me. Please, please, please!" he added in the most begging tone ever.

There were some instants of silence and then Matthew talked, sighing in exasperation:

"You already know that I'm going to kill you next time I see you and then I'll search for a new drummer. Don't you?" Matthew threatened him with the most disquieting tone ever.

"Thank you so much, Matt! You're the bestest friend in the world!" Dom rejoiced and if only Matt had been in front of him, Dom would have hugged him tight.

"And you are the most ungrammatical friend in the world. C'mon, give me the address... " Matt exhorted him, accommodating.

The blond gave his friend all the necessary info and then he ended the conversation, coming back to the shop and reaching the girl who was so important to him.

"It's done. We can go," he warned her.

"Alright. But... where?" she asked him as they left the shop.

"The destination doesn't matter when the company is so good!" he smiled as he took her hand.

"Adulator!" she blushed. "If only I knew that I'd meet you again, I would have dressed myself better!" she confessed as she stared in disappointment at her skinny, white jeans and a simple, cobalt blue sweater with a boat neckline that set off her decolletage, revealed by her blue jeans jacket, left open.

"You're absolutely perfect!" he smirked at her.

"I repeat: adulator!" she chuckled. "Anyway, I guess that now it's time for an official introduction, don't' you think so?" she suggested, stretching her hand towards him.

"Yep. Nice to meet you, I'm... " Dominic started to reply, but then he stopped, remembering Matthew's tales.

"Wait. You know what? Please, don't think I'm insane, crazy or staff like that, but, you know, a friend of mine, my best friend, for the record, has kept for weeks, chatting and exchanging mails with the girl he likes, neither of them telling each other details about their private lives, such as name, location, job," he warned her. "Just like now you and I don't know anything about each other, saving the location. So.. would you like to follow their example? I guess it could be a funny game," he suggested.

"A game you said, didn't you?" she repeated, already liking the idea.

"Yeah, why not? It sounds exciting," he winked at her.

"It's not a bad idea. Ok, I agree, my dear unknown guy!" she approved with a bright smile.

*************************************** (In the meantime)

After insulting his best friend in every possible way, Matthew checked himself briefly in the mirror. After all, it was a quarter to 9:00 p.m., he couldn't waste time.

He wore a white t-shirt, white jeans and black braces. In order to enhance his elegance he added a black tie and, remembering how much Gaia liked that colour, he searched in his wardrobe for a red jacket to wear.

"Yep, this is good. And as I'm on my way to her hotel, I'll think about something to say," he decided, before leaving.

He arrived at 9:00 p.m. on the dot. He got out of the hotel shuttle that helped him to be on time, not before giving the driver a very generous tip.

He got in the Hall, where he knew Gaia was waiting for Dominic and he saw her, as she sat on one of the sofas. Matt went towards her.

The brunet swallowed heavily when he saw her in a long, icy blue dress, with a silver-edged neckline. Her hair was gathered up in a bun and she wore a silver necklace, matched with her silver earrings. She was radiant.

"This girl keeps becoming more and more beautiful every time I meet her. Is she doing that on purpose?" he thought, dazzled.

"Hi, Goya!" skipped from his lips, since he was so agitated that he forgot his little problem with her name.

"Gaia... " she corrected him, giggling.

"Yeah. Sorry," he blathered, as he cursed himself.

"Anyway, hi. It's just that... I didn't expect to see you here!" she greeted him with much more excitement than she planned.

"I know, you were waiting for Dominic, but I'm here to tell you that..." Matthew started to explain, sitting next to her.

"He's not coming," she concluded the sentence for him, a little upset, but not so much, after all.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Truth is that... he's sick," he said.

"Oh, no! You'll have to delete your gig on Saturday," she stated.

"Uh? No, it's not that kind of sickness. Dom just needs a day of utter rest and he will be as good as new!" he assured her.

"Oh, really? How can you be so sure?" she questioned him as she started to be suspicious.

"Trust me, I know, Dom usually has this kind of... temporary indispositions," he insisted, showing the first signs of weakness.

"You know if you were as good in writing, singing and playing songs as you are good in telling lies, well... you wouldn't sell a CD!" she stated.

"Hey!" he acted insulted, before analyzing her sentence better. "Oh, wait. It was a compliment," he rectified.

"Truth is that sometimes my best friend can be such a dickhead!" he revealed, making her laugh. "Really, I can't understand how he can prefer someone else to you, but it's happened and he acted without even thinking!" he explained, rolling his eyes.

"Well, maybe it wasn't fate, but it's not the end of the world, after all," Gaia, commented, pausing for some seconds, because her choice of words made her think about a certain someone.

"Really?" Matthew asked her, very pleased by her reaction, which was not so desperate as he pessimistically thought.

"It's just that.. phew! I had told almost everyone that tonight I would go out with the drummer of Muse.. now what am I supposed to say?" she snorted, concerned about the possibility of making herself out to be a liar.

Matthew made his decision, determinately and resolutely.

"Well, you could tell them that you went out with the frontman of Muse!" he suggested, winking at her.

"What?" she stared at him in wonder.

"A beautiful lady should never ever be left alone. Tonight I'm free and I would be honoured if you kept company to me," he smiled at her.

"I thought you had come here just to warn me," she murmured.

"Is it a 'No' ?" he wondered, upset, as he stared at the floor, not facing her gaze.

The sight made Gaia melt and she was even more eager to give him the answer she had already planned to give.

"I didn't say that," she smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Hearing her words and feeling her touch, Matt abruptly lifted up his gaze and turned to her, making the girl take another unexpected dive into those amazing blue eyes that now were sparkling happily.

"Lucky for me. You know, tonight you're wonderful in that dress. I mean, you would be wonderful even without it. No, sorry! Uh! I meant... with another dress, any other dress!" he got nervous and that amused her a lot, so much that she laughed.

"The point is that tonight you can't remain here all alone. The world must see you. Or at least a part of it," he stated, getting up and stretching his hand towards her. "Come with me," he added.

She accepted, both his invitation and his hand, taking her white jacket and following him.

*************************************************** (In the meantime)

As a proper gentleman, Dominic helped Jessica to get out of the taxi. They took a walk through the shopping arcade, which was too crowded for Dom to be recognised by someone. Finally, they reached the Savini, one of the most famous and elegant restaurants in the whole town. Dominic had a reservation there.

They sat at their table, next to a window that gave a full view of the cathedral dome. Jessica could have stared from that window for hours, but not only that, the whole restaurant was beautiful, from the furniture to the elegant, refined atmosphere.

"Isn't it too expensive?" Jessica whispered at Dom a little worried, as a waiter gave them the menu.

"If it's for you, nothing is too expensive," he smiled at her,

"Stop being such an adulator!" she pretend to scold him, slapping playfully the hand he was trying to stretch towards her hand.

"I'm not adulating you, it's the truth," he declared as he was reading the menu, trying to interpret the Italian one without watching the English version.

"But you don't even know me!" Jessica made him notice.

Dom lifted his gaze from the menu.

"It doesn't matter. I already have this feeling," he stated, holding her hand.

Jessica confined herself just to stare at him, without striking back.

"But you're right, we should know each other better. You, first. What are you doing here in Italy?" he asked her.

"I paid a visit to a friend of mine, my best friend. Anyway, it's not the first time I'm in Italy. I've lived here for three months a couple of years ago because of a cultural exchange, but after coming back home, I forgot everything in less than a week. Their language is just too hard to learn," she explained, snorting.

"And you tell me that! I mean, yesterday , just to make me say 'draw out your mobiles' in Italian, I've been with a teacher for more than a hour," he revealed to her.

"Why did you have to say that sentence?" she asked him curiously.

"Because of my job."

"And which is your job?" Jessica wondered.

Dominic was about to answer her, but then he stopped in time.

"Ah-ah, you, smart girl. Don't you remember our little game? No private details," he reminded her, and then he realised that some girls sat at a table nearby kept staring at him insistently, and now they seemed to have recognized him.

Before they got closer to him, he decided to anticipate them, in order to prevent Jessica from seeing the whole scene.

"Uh, excuse me, I think I saw some dear friends of mine. I just want to greet them, I'll be right back," he warned her as he got up and reached the girls at their table, gesticulating to them to keep quiet.

Jessica leant from her chair to take a sight of him. She saw him talking and hugging the girls and it was more than okay, but when he saw him taking pictures with them and signing stuff, she became suspicious.

"They are not his friends, that's not the way you act with a friend. They mostly seem to be his... fans. So he must be famous, maybe he's an actor. Oh, no. Wait a minute. Gorgeous. Blond. English. With a doggy. Oh, God, what if he is...? No, it can't be, it can't be just him!" she started to figure out, shocked.

She searched for her mobile in her bag. There was only one way to find that out.

************************************

Matthew observed Gaia, amused, as the girl kept staring in ecstasy at every corner of the place, awe in her eyes. Taking her to his hotel was a good idea. After all, Prince of Savoia was one of the most prestigious hotels in the whole town.

Gaia was analysing every detail of the dining room, from the sumptuous drapes to the opulent and sophisticated decorations of the table, from the chandelier to the wonderful view of the garden that the French windows let her see.

"So, do you always stay in such elegant places?" she wondered.

"Yeah, during the bigger part of the year," Matt answered.

"You're so lucky!" she sighed.

"But you have no idea of the horrible hovels and ill-famed alleys we slept in during the beginning. Something like 'Please, God, let us wake up alive tomorrow! '" he chuckled, but then he became serious. "Anyway, trust me, there's no more beautiful thing than lying lazily at your house, without doing anything, maybe with someone special by your side," he added, throwing at her one of those look that made her feel dizzy.

As a matter of fact, Gaia blushed. The guy moved the chair aside for her gallantly, and let her sit at their table, before sitting in front of her. Matthew started looking through the menu, in the same playfully way Dom did, but the brunet also tried to pronounce the strange names of the dishes. Gaia laughed, amused, as she tried to teach him the correct pronunciation. Suddenly, she received a text message on her mobile and she stared at it in confusion. Matt noticed that.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Nothing. It's just that my best friend can be so weird sometimes. I don't know why she wants to know so badly the password you chose for me yesterday," she explained as she satisfied her friend's strange curiosity, answering the message.

*****************************************

"Hendrix. Why?" Jessica read, very hesitantly. "Oh, no. Dammit!" she cursed as Dom was coming back to their table.

"So, what were we saying?" the blond resume talking.

"Game over. I've finally realised who you are: Dominic from Muse," she cut him off.

"Oh, so, you know me!" he smiled at her a little bit surprised.

"Yeah, but I'd rather not find that out this way," she murmured as guilty conscience was tormenting her.

"Okay, so now I have the right to know both your name and what you do," Dom struck back.

"You're right. I'm Jessica, I'm a student... but I'm also someone who shouldn't be here," she said, before running away.

TBC