"If anyone comes around asking if you work here, you're covering for a friend," Gabriele said, his once stern features softening as he looked down into Norah's brown eyes, how scared and worried they were of him rejecting her. "You can leave your bag in here if you'd like, no one but me comes back here." He added, noticing the way she was clinging onto it for dear life.

When he shrugged and seemed to resign to her, she felt relief wash over her. She cracked a smile and visibly relaxed, her shoulders dropping and her hand lessening its death grip upon the strap of her bag. She couldn't help the giddiness that took her over or the way her heart was beating so loudly. She just prayed Gabriele didn't think anything of it.

"I can do that. I know it's a lot and I'm sorry. But thank you, thank you. As I said, you won't regret it." She said, her voice sounding brighter, happier.

At the mention of leaving her bag in the office, she tensed a little again, however, she figured it was as safe as ever and soon tucked it away in the back corner under his desk, keeping it out of prying eyes. She brushed herself off and followed him out of the office as he began to leave, closing the door firmly behind herself.

Gabriele glanced behind him as he walked into the main part of the restaurant, "do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" He asked before turning his attention to some boxes.

Norah bit her lip, looking away from Gabriele for a moment. "Not yet. I was going to find a place. Or a park bench." She said ruefully. It's not like it would be the first time she had slept out in public.

He snorted, shaking his head, "a park bench, really?"

"They aren't so bad. The fresh air is good for you." She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest, glaring him.

Gabriele realized she was telling the truth with this and his humor died out and he coughed to cover up his chuckle and wiped the smirk off his lips. Exactly how difficult of a life did this girl have? He suddenly felt bad for her, she looked too young to be running away from something so terrible, so desperate to just get by each day. He could see the hurt evident even with how much she tried to cover it up with her brave remarks and sarcastic attitude.

"As true as that is, I don't like the idea of a young lady sleeping on the streets," he said, his voice soft and gentle as a frown spread across his face and he crossed his arms. "If you don't have a place to stay tonight, you're free to stay with me. Of course, only if you're comfortable with it. I heard it's supposed to rain tonight."

Norah frowned, looking down at her hands. She didn't really want to stay in a strange man's apartment - but getting rained on sounded like actual hell... She shrugged, sighing, "I guess that sounds better than a bench. I'll work all day and night with you then and go home with you." She paused, her body stiffening as she heard how that sounded.

She quickly looked up at him, watching as Gabriele tried to fight back a chuckle, a wide amused grin plastered across his smug face. "I know how that sounded and that's not what I meant. Don't get any ideas." She warned, glaring him.

Gabriele raised his hands in defense, shaking his head. "I'm innocent," he joked, chuckling. "I had no ideas whatsoever."

"Good."

He snickered, snorting as a chuckle escaped him, earning him a death glare. "Sorry, sorry." He wheezed, smiling warmly at her. "Please don't kill me."

"Don't tempt me."

"Anyways, just figured you might want a place to stay till you got a place of your own, or found something better than my dingy little place." He said, shrugging his shoulders before stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Alright, I'll take you up on that. I promise to get a place real soon. I don't like to impose on others. If you're going up anytime soon, can you take my back upstairs behind a locked door? It's, kind of got all my shit. Like, all of it." She paused for a moment and frowned a little, "shit - ah I mean - do you care if I cuss? Do customers care? I just remembered my sailor's mouth isn't always so welcome. I could tone it down." She cringed, chewing on her lip.

Gabriele chuckled his smile widening, "I don't care if you curse a lot around me, but yeah, tone it down for the customers. A lot of them don't like that kind of behavior." He said with a playful wink, "and of course, I'll take it up in a bit."

Heat rushed to her cheeks, flushing as he winked at her and she bit down harder on her lip, unable to resist some of his charms. She cursed her pale skin, knowing it had to have been giving away her fluster as she watched the grin on Gabriele's face grow with more amusement. She was so thankful the man knew how to keep his mouth shut.

"Anyways," he said, breaking the sudden silence and break away from Norah, "I guess I should describe your actual duties, huh?"

He rubbed the back of his neck as he pushed himself off the post he had been leaning on. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off Norah, his thoughts preoccupied with how easy she was to fluster. She acted so tough for someone with such easy to press buttons.

"I need a new waitress, so that'll be your job. If you know the ropes, I won't bother telling you. Other than that, mornings are spent cleaning and restocking." He looked around at this, noticing that the boxes were mostly gone and the floor was covered in trash. Tape, cardboard chips, leaves from vegetables. "You can start by sweeping up this floor," he said, pointing over to the broom and dustpan leaning against one of the tables.

He thought for a moment and spoke up once more, "I'd also brush up on my Italian, it's spoken the most around here, though if you ask they might either laugh at you or speak in English. Depends on who you ask. If you get any trouble though, ask me or Gilbert." He said, pointing behind him to the older man who wiping down the counter. Gilbert looked up from what he was doing and waved slightly to Norah before returning to work.

Norah raised one brow, "Italian? I barely know English to be honest. But, I'll try. I'm sure I can pick up a few words. I'll get a book from the library or something." She said with a little shrug. Maybe knowing the language would give her better tips. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to be a little more educated.

Gabriele chuckled and smiled at her, his typical charming smile. "You'll do just fine," he said, "anyways, once you're done with the floor, you can take the chairs off the tables and give the tops a wipe down."

"I'm gonna get back to work, and leave you to it. If you need anything, you can find me somewhere around here." He said before lifting up a crate and hauling it quite easily to the back room.

Norah couldn't help but stare at the way his back and muscled arms flexed and how natural it was for him to lift the crates and boxes. She bit her lip hard again, losing herself in thought before Gilbert cleared his throat, catching her off guard. She laughed nervously, her cheeks bright red as she avoided eye contact with the older man. She didn't want to admit or be teased for having just been ogling her new boss. She couldn't help it, however.

She reached for the broom and busied herself with the task of cleaning the restaurant. There wasn't a lot to be done, just some basic upkeep and it didn't take that much energy before the floor was spotless, a mop ran over it to remove any stickiness. She was quite proud of herself as she stood, admiring her work, her hands rested on her hips. Once the floor had been taken care of, she followed Gabriele's next piece of instruction and took the chairs off the tables, scooting them into their places and then taking a wet rag to wipe off the tops. By the time she was done, the place looked as good as new and she had a bright, wide smile of victory plastered on her face.

***

The pub was soon ready for the lunch rush and Gabriele left the kitchen, wiping a wet cloth against his shirt, trying to clean up a splat of red sauce he had spilled on himself. He sighed and gave up, running a hand tiredly through his hair as he pushed the office door open and ducked under the desk, dragging out Norah's bag. "Dannazione..." He muttered, chuckling slightly at the weight of her bag, "she wasn't kidding."

He slung the duffel bag over his shoulder and made his way up into the apartment, where he dropped her bag on the futon couch before disappearing back into the bedroom. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, his thoughts half preoccupied with Norah. She was an enigma and his curiosity was getting the better of him, but he resisted the urge to push any of her buttons. At least the really personal, guarded buttons. She was different and he just didn't know how to talk to her. How to handle her.

As he was pulling on a fresh set of clothes, he decided to keep his distance, keep it strictly professional. If she wanted to open up to him, he'd accept it, but for now, it seemed she had far more than skeletons lurking in her closet.

Norah was left to her own devices as Gabriele went upstairs and once she was finished with the small bouts of cleaning and tidying that she found to do, she helped Gilbert some. There wasn't any more work to do anymore and she found herself twiddling her thumbs and waiting impatiently for the shift to begin. She was bored and itching to do something with her life. She had sat around and done nothing for the past few weeks and she was ready to get something done, earn her keep.

The rush had started and he hadn't really given her her position. Sure, she knew she was the new waitress, but he had been pretty brief on the ins and outs of his pub. She chewed on her lip, instead making herself busy with helping with what she could. She dropped dishes in the sinks, bringing out clean glasses, checking on ticket times, bringing out buckets of ice and the like. She was as friendly as she could with the patrons, introducing herself with a bright, warm smile and explaining that she was the new waitress.

Chewing on his lip, Gabriele headed back downstairs just as patrons began pouring through the door and he scanned the growing crowd for Norah, spying her as she was helping a table. He smiled and wandered over, making sure to keep his distance.

"So, I see you found everything pretty alright." He said, grinning.

Norah spooked slightly, being wrapped in her work and she laughed as she smiled at Gabriele. "Yeah, though I still honestly don't know what I'm doing. This is your pub and you just left."