At the end of the date, Aless was sure that Danny would try to kiss her when he walked her to her door.  Normally, she never kissed on the first date, yet she was willing to make an exception for him.  Once they reached her place a little after midnight, however, Danny merely smiled and wished her good night.  Stunned, Aless didn’t know what to do as he walked back to his car.  Swallowing hard, she unlocked her front door and went inside. Locking it behind her, Alessandra was very confused.  Had the date not gone as well as she thought?  Did he not like her?  Maybe Tyler had ruined things and she just didn’t notice. 

Glancing around the entranceway, she saw a jacket and a pair of shoes.  Her father was home.  At this hour he would be sleeping, so she trudged to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl of cereal.  Once her bowl was empty, she rinsed it and went upstairs to shower.  The lights were off in her father’s room, confirming that he was asleep.  Taking a quick shower, Aless could not stop thinking about Danny.  How could he have not even tried to kiss her?  Did he not find her attractive?  The thoughts circulated in her mind as she changed into her pajamas and went to bed.  His polite end to the night wouldn’t leave her mind. Tossing and turning, Alessandra didn’t know what to make of it. As a result, Aless couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.   

In the morning, she checked her phone eagerly to see if Danny had messaged her, but he hadn’t.  Feeling depressed, she returned to the kitchen where her father was eating his breakfast, already dressed in a suit. He wore his white-honey blonde hair short on the sides and longer on top, just enough so he could gel it back slightly like a wave.  Green-hazel eyes focused on his newspaper, not even acknowledging his daughter as she walked in. Approaching the table, Aless could see the elegant designs of his whipping vine Josӕng that decorated his temples. Aless didn’t need the morning light to know that her father’s Josӕng reflected deep forest green, which complemented his rich skin tone. Since she was a small child, Aless had admired her father’s elegant Josӕng, especially the way they flickered from black to rich green.  They were simple and regal like her father.

That morning, like most mornings that he was home, Aless could barely see his slightly oval face behind the paper as his strong, round jaw chewed.  Aless knew that when he stood, her father was about five-ten and solidly built.  He maintained his weight but never had enough time to develop thick muscles.  When he smiled, Aless’s father, Aaron Yᴔsin, was a handsome man, but he rarely smiled anymore. 

“Morning, dad,” she said pleasantly. 

He did not respond.

“What time did you get in last night?” she continued.

“About eleven.  Where were you?” he responded blandly.

“I was on a date.”

“Boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend, dad.  It was this guy I just met.  Danny.  He took me to a small circus and…”

“Uh-huh…that’s nice, Catherine.”

For some reason, her father always called her Catherine. It wasn’t even her middle name or a family nickname. She couldn’t even remember when he had started calling her that. He just had one day many years ago.  Taking the hint, Aless stopped talking. She served herself some breakfast and sat down across from her father.  He never even looked at her. 

“I will be going on another business trip to Nᵫlgᵫn tomorrow.  I must go into the office to organize things today, but I will be back tonight.  I don’t know what time,” he finally said as he took a sip of coffee.

“How long will you be gone?” Aless asked pretending to care.

“About two weeks.  I hate these long trips but our Nᵫlgᵫn office is going through some major problems.  I must try to fix it before people lose their jobs.  You have your credit card so just charge whatever food and groceries you need to it.”

“Okay.”

Aless already knew the drill.  It happened all the time.  For a brief moment, as always, she had hoped that he would be home for a while, even just a day.  She knew that he had his own bed at his office because he spent so much time there.  It hadn’t always been like that.  When Aless’s mother, Sydney Yᴔsin, had been alive, the family spent every weekend together.  That had ended over ten years ago.  Cancer had taken Sydney from Alessandra and Aaron.

“I must be going.  Would you mind washing my dishes for me?  I am running late,” her father said standing.

Standing as well, Alessandra agreed and waited for a hug. He merely patted her on the head and left. 

“Never leave without a hug and kiss,” she whispered to herself as her mother had always said.

Two men in less than twenty-four hours had snubbed her.  It was beginning to bug Alessandra.  What did she have to do to get these men’s attention?  As if reading her mind, Aless’s phone buzzed.  Irritated, she looked at the screen and saw it was a message from Danny.  At the moment she was so annoyed with him and her father that she almost didn’t want to read it.  Yet her curiosity won out and she opened the message.

Hey Aless, the message said. I had a great time last night and I was hoping we could do it again tonight.  I know it is last minute, but I hope you will say yes. 

Part of Aless wanted to play it cool and take an hour to answer, but the other part of her knew that was stupid.  So, she compromised and waited five minutes before replying.  Quickly, Danny responded, and they made plans to see a movie and go stargazing.  It would mean she would get back late and probably miss seeing her father again.  Yet her father didn’t seem like he really wanted to see her, Aless rationalized, therefore she didn’t need to waste the effort to see him.

The next month flew by with Danny now in Alessandra’s life.  She worked hard to balance school, Kayla, and Danny.  It was easy at first because Kayla had John. Unfortunately, after a month, they broke up and suddenly Kayla wanted more of Aless’s time.  This wouldn’t have normally been a problem, however around the time John and Kayla broke up, Danny asked Aless to be his girlfriend.  Danny and Aless had been taking things slow and keeping their relationship casual. Initially, Danny was concerned about the fact that Aless was only seventeen and he was twenty, but with time issue became unimportant. In fact, after only a month, they knew they wanted to be exclusive. 

The night Danny asked Aless to be his girlfriend, Danny took her home to meet his sisters and mom.  Danny’s father had been killed when Danny was ten by local mobsters after his father had intervened on behalf of a young woman the thugs had targeted.  Life had been rough with Danny’s dad gone, yet Danny’s mother loved her children enough for two parents. As the oldest, Danny went straight to work after secondary school, helping support his four younger sisters, all of who were close in age.  Each one was as pretty as Danny was handsome.  His mother was a small, heavy-set woman with big brown eyes and a big warm smile.  She immediately welcomed Aless into their home and made her feel like family. 

“I have been begging majo for weeks now to bring you here,” she told Alessandra in her heavy Sᴔmian accent.  “He kept telling me no mama, it is too soon.  How can it be too soon when he spends all his time with you?  And you are so beautiful, maja!”

“Thank you, Madame Gᵫjismal. You are too kind,” Aless laughed.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alessandra saw Danny watching closely as his sisters pestered him with questions about her. 

“Let us feed you!  You are so skinny!”