Underbelly (Open.)

[Bottiglia.Paz'zia] · Number of posts: 180 Age: 18 Registration date: 2009-10-27

She nodded her head, setting down the last bit of her food. She had a rather small appetite that was usually satisfied within a couple of minutes. Most of the time she couldn't finish her food if she ever went out to eat. She pushed the tray across the table to him before standing up. "You can finish that," She answered with a wink before getting up and weaving her way through the crowd. This place was big enough that she knew she would be okay without him, besides, he wasn't going to be able to follow her into the bathroom - people wouldn't really like that too much.

Kristina sighed to herself when she got away from the table, starting to re-think having Frankie as her permanent driver. After what happened last night it just seemed like their chemistry was all but dead. They could have had so much fun together - or well, Kristina could have had fun taking advantage of the man and being able to do anything she wanted. Now, after their little intimate moment where she cried on his shoulder, everything was gone. She felt mechanical talking to him, and because of her stupid little blabber mouth, he knew her inside and out. He knew that though she pretended to be a touch bitch, deep inside she was as calm and tame as a little kitten.

She ducked into the bathroom and sucked in a deep breath, enjoying her time apart from him so that she could breathe. She was finally going to be able to have fun with her life when Frankie was going to be her driver, until her family had to screw it up, again! She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket as she made her way towards the stall. It was 6:15.

"Guess my life will end any minute now," She mused to herself before going into the stall and closing the door behind her. She was the only one in the bathroom.

Stanmore · Subject: Re: Underbelly (Open.) Wed Nov 18, 2009 2:21 pm

"Nightmare on Elm Street? That's what you want to go and see?" Frankie asked her, nodding at her to say that they would go and see that. He didn't want her clutching to his arm throughout the entire picture, and he figured that there would be lots of men and women sitting together, hands held, holding each other close. Him, on the other hand, was Kristina's bodyguard, and they were not a couple. Sometimes it felt weird, he was so young and could easily be thought of as something else than her protector.

"Umm... I think I heard there was a showing in about fifteen minutes. If you want to finish up and go to the toilet, we can head over to the pictures afterwards." After all, he had finished his meal a little while ago and was waiting on Ms. Slow Eater here to hurry up and eat what he had got her.

[Bottiglia.Paz'zia] · Number of posts: 180 Age: 18 Registration date: 2009-10-27

He was profiling her movie preference based on knowing her for a day? How ridiculous. Kristina lifted her head up as she listened to him name off the movies that he was thinking about going to see. They all seemed...manageable, but Kristina was a scary movie kind of person. She loved the thrill that scary movies gave her, and also how their story lines were so unreal. It was like an escape from reality. Besides the fact that the choice of death in scary movies was rarely by someone getting shot. Any movie that didn't have anything to do with guns was a sure pick from her.

She smiled as she shifted her shoulders and leaned across the table. Frankie probably wasn't expecting her to be the kind of movie-goer that she really was and she couldn't wait to see his face. Then maybe he wouldn't be all that surprised because maybe he just really didn't care. "I'd rather go see Nightmare On Elm Street," She answered finally with a smile and a final nod of her head.

Stanmore · Subject: Re: Underbelly (Open.) Fri Nov 06, 2009 5:48 pm

The cinema was close, so it was a good option to go to. Frankie had his fingers crossed that she wouldn't pick something that was a chick flick, but then again, she did usually want to do things that he absolutely hated. "Well that depends. I know a few films that are playing just now, but you probably won't like them."

He continued to look around, it might look as if he wasn't really paying attention to their conversation but he was. It just so happened he had to keep on his toes the entire time, last night she finally understood why he was so nervous about her dancing with numerous men. Look what happened. A guy came up to her and got a little too close for comfort, threatening her life. Frankie leaned over and blatantly stole a pair of fries from her tray, then pretending like he hadn't done anything at all. "The Terminator's out. I heard that's a good film." He leaned back. "Or we have... Ghostbusters... Nightmare on Elm Street... your choice." Frankie said, omitting romance films.

[Bottiglia.Paz'zia] · Number of posts: 180 Age: 18 Registration date: 2009-10-27

She smiled softly at him between the bites of her food. She didn't really want to go home at this time but she'd find a different place for them to go to. Maybe the movie theater. She hadn't been to the movies in a long time. In fact, it was a forbidden place by her father. She sighed silently to herself as she immersed herself into the food that she was eating. It was actually really good for being fast food, but she had to wipe her mouth and her fingers every now and then to keep from getting her white dress a mess.

With her food almost done she lifted her eyes back up onto Frankie with a sort of small smile within them. "Do you know what's playing for movies these days?" She asked him and then turned away as if it were a casual question that anyone would ask. She picked up another piece of her chicken and bit into it as she waited to see what he might think about going out to the movies after they were done eating.

Stanmore · Subject: Re: Underbelly (Open.) Fri Nov 06, 2009 5:12 pm

Her bodyguard wasn't playing naive. He knew that she was holding him close, as if really scared about the business of the public place. Anyone in here could be out to harm her, that old man looking in the window of the jewellery shop; the Hispanic police officer; the woman sitting by herself with a cup of coffee in front of her. Any of these people could have evil intentions, and there was no way to actually find out or prevent it before it was too late. As they walked to the chicken restaurant, Frankie asked what she would like and purchased their order, waiting in line and making sure that she stood next to him at all times. They were lucky to find a seat, obviously they had came on a busy day. The background noise was loud, everyone chatting away -- creating an collective ambience of conversations.

"After we've finished this, we'll head back home, alright?" Frankie knew she probably wanted out of here quickly, back to somewhere more quiet. It was up to her where they went, but home was the first thing he could think of. Maybe she wanted to stay out a little later. He was a fast eater, so it didn't take him long to chew and swallow the meal. Every so often, he kept a close eye on everyone that was around them. If only he knew of the plot to harm Kristina...

[Bottiglia.Paz'zia] · Number of posts: 180 Age: 18 Registration date: 2009-10-27

This place was crowded even more than the shops were and she was having a hard time keeping track of Frankie. Automatically she snaked her arm through his and pressed her body close to his. He was her body guard, right? Well he wasn't going to have a body to protect if he allowed her to slip and get lost in the crowd. Kristina kept herself close to him, pressed as close as she could possibly get. Who knew what the people here at the mall were thinking? There were so many shady characters that were brought to malls - or that was what she was told anyway.

"I don't like hamburgers," She answered as she pressed her ear against Frankie's arm. He was taller than her, which made things better because he'd be able to see her from a while away if they ever got separated. Kristina shivered lightly as people passed so close to them it made the hair on her arms stand up - and attempted to press herself even closer to Frankie. That was when she smelled him and remembered their close encounter last night.

Kristina sighed softly being pressed up against him and nodded her head towards a sort of fried chicken place. "I love chicken and I'd have that anyday," She answered in a casual tone. To anybody who passed by them, they would look like a couple out on a date.

Stanmore · Subject: Re: Underbelly (Open.) Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:49 pm

Frankie couldn't believe it. She had finished shopping? Or was this some cruel prank, waiting patiently to tell him that she was only kidding, and she had another hundred shops she wanted to go to. The mall was large, had three floors with various food stalls upstairs. The north wing of the third floor was crammed with fast food restaurants and Chinese kitchens, nothing too fancy but when she suggested something to eat, Frankie was used to just jumping upstairs and getting himself a burger.

Unless she wanted to go to a big, fancy restaurant? No, Frankie didn't know where to actually take her if that was the case. She didn't like fast food? Tough. That's what they were having. Considering they were already on the third floor, they didn't have far to go until the burger places came in to view. "I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for a burger. If it isn't to your liking, I suppose you can have a few fries instead."

[Bottiglia.Paz'zia] · Number of posts: 180 Age: 18 Registration date: 2009-10-27

He was obviously not enjoying himself here at the shops that she had been taking him to. In fact, it seemed as if Frankie was making his discomfort obvious so that she would stop shopping with him. She frowned every time that he made a suggestion or answered one of the questions that she gave him. His heart wasn't in it, which was funny because even though he hadn't liked dancing he didn't protest too much when she had been rubbing her body up against his. Males...they were so predictable.

After shuffling him through the 20th store, Kristina turned to him and placed her hand on her stomach. "Frankie," She started with a light pout as she turned to face him, her eyes sort of loosing their luster that they had during the beginning of the day. "I'm hungry, can we go get something to eat? It's probably close to 5 or 6." She said with a tilt of her head, chewing on her bottom lip lightly. She wanted to go somewhere that wasn't so crowded. Even though the people here didn't know her like the boys at the club, they still all stared at her as if she were a piece of meat and for once she had had enough of those games.

She twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she looked at Frankie, hoping that he was hungry too. She would feel completely awkward if she was eating and he wasn't. Besides, she hated it when people watched her eat, it made her feel like she was being a giant pig.

Stanmore · Subject: Re: Underbelly (Open.) Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:36 pm

It had already started. Kristina pulled him in to a clothes shop, and she was already pulling things off the rails, and placing them up against her slender, near-perfect body. With a little flick of his eyes to take in the surroundings, Frankie could see two or three other men suffering the same experience as him -- forced to watch as their female companions tried on the outfits while they nodded their heads, minds full of boredom and drifting thoughts. Currently, Frankie could not think of anything remotely interesting to take his mind away, so was forced to stand and nod every so often. "Looks nice. Very... nice."

Kristina seemed to be a contrasting image to what he saw last night. The young, scared and frightened girl reliving the death of her mother was no longer anywhere to be seen, as if it were just a dream that he imagined, and didn't actually happen. Maybe it didn't. Maybe everything he thought was real last night, actually diverted from reality. Perhaps he drove her home from the club, let her out of the back seat and waved her off in to the house without ever hearing a single word of her story. No, Frankie was kidding himself if he actually thought that.

Time went slowly, in fact her bodyguard often questioned his watch silently as if time never existed in these shops, expecting to leave the mall with barely a minute passing on the clock since they came in.
She loved to shop, and she loved to dance. And both of those things weren't high on Frankie's enjoy list.

[Bottiglia.Paz'zia] · Number of posts: 180 Age: 18 Registration date: 2009-10-27

She frowned at him when they walked inside of the mall. Obviously he wasn't the kind of guy that liked to go out...at all. He didn't like to dance, he didn't like to shop. God! What did he do? Obviously he liked to play taxi-driver for rich girls so that he could make some money and milk her father for all he was worth. Don't be bitter, Kristina told herself as she stepped ahead of him, ignoring the fact that he was pretty much ruling out all of the possibilities that she had for shopping. Life didn't work that way Frankie, you just had to learn who was calling the shots and how to deal with them.

She found a shop that was near the entrance, in fact it was the third shop that he had turned down and she went in, not even bothering to check if he was behind her. She knew that he knew his job by now, especially since what happened last night. She was naturally a fast walker, but she sped up her pace, worried that by standing by him too long something horrible would exchange between them again. She shuddered at the thought as she moved to some clothes racks and began to siphon through them.

At any moment now, her father back home would be waking up and reading the letter that she left for him in the kitchen. On the table was the small piece of paper that had been shoved in her shirt the night before with a note attached in her own handwriting;

Next time, tell Luka to tighten his end of the deal. Frankie is my permanent driver, out shopping.
--Kristina.

She hadn't even bothered to explain anything to him. He'd get the picture, and if not all he had to do was ask around. Hell, half of the club that she was at last night worked for him. They'd tell him and he'd probably issue for her to come back home, but the last thing she needed right now was to be at home listening to his strategy on how to ice this guy. She was sick of that.

"What do you think of this color?" She asked as she held a shirt up to her chest, turning to Frankie with a light smile, beginning a long day of shopping.

Stanmore · Subject: Re: Underbelly (Open.) Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:17 pm

He did not want to walk from clothes shop to clothes shop, standing behind her while she looked at dresses, taking them to the changing rooms and trying them on, asking him what he thought about them then disagreeing with his opinion anyway, then leaving the store and going to another one and repeating the same actions over and over again. The mall was huge, and busy. There was no way he was going to let her walk around in there by herself, and she knew that. "As long as we go to the odd record store between clothes shops, I'll try not to complain."

It was times like this he wished he carried a weapon. A handgun. So he could whip it out if he ever saw trouble, but then he'd have the police on his back as quickly as he could actually aim the damn thing. And the last thing he needed was to be taken down to the station, for posession of an illegal firearm, while Kristina wandered about herself. Heck, Giovanni would have someone whack him while he was in the holding cell. There was no doubt that the crime boss had plenty of the police in his back pocket, it was just a case of figuring out which ones he had.

Walking towards the entrance, he wanted to ask her about last night, how she got on when she walked in to the house. But it could have brought up nasty memories, even if he wanted to talk about it so badly. Had she spoken to her father about last night? Obviously he was going to hear about it, when his daughter cries out in the middle of a popular nightclub that she had been violated. Maybe this would be the exception to the rule, and he would play ignorant to it for the rest of his life. When they reached the inside of the mall, Frankie walked beside her with his hands in his pockets, almost frightened to even pat her back in fear of an unwanted feeling coming back to him. "OK... so we're not going in there... or there... or there... not there... or there..."