That's Amore

I watched as Leah wooed over one of my oldest friends. Emmitt was the kind of guy who hated people…all people; black, white, young, old, girl, boy, friend, family, stranger, boss, and so on. This woman Leah shows up and he’s all maudlin. She was beautiful, I’d give her that. She was a smart woman too and she had a stern way of thinking. Emmitt had a run for his money with her. She and Emmitt were very much alike. They had caring smiles—if Emmitt ever decided to show it—had a strange knowledge of things beyond their comprehension and looked at each other with that sense of familiarity. There is something in a woman that tells her when love is in front of her. Leah knew it was there, she just denied it. She said she wanted to help Emmitt but there was a very big part of her that wanted him to be with her. I could see it in the way she talked to him. The way she smiled and laughed with him so frequently.

Emmitt didn’t hesitate to follow. He had her in stitches and she had him rolling on the floor. They were so similar in their sense of humor, which was odd because Emmitt had a very, very, very odd way of thinking. She definitely understood Emmitt the most out of all of us. It was odd that she did since she had just met him. Emery and Tiffany were talking to me while we were walking about Leah and Emmitt. They had a plan. Leah had a plan for Emmitt but they decided to do something else. I didn’t know Leah’s friend but Tiffany did and she was going to tell her that she would cancel her date with Emmitt once he was in the restaurant and sitting down. Then they would have Leah come in, expecting to have dinner with her brother. Instead, they find each other, laugh, sit down and have a nice, beautifully romantic evening together.

I wondered at first if it would work. When I saw them at the Dress Cabinet, though, I knew there was nothing to worry about. Leah had found something in Emmitt that brought her completion and Emmitt did the same in her. I had no doubts then about anything with the two of them. Emmitt sang a song with Leah, which was a rare thing. He never sang with anyone. He never played music in front of anyone. I wondered how things would change between them now that there was a deep connection between the two of them. Curiosity got the best of me and while Emmitt was changing, Leah and I walked to the women’s section, just looking around.

“Do you have anything to wear on dates?” I asked causally. Leah shook her head with a small smile.

“I don’t really have time to date. I have a lot of papers to correct and not to mention things to write, books to read, time to work out and stay in shape….It’s a pretty busy schedule and I don’t really have time to deal with men.”

“What about Emmitt? You’re helping him.”

“Well,” she said with a laugh. “I’m helping Emery. I corrected papers Friday night and I figured I might as well help someone in need. It’s what I originally intended to do with my life and why should I pass up a chance to do so?” she asked with a smile in my direction.

“How about we get you something nice to wear?” I asked as I looked through the clothes.

“For what?” she asked. I shrugged, holding up a black dress to her frame.

“It’s just for any occasion that might come up.” I looked at a beautiful blue dress and handed it to her. “Try it on, please? I think this will look great on you.” She sighed and walked away from me, cracking the fingers on her left hand. I narrowed my eyes and grinned. She was very much like him. She came back out a few minutes later and the light blue fabric hung to her body well. The dark mesh covering of the skirt was designed in beautiful flowers. The tan skin of hers definitely popped well against the delicate fabric. “We’re getting that.” I said immediately. She sighed and looked at the price tag.

“It’s too expensive, Athena, I don’t want to spend so much.”

“I do. Get the hanger and get changed.” She sighed again, a look of defeat on her face. She left and came back out, handing me the dress. I paid for it with a bright smile and when I was done, Emmitt was done as well. He found a very handsome grey suit and a grey tie to go with it. He was going to look handsome. We all left and Leah gave a sigh.

“Leah?” Emmitt asked. “Hungry?” She laughed a little and nodded.

“A bit. I could use a good steak and cheese.” She said smiling.

“You eat that?” Emery asked. “You’re like….mega healthy!”

“I eat healthily, yes, but I do like my steak and cheese subs. How about I bring you all out for lunch?” So we went to lunch and Leah taught Emmitt manners. He didn’t eat like a slob but like a real gentleman. He didn’t slouch, which she stressed was important, he talked about himself to her, rather stiffly but only because we were there, and she got him to smile and laugh. The way she had him in her hand was troublesome but then again, I could see the way he held her. I could see that when he talked about something—which believe me was amazing since he never talks about himself to anyone—she was focused completely on him.

“We have almost everything crossed off,” Tiffany whispered to me. “Look, he’s speaking clearly and very elegantly, he looks and smells clean, we’ve got his hands and hair and dress, he’s laughing very moderately and his voice is very reasonable, he’s apparently has the gift of the gab for some reason, is giving compliments to Leah, is taking compliments from Leah, using his manners, using a napkin!, saying polite things, has been smiling wide and happily the whole time, his eyes are bright and clear and he’s been sharing his likes, dislikes, feelings and everything else with her while asking her about hers!”

“It’s a definite then,” Alex said. “Operation LE is a go.”

“Le?” asked Archer.

“Leah and Emmitt,” Emery said softly. He nodded and we all held our hands in between us and on the count of three, quietly broke.

“Another party we weren’t invited to,” Leah said smiling as she chewed on her chips.

“You’re not good enough to be in our party,” Tiffany said as she stuck out her tongue. Leah made an angry face, which made Tiffany laugh.

“Why I otta,” she snarled as she got out of her seat. Tiffany giggled more and Leah stood over her menacingly. “You dare defy me?” she demanded, her eyes narrowed and dangerous. Tiffany was cowering, her smile wide. “I’ll teach you!” Leah raised her hands and began to tickly Tiffany. Tiffany fell out of her chair, bringing Leah down upon her, tickling her like mad. The girl lifted Tiffany over her shoulder, still tickling her. Tiffany was begging for help but we all stared at them in confusion. Leah was laughing hysterically, their giggles so similar. Leah put Tiffany down and the two of them were gasping for air. “Damn straight,” Leah said as she pet Tiffany’s head to mess up her hair. She sat back down and smiled at Tiffany. Emmitt was staring at her, transfixed.

“You have a short temper,” he said as he looked down at his soda to drink.

“Pff,” she snorted. “I’ve got a very reasonable temper. Only when it comes to books do I get riled up.” Emmitt smiled into his soda and Leah glanced at him, a smile forming on her lips. She looked at him and leaned forward on the table.

“What?” he asked, putting his soda on the table. She shrugged and smiled more.

“Nothing.”

“Okay, that’s crap. When a woman says nothing's wrong, it means everything's wrong. When a woman says everything's wrong, it means everything's wrong. And when a woman says that something isn't funny, you'd better not laugh your ass off!” Leah began to laugh.

“That was a great episode!”

“You’ve seen it?” he asked.

“OF course! I love the Simpsons!”

We wrapped up lunch and went around making sure Emmitt was completely transformed. He went around, smiling and saying hello to everyone. He and Leah were far ahead of us, which was fine because we were planning our perfect romantic setting.

“Alright,” we said quietly. “Leah likes Disney right?” Alex asked. “We’ll have some sort of song that relates to the two of them.”

“Like what?” Archer asked.

“‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ by Elton John. It was in the Lion King.” Tiffany told us. “We could have Emmitt sing it.”

“What?” Emery asked. “That’s not going to work.”

“Why not?” Tiffany asked. “It’ll be romantic and she’d love it. He’ll sing something nice from Disney and it’ll be fine.”

“What about that song the crab sang?” I asked.

“Kiss the girl?” Emery asked. “I don’t want to sing that. It’s going to be like some dumb musical.”

“What if we hire someone to sing the songs for us; a real band to sing for them in the restaurant?”

“We can’t get a real band to come here,” Tiffany said shaking her head.

“What about Emmitt’s old band? They can come down and do a song and that will tie into Emmitt singing,” Alex suggested.

“Can you get them by tonight?”

“We can try,” Archer and Alex said shrugging. I nodded and looked at Emery.

“Do you think you can find a restaurant for the both of them? We’ll need to talk to the restaurant to see if they’ll help us out.”

“Of course,” Emery said as he saluted. “I will not fail!”

“And can you get someone to get Leah out of her apartment for dinner?” I asked Tiffany. She nodded and smiled.

“I’ll get my cousin, her brother, to get her to come out to dinner.”

“Alright,”

“What about you?”

“I’ll get her dressed up and neat,” I said. “She’ll look so beautiful that Emmitt will never know what hit him.”



“So,” I said to Leah as we were driving to her house. “How do you think Emmitt did today?” She smiled brightly.

“He’ll do great tonight. Madison will totally love him.”

“Did he call you last night?” I asked. She blushed.

“Yeah,” she said. “We talked about writing mostly.”

“Oh? Because Archer told me he gave him two chapters this morning. It takes him a really long time to write.”

“He told me that,” Leah said lowering her eyes. “He said Michelle was his muse and when she left, he had such hard times writing. He told me she was his high school girlfriend and she said she’d come back to him when she was steady enough for him. She was dating him in college, right?” I nodded.

“I didn’t like Michelle. She was a bit of a bitch, excuse my language. She was just a very demanding and manipulative person. It was bad for Emmitt. He needs someone who cares about him and will be with him for who he is, you know?” I asked as I looked at her. She smiled and nodded.

“Madison will like him after she gives him a chance. Do you know what restaurant they picked?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said shrugging. “Somewhere fancy I think.” She nodded a little.

“I hope it goes well,” she said.

“You do? You want him to be with her?”

“I want him to be happy.” She said.

“So…you don’t think he could be happy with someone else?”

“Who else would like him for who he is? He’s rough around the edges and I think Madison is going to like him a lot.”

“What about you? You like him right?” She laughed a little.

“You five seem to think he and I should date,” she said softly. “Emmitt’s my friend. I haven’t had a friend like him in a long time and I don’t want to ruin anything.”

“You won’t ruin anything. How do you know he doesn’t like you back?” She shrugged and looked away.

“He doesn’t like me,” she muttered.

“How do you know?” Her phone began to ring and she excused herself as she picked it up.

“Aaron? What—you’re in town? Yeah, sure. You want to go tonight? O-Okay…What! That’s too expensive! We need a reservation. Aj! That’s un—Of course I miss you. Of course I want to see my only little brother. I’ll call, okay. If I can’t get a spot, we’ll go somewhere else, alright? Alright….” She hung up with a sigh.

“Trouble?” I asked.

“My brother wants to go to the Avant. Do you know how expensive that place is? How long it takes to get a reservation?”

“Better get one now then,” I said as I pointed to the phone. She sighed and nodded, placing the phone to her ear. I grinned to myself, thanking Tiffany for coming through. She hung up the phone a few minutes later, rubbing her eyes as she did. "Did you get one?" I asked. She nodded.

"I have a table for two at eight." I smirked.

"Well!" I said quickly. "Let's get you dressed! That's in an hour!"

"I don’t really need to wear anything nice. It's only my brother. He won’t be impressed anyway."

"Oh nonsense! Avant is such an expensive place! Can you really show up to a place like that dressed in jeans and a t-shirt? Why not get dressed up and put my money to good use? I mean, it's a very nice dress; it is well suited for such an occasion! Come on, I'll help you get your hair all nice and I'll help you do make up and all that! It'll be nice." She sighed in defeat and nodded.

"Alright. My street's the next left." I smiled brightly and nodded, bringing her home quickly. She took a shower and while she did, I stared at her apartment. She was like Emmitt; messy. She had sheets of paper all over her walls, taped and tacked up there like they were wallpaper. She had so many things to research, many things laying around, multiple books open and many of them with notebooks stuck in them. She had a neat kitchen, though, which was unlike Emmitt. She had wide windows that she kept open enough for the breeze to fill the room. The papers moved ever so slightly as the wind danced through the room but she had them secured so there wouldn't be a mishap. I sat on her couch, moving aside the books that she had. One fell to the floor and when I picked it up, I saw a lot of highlights and comments. I stared down at it and began to read. It was about a man who lived in the brain of a girl. It was about some sort of soul calamity.

"Her voice had silenced and I found in that moment she was like a bird in a cage. She sang like she was free but in the end, she knew she wasn't." I wondered what that meant but continued to read. It was only a few more minutes before Leah came out with the dress on. I smiled at her, looking at her frame. She looked beautiful in the dress. The blue of the dress went well with her tan skin and the dark mesh front was decorated in beautiful flowers. It was nice on her.

"Do you like it?" she asked as she walked over to me. I nodded with a smile and looked up at her. “I’m glad you like it. It took me a while to finish it. It came out last month and according to my editor, it’s selling well.” I smiled at her and put the book down.

“I’ll buy it later. It’s really good.” She smiled at me and thanked me. “Let’s get your hair done and we’ll head out.” It took me a half an hour to get her long, dark strands to curl the way they should and when I was done, it was already seven thirty. I rushed her out the door, barley giving her time to get a sweater and shoes. We rushed out to the restaurant and when she got there, she looked at me with a smile.

“Thank you very much for this, Athena.” I smiled, telling her quietly that she’ll be thanking me later. When she began to ask what I meant, I pulled away, telling her to give me a call when she was done. She sighed and nodded, waving goodbye to me.