Vittoria's mother sighed once more, though one could tell she wasn't really in tune with her daughter's answer!
"Just be safe," she said, pausing slightly.
"And say hello to Leo," she finished a second later
"I will, Mamma. I promise," Vittoria said as she slowed.
The call ended just as she reached the gate.
She tucked the phone into her hoodie pocket and pulled the hood more tightly over her face and found her seat on the plane, settling in and then resting her head against the window as the cabin finished boarding around her.
The engines started their low build, and soon enough, the plane took off!
.....
[Back In Manchester!]
By the time Leo decided to leave, the evening had already stretched far beyond what he had intended.
Dinner had taken most of the night.
What had started as a quick meal had turned into hours of conversation, jokes and arguments that had kept pulling him back into his seat whenever he thought about leaving.
