Chapter 12

Ingrid was awoken by the sound of her phone vibrating. The sun was out and bright. She was sweating and her eyes were watery; it was just a bad dream. She lifted her pillow to look for her phone, she turned around and saw it on her nightstand. Two missed calls. Giovanni had called her a few minutes before she woke up.

'Hope you haven't forgotten about our lunch date?'

Ingrid replied, 'What time?'

'One PM....I'll pick you up.'

It was 10AM, Ingrid bit her thumb and smiled, she was going on her first date. She got up and twirled around, it felt like she was going to be a normal person for a day. She opened the curtains and spread her bed so that she would pick out a nice outfit to wear properly. She paused, 'is Clover going to be okay with this?' she thought. She opened the door and ran down the stairs.

Clover was in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water. Ingrid walked with a smile on her face, "Well, you look as happy as the sunshine on your face," Clover said, "is it because of the profits we made last night?" Ingrid shook her head.

She opened the cupboard and took out two plates. She grabbed a loaf of bread, bacon and four eggs. She started toasting the bread and frying the eggs, "Oh, you're doing breakfast now? What happened overnight? Spill it, Woman!" Clover asked curiously.

"Well, if you should know, I'm going to meet up with a friend for lunch," she said while smiling. "Oh really? Where are you going exactly?" Ingrid said she didn't exactly know, it was supposed to be a surprise. "I thought you didn't have any friends," Clover said. Ingrid had to think of something to say, " I met him recently on my way home from the club," she said. Clover nodded and started to move out to let her prepare breakfast, he stepped back and asked for his name.

Ingrid wasn't sure if she was ready to give him the guy's name. "You don't have to worry about that, you don't know him at all, trust me," she said with a smile on her face.

Clover didn't want to ruin her excitement, 'if this is the type of happiness she can reach, whatever or whoever is behind this better keep it up, she might do very well on that pole tonight, but first...' "So, you want to show me some love in the kitchen?" Clover said while walking towards Ingrid and wrapping his arms around her waist.

Ingrid's eyes widened, she didn't want to do anything freaky with anyone while going to see Giovanni. "What do you mean? I can't have sex with you right now, Clover.....I'm preparing breakfast," she chuckled a little, "besides, I have to get ready immediately after I'm done eating, please let me have this, it's my first date." Clover let go of her waist, he was a little disappointed but he needed her happy mood for his money. He waved his hand and jokingly asked her to bring it for him in the living room.

She smiled, she was so excited and she couldn't wait. When she finished preparing everything, she called Clover and gave him his food. Clover noticed how she was chugging her food down in a hurry. Before he could finish his food, she was already done. She washed her plate and walked pretty fast up the stairs. Clover scratched his head and thought, 'oh well, it is her first date anyway.'

Ingrid took a quick shower, she curled her hair and put on some mascara. She didn't want to wear heavy make up for this first date. She picked a white skater dress with yellow flower patterns. She picked out some sandals to match the outfit. She picked out a little cream white purse with a strap. When she was done dressing it was almost 1AM. She sat on her bed and waited patiently for Giovanni to let her know when he was on his way so that she could walk a little further away from the house so that Clover didn't see Giovanni.

Finally! Giovanni called to let her know that he would be there in a few minutes and that he'd find her outside. She went down the stairs quietly and slowly, trying to keep her composure. She got to the living room and found Clover with the remote in his hands, snoring.

She waved her hand over his eyes to make sure he was in a deep sleep. When he didn't flinch, she smiled and made her way out through the back door. She closed the door slowly and walked around the house. It felt like she was young again, like a toddler having eaten too much sugary candy.

She called Giovanni, but there was no answer, she called again....but he still didn't answer. Ingrid started to worry, what if he cancelled at the last minute? She started walking ahead, if anything happened, she wouldn't go back home because Clover would have asked questions. She started walking a bit further. Suddenly, a car drove past her and parked right in front of her. "Where do you think you're going? You're going to get dust on your feet" Giovanni said, chuckling.

He opened his door and stepped out. He took her by the hand and opened the other front door for her. 'My date is finally happening," she thought to herself.

The drive was quiet for the first few minutes, Ingrid was staring at Giovanni, how well he looked in his office wear, just a nice simple suit. "You look beautiful today, Ingrid....I mean, you look beautiful every day but you look...uhm," Giovanni was talking like he was a bit nervous, it made Ingrid smile at the thought of him feeling just the way that she was, "thank you so much, and you look more handsome," she let out a little laughter.

Giovanni asked her where she wanted to eat and started looking for something on his GPS, "Actually, I don't know many places here, this is my first date," Ingrid said, shyly. Giovanni looked at her, shocked a little. He didn't want to make her feel bad, he wanted her to make her feel special, "don't worry, I think I know a good restaurant." They drove for a while and arrived at 'Huge Ocean Way Brewhouse'. It was a nice fancy hotel that was complimented mostly by its building style and the sight of green outside the hotel.

Giovanni opened the door for Ingrid to come out and he took her by the hand. They went in and took their seats. Ingrid looked at Giovanni who had been smiling at her for a long time, "What?" "Oh, nothing, just admiring your natural beauty," he sounded like a little boy, that made Ingrid get more comfortable enough to be honest about how she was feeling.

"I'm so sorry, Giovanni, I don't exactly know what to do at a restaurant so if you could pardon me," Ingrid said. Giovanni laughed softly at her comment. He knew that she was nervous so he assured her that he was nervous too.

He told her that all she had to do was be herself because he wanted her to have fun in her own skin, no acting, no cosplay. The waiter came to their table and gave them their menu.

Ingrid looked at it and ordered an Angus beef burger and Chicken Parmigiana, Giovanni was amazed to see her loosening up, "ladies usually avoided the burgers with me," he said, " I'll have pulled pork Tacos and a Seafood Linguine, and to drink, we shall both have Aperol Spritz."

The waiter wrote it all down and went away. "So, you said something about ladies, have you brought that many women here?" Ingrid asked. “I had only ever brought one lady here, she was my girlfriend and I believed that I was going to marry her. Back then, I wasn't appointed as CEO so she cheated on me and things ended," he explained. "Is this woman from the past the same woman I met at the club?" Giovanni was looking at the menu when Ingrid asked this, he put it down and then agreed, "Matilda is her name. Ever since she learned that I was making a lot of money, she made it her goal to have me back, but I don't roll like that."

Ingrid nodded her head. She wanted to ask a question but then the waiter came with their meal. "There is some important information I have to give you, so please, remind me to tell it to you when we finish our lunch," Giovanni said. They began to eat their meal and with each bite, Giovanni would stare at Ingrid, watching how she chewed, every detail of how she shifted from her seat. She brought a little small talk about how excited she was about this first date and that it came very close to her dream date. Giovanni laughed and shared the weird moments that he had with his friends when they came for a guy's day out.

When they were both done, Ingrid looked like she wanted to lay down a little before leaving. Giovanni paid for the meal and paid for a hotel room to spend some time with Ingrid. When Ingrid walked in, she plumped herself on the bed and laid down comfortably on the pillow. Her dress moved up and exposed both her thighs. Giovanni walked in and loosened his tie, he noticed what had happened to Ingrid's dress but he fought hard to stay away.

Ingrid pulled her dress up and over her body, she uncovered the blankets and laid between them. It just looked like she wanted to sleep, but Giovanni was convinced that she wanted him. He took off his suit, so that he wouldn't wrinkle it and then got in between the sheets with her. They started to kiss each other, the taste of the Spritz still lingered in their mouths but they didn't mind. Ingrid got on top of Giovanni and took off her bra, "please, touch me, I want to feel your touch again," she said.