◆ New Home ◆

◇ KEL ◇

We left the carnie during sunset. Then Enzo asked if he could check out my new apartment. He said he wanted to make sure it was "safe and comfortable enough".

Half an hour later, I caught him trying to snooze in the small living room which I often used for studying.  So I told him to use my bed.  I practically forced him to take a nap on my bed while I cooked us dinner.

He's too tall and muscular for my cheap and squeaky little couch, and I didn't want him to feel like he wasn't welcome in here.  Enzo had been sleeping in my room since 6:30.

I glimpsed the time on my phone.  It was almost nine now.  He should be hungry.  With careful steps, I approached the bed and sat on the floor.  He's snoring lightly.  Definitely exhausted from the long flight.

Smiling to myself, I waited and got busy texting my best friends until Enzo stirred on the covers. Then he started stretching his bare arms.  His eyes stayed close, though.

"Hi," I whispered as I leaned closer to the side of the bed, watching his long-lashed eyes slowly open.  The most beautiful deep-set eyes I'd seen on a guy.  Even with the dark half-circles and puffy eye bags, his eyes were just attention-grabbing.

Actually, every inch of his face looked camera-ready.  Someone should thank his parents for giving him ridiculously good genes.  Too bad they'd both passed away before Enzo could settle down and have his own family.  "Hi."

"Good nap?" I smiled back at him.

"Yeah." Enzo muffled a yawn with his left palm.  "You scared me a little." He snickered and blinked at me, our noses and mouths only inches apart. His warm breath faintly smelled of strawberry.  It's the ice cream we ate before we left the amusement park.

"Sorry." I giggled.  "I know you're tired, but, you gotta eat something. Berto and Lele already ate. They left an hour ago." His bodyguards were probably growing impatient in the car by now.

"What time is it, bellezza?"

"Dinner."

"Forgot to set the alarm," Enzo muttered as he sat up, his fingers combing his wavy bangs away from his sharp cheekbones and beard.

"Cooked your new favorite."

"Really?"

"Yeah. As promised." I stretched my arm out to help him get up, his gray shirt more wrinkled now. "Pork stew." I remembered how much he liked it the first time he tasted the dish, my mom's special recipe.  Although his family had no Asian lineage, we had similar tastes when it came to food.

"Spicy sinigang?" A bigger grin showed his nice teeth and some dimples. "And rice?"

"Yep."

"Great." He grabbed his phone and walked past me, leaving his jeans on the edge of the covers.  He didn't even wait for me and just headed out the door. "I'm starving."

We ate dinner and chatted about his new company and their growing team, as well as my schedule this month. He would be meeting another investor next week, possibly to seal another deal.

I hoped he wouldn't burn himself out at this pace he's keeping up. I watched him stare at his phone with a frown, my chair opposite his.

Even on weekends, he was busy answering calls, emails, checking off tasks while talking to his business partners.  Certifiably a workaholic.  I had often dreamed of financial stability but I didn't envy his list of responsibilities.

"You need to take a break every now and then."

"I know." Enzo drank water and belched.  He apologized while grinning at the empty bowl beside his plate. He ate a lot of the food I cooked.  "It tastes even better when it's that hot."

"Thanks. You'll get to eat more sinigang if you come see me more often."

"Duly noted." He chuckled and smiled at me, then went back to focusing on his phone. "But I wanna taste other dishes your mom taught you to cook."

"I'll cook two dishes next time."  Except you'd be too busy to remember, I wanted to add. I faked another smile instead.  "What time do you need to go to the airport?"

"Before lunch."

"Oh."

"What time will you go back to campus tomorrow?"

"I don't really need to." So his flight's tomorrow morning.  Meaning: he didn't even have a whole day to spend with me and just unwind.  I held in a sigh and sat back.

"What?" he muttered. "What's wrong?"

"I just thought, you'd stay here another day."

"Yeah. Sorry. I need to fly back."

"Okay." I put on another smile.  "No need to apologize." I got up from my seat and started tidying up the small dining table.

"Meeting up with Zia Laura tomorrow." Enzo got up to help me with the dishes.  "Sorry."

"It's fine. I know you're all busy right now."

"I talked to them over the phone and she needs me there to check up on something. And sign some paperwork."

His aunt must be gravely concerned that their family business would go downhill after Leandro and his uncle got arrested.

I turned on the faucet and started rinsing the plates.  Some part of me wished he'd mentioned earlier that he had to leave the city again. I really expected he'd spend his free time with me tomorrow.

Too bad he had to put his job and his family first.  Like always.

For a moment, Enzo stood next to me and kept quiet, as though feeling guilty.  He helped soap the plates and utensils while I washed the glasses.  "I'll finish this," he muttered.  "Go sit down and relax."

"No. I'm fine. Check your phone. I think it's ringing again."

"It's alright." He soaped the bowls now.

"No." I held his hand to stop him from doing more.  "Go make some calls if you have to."

"You sure?" He squinted at me with a mild frown.

"Yeah. I got this. Thanks."

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He sat on my small couch and made some calls for another half-hour.  All work-related, apparently.  Except for one call I wasn't a hundred percent sure about.

I only tried to eavesdrop when I heard him mention "Libby", his ex's nickname.  Libby as in Olivia Roche, the Milan-based fashion designer and heiress to a French tycoon. She and Enzo had been dating for a while—a few years, he said—before crap went down and he finally realized she only took him for granted.

Although I had no right, I felt the sting of jealousy as I stayed in the kitchen, pretending to be busy cleaning up. I kept my back to him while he talked to Olivia for several minutes, laughing from time to time about something probably non-business-related.

How cute.

So, they already made up. Like nothing happened.

Fine.  Not my place. Apparently, the two kept in touch.  Still good friends.  Calling each other up regularly.   Or more than friends?

I stood next to the fridge with a damp rag, wiping the counters clean, perplexed and  feeling stupid.

Obviously he was enjoying catching up with the woman.

Fine.  Sure.  I could pretend it didn't matter to me.  Act like I couldn't hear anything.

Everything would stay the same.

We're just good friends.  And I wasn't that desperate.

Yet.

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"Bellezza. You good?"

I stopped texting and looked up from my phone.

Enzo stood close to me now.  Close enough that his minty vanilla-smelling perfume reminded me I needed a good, long shower to scrub the whole day's grimes off of me.  He finally noticed I'd gone quiet. Finally he's done with that suspiciously lengthy phone call with his ex.

"Yeah." I faked a smile.  "Are you leaving?"

"Erm..." His brows furrowed.  "Why? You need me to go now?"

"No." I glanced around.  The apartment wasn't comfortable or spacious enough for his standards, and maybe he needed to get some sleep now.  "But if you wanna leave, I'll walk you out."

"Not really."

"Oh. Okay."

"Are you busy with something?"

"Why?" While my laptop sat on the dining table, I looked away from his steady gaze and cleared my throat.  It felt itchy and parched all of a sudden.

"Nothing." He shrugged faintly. "Just asking."

"I gotta read through something. For our next assessment. If you need to nap, just use my bed."

"Till late?"

"Probably." I sighed and stared at my laptop screen.  My head felt a bit woozy now, but I should read through one publication at least.  "Results and discussion stuff."

"Ah." Enzo glanced down at the computer with wrinkled brows.

"Give me an hour."

"Sure. Alright."  He stared at my face again,  smirking,  his eyes almost glinting with interest and some enthusiasm.

I glanced away while trying not to grin.  "What?"

"Wanna see my new house?"

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