A Business Love

chapter 24

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Over the weekend, Julian walked into his parents' Tuscan-style kitchen. Each time he found himself there, the good memories of his childhood came back to him. He preferred uncluttered and modern spaces, but his mother's rustic kitchen with its pots hanging from the wall, its natural stone counters decorated with aged wine, fresh bread, and olive oil, its large dramatic black chandelier hanging from the cathedral wood beams ceiling and the smell of his mother's comfort food reminded him that he was in a safe place. He was home.

"Hey Mom," he said giving her a kiss on the cheek while she was cutting vegetables on the raw wooden kitchen island. 

"Ciao tesoro mio bello. How are you?" she greeted.

Julian's mother, Antonella, exuded an aura of kindness and comfort with her affectionate and soft smile that he adored. She unapologetically rocked her shoulder length blonde hair turned gray and wasn't embarrassed one bit by her wrinkles.  

"Good, good, you?" he distractedly replied. He had just received two photos from Jessie who was asking him which dress he preferred and he was replying to her with a blissful smile tugging on his lips as he couldn't get over how beautiful she was.

Alerted by the delay he took to answer her, Antonella peeked at him from under her black eyeglasses. She saw him looking down at his cellphone with a beatific expression.

"So, are you gonna finally tell me who's the lucky girl?" she asked.

"What?" he said looking up to her with a surprised look.

"You can't fool your mamma."

He had been dying to tell his mother about Jessie, but he feared she'd tell Cecilia.

"How do you know?" he asked curious.

She sighed and smiled softly while going back to cutting her vegetables. "Oh, Ju. I know you way too well, ragazzo. I can read through your eyes. That text you just answered was not a business text. And you've been very happy lately."

"I don't know why people keep saying that. I'm almost always happy."

"It's true. You're not a grumpy man like your father. But when you're really happy, you have that extra glow in your eyes," she said winking at him. "What's her name?"

"Jessie," he said scratching his forehead. He knew there was no way he could hide this relationship from his mother any longer.

She looked up to him analyzing his face. "So, why are you hiding her?"

"I'm not hiding her," he responded on the defensive.

"Oh, I see. You're hiding her from Cecilia."

Julian was appalled. He never understood how his mother always knew everything without anyone telling her. When he was a child, he was persuaded she had divine gifts as she always found out his issues despite his best effort to dissimulate them.

By the look on his face, Antonella knew she was right. "Is she another trust fund baby?" she asked.

"No, Mom. She doesn't have a trust fund."

Julian had gotten quite the reputation in the Moretti family for dating girls who looked like models and had very lucrative trust funds thanks to their rich fathers. Nobody understood his choice of women since it was obvious it would never work out with these girls. All they wanted was to party, shop luxury items and travel around the world in the most exclusive places, whereas Julian was invested in his father's company and found purpose and passion in pouring soul and body there.