𝕆𝕣𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕔

10: ℝ𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕪

𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘺- friendly banter

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Rose's POV:

Giovanni did his best to keep his promise over the next few days. He gave me Mama's old dairy which he had discovered while cleaning her room. I haven't gone through it yet; I don't know if I'm ready to. I mean, am I willing to possibly sabotage the little progress I've made so far? No, I'm not. So the journal sits in the corner of my new room at Gio's apartment; its presence plaguing my every thought.

Since the night of the incident, I've been spending most of my time at his apartment. It's difficult to remain at my house knowing I'd be all alone. I was willing to endure the emptiness on my own until Giovanni invited me to stay with him. Yet, I didn't want to bother him and declined. Then he used his I'm-not-actually-asking tone and I couldn't argue after that.

During the day, Gio has to work. Typically, he's able to work in an office he has in his apartment, but occasionally he needs to leave. Giovanni doesn't tell me much about what he does for work and I don't ask because it's none of my business.

Most of the time when he's in his office, he lets me join him. Gio said I could borrow any of the books on his shelves that I want so I typically end up spending most of my time reading. It's been a while since I've last painted. I can practically feel my creativity bursting at the seams, begging to show itself. But again, I don't want to bother Giovanni.

I don't pay much attention to what he is doing while we're in his office (it's probably boring anyway). Sometimes, he takes calls and speaks in a language I don't understand. Due to his accent, I'm assuming it's Italian. If the call is particularly important, Gio gently requests that I leave for a few minutes and I always do without question.

I tend to be a monumental rule follower; I can't bear the thought of disappointing people. Getting into trouble is a huge no-no for me. I don't like causing others any sort of distress because they already have their problems to deal with.

Today while Gio was on another one of his important calls, I decided to bake some vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting. Mama used to make them with me all of the time because she knew how much I loved strawberries. They never fail to lift my spirits. Strawberries warm my soul and give me comfort. I love them to the point of having strawberry-scented shampoos, body washes, and perfumes. Truthfully, if it smells like a strawberry, I'm going to like it.

I decided to only make one batch today because I'm not confident that Giovanni will like them. Once I'm done frosting the sugary bundles of goodness and placing sliced strawberries on each, my stomach grumbles. I giggle and take two of them.

When I reach Gio's office, I quietly knock not wanting to disturb him. A few seconds later, the door swiftly opens, and a suit-clad Giovanni is revealed.

"Hello there, bambina." He says and sits back down at his desk.

"Hi, Gio! Guess what I made!" I exclaim cheerfully as a large smile spreads across my face.

"What?" He inquires, tilting his head at me from where he sat in his office chair, a slight smile on his face.

"Vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting!" I cheer, setting them on his desk for inspection.

His smile falls a bit, which confuses me. "Oh Angelo, I regret to inform you that I am unfortunately deathly allergic to strawberries, I'm sorry."

I gasp at the atrocity, "Oh the horror! What a tragedy! Don't be sorry, I'm sorry for you! You are missing out on one of the greatest delicacies on this entire planet!"

Out of nowhere, he starts laughing his head off. Now I'm even more confused, why is he laughing? Did I say something funny? Giovanni walks over to me and grasps me tight as he rubs my back.

"I kidding, I'm not allergic to them. You should've seen the look on your face though!" When I peer up at his face with a pout, he's smirking. How rude.

"That was hatefully cruel! Why would you ever say such a thing? Think of all the poor souls who are actually allergic to them!" I shake my head in disapproval.

Giovanni walks away and I become genuinely nervous, thinking that I've upset him or hurt his feelings in some way. I don't want to say anything and make it worse though, so I stand there awkwardly waiting for something to happen. Strangely enough, he picks up the two cupcakes I had previously set on his desk and brings them back over to me.

He hands me one and begins to slowly unwrap the one in his hands. I happily rip mine off, not wanting to wait a moment longer to eat the delicious bundles of sugar; emotions and thoughts can be dealt with later. As I open my mouth to take a bite, Giovanni signals for me to stop. What?

This man is so confusing! I just stare at him blankly, not knowing where he's going with this. Then out of nowhere, he holds the cupcake in his hands up to my mouth. Ohhhhhh, I get it now!

Finally understanding, a smile lights up my face and I happily take a huge bite as my eyes flutter close. When I open them, I find Gio staring at me with an unknown look swimming in his eyes that I know I've seen before. Feeling a bit uneasy under the intensity of his gaze, I lift the cupcake in my hand up to his mouth and the corner of his mouth tilts up to form yet another smirk.

Slowly, without breaking eye contact, he too takes a large bite. I don't know why but for some inexplicable reason, I blush.

"How's the cupcake?" I ask, almost in a whisper. I'm genuinely worried that I may have given him a bad one. Slowly, he leans towards me and puts his mouth next to my ear.

"It's almost as good as you," he whispers back.

My soul practically leaves my body. At this rate, I will forever look like a tomato. Feeling incredibly flustered and not wanting to talk, I shove the rest of my cupcake into my mouth. Giovanni watches in amusement as I struggle to to not choke on it.

"Don't die on me yet Angelo, I've got a surprise for you," he teases.

My entire being lifts in joy. After hurriedly swallowing the rest of the cupcake, I begin squealing with excitement. "You had me at surprise!"

Gio chuckles, "We have to drive to see it. Grab whatever you want and be ready in ten minutes, then we can go."

I sprint to my room (with a worried Giovanni telling me to stop) immediately and throw together a bag. I wonder what he has planned? It doesn't even matter though, he's already the best surprise I could've asked for.

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