The Italian Businessman (Old Version).

15) Her.

"Hello?" I answered  the phone call without looking at the name that had come up.

"Amore." The soup that I had been stirring was abandoned as I placed my full attention to the conversation at hand.

(Amore - Love)

"Gio, I've been calling the whole day, where the hell are you?"

I heard a deep and tired sigh through the phone, as well as a buzzing-which I guessed to be part of the background noise. "I'm in the hospital amore-"

"Are you alright? What happened?" I breathed out, more worried than I'd been when he hadn't answered.

"It's not me, Mel was admitted-some kind of scare. The doctor says she'll be alright and the baby is still healthy."  Relief flooded my veins, but jealousy sprouted it's ugly head too.

He had run to the aid of his lover, instead of searching for his runaway girlfriend, even though it was a petty thing to think I still thought it.
Once again Ms. Sage had become the center of attention and had stolen the spotlight.

Despite my extreme dislike for her, I still genuinely replied . "Oh, thank goodness, you had me worried Gio-I'm glad that the baby is safe."

"I'm sorry for not calling sooner bella, she was rushed to hospital a hour after you left."

(Bella - Beautiful/Lovely)

"Don't worry about it Gio, how much longer are you staying there with her?" Another sigh sounded from the Italian businessman. "I'm not sure, they say she is fine, but must stay here tonight. I think I stay with her."

My mood had gone from bad to worse upon his reply.

"Oh, okay-you do what you need to do then."

"I will, I'll call you tomorrow amore."

The phone call clicked off and I removed my cellphone from my ear. I groaned in frustration, there was no way on this earth that I could ever play the stepmother to Melissa and Giovanni's child, I refused to.

Instead of crying or throwing a fit  like I had thought that I would, I took a seat on my two seater couch. My body felt relaxed-the tension that had been there earlier had disappeared-which was probably a direct result of the fact that I now knew where Gio had disappeared to.

I tried not to overthink the situation.

It had not been one hundred percent proven that the baby was Gio's, it could still most likely be on of Melissa's other lovers.
I clung to this little thread of hope, with both hands, although a small part of me knew that it was futile.

My cellphone rang once more in the span of half a hour and I answered it on the second tone, this time around I checked the caller ID.

"Daddy? How are you?"

"Hi Rora. I'm good sweetheart, just wondering how my little pumpkin is doing." My fathers tired voice spoke from the other side of the call.
Both my brows quirked in caution, it had been years since my father had called me by this pet name.

"What can I help you with, daddy?" Despite how much I loved my dad he always knew that he could get what ever he wanted from me just by simply asking.

A gruff chuckle escaped his throat, "Why do you except me to ask something of you whenever I decide to call?"

"It's usually the case Dad." His question had been rhetorical, but I still answered and rolled my eyes. "Well, since you've asked. There is something I require of you."

"Shocker." I breathed out softly.

Either choosing to ignore it or simply not caring my dad contributed, "You and Giovanni are invited to a cocktail party, but I need you both there so technically it's not an invite."

"I can't promise that Gio will be there, but I will." Given the clear divide between his priorities I doubted that my Italian businessman would show his face. "Where and at what time?"

"It's at the family house at 6:30 for 7 tomorrow evening." Seemingly satisfied with the end of the conversation he finished by adding. "Thank you pumpkin for helping me you don't even realise how much you are. Please pass on the invite regardless to Giovanni, maybe he'll make a plan."

I highly doubted that he would when it came to his lover and their heir. "Will do dad."

"Love you Aurora."

Before I could answer back the line went dead and I released a massive sigh of relief, although it was short lived when I thought about what I had just agreed to.

Fuck my life.

-"-"-

Two more days had rolled by steadily and like I had guessed he did not come to the dinner. Which meant I had been stuck mingling with people that I could not care less about, while they sipped champagne by the bottle fulls. I had decided that I would visit Giovanni and see what he had been up to the passed couple of days since he had made no attempt to visit my sorry butt.

Somewhere between my second glass of wine and third cry last night I had decided that enough was truly enough. I would seek him out to hear where his loyalties laid even if that meant that we would end the short affair that we had begun. I opted out of dressing too over the top because it seemed ridiculous- to try and remind him who I was-if he had forgotten than my question had already been answered.

I pulled on a paint splattered high wasted jeans, a form fitting black balenciaga knitted crewneck and a pair of black strappy heels. Maybe the heels would help give me the confidence that I was trying so hard to portray, only time would tell.

With my hair I left the strands natural and pulled behind my ears as I clipped diamond earrings to my ensemble. My cheeks puffed as I took one final breath and before I could think about changing my mind I dashed out of the front door.