It was always you

Chapter 8

Mateo found Sasha back at her apartment, he knew he should update Clay but he decided to make Clay suffer a little while longer. Mateo found Sasha not long after she left, he knew she loved 3 things, food, shopping and the gym. Quick call to his staff, and to confirm his suspicion, she was at his gym, he decided to let her let off some steam before approaching her, so he went to his office, did some work, and asked his staff to inform him when she was getting in the locker room, knowing that she would just gather her stuff and shower at home.

When she came out, she was not surprised to see Mateo, he nodded his head and said "I'll stay with you till your locks get changed Sash, for now let's get you home", he put his hand on her back to usher her out.

"I'm fine Mateo, I just needed to let off some steam" she sighed, "You have a life and I really don't want to be anymore of a burden to you. Actually I thought of something, maybe I should take some time off, and visit Mami and stay with her for awhile" she wondered.

"Sash, you are not a burden to me. Alright? Abuela and Mami taught me well, they raised me up to always ensure all women in my life are treated right. You are my family and you will always be" he pulled Sasha into a hug, people on the street were starting to state, but he did not care "We always protect family mi amor" she nodded, not sure what to say.

Once they got back to her apartment, she noticed it was in a mess, she did not tidy up after Raphael got arrested. Sighing, she started picking up things, and Mateo started doing the same. After they were done, he sat in the living room scrolling through netflix as he heard the showers being turned on, his stomach started to rumble.

Glancing at the time, it was now 5.05pm, he remembered that he had a date planned, he quickly shot her a text.

Mateo : Hey, something came up. Raincheck?

Bianca : Sure. Hope everything is fine. :)

He actually liked Bianca, they have not met but they've been flirting for weeks now, they were both single and looking for something more serious, and they both were biracial -hispanic mixed with caucasian. She is an art teacher in an elementary school nearby, things would always seem to come up and both of them would end up rescheduling their date.

"Want to grab a bite?" Sasha snapped Mateo out of his thoughts. He hadn't realised that he was staring at his phone thinking and hadn't heard her got out of the showers. He nodded, "Sure, I'm starving actually. Let's go out, you need some air and probably some fun".

***

They arrived at Burgers and Lobsters, and they ordered. Upon seeing the food arrive, Sasha was smiling wide, he knew he made the right choice by coming here.

"Were you serious about taking time off to visit Mami?" asked Mateo while taking a bite in his juicy lobster.

"Yeah, I had some more thought about it. I'll need to check with my boss but it shouldn't be an issue, I've closed enough deals for this month and I'm entitled for my break. Was thinking I would leave on Wednesday for a week, just to spend some time with Mami in Florida. I'll spend some time with Michela on Tuesday then maybe ask her if she would want to join me in Florida? But I think she's bringing her boo Geneieve from Tokyo. Gosh I haven't seen Mami in so long, I miss her to bits."

"Yeah, she misses you too. I spoke to her 3 days ago, and she kept asking when are you guys gonna visit. What about your mom? Are you gonna visit her?"

Sasha shrugged, "Nah, she went to Vietnam 2 weeks ago, looks like she's still there with whatever his name is". Sasha never had a good relationship with her parents, Sasha's parents never knew what happened with Drake, they never seemed to care, so she never tried, being the only child, she was often left with Michela's mom or Clay's and Mateo's abuela- before she passed. She hasn't even heard from her dad in a year, her mom never contacted her other than to ask for money, which being a softie always gave it to her. Her parents weren't divorced, but they both cheated on each other and didn't care.

"Well let me know, I might want to come as well. I've got some shipments that got accidentally shipped to Mami's house and she's too lazy to help me ship it over"

"Maybe her plan was to tempt you to go back and visit her?" she joked. He laughed but agreed. They both continued their small chit chat, after they were done eating, they decided to go to a bar and have some drinks.

"Hey weren't you supposed to be on a date today?" Sasha asked as she was shipping her cocktail. "Yeah, I rescheduled it"

"Why?" she was very curious. "You need me more than I need a date" he half joked, she hit his arm playfully. "So tell me about her?"

"Her name is Bianca, she's biracial, elementary art school teacher and she's pretty" he smiled, "ooh you're smitten" she teased. "Well we'll see, we've never actually met, she contacted me by accident and we ended up chatting for weeks, but never really gotten the time to meet, things kept coming up"

She instantly felt guilty, "Why don't you call her up now? If she's free then go meet up with her? I'll be fine Mateo" she touched his arm reassuring him. "It's okay mi amor, I'll get to meet her soon for now let's focus on getting you better and forgetting that asshole".

"Have you told Michela?" trying to change the topic. "Maybe I should text her now" she said, "Yeah, I need to text Clay too" Mateo responded.

To Michela-

Sasha : Michela, Raph and I broke up, he was cheating on me, then he hurt me, Mateo came to the rescue. So I stayed with Mateo last night, Clay came back to New York and he's dating Katie Browning. So that's the summary, call me when you can.

To Clay-

Mateo : Found her. Not coming back

They both put their phones away and continue talking, they enjoyed each other's company, and soon forgot about their problems. They always found it easy to be with each other discussing life and random topics. Until Mateo felt a gentle tap on his shoulders and he turned.

"Mateo Parker?"

"Bianca?" Mateo was stunned to see Bianca in person, Sasha immediately realised who she was.

"O dios mio, it's really you!" Bianca grinned like a little school girl, and threw her arms around him, he tensed at the sudden movement and hugged her back.

"Is everything alright? Since you rescheduled today", Bianca sounded concerned, noticing Sasha behind him, she continued "Oh are you on a date?" trying not to sound disappointed.

"Oh gosh! I'm Sasha" Sasha immediately offered her hand, "not his date, don't worry, I was a little down, but since you are here, this is great! You guys can have a mini date now" Sasha smiled.

"Sash" Mateo shot Sasha a look said in a warning tone.

"It's fine Mateo, you need to get a wife" she winked, and downed the last of her drink. "It's nice to meet you Bianca, you are more beautiful than he described. You guys enjoy your date, I'll be heading home now". She hugged Mateo and whispered "Don't come back to my place, go back to hers, she's beautiful, don't waste your shot", Mateo tightened his hug and let her go, but before letting her hand go, he tugged her back to give her another hug "Thank you Sash" his voice sounded different. She smiled and left.

Once Sasha left, Bianca sat and asked Mateo in all seriousness in her tone, "so how long have you been in love with her?".