Meant To Be

”Oh my god, Alex! What are you doing here?” Gemma asked, looking at me and him.

”Um.. okay? What’s going on?” I asked Hottie.

”Uh, oh! Gemma works for me. She takes care of my house at the weekends.”

”Oh?” I looked at Gemma for further explanation.

”Yeah! I work here on weekdays and at his house at the weekends!”

”Okayyy?” That’s too much coincidence.

”Why don’t you both sit? I’ll make you coffee?” Gemma said and went back to her work.

I glanced at Hottie, he looked as shocked as me. When he saw me looking at him, his eyes widened and said ”I swear I didn’t know anything about this” I chuckled, shaking my head.

”Make yourself at home sir, I’ll be back” he visibly relaxed and nodded.

I went into the kids’ room to check on Jay. He had already changed into his PJ’s and sat on his chair opening his books.

I went towards him and closed his book. ”Take rest Jay, you are not going to school tomorrow.”

”But I’m alright mom!” I shushed, pulling him up and made him lie down on his bed.

”Yay! No school” Vicky came out running without drying his face and hands.

”Not for you mister! You have to do your homework.” I said, taking the towel from his hands, drying his pouty face.

I went to my room to freshen up and changed into my long green T-shirt and shorts. I wore the longest T-shirt, it reached my knees. I usually don’t wear a bra at home, but since I have company, I decided to wear one. I pulled my hair into a messy bun and went out. Hottie is drinking his coffee while chatting with Gemma.

”Sorry, I’m late” I apologized and took my coffee. I sat on the sofa opposite to him.

”It’s fine. Your house looks homely” he smiled, looking at me.

My heart, ouch! His smile is so beautiful.

I tried not to smile too widely ”Thank you sir.”

”The world is so small! My one employer is an employee of my other employer!” Gemma said, clapping her hands. I chucked at her excitement.

It sure is small.

”I’ll resume preparing your dinner Lucy” Gemma said to me and waved at Hottie, returning to the kitchen.

There was an awkward silence between us. What do we speak to our boss normally other than work?

Hottie cleared his throat ”So you don’t know how to cook?”

”Uh, I know sir, but I can’t make it that edible. I mean, it’s edible but not edible” I rambled out. What the hell? Stop embarrassing yourself Lucy!

He chuckled ”Relax Lucy, and you can call me Alex when we are not working”.

I nodded and tried not to smile widely. I’ll not call him Alex though. I usually try to smile when I’m with others, but he is making me smile too much.

”Why did you choose to come here? Italy out of all places?”

”I have always loved Italy, since I was a kid. My parents are actually from here, so yeah, when I got an opportunity to come here for work, I decided to stay permanently”

”I did think you looked familiar, so that’s why, huh? Because you’re actually an Italian woman” He said, making me laugh.

”What about you sir? Sam? Ms. Redaelli?” He gave me a look when I called him sir and shook his head when I just smiled.

”Sam, Rocco and I are college buddies. Even though Monica is my cousin, we studied at the same college” he stopped smiling for a second and zoned out.

”Sir?” I called him, waving my hand.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

”Huh?” He snapped out and shook his head.

I wanted to ask about Enzo, but decided to shut up.

”Then how is it here? Do you like it?”

”I love it sir! I don’t regret coming here” And I also like seeing you Mr. Hottie.

”If you don’t mind, can I ask what happened to your parents? You mentioned you were an orphan before”. He asked hesitantly, looking at me.

”They died when I was in college, sir. They were on a date, but an armed man shot randomly and killed 14 members. Afterwards, he also shot himself. Police said he was mentally unstable.” I tried hard not to cry.

A knot formed in my throat, but thankfully I didn’t cry. I thought about Jay and Vicky, our happy moments and tried to smile.

”I’m so sorry you have to go through that. I also lost my mom when I was a kid in an accident” He said, giving a half smile.

Oh my god! He was too young! He is just like Jay.

”I’m sorry sir” I don’t know what else to say.

He shrugged ”We can’t do anything about it now, can we? What about Jay and Vicky?”

Are we getting to know each other?

”Three years back, we met through an accident. A truck hit their car and it collided with mine. Their father died on the spot and Jay’s mom died giving birth to Vicky, so they had no one. And Vicky had the same name as my father, William. So I thought why not adopt them?” I shrugged at the end.

Shit! Why did I mention the accident? What if he asks for details? Or worse, do a background check? He wouldn’t do that, right? Because there isn’t any evidence that the accident actually happened like I mentioned. I should have stuck to the story everyone believed. What if he thinks I lied?

Cool Lucy, cool! Why would he even do a background check on you? So chill girllll!

”You are a good person Lucy” Hottie said and looked at me, which was strangely making me blush.

Gemma came out ”I’ll see you tomorrow Lucy and you on Saturday Alex”. She said and went out.

After a few minutes of silence, Hottie got up too ”I’ll also go now”

That soon?

What do you think he will do? You probably looked like someone forced you to talk! jeez.

I pouted internally and got up along with him. He wore his shoes and looked at me. ”Um.. Thank you for having me Lucy”

Sigh. I wish.

”So? This counts, right?” He looked confused.

”For taking leave sir, you said we should talk after work. So this counts, right?” I asked, trying to hide my smile.

Hottie looked amused and stood in front of me.

I didn’t try to move back though. I like being close to him. In fact, my hands were itching to touch him from the start.

He bent slightly to look into my eyes. Gosh, his hazel eyes!

”Didn’t I tell you to not be sassy with me? And it’s the second time in a row today. Now, how should I punish you?”

I blushed hard trying to keep my excitement inside and not to smile.

”T-That’s inappropriate” I said, looking away.

He laughed, making me look at him. I frowned ”And you said you were too professional. I was talking about punishing you with more work”.

I groaned and hid my face in my hands.

Whyyyyyy? Why do I have to embarrass myself? That too, in front of him.

”Remove your hands” He tried to move my hands away from my face, but I turned around and shook my head.

”God you are so cute” He said, hugging me from behind and placed his head over mine.

Butterflies are killing me from inside.

I slowly removed my hands and placed them on his hands, which were wrapped around my waist.

”Lucy”

I hummed in response.

”I-I seriously like you. I know I said I just wanted you in bed, but now I think I like you more than that”. He said making my heart do a double and triple flips.

Am I having a heart attack?

He tightened his arms around me when I didn’t say anything.

”I-I” what should I say? My throat feels like the Sahara desert.

Suddenly, I lost warmth in his body. I turned around when I heard the door open and saw him going out closing it with a thud.

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”How is everything Ria?” I asked her on the phone while going through my wardrobe.

Sam invited me and Nat to her birthday party! She even asked me to bring the kids. I still don’t know how she knows about Jay and Vicky. I’m assuming it’s either Mr. Agosti or Mr. Ganovese was the one who told her.

Yeah, he is not Hottie anymore.

It’s been more than a week since he came to my home. Things were awkward afterwards. I tried to speak to him many times during office hours, but he chose to ignore me. I was so hurt that I almost cried!

So, now back to Ria. As we planned, I booked her a room in NewView! She is staying there from today for two weeks. Hope she finds something against Moretti’s!

”Everything is okay. The room is so beautiful! The view from the balcony is awesome.” She sounds excited.

”I’m glad you like it! But please be careful, if you ever have the slightest doubt that you are in danger, just run from there, OK?”

”Okayyy” she said in a sing-song voice.

I rolled my eyes ”I’m serious Ria, take care. Bye” I said and hung up.

One of the biggest reasons why I hate parties is selecting a dress. I always look underdressed. If I dared to wear bold, I’d look overdressed. Urgh!!!!

I decided to wear a black dress. It reached a few inches above the knee. I badly wanted to pull my hair into a bun, just to irk hott- uh, Mr. Ganovese. But I didn’t though, instead I curled my hair loosely and let it flow. I also put on some eyeliner and mascara, lip gloss, coconut body lotion. Coconut, I remember when he said about me smelling like a coconut.

Why do you smell like a coconut? I never knew it smelled so good.

Stop thinking about him!!! I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

I took my clutch and went out of my room. Nat is already here irritating Jay, along with Vicky. She wore a white half-shoulder dress which reached her mid thigh. She looks beautiful! Jay wore a suit and Vicky, being Vicky, he wore the complete opposite of his brother.

”You look beautiful Nat!” I said as I reached them.

She looked at me and gave me an appreciated look. ”And you look more innocent” she said with a wink, making me pout.

”How do we look Mamma!!” Vicky asked, giving me a pose holding Jay’s hand.

I pretended to think a moment and said ”Not bad”.

I chuckled when he pouted. ”Just kidding, you both look handsome” I said, pinching his cheeks, kissing his forehead.

He kissed my cheek and said ”You look gorgeous mamma”

”Aww thank you” I ruffled his hair and turned to Jay.

”Will I not get a compliment from my Mr. Ialwayslookserious?” I asked him, wiggling my eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes with a smile. ”You always look like an angel mom” He said, melting my insides.

”Can we go now? You guys are making me jealous” Nat said, stomping her foot.

Vicky stuck his tongue out at Nat and ran outside.

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We are all going in Nat’s car. The party is at Sam’s house. It took almost 40min.

Ugh!! One day this motion sickness is going to kill me!!

I got out of the car immediately to breathe fresh air so that I could reduce this vomit-like feeling.

Woah… it’s not a house, it’s a mansion.

We all went inside. It looks like a business gathering more than a birthday party.

I looked around to find a familiar face, but my breath hitched when I saw Mr. Ganovese looking at me.

He wore a black tuxedo holding a wine glass. He is checking me out instead of paying attention to the man beside him. Heat rushed to my cheeks when I saw desire in his eyes.