by M. D. Melai
After a few seconds, Emilio quietly spoke up. “So, have you picked out a room yet?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t been upstairs yet.”
“Well, why don’t you head upstairs and take a look around while I get the rest of the boxes from my car and your luggage.” I looked at him for a moment trying to think of something to say. He innocently smiled at me and gestured with his head for me to head upstairs.
What the hell was I going to do now? This was not what I had in mind. I thought I’d move to New York, work a lot, avoid Emilio, and date Lucas. I was going to have to figure out a way to handle myself and still work on trying to have a normal relationship with Lucas. Lucas had been so excited about the news of my return. He told me about all the plans he had for us. This wasn’t going to be easy.
I hadn’t even realized I had made it to the top of the stairs. I was lucky I didn’t trip and fall on my way up. As I looked around, I noticed it was similar to the bottom, simply decorated with things that made me smile. The first door opened into a full-sized bathroom decorated in a beach theme. I loved the beach. The next three doors I entered were all three bedrooms, each one individually decked out in their own way. None of them had caught my eye though. Where was the one I would call my own? I had one more door to open and I was hoping this one would be it.
I hesitated before I opened the last door. When I finally did I knew immediately this was my room. It took me a moment to take in the room itself. I didn’t even know where to begin to explore. The room was painted lavender with white trim and a white chandelier. This must be the sitting room. It had a plush white loveseat, a small white coffee table, and an entertainment center that held a nice sized flat screen and a stack of chick flick movies.
I turned to my left and found the master bath. It too was decorated in lavender with gray countertops and white tile. I loved how it had his and her sinks, a spa bath tub, and a stand-alone shower.
I made my way back into the sitting room and found the master closet. It was huge! I was certain that my wardrobe could possibly fit in there. My shoes alone were going to take up an entire side. I turned and saw the best part of the entire room, my new bed.
The gray king-sized bed frame took up most of the room. The bedspread was purple with gray swirls. I ran through the sitting room and jumped straight into the middle of the bed. I was in heaven. I rolled onto my left side and saw a nightstand beside my bed with a white and purple lamp, a picture of Violet and I, and a couple of my favorite books. I took a few deep breaths and finally sat up.
I turned to my right and saw, what was now the best part of the room, the window seat. It was my own little oasis in my room. I made my way over to it. I couldn’t believe this was my room. Everything was perfect.
“Thought I might find you in here.” I turned to find Emilio leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets. Why was he so handsome?
“It’s really stunning in here,” I spoke softly tearing my eyes away from him to look back out the window.
I could feel him staring at me. “I remember you saying you really wanted a window seat in your house in Toronto and you didn’t get it, so I made sure that this house had one.”
“You?” I turned and looked at him in wonder. “You made sure I had this?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow! Thank you, I love it.” I was very impressed. All those times I thought he wasn’t listening, he was.
“Violet helped decorate the house. She sent sketches and color schemes. Your brothers helped me paint and hang everything just like she told us too.” He grinned. “She sure is feisty. And the scary part was she wasn’t even here in person.”
“I’m not surprised. I can see her handy work throughout the entire house.” I waved my hand around the room, “especially in here. As for her being feisty, she is usually the more relaxed one.”
He smiled. I could tell he was hesitating on saying something. His eyes started shifting from me to the floor.
“Listen Lily.” He cleared his throat and looked up to make sure I was listening. “I am really sorry you had to move here. I know this move is really hard on you and Toronto is your home and where your life is.” He paused for a moment, and then continued. “I know things between us are rocky, but I am going to try and make you feel as comfortable here as I can. If I step out of line in any way, just let me know and I will try and correct it as fast as possible.”
I got up and walked over to him.
“Thank you for everything,” I said as I kissed him on the cheek. We hadn’t been this close, this intimate, in a long time.
“Well,” he said, taking a step back grabbing my hand, “it’s time for you to see the best part of the entire house! It’s pretty awesome!”
I didn’t even know we had a basement until we headed down the steps. It had eight reclining theater chairs set up in front of a projector screen, a foosball table, a pool table, and a gorgeous half kitchen. The kitchen had a sink, microwave, and full-sized refrigerator. Watching movies just went from awesome to epic.
“That’s my office there,” he pointed toward a mahogany desk in the back corner of the room, beside it was a set of filing cabinets.
“What does that door go to?” I asked pointing toward it.
“It’s the outside entrance to the basement,” he said. “It’s for the guys to use. I told them to not go through the house. That is your area.” And with that, he changed subject. “You hungry?”
“Yes.” I gushed. “I am starving. I just didn’t want to say anything.”
“Well, let’s go eat, and tomorrow we can make a grocery list.” He motioned for me to go ahead of him.
***
The first week in New Jersey wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Emilio went straight back to work on that Tuesday morning, so after I got up and around, I googled the nearest stores and found plenty of grocery stores. I made my lists and plugged the addresses into my GPS. Emilio made me promise to stay in New Jersey this week. He didn’t elaborate why. He probably just wanted me to get to know the area.
I was about to leave the house when I realized I had no idea what my transportation was going to be.
“Hey,” Emilio answered the phone after just one ring, “everything okay?”
“Yes,” I half laughed. “I do have an issue though.”
“Okay, what is it?” He sounded concerned.
“I don’t have a car.”
“Oh yeah,” he chuckled in relief. “I forgot to tell you, a present arrived for you this morning. Keys are by the front door…” Was all I heard before I ran down the hall and threw open the front door. I jumped off of the steps, not wasting any time walking down them, and turned the corner to see it. It was the definition of a sexy car. I squealed and danced around my brand new black Chevy Camaro. My excitement was about to lead me to a mini heart attack.
“Oh my gosh! This is amazing!” I shrieked. I totally forgot I still had the phone up to my face.
“That’s my ear!” Emilio shouted at me.
“I'm sorry,” I said trying to contain my excitement. “This is my dream car!”
“Yes I know, your father had it delivered this morning to the house just for you.”
“Papà?” I said.
“Yes, your father. Now have fun.” Then he was gone.
I was still speechless over the car, and the fact my father was the one who had sent it to me. I debated on calling him and telling him thank you, but I settled for a text instead. I didn’t want him to think that he could give me a car and everything would be set right between us. I kept it short, sweet, and to the point.
Thank you Papà for the new car, I love it. I’m about to take it for a spin now.
That seemed appropriate enough. I did take pictures of me with the car and the car by itself to message to all my brothers, rubbing it in their faces.
The first person I called was Violet as soon as I headed out to run my errands. I thanked her for decorating the house. I still didn’t know
how she had time to do it. We barely had enough time to do our own projects much less taking on another. Wonder woman doesn’t even come close to her. I then told her about my new car. She squealed, giggled, and shared my joy. She told me she couldn’t wait to take a spin in it herself, and that she was jealous. I told her I missed her and would see her soon.
Running errands took most of the day and before I knew it, it was time to make dinner. Emilio and I had a good evening. We ate dinner and chatted about our day. He even let me drive him around town, which was pretty awesome. In all our years together, he never let me drive.
My father and Emilio’s father had been best friends most of their life and even though they had been best friends for a long time, I didn’t actually get to spend time with Emilio until our teenage years. At least that’s the first time I remember spending time with him.
My parents moved to Toronto from New York when I was two. I still to this day do not understand why they chose Toronto when he still owned businesses in New York City. My father had always said he just needed the change. Every time I would press him with questions, he would always dismiss me and tell me it was none of my business.
Eventually Emilio’s father decided it was time for him and his family to join ours. The day that they arrived is still etched in my memory. I remember hearing the doorbell ring and my father yelling for me and Dante to hurry up and get downstairs. I was already mad that I had spent all day preparing for their arrival. But once I rounded the corner of the stairs and saw him standing there, I completely forgot about everything else.
The way Emilio looked at me, those gray eyes captured my heart in one single moment. It was love at first sight for both of us. He was so carefree and I fell so deeply in love with him. He captivated me for over four years. After he graduated from high school and headed to college, we had already planned out our life. We decided that as soon as I graduated from high school the next year, we would get married.
His father passed shortly after that. Emilio dropped out of college and moved to New York and started working with my brothers, taking over his father’s position. At the beginning he was still my Emilio, but as the months went on he changed. It was small things at first and then we started fighting a lot. He would scream at me for no reason and started telling me he didn’t love me anymore and that I needed to move on. I thought it was just the grief of losing his father, but it didn’t stop. Finally he came home and told me it was over for good. I was heartbroken. It nearly killed me.
It took me a long time to move on and start dating other people. But as soon as I got into a decent relationship, Emilio would show up and I would end the relationship quickly, afraid that I would end up in the same position with them as I had with Emilio.
Plus every time I would run into Emilio his moods would be off. Sometimes sweet and beautiful, other times mean and unsociable and his jealousy would get the better part of him. He would lose his temper and turn into a monster anyone would be afraid of. That was the main reason I was a little uneasy about living with him. But, when he was being his wonderful self, it was easy to remember why I fell in love with him in the first place.
***
Every day that week I video chatted with Violet, sometimes several times a day. I tried to help her as much as I could, but I knew this next week was going to be a lot more stressful. Not only would I still be helping Violet, I started my new projects in New York.
Lucas would text me all day long and sometimes a phone call here and there when Emilio wasn’t purposely keeping him busy.
My nights with Emilio consisted of him sitting in the study with me and listening to my plans for the new buildings. He even helped me finish up my cost report for each one.
The weekend went by quietly. I spent most of it outside in the backyard reading a book. Emilio was in and out for most of the weekend. He was good about being home in time for dinner and spending the rest of the evening with me.
Monday morning started off terribly. My alarm clock didn’t go off on time. Emilio was still at home and just happened to notice I wasn’t up and ready yet. I would like to say he woke me up nicely, but that wasn’t what happened, it was more like, “Hey you’re going to be late and I am leaving,” as he barged into my room and threw the covers off of me.
All day long I felt rushed. I hated running late. It made my whole day seem off. I made it to the restaurant in time to meet the contractors. I had already sent in the plans and today was the day before demolition. They wanted to go over everything in person before they got started. It took the majority of my morning.
That afternoon I had to make a stop at my friend Faith’s fabric and furniture store. She had been supplying all the unique fabrics and furniture seen in our designs.
Traffic was horrible on the way to her store. I was not one for road rage, but during heavy traffic I would catch myself cursing. By the time I made it to her store, I vowed I would never drive again. Tomorrow, when I had to come in for the walk-through of the club, I would just grab a taxi.
“Hey, sexy mama! It’s good to see you again,” Faith said as she greeted me at the door with a hug.
“Hey, girl! I missed you!” I replied.
“I heard you were back in the city for good?” She tilted her face down, and looked at me with her lips pulled up to one side in a devilish grin. Faith looked a lot like me. We both had brown hair and green eyes with heart shaped lips. The only difference was my skin was darker than hers.
“Yeah, looks like I am here until further notice.” I grimaced.
She shrieked with excitement and started babbling nonstop while I headed toward the material. The two hours I was in the store, she talked about anything and everything. When it was finally time to go, I assured her we would definitely have a girl’s night out and that I would be back here in a couple of days with my final selection of material and furniture I was going to need.
Tuesday and Wednesday went by in a flash. Between two more walk-throughs and constantly being on the phone with contractors, painters, and architects, the work was starting to overwhelm me and this had only been the first week. I was now more thankful than ever to have Violet as my partner.
Emilio said Wednesday night after work that on Friday he would take me out on the town. I was really looking forward to that.
Thursday was better, because I went shopping. I needed to go by Faith’s and order furniture, so that when it was time to have it delivered it would be ready. I got so busy I hadn’t been paying attention to the time. I decided on the way home I would just pick up a hamburger from the cute burger joint not too far from the house.
Emilio wasn’t home when I pulled into the garage. I hurried inside to change my clothes and was ready to slip out of my uncomfortable dress clothes and into more relaxing ones.
I heard Emilio park in the garage as I was putting my hair up into a loose ponytail. I was glad he was home. I couldn’t wait to tell him about my day. Maybe he wouldn’t worry so much about me knowing that. As I came down the stairs, I was shocked at what I saw. There was blood everywhere, on his face, his shirt, and knuckles.
“Emilio, are you okay?” I ran over to check him out, but he held up his hand to stop me.
“I'm good. Two guys got into it at work, and I had to break them up. No big deal.”
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” I pressed. I had never seen him in this state before. It worried me.
“I’m not hurt,” he reassured me. “Let me take a shower really quick and I will meet you downstairs to eat. Those burgers smell delicious.” He smiled at me and headed up the stairs gesturing toward the kitchen, signifying he’d be there soon.
When he joined me for dinner he was as happy as ever and never mentioned anything again. Neither did I. I didn’t want to ruin his good mood
Chapter 7
Friday had finally come. Today was the day Emilio and I decided to get out of the house and have the evening to ourselves. We had been planning on going to dinner and seeing a m
ovie, since we had been cooped up for the last two weeks. We needed to get away and have some fun. I really didn’t have any plans for the day other than lounging around the house.
The day dragged by really slow. I tried to pass the time with cleaning and laundry. Resting was not my idea of fun. Eventually the time ticked away to five and I needed to start getting ready, because Emilio would be home soon. I showered, dried off, and got dressed within thirty minutes, a new record. It took me a little while longer to finish my hair and make-up. When I checked the time, it was almost six-thirty and Emilio wasn’t home yet. That wasn’t like him. He always arrived home between five and six. When I finally found my phone, I had two missed calls.
“Hello,” he said, answering on the first ring.
“Hey, where are you? I’m ready to go.”
“I’m sorry Lily. I won’t be able to make it tonight. I got held up at work. I won't be home until later tonight. Could we go tomorrow night instead?” He sounded stressed, but I could tell he felt awful about it.
“Yeah I guess that’s okay. I’ll see you when you get home.” Before he could say anything else I hung up. I was disappointed. I had hurried to get ready and it was going to be a waste. I guess tonight would be spent watching movies. I didn’t have anything else left to do.
I headed upstairs to change my clothes when an unexpected knock came from the front door. I wasn’t expecting anyone since Emilio wasn’t home. I used extra precaution as I looked through the peep hole to find Lucas’s handsome face staring back at me. I quickly brushed my fingers through my curls and checked myself in the foyer mirror before answering the door. I wondered what he was doing here. I swung the door open with excitement. I hadn’t seen him since I moved back. It wasn’t because we weren’t trying. I was just busy and I know Emilio purposely kept him busy.
He was more gorgeous than I remember. He had on a light blue, button down shirt that accented his arm and chest muscles. His jeans fit perfectly around his hips and his hair was tousled in an impeccable mess. I couldn’t unlock my eyes from him.
