The flight to Washington was a pleasantly peaceful one. Bianca and I spent it working, the girls were behaved while they bonded with Luigi, Sven was his usual brooding self and Ivanka was ignored by everyone. The jet landed hours later before we drove straight to the hotel. It was evening when we arrived.
We checked in with the receptionist by the name of Matilda. I told her to tell Shelby, the manager at this branch of my hotels, that I would be doing an evaluation soon. She said she would deliver the message, and we all headed up.
I was staying with Bianca, Ivanka and the girls in the penthouse suite, while Luigi and Sven opted for their own rooms. The girls passed out almost immediately, with Ivanka following behind them. Bianca went to pour us glasses of wine as I sat on the couch. She handed me a glass and sat next to me. The silence was deafening, but what she broke it with took me by surprise.
“We’re never going to be together, are we?” she said lowly. I looked over at her, not bothering to mask my shock. When she looked up at me with vulnerable eyes, I knew I couldn’t lie to her.
“No,” I said lowly.
“Good,” she smiled.
“Good?” I asked in confusion.
“Yep! You need to settle down now Raphael,” she admonished. I was so confused.
“I’m very lost right now,” I admitted.
“I’ve been in your life for twenty eight years Raphael. No-one knows you better than I do. There was a time when I was sure that we would end up together, but I gave up the moment you lay your eyes on Gabi,” she said sadly.
I was beyond speechless. I didn’t even realize that Bianca and I had been in each other’s lives that long. Our mothers are best friends and so we’ve always been in each other’s lives. She’s the closest thing I have to a best friend and she’s probably the one person I’ve spent the most time with in my life.
“What are you saying? What about all the flirting?” I frowned.
“Believe it or not, the flirting makes our relationship work. I stopped truly flirting with you years ago,” she laughed. I was surprised to find that what she was saying was true. I’d gotten so used to the flirting that our relationship would be awkward without it.
“Anita also believes I need to settle down. She believes that the girls need a mother,” I told her.
“That’s because they do. They are at a delicate stage right now, and while your daughters are intelligent Raphael, they are also little girls. I’m sure they yearn for maternal love, and not from a nanny either,” she pointed out.
“I can’t just get them a mother,” I sighed.
“You actually can. You just don’t want to,” she called me out.
“I can’t,” I mumbled.
“She was a bitch Raphael, but not all women are like her,” she sighed, taking my hand in hers. The gesture didn’t scare me, which I was relieved about.
“What about you?” I asked her, diverting the subject.
“I’m happy with Giovanni,” she smiled.
“He also needs a father,” I smirked.
“Don’t you think if he needed a father then I would’ve gone and had him with a man?” she asked amusedly.
“True, but you also need to be taken care of,” I pointed out.
“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and my son. Besides, my work would probably drive the man away,” she shrugged.
YOU ARE READING
The Maestri Amour (Wattys 2015) - ON HIATUS
General Fiction"Child, he doesn't know anything about his own life. You think he's a mystery to you and the world? Little do you know that he's a mystery to himself. He doesn't know of the lies that surround him. He has dark secrets Rita, dark secrets that practic...
