Lonely Together

35

VALENTINO

I woke up in the middle of Mariah's bed, with her no longer in my arms as the sunlight shone down on my face.

With a groan followed by a big yawn, I sat up in the bed and looked around the room for her. Figuring she was instead in the kitchen or living room, I stood from the bed and stumbled out her bedroom door.

"Oh my goodness!" An unfamiliar voice exclaimed from the couch, making me whip my head in that direction.

My gaze fell on an older woman seated there, her eyes wide as she looked at me in shock. She clearly hadn't expected me to be here as much I didn't expect her to be.

"I'm so sorry!" I shouted, blocking my lower half that was only covered in my underwear as I rushed back to Mariah's room, slamming the door behind me. "What the hell?" I groaned as quietly as possible, still confused as to who that was and what was going on.

"Morning, babe!" Mariah said cheerily over the phone as soon as I called her, the sounds of the busy city filling the background.

"Where are you?"

"Getting us coffee and breakfast. Why are you whispering, Val?"

"Because," I hissed, running a hand through my hair. "Some lady is on your couch right now and when I walked out in the living room she saw me...in just my underwear."

"Oh shit. I...um, I think that's my grandma. She's known to pop up like that...I haven't seen the woman in five months and she decided to show up today," Mariah muttered, sounding as if she were talking to herself more than me. "I'm down the street, just stay in the room."

"Fine," I muttered, waiting for her to hang up before I threw the phone down on her bed.

This morning had already started in such a weird way. I was almost positive that stuff like this probably happened at Mariah's place a lot with the way she was so nonchalant about it.

***

When Valentino called me to relay the incident between him and my grandmother, I tried my absolute hardest to not laugh while still on the phone. It definitely wasn't the first impression he wanted to make.

Still, it was hilarious to me because I knew my grandmother most likely didn't mind. She wasn't a normal woman by any means—but then again, I wasn't either. My own grandmother lived down the street from me and I hadn't seen the woman in five months—I knew she was alive though because she sent me gifts every once in a while. It was just who Lorraine Baxter was, so I knew she wouldn't even be fazed by Valentino.

"Grandma!" I exclaimed as I walked through the door, dropping Valentino and I's food at the kitchen island before rushing over to her. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too baby," she replied, kissing my cheek as a smirk grew on her young-looking face. "I'm also missing the abs on that sexy man who just stumbled out of your room. You sure take after me, girl."

My cheeks flushed as I covered my face with my hands, feeling even worse when she began to laugh harder.

"Don't be embarrassed, Mariah! We all have a one night stand at least once!"

"He's not a one night stand," I groaned, my head still in my hands as I refused to look at her. I had laughed before, but now I was feeling as mortified as Valentino must have been. "He's my boyfriend."

Her eyes widened at my words, clearly shocked at the news. "Boyfriend?"

"Grandma, I'll explain in a second but I need to go make sure he hasn't died of embarrassment," I managed to make out through the laughs that were now racking my body. What a morning.

"Val," I said softly when I entered my room, my gaze landing on him lying on top of my bed, his phone gripped in his hand.

"Why are you laughing?" He said, pointing a finger at me accusingly as I attempted to hold back the laughter. "It was not funny! Your grandmother's first time seeing me was when I was in my underwear!"

"Babe, I promise you she does not care. This woman has no filter and has no doubt seen a lot of men in the same predicament as you. Put some clothes on and come meet her!"

He looked up at me with those green eyes of his, searching to see if I was truly genuine. With a sigh, he got up and slipped into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt before hesitantly following me out the room.

"Ah, he's back," my grandmother remarked when we approached her, letting her gaze travel his entire frame and face. "And dressed this time."

"I'm very sorry about that, ma'am. I truly didn't know you were here."

"Oh, no worries. I've seen a lot of men the same way," she replied with a laugh, making him raise his eyebrows in shock. I sent him a glance as a smirk grew on my face since I had perfectly predicted what she would say. "What's your name young man?"

"Valentino Santori. Nice to meet you."

He stuck his hand out to her but she swatted it away, instead pulling him into a hug. Immediately, she began to ask him a lot more invasive questions while I passed out some of the breakfast to them.

"Are you college educated? If so, where did you attend?" She inquired, speaking to him as if this were an interview. I guess it kind of was.

"Yes, I attended Harvard. I graduated with a degree in Business administration and management."

"Wonderful, wonderful. And where are you from?"

"I was born here, but moved to Italy as a baby and grew up there. I moved here again right before university."

"Hmm...and you have a job correct?"

"I run my own business...it's very successful, ma'am," he told her with a smile, clearly feeling more comfortable now that he could tell she liked him so far.

Luckily, he and my grandmother seemed to hit it off despite the mishap and he answered all her questions perfectly. After chatting some more, she left at around noon, promising not to disappear again for a while.

"I told you she would like you!" I told him with a grin, rushing over and wrapping my arms around his waist.

"She's hilarious," he remarked, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "You remind me of her."

"Uh oh," I chuckled, raising my eyebrows. Out of everyone in my family, I was the most like her, but definitely not in all ways. "What are we gonna do until we have to meet the group for dinner?"

"Oh you know what we're gonna do," he winked, taking me by surprise and lifting me off to my bedroom.