Make Me (Ludwig x Feliciano)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

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Feliciano drank the rest of his champagne like it would save his life. All these introductions and drawn out conversations were becoming tedious and he was ready to just tell this one woman - who wasn't even an employee at a literary company - to shut the hell up.

He was relieved when James came over and told him dinner was being served in five minutes. The Italian was never really good with new people and he always wondered how he survived the first few days of working at Winfield. He followed his friend back to their table and sat down, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"The bosses are joining us for dinner. This two ladies that were here earlier wanted to sit with their friends so Ludwig and John are coming over here. Have you talked to any promising authors yet?" James asked as he sat next to Feliciano.

"Not yet." He shook his head, disappointed. "Most of these authors are women and they just babble on about how they lost fifty followers on Twitter this morning. I'm not interested in your social media life, for fuck's sake, tell me about your writing!" He hissed angrily.

James watched as the Italian pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes briefly.

"Excuse my language, James." He apologized, looking around to see if anyone else had heard him. "I just had a rough night last night and these social events aren't exactly my cup of tea."

James chuckled. "Well, you could make it your glass of wine."

The HR manager poured them both some wine and laughed as Feliciano made the sign of the cross and looked up to the supposed heaven, muttering an 'Amen'.

"Just try and relax. We'll have dinner, mingle for a bit and then half of these people are gone by ten-ish." James clapped his friend on the shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile.

The Italian nodded and leant back in his chair as he took a long sip of the red wine in his glass. When he put his glass down, he noticed the John and Ludwig were just joining them at the table.

This is business.

They both gave a small smile and nod to them. It seemed practiced, like they'd done it a million times before. Probably because that's what they did to every other publisher and author they met. Except Ludwig had a sparkle in his eye as he looked at Feliciano and sat beside him.

"All of you young men look so fine in your snazzy tuxedos and I look like the president of a publishing company that's sat at a desk for far too long!" John smiled.

"Quite the contrary, sir." Feliciano piped up. "You look just as young and sharp yourself."

The four men carried on a conversation through dinner and enjoyed the food they were served. Feliciano smiled at the pasta that was served, it reminded him so much of home in Italy. Oh, how he missed that place! Quickly pushing away the feeling of homesickness, he tuned back into the words being spoken.

After dinner was over, John immediately got called over to speak with another publishing company's president so he excused himself and left. James was speaking to a waiter that was stopped at their table when Feliciano jolted in his seat, feeling a hand on his thigh.

"What are you doing?!" He hissed at Ludwig, as quietly as he could.

"Relax!" He hissed back.

The German found Feliciano's hand and

slipped a folded piece of paper into his palm, closing his fist around it. He nodded at him before standing and walking away.

The confused Italian watched him disappear into the crowd and then flinched as someone tapped his shoulder. He turned to face a pretty, green-eyed woman with long, wavy brown hair. He cleared his throat and stood up, holding his hand out.