Magnolia

Chapter Three

Magnolia

I pressed the number 5 button and looked at my tired face in the elevator's mirror.
' why I hate the word perfect so much?'
I sighed, I missed the warmth and comfort of my bed. I had a deep mental connection with my bed and well after Catie, she was my best friend. yeah, she.

Oh Catie, surely she was going to make fun of me and also giving a lecture about Jason's being hot and wild in bed. He was tall and lean and a bit muscular but not in a massive way. Jason being wild...pftttt, wild my right ass cheek. I rolled my eyes. I wished to have the power to wipe Catie's all memories about Jason so I could live in peace.

Ting.
I stepped out to the corridor and straight to her apartment door.

I waited for a second before pressing the bell ring, it was weird because she had this strange sense of my arrival(as she always explained) and when I'd stepped out of the elevator she had always opened the door and yelled at me "lazy ass arrived",but the door was closed.

Something was off and I was starting to get nervous because the only possible reason that popped in my mind and made me gasp was Catie been murdered.
'One of her exes killed her. Oh God, I should call the police.'

I was practically trembling with the horrible idea of confronting Catie's dead body on the bathroom floor drown in her blood, or maybe on the kitchen floor, 'No I know her better, she was trying to seduce him to save her life, so the bathroom is the only place to find her DEAD body.'

I was breathing heavily as I took out my iPhone from my bag, 'Oh what was the police emergency number?'

I was in deep thought that suddenly the door opened and I lifted my head so quickly that for a second I thought maybe I broke my neck. I was perplexed. A very handsome guy was staring at me with a confused look. He was so tall with broad shoulders and chocolate brown skin and dark eyes. His dark hair was up in a small bun and my eyes were going up and down his perfect body as I slowly closed my mouth. Oh, my jaw was hanging open, for how long?

I blushed and tried to collect my thoughts,
"W Where's she?"
he became more confused "she?"
'oh he is the killer, he is. But why he is so handsome and ... hot? oh shut up'

"Catie"
His eyes widened slightly and then smiled with those pair of super white teeth.and returned and said loudly "Babe?"
Babe?great.

"Come in lazy ass" she yelled from inside.
Lazyass, great.
I blushed deep red and the guy stepped aside to let me go inside.

"In the kitchen Lia mia lazio."

I was going to kill her myself, she embarrassed me for the millionth time in front of a stranger.
I went to the kitchen and there was Catie, bitch of the year, with her messy short blond hair, a pink tank top, and white sports shorts mixing spaghetti in the pot.

She turned and beamed " I'm making Spaghetti Bolognese for you."She opened her palm and blew an imaginary kiss to me, next second I was wrapped in a tight embrace that all air squeezed out from my lungs.
"ok en..ough"

She loosened her arms and turned to Mr handsome that was now in the kitchen, "Well this is Eden, my boyfriend that I talked about." then winked seductively at ... Eden.
I looked at the guy, I mean Eden, he smiled and stretched his hand out and I awkwardly shook his hand.

"I'm Lia."
"Catie talked so much about you and now I know you even better than your mom."
'Surely you know everything about me, and  perhaps about?...'

"Hey, why you came alone? where's your boyfriend?"
My eyes widened with disbelief, I got my answer." boyfriend?"
"Yeah, Jason. Catie told me you are two love birds"
I looked dead in Catie's eyes " We are love birds?"
she grinned "Yeah, Why you came alone? where's Jason?"
I couldn't believe my ears, in 12 years of our friendship she proved to be a total crazy bitch but this was a new level.
'ok, you started.'

"Jason was busy, he has an appointment with your ex-husband."
Eden was surprised but Catie was grinning ear to ear "Which one of the ex-husbands? The first one died in a car crash." then pouted her lips "God blesses his horny soul."
she'd never backed off.
"Third one, Marcus."

"I didn't know you were married." Eden blurted out with a surprised tone.
"yeah for three times" She shrugged. Eden didn't buy it and dropped the subject.
Catie added some cheese to spaghetti and picked the dish "Come on babes, dinner is ready."

I and Eden followed behind her to the dining table. We all sat around and dug into our meal.
"mmmm"
Catie chuckled "now you're moaning."
"So delicious." As always.
Eden had a mouth full of spaghetti "wow, are you a chef or something? I can moan all day eating this."

Catie leaned in and licked his lips"I can moan all day eating your lips babe."
Eden moaned and pushed her closer and the sound of their tongue licking each other was gross.

I cleared my throat loud enough for them to hear "ok ok, enough of couple goals. Now I get how passionate you are. Act wild in bed, not in front of my innocent eyes."
Catie rolled her eyes"Ok grandma"
Eden chuckled "We were just having fun, trust me it tastes better on the lips."
I scrunched up my face and rolled my imaginary eyes "Don't even think about a threesome dude."

Both of them looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"Lia just lose your holy moly virginity and then we are glad to have a threesome with you right Eden?"

Eden grinned and nodded.
I narrowed my eyes shoving garlic bread in my mouth, well one of my bad habits, shoving a big amount of food in my mouth and speaking furiously at the same time and maybe shooting some pieces of food to others' faces..mostly their eyes.

"what is about being horny dogs?
I'm fed up with horniness. I'm deep in shit and you're talking about a threesome?"
I observed a piece of bread hit Eden's left cheek and the middle of Catie's eyebrows, she blinked instinctively and I gulped my food. "Nice shot, you're dead now."

"Woah, that was intense, no threesome ok?"
Catie narrowed her bright green eyes "what shit are you deep in? " and narrowed her eyes to a thin line "Are you pregnant?"

pregnant??!!!

I stared blankly at her, I wondered how stupid a person could be. I didn't know how to roll my eyes to the back of my head"yeah, by pollination, because last time I checked I was a virgin."

Catie took a deep inhale she was holding her breath"Jesus, I died for 5 seconds I guess. Oh, God." Eden gave her a glass of water"Just breath babe, calm down, you won't be an auntie for now."

"my gosh, what is wrong with you? How could I be pregnant?use your damn brains.
I'm in trouble, well it's about my job,"
I sighed "Mr. Bernard asked me to design a necklace for some Valentini guy in 10 days. You know it is kinda impossible, what if his so-called royal mom doesn't like it?"
Catie was now sipping her wine"10 days, Is he crazy? you said for Mr. Valentini?"

I nodded"hmm"
Eden cleaned his mouth with a napkin "Wow, you're the lucky one. Which Valentini had ordered it?"
"What do you mean which one?"

"You are seemingly living in the 50s, How haven't you heard of Valentini brothers? They are one of the most important families in both Europe and the States." Eden continued "They are everywhere, every luxurious party, gatherings, important conferences. Now is it the older brother Daniel Valentini or the younger one Adrian Valentini?"

"I don't know" why hadn't I heard about this famous family? A weird feeling clenched my heart. I knew the answer damn well because I hadn't been to any social gatherings or parties for almost 10 years. Right after... my dear father's death.