Chapter 26
Tonight was the big product launch party. But before that, there was a seminar to attend during the day. That's why I woke up to an empty bed this morning. Julius had left early this morning to attend the seminar. I was upset that I couldn't go, and also upset that I was once again alone.
Julius had been acting strangely, before last night. He has been a lot more distant ever since our little slumber party and I hated it. It made me wonder if I had done something, but when I asked yesterday he said we were fine.
We slept in the same bed, completely sober and it wasn't weird. So I guess that meant we were okay. Despite my stupid questions, last night was a lot of fun. It was in the moment and I was curious about how he might feel about me. I mean why would he want to continue being friends after this is over?
Why did I even care? I'll admit I've grown quite fond of Julius lately, and I guess you could say that I like him. But how does he feel? Sometimes he's flirty, other times he's jealous, and lately he's been distant. I'm just not sure anymore.
I got out of the large bed and head to the bathroom to freshen up. I had no idea what I was going to do today. The seminar was going to be for a couple of hours and I was in an unfamiliar city. I was tempted to sneak into the seminar. What could my father possibly do besides yell at me?
I look over at the time, 11 am. The seminar was set to end at 4 pm, meaning I had time to sneak in if I wanted. A mischievous smile crept onto my face as I eyed my suitcase. Good thing I always pack work clothes.
I take a shower and pull my hair into a slick ponytail before dressing up in a navy blue pants suit. You might wonder why I'm so desperate to put myself through an 8-hour long seminar. But I worked hard on doing my part to get this project off the ground and I want to see the result.
I took a cab around 1 because I knew there would be a noon lunch break. After grabbing my purse, I head down to the meeting place. It was quite busy when I got there, and the second part of the seminar was already in progress. Surely my father won't notice me from the back, since he was most likely upfront with Julius. I took my seat in the very back row, where only a few people shared the same row at the very end.
I stayed for the whole seminar, seemingly unnoticed in the large crowd. Once it finally ended, I tried my best to be the first one out of the room. But the outside hall was quickly filled up with people who took different exits. I left the auditorium before I could catch sight of my father, and started to maneuver my way through the heavy crowd.
As I'm walking past a hall, I feel an arm grab my wrist pulling toward the hallway.
"We'll look who it is." Julius says with a chuckle as I crash into him. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to check out the seminar. And I did so unnoticed." I say proudly.
"I noticed you." He points out.
"Okay but you're the only one."
He chuckles as his hands are still on my waist, "I'll never not notice you." He smiles genuinely at me and I blush as he grabs my hand. "Now let's get out of here."
He leads me down the hall to another exit, where his car was parked in the parking garage. "Have you ever had gelato?" He asks as he starts the car.
I shrug, "I've had ice cream."
"No not ice cream, gelato. I'll show you my favorite place."
I chuckle as I relax into my seat, "I guess we're going out for ice cream."
"Gelato." He corrects me again.
He drives us about 20 minutes before we arrive in front of a little shop called Armono Boston. He parks across the street before helping me out of the large car. It felt strange to be in such a public place dressed in such formal attire.
The shop was cute, very simple yet rustic rooking for an ice cream shop. There weren't many people in line, most of them already served and eating at the little tables outside the shop.
"You can choose as many flavors as you want." Julius says as he looks down at the flavors in front of us. I look down, observing my options. There was an assortment of unlabeled flavors and various desserts like macaroons and crepes.
I point to the one that looks most interesting, "What kind of chocolate is that?" I ask the man behind the counter.
The small man smiles widely, "Tiramisu. Our basic chocolate is over here. And our chocolate hazelnut is over here. We also have Stracciatella which is cream and chocolate sauce." He says as he points out all the flavors.
I nod, "Okay I'll just get chocolate and the stracciatella."
"I'll get caramel and cream. Classic cones for both of us. And also a small box of variety macarons." Julius tells the man.
The man behind the counter nods, "Coming right up!"
We move to the side as the man scoops up the gelato, placing both flavors into one cone decoratively into the shape of a rose. I smile as he hands me the beautiful creation. "Thank you." I tell him as Julius pays for the treats.
He chuckles, "Hope you two have a wonderful day today."
I slide a tip into the tip jar, "You as well."
"Thank you Philippe." Julius says as we head toward the exit.
"Come again!"
Julius and I head outside and begin walking down the street.
"It's so pretty." I say as I admire the treat in front of me.
"Aren't you going to taste it?" He asks as he begins to eat his.
"It won't be pretty anymore."
He chuckles, "It'll melt if you don't, it's 85 degrees out here."
I frown knowing he's right. I lick one of the petals of my flower-shaped treat, causing my eyes to light up. "That's really good. What kind of ice cream is this?"
He shakes his head, "Gelato Stella, it's gelato. I'm surprised you've never had it. My grandparents used to bring me here."
I eat some more of the gelato as we walk down the sidewalk. "I've never been to Boston."
"This isn't only in Boston. It's an Italian treat but you can find it almost anywhere in the U.S. Even grocery stores now. But the best comes from the shops."
I nod, "Then I guess I'll have to find a shop in New York."
"Maybe I can take you." He says with that gorgeous smile of his.
I blush slightly, "Maybe." I look up at where we were, wondering why we're walking for so long when the car was right by the shop. I notice we had arrived at a small park. Julius leads me toward a bench, allowing me to rest my aching feet and enjoy my gelato.
As much as I hated to admit it, I was happy to get attention from Julius again. The past few weeks in New York he had been quite distant and we were barely talking. This felt nice.
"How's your ice- I mean gelato?" I ask him.
"Delicious. Want to try?" He offers, pointing the ice cream cone towards me.
I shrug before leaning forward, getting a taste of his gelato. He watched carefully as I backed away from the cone. I nod my head in approval, "What flavor is that?" I ask.
He was still looking at me, his eyes burning with desire suddenly. "Julius?" I ask again.
He sits up, snapping out of his trance. "Caramel and cream. Have you ever had a macaron?" He asks.
I shake my head, "No I haven't."
The box of macarons is placed in between us. "I got some from the shop. My favorite is the pistachio one."
I frown, "I hate pistachio."
He quirks his eyebrow, "The pistachio macaron is the best one! Here try." He says as he opens the box. There were about twelve macarons, four of which were green.
I shake my head, "I'm not trying the pistachio. What's the pink one?" I ask.
He pouts, "Please Stella, for me?"
I frown at him, "You try it."
He picks up the green macaron before taking a bite. "Delicious." He says as he finishes it off. I pick up a green one before taking a bite. He watches me carefully as he awaits my reaction.
I make a sour face, indicating my dissatisfaction, and Julius laughs. "I told you I hate pistachio." I said as I look down at the half-eaten macaron.
"I'll eat it." He says. I raise the macaron for him to take and he does with his mouth. I laugh lightly as he pulls away from me. Our gelatos were both gone and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the park together.
"Stella?" He asks suddenly.
I turn my attention to him, "Yeah?"
"If you weren't an heiress, what would your dream job be?"
I look up at the sky, deep in thought before shrugging my shoulders. "Truthfully I'm not sure. Business is all I really know."
"You don't have hobbies?" He asks.
"I do, but I wouldn't want to do them as jobs. I like reading but the only job that might correlate would be to work in publishing." I turn to him, "What about you?"
"Me? I feel like I'd be a great actor."
I snort out a laugh, "An actor?"
He raises an eyebrow, "Yes an actor. I'd be bigger than Will Smith."
"Can you act?"
He scoffs, "I act all the time."
I quirk my brow, intrigued by his statement. "Oh yeah? Like when?"
"I act like I know what I'm doing most of the time." He says with a chuckle.
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think?" He shrugs lightly, "Let's just say that not everything is what it seems."
"What you have a secret double life or something?" I ask with a chuckle.
He smiles, "I wish."
I poke at his arm, "Oh come on, let me in on the secret."
He looks down with a sigh before looking at me, "I don't know if I really want to be CEO."
I quirk my brow, "You don't? Why not?"
He shrugs, "I feel like I've only been doing it to please my father."
"Then what do you really want to do?"
"Between you and I, I'm very interested in programming. I've been working on creating my own app during my free time."
I quirk my brow in surprise, I did not see Julius as a computer geek. "Why is that a secret? That's a great thing to be passionate about."
He nods, "I've always been expected to take my dad's place. If I step out of the field and enter programming I feel like I'd disappoint him."
I shake my head, "It's not disappointing to create your own legacy Julius. I'm sure your father would understand."
"It's much too late for that now. I've already been named as the next CEO."
"There's still time to opt-out."
He shakes his head as he gives me a small smile, "No. I wouldn't want to disappoint him more than I already have." He stands up from his seat on the bench, "Why don't we head back to the hotel?"
"Sure."
We get up from our place on the bench and begin to leave the park, heading in the direction of the car down the street. I didn't say anything and neither did he the whole drive back.
I remain silent as we got to the suite, walking over to the bathroom to change out of my work clothes. I change into something more comfortable before taking a look at myself in the bathroom mirror.
I couldn't help but wonder what Julius meant today, but I was nervous to ask. I mean it wasn't really any of my business and if he wanted to share with me then he would. But my mind couldn't help but wonder why Julius would think of himself as a disappointment?
A knock from the bathroom door snaps me out of my thoughts. "You almost done in there?" Julius asks from the other end of the door.
"In a minute." I adjust my shirt before grabbing my things and opening the door, bringing me face to face with Julius. I nod before walking past him and toward my luggage.
I look over at the time, almost 6 o'clock. The party started tonight at 8, meaning I had a little bit of time before I needed to get ready.
I take a seat on the bed, deciding to relax before getting ready for tonight's big event. Julius exits the bathroom, still shirtless as he enters the suite.
"You're not a disappointment." I blurt out as soon as I see him. He looks over at me as I lounged on the bed.
He chuckles, "Thank you?"
"I'm serious. You're always trying to talk me up when it's you who needs it. Why would you think you're a disappointment?"
"I'm adopted." He says nonchalantly as he rummages through his suitcase. "And I've never been able to do anything right. I feel like my parents chose the wrong kid when they got me." He pulls out a shirt from his suitcase as I stare at him blankly.
Adopted?
I frown, "Why would you think that? Your parents love you."
He sighs, finally looking up at me. "I don't want to talk about this anymore Stella."
I nod at him in understanding, "Okay. But if you ever do I'm here." I assure him.
He smiles lightly at me, "Thank you." He closes up his suitcase before looking at me again, "And by the way don't tell anyone. It's kind of a secret."
I nod, "My lips are sealed."
It was shocking news to me that Julius was adopted. It made me wonder what else about him did I not know.
-----
Gasp, Julius's secret is revealed.
Next update will be Saturday because I'm finally done with school!
- AuggiePooh_