Mattia
Nuelle fell asleep next to me but she must have gotten up and left when I got my shut eye, because she was gone when I woke up.
I waited for her return. But, by the third time the bedroom door opened to reveal yet someone other than her, I stopped expecting her yet I kept hoping that she would come see me.
I told myself that perhaps she needed more time and since I did not want anyone else to know about what happened, I did not bother to ask for her. My most trusted employees were the only ones that needed to know about what was going on.
Around four in the afternoon Marissa came by to ask about Anthony's whereabouts and as always I had to lie to her. This was the very reason why I did not want to mix family with business, too many damn emotions involved.
"When will he be back?" She questioned with her arms crossed in front of her.
I had to draw in a long breath, that is how close I was to lashing out at her and releasing all my emotions.
"He's taking care of one of our projects, onsite inspection." I gulped.
"What project? I've looked through all of our current projects and there isn't an onsite visit planned for any of them." Her eyebrows knitted.
"It's one that's none of your concern. He'll be back soon. You were able to manage without him for months at the time, you'll survive a few hours."
She pressed her lips together at my response. It seemed like she wanted to say something but she stopped herself and headed to the door.
"I'm doing fine by the way, thank you for asking." I said right before she went out the door. She stopped and turned to face me but remained quiet at first.
"Mattia, you know how busy work is."
"Right. Well then, thank you for taking time off your busy schedule for this visit." I sarcastically smiled.
She gulped, taking her upper lip in between her teeth.
"Can you tell Nuelle that I need to speak with her?" Suddenly, Nuelle once again became the focus of my thoughts.
"Nuelle and I are leaving in a bit, but I'll let her know."
"Where to?"
"I'm not sure as yet. I'll tell her that you asked for her." She answered before she went on her way.
The time on my clock showed that it was almost nine, where could they possibly be heading to?, I asked myself.
Without thinking twice I rang up Christoph to ask where he was. If Rafael dared to show up at the house, there was nothing stopping him from bothering the others elsewhere. And as much as the women would hate me for having Christoph join them, I rather have that than to have something happen to them.
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Emmanuelle
With a heavy heart I put on my clothes as I got ready for a late night outing with Marissa. After the encounter with Rafael and everything that followed during and after that, I needed some time away from the house.
To my luck, Marissa was usually always in the mood to go out eventhough she was pretty tired. And Anthony being on a business trip only made it easier for her to agree to my suggestion.
Truth be told, I was happy that he had to work, because the lies and secrets that he had kept from me were only piling up and I was not in the right headspace to deal with that.
How could Anthony keep the reason of father's death from me? I understand that it was part of his job, but still- was our friendship a complete lie?
"Nuelle." Marissa's voice echoed from outside of the room.
I took another look at the outfit I had put together before I headed to the door.
"What are you doing? Do you know how many times I've called out your name?" She rapidly fired these questions at me as soon as I had opened the door.
I was confused, because I had only heard my name once and that was right before I opened the door.
"Are you ready?" I asked, hoping to change the topic.
"Hello," She pointed at herself with her hands. "Definitely not," She smiled. "Mattia said that he needs to speak with you, but I did tell him that we're leaving in a bit."
My heart started beating hard against my chest. "Did he say what about?"
"Nuh-uhh. But, we still have time so you can go down there and I'll come meet you when I'm done?"
"Sure." I smiled though I wanted to scream.
There was so much going on in my mind, so much I wanted to talk about but with whom and where would I begin.
As soon as Marissa left to get ready I closed the door and returned to the mirror. Normally, I would be excited to leave the house and spent time with my sister but this time all I could think about was how she was being lied to by the people around her- by me as well.
I took a deep breath and put my hair into a high ponytail so I could put my earrings on display. I decided to do a full face of light make-up, hoping that the out come would be as cute as it usually is during the times I played around with the stuff.
After putting on my heels as the 'last but not least' to the look, I took a step back to fully view myself. On the outside I looked like I was ready for fun, when on the inside a crises was going on.
I backed away from the mirror and turned towards the door. As I was now about to make my way down the stairs, Marco was making his way up.
There were bloodstains on his white shirt, probably caused by his busted lip. His fists clenched when he saw me, but he immediately looked away.
I froze, expecting him to say something but he did not. He quietly walked passed me as though I was not standing there. Only when he had dissapeared out of my sight, could I breathe.
I ran downstrairs, hoping to see Marissa ready to leave. But she was not there. Only Christoph was. He was facing the window with his hands behind his back.
"Mr. Christoph."
"Ahh," he let his arms hang on the sides of his body. "Nuelle. Is Marissa ready?"
As much as I hoped to get some alone time with my sister, I knew that it was not going to happen outside of the house or the office.
"Are you joining us?"
"Yes, I was asked to accompany you both. But, I haven't been told where we are going to."
Well, shit- neither have I been told.
"I don't know either," I smiled.
"Ready?" Marissa's voice joined our short conversation.
"Ah, yes. I was just telling Nuelle that I don't know where we are heading to." Christoph answered.
"A local bar downtown. A friend owns it." She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
Ofcourse a friend owns it...
"Allright then." Christoph waited for us to lead the way.
The bar was a very excluded place,- it was to be accessed through a classy restaurant and the vibe was that of a vintage speakeasy, only this one was legally selling their alcohol.
"Nuelle, this is Cleo." Marissa had her arm around my neck, pulling me towards her to speak close to my ear because we were standing right where the music was coming from.
"Cleo." The woman standing in front of us said in a thick German accent as she extended an arm towards me.
"Emmanuelle." I replied as I shook her hand. Our conversation only lasted these two words. Cleo's attention was demanded by many and I could fully comprehend why.
Not only was she the host, but by the way she carried herself with full confidence and dressed like she had jumped straight out of an oldie movie, everyone could sense that she was the bar's attraction.
The woman had on a long, faux fur coat with a creamy satin dress underneath that complimented her figure very well. She wore her dark, thick hair loose in an Afro and had on gloves that matched her dress.
As she walked away from us to greet the other customers she took off her coat, allowing the dimly red lights of the bar to cause her skin to sparkle. Well, that and whichever glitter spray she had used.
I stood in awe as I watched her move from table to table, smiling at every person she had spoken to.
"She owns this?" I asked, though Marissa had already mentioned that this was the case.
"Uhhu. The bar, the restaurant and she built all of this herself too."
"Wow." I said out of shock.
Marissa shook her head at me as she pulled me towards the right side of the bar. We took our seats right at the bar which gave us such a great view of the whole place.
Four drinks in and we were having the time of our life. But, then I turned to my side- for some reason my eyes found the entrance to the bar. Many people were coming down the stairs, but one of them looked all too familiar.
I kept watching her movements whilst I sat as still as a statue, hoping that she would not see us or that Marissa...
"This bitch." I heard Marissa mumble behind me.
Dang it...
"No, stop. Mar- don't." I had to hold her back to keep her from getting us in trouble.
"I just want to talk to her."
"No! Sit! Let her be."
"She's out here living her life while we have to take care of Mattia."
"Gia's not a child, she knows her responsibilities. You can't force her to acknowledge the responsibilities that she so clearly doesn't want."
Marissa sighed. "I'm just gonna say hi." She said. This time she powered walk into Gia's direction before I could hold her back.
Before I had fully climbed down I saw Marissa fight her way through the group that Gia was standing in. I rushed over to where they were standing and managed to follow a bit of the conversation before it was cut short by Cleo who came to break the two up.
"Not here. Outside, but not in here. And I don't care who you are or what you have." Cleo said, pointing at the women.
Gia crossed her arms. "I didn't do anything. I was minding my own business." She said.
"We'll go." I stepped in before Marissa could open her mouth. "Our excuses, Cleo. Our anger got to the best of us," I turned to look at Marissa who still had her eyes fixed on Gia.
"Nice to see you Gia. Good to see that you're having the time of your life whilst the person you claimed to love is bound to his bed. I'll tell him you said 'hi'." I took Marissa by the arm and dragged her towards the stairs, quickly climbing up to leave.
Once we were in the restaurant I phoned Christoph to pick us up. The ten minutes that we had to wait on him were spent in silence in the waiting room of the restaurant.
"Don't tell him that we saw her," Marissa sighed. "He really cares about her and he's already dealing with so much. I don't want to add this to the list."
I did not know what to react to first, the fact that I had to keep another secret and tell another lie or- the fact that Marissa thinks that he still cares about Gia.
Does he? Did I make a fool of myself?
I nodded as an reply. I am not quite sure what I agreed to with my nodd, because I did not like any of what she had said. Not the lying nor the fact that I had probably made a fool out of myself.
After my nodd the silence returned until Cleo appeared. "What was that about?" She stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "That was not the Marissa and Gianna duo that I remember."
Marissa sighed, shaking her head. "A lot has changed. But, today was my fault. I shouldn't have stepped to her."
"You know I don't like trouble."
"Neither do I. My blood just starts to boil when I think about how she's acting."
"I heard about Mattia. I had just gotten back when I heard the news," Cleo took a seat next to Marissa.
"I know that they have been together for quite some time. And to think that she's now abandoning him, well- I don't judge. But I do believe that whatever the reason is, the truth shall be revealed in time. For now all of you have to stay strong. Besides, with the way those two always get back together after each break, it really doesn't make any sense to call neither one of them on their bullshit."
My heart almost dropped...
"Ladies," Christoph called for our attention. "Ms. Cleo." He gave her a nod.
"Christoph. Hope all is well," she flashed him a smile before she turned towards us. "And make sure to greet both of'm for me. Tell Mattia that I would've taken care off him."
All three of them let out a laugh at her comment. I did not, because I clearly did not know what they knew.
When we came home Marissa rushed to her room and left me behind. I wanted to go up too, but decided to make a quick stop at Dimitri's. I was curious to know what he needed to speak with me about. The closer I got the more nervous I got.
He's probably going to say that it was all a mistake and that he still cares about Gia like Marissa mentioned...
Just as I was about to turn right towards his room I heard a sound coming from the kitchen followed by the person saying: "Ah. Shit."
I peeked around the corner and saw that the lights were on. In front of the sink stood Marco with his back towards where I was standing. He was leaning foward and his head was hanging down.
I felt bad about walking away, but the voice in my head was strong enough to convince me to do it. There was no need to put myself in yet another situation that I most certainly did not want to be in but then just as I made a few steps, his voice stopped me.
He said my name, he said it like he used to say it before all the anger and jealousy came along.
"Marco." I said, not sure of what to expect next.
"Hey," he smiled warmly. "Do you want something to drink? I'm making coffee."
I shook my head. "Thank you. But, I had quite enough to drink."
"Right," he scratched the back of his head. "Can we talk then?" He almost begged.
"I- I have to go see Dimitri."
"Right, Dimitri." His voice sounded full of disappointment. "It's always Dimitri, huh?"
"I don't understand what you mean."
Marco licked his lips. "Don't worry about it, he probably needs you more than me." He said before he turned his back towards me and walked back into the kitchen.
I froze. I froze, because I did not want him to do something stupid. But, then again- I desperately needed to see how things were with Dimitri. So, I decided that Marco's needs could wait. I needed to talk to Dimitri. I needed to put my needs first.
I knocked on Dimitri's door, waiting for him to say that I could 'come in.' I also noticed that it was quite late and was not sure if he was still awake. Luckily, he was. I walked into the room and stopped about a meter from his bed, wanting him to acknowledge me first which he did.
"Emmanuelle." His eyes studied my face.
"You wanted to see me?" I held my hands in front of my hips like a shy school girl.
"How are you?"
"Doing better, you?"
"Doing better now that you are here. Marissa told me that you guys were going out. How was it?"
"Good. We went to Cleo's." I answered, knowing that he knew Cleo.
"Cleo," he smiled. "Did you have fun?"
"Listen, about what happened- it was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened."
"What are you talking about?"
"The kissing, the- everything."
"Do you really regret it?" He seemed shocked to have heard what I had said.
I started using my hands to find the right words to explain what I was feeling. "I do, because it was wrong. You're in a relationship and-"
"What? Wait, what?" Dimitri's face was overtaken by confusion. "Relationship? Emmanuelle, I've been in this bed for longer than a month and no girlfriend of mine has come to visit. So, the way I see it I don't have one." He stated in a very straight and almost angry tone.
"Okay and if she comes by? Then what? Because from what I've heard you two always seem to get back together one way or another."
"Nuelle-"
"True or not?" I cut him off. Dimitri sighed as he wiped his face. "I don't want this to go on when there is the slightest chance that she's going to come running back to you and that you'll accept her. Because I'm sure that both of you are used to having your own flings during your breaks and I refuse to be one of them, title or not." My voice cracked as I almost started tearing up.
"Nuelle," he breathed out. "You need to calm down. Okay, love? Please, calm down. Give me a chance to explain what I feel- what is going through my mind. Do you really think that I would choose someone like that? Someone who just left me on the side during the time that I needed her the most?"
"I don't know-"
"The answer's No. Nuelle, I- you're all I've been thinking about all day. Do you know how many times I've called Christoph to ask how you are? And not just because of Rafael, but because-" he sighed. "Because now that I know that I have an actual chance of being with you, I don't want it to be ruined."
How was it that I was finally hearing what I longed to hear and yet I was not jumping in the air? I was scared, scared of what could happen- what the others would say. I was scared- scared that this would be great but could one day disappear. What would happen then...
"I'm sorry. I can't-"
"Baby, please."
My eyes started to water. "Not like this," I pointed between us. "I don't want you like this. Not in the state that you're currently in." I sobbed.
Dimitri let out a loud sigh as his eyes found the ceiling.
"I'm not talking about your physical state," I was quick to add upon noticing how affected he was by my words. "I'm talking about mentally and emotionally. Between Rafael and- focusing on getting better. Then you have Gia, Marco-"
"What about Marco?"
My mouth fell closed. As much as I wanted to explain the tension that my attraction to him had caused between Marco and me, I knew that it would only make things worse.
"I mean our family. What will they think of this?"
"I don't care about what they have to say or think. Rafael will be taken care off and Gia doesn't matter to me anymore. There, every reason you've listed has been rulled out. What else do you want me to do?"
"You have too much that you're currently dealing with and so do I."
"What else do you want me to do?" He repeated his question.
"Get better. Sort your things out."
"And then?"
"I want you to make a choice based on your feelings. I don't want you to choose me because we're put together as the result of a certain situation."
Dimitri wiped his eyes, letting out a sound that sounded much like a sob. "Allright. I'll do that."
"Thank you."
"Are you still comfortable with playing nurse?" He joked to lighten up the mood.
I nodded. "Always."
"Good. Tomorrow at seven?"
"Tomorrow at seven." I repeated before I turned on the heel and left the room with a heart I had broken myself.