"Do you have anything planned this week?" Marcus curiously asked and looked at Jane, who was sitting next to him.
They sat on the stairs of a building, watching the sunset between the old buildings. The evening fell. Jane and Marcus had been walking around, exploring the city like tourists do.
"Neh, not much," Jane replied and looked back at him. "Nanny duties for tomorrow and the day after that. And I'm going to Naples for two nights, Luna and I hired an Airbnb. Just to relax, close the semester and recharge for the last part." She softly smiled. "You?"
"Cool, sounds promising. When are you leaving?"
"Friday, coming back on Sunday."
Marcus nodded. "And Luna is..?" He was interested in Jane her life.
"Best friend, flatmate."
"Ah, I see. Have fun and enjoy it." The corners of his mouth curled up. "I was wondering if we could do something this week..." His voice was soft, like he was disappointed, but he granted her the days off.
Jane scanned his face. "I don't have to do anything in the evenings, besides the weekend." Now she regretted saying yes to the extra shift at her job. Jane wanted to see Marcus again.
"We can have dinner together? Cook something together?" Marcus' eyes started to sparkle.
She nodded. "I'd love to."
"Thursday evening?"
"Sounds good to me. But I don't know when I am finished, it depends on what Emma her planning is. I will make sure I leave on time," she promised him.
He softly chuckled. "Don't worry, it doesn't matter if we eat later." Marcus looked around him. "But to answer your question... I have nothing planned. Just training sessions, bit sim work, nothing much."
"Also sounds fun." It sounded way more sarcastically than Jane wanted it to sound like.
"It is nothing compared to your trip," Marcus directly replied, making Jane giggle. "But, can I follow you on Instagram? So I can follow your Naples adventures." A cheeky smile grew on his face.
Jane raised her eyebrows. "The gram for adventures?" She grabbed her phone. "I'm honoured. No, it's..." She shared her username and followed Marcus back when he followed her. "Don't expect much, though."
He had a quick glance over his feed before he put his phone away. "I have high expectations now, Jane," he cheekily smiled and winked.
Her face straightened, and she looked unamused at him, but in a playful way. "We will see," she mumbled. "Anyway," she said in a normal tone. "I have to go home and make dinner." A polite smile curved on her lips.
"Of course," Marcus replied and got up from the stairs. He stretched his arms and looked around. "What's on the menu?"
"Risotto," Jane said and got up as well.
"Don't forget your flowers," he mumbled and pointed at the bouquet, which was wrapped in brown paper, on the ground.
A shy smile grew on Jane's face. "Thanks," she said and grabbed them from the ground. "Anyway, risotto. Easy, quick and delicious. What's on your menu tonight?"
"Whatever Callum has made." They started to walk towards Jane's flat. "He's on dinner duty today. Well, honestly, I do think his girlfriend made dinner, but I will see." He gave her a warm smile.
Jane nodded. "Callum is the tall guy, right? He was wearing a blue shirt, brown hair..." She was refereeing to the dinner a couple of weeks ago.
"Yup. The one who was besties with Francesca." They both laughed. "I really enjoyed today, Jane," Marcus honestly said.
"I did too," she softly said, she was shy. Jane really had fun, she needed this. "Did you fix the call you were supposed to make?" She looked at him, what caused her to misstep from the pavement. She gasped for air and luckily found her balance again. A soft pink colour touched her cheeks, and her heart started to beat faster.
Marcus reflex was fast; he grabbed Jane's wrist, preventing her from falling. "Watch out, clumsy," he smirked.
"Oh, my goodness," Jane breathed and pressed her lips into a thin line; why am I like this? Add this to the list, please. She took a deep breath. "I saw my life playing in front of my eyes, what the fuck," she said, but repacked herself. "So yeah, thanks for saving my arse once again."
A bright smile grew on his lips. "My pleasure," he said in a posh tone and let go of her wrist. "To come back to your question: I fixed the call. I had to call James, a friend, handled too quick and called you instead."
"Ah, that's good."
They were walking through the small streets of the city. It was quiet on the streets, making the conversation between Jane and Marcus hearable for everyone. It was a chat filled with giggles, something that made you look at them and wonder about what they were talking about.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the flat building where Jane lived. "I will text you when I leave Thursday, but just assume I will be at yours around seven," Jane mentioned.
Marcus nodded. "I will text you the address, by the way. But sure, I will see you then."
The corners of Jane's mouth curled up, and she opened her arms, ready to give him a hug. Marcus leaned in and wrapped his arms around her waist. This kind of hug was new to them both; it was longer, like they were really getting to know each other.
"Bye," Jane softly said and gave him a kiss on his cheek. She let go of him and bit her lip when she looked at him.
"Bye," Marcus smiled. "Buon appetito."
She opened the main door and looked behind her. "You too," she said.
He waved at her and waited until she disappeared. As soon as the door was closed, Marcus turned around and started to walk back to this car. Luckily for him, the car was parked a few streets away.
A massive smile was resting on his face; he really started to like Jane. Marcus admitted that Jane took his attention in the restaurant back then, but he somehow knew she was waiting for her boyfriend. Why else would she dress up like that? But when the boyfriend didn't show up, Marcus knew he had to do something. He never thought he would see Jane again after that evening.
Marcus pressed his lips into a thin line when a man was walking in his direction. That smile might look weird... When the man was about to pass Marcus, they looked at each other. The man had dark eyes, he looked angry for some reason. Marcus couldn't figure out if that was his normal facial expression or if it was on purpose. Even though Marcus didn't want to do it, he gave the man a nod - it was a common thing to do on the streets for some reason.
He unlocked his car and started to engine as soon he sat behind the wheel, he made his way home.
»
"Look who is there!"
Marcus closed the front door behind him and threw his car keys on the cabinet in the hallway. He entered the living room and just smiled. "Hey," he greeted everyone in the living room.
"How was it?" Callum continued and grinned.
Mick raised his eyebrows. "How was what?"
"Why are all these bags in the hallway?" Marcus ignored the questions and sat down on a stool. He yawned and waited for an answer. "Moving day?"
"I'm going home for a week," Mick announced. Marcus nodded and looked around. "But how was it?" Mick had no idea what 'it' was, but he was curious.
"It was fun," Marcus replied, satisfied.
"Okay, great to hear, but what was great?" Mick was impatient, he wanted to know what was going on.
Callum smirked, this was the first time he saw the shy side of Marcus. And he knew Marcus for a long time, so Jane made a huge impression on Marcus.
"I spend some time with Jane this afternoon," Marcus mentioned. "Because she was finished with her exams."
"Adorable how he explains the reason," Mick said to Callum. "'I saw Jane' was all we had to hear, nothing more," he chuckled and looked at Marcus. "How is she?"
Marcus looked down, trying to hide his smile. "She is fine."
The girlfriend of Callum entered the living room and sat down next to him. "How does Jane look like?" Cate curiously asked. "I now have this imaginary person in my head because I have only a name." She may have picked up some words during a chat between Callum and Marcus, finding out Marcus was seeing someone.
"How do you know about this?" Marcus squeezed his eyebrows together, but grabbed his phone anyway. He unlocked it and went to Jane's Instagram page before giving it to Cate.
Cate was scrolling through Jane's Instagram, clicking on some photos every now and then. It made Marcus nervous, for some reason, he was waiting for the approval of his friends. Callum also looked at it, so did Mick.
"She is freaking gorgeous," Cate finally said, she was slightly impressed, Jane was the girl everyone had a crush on. People would perhaps fight over her. "I say: go for it."
"Oh, she posted a new story!" Callum pointed at it, but accidentally tapped on the story.
Cate began to laugh. "How did you do that? You are watching her story now, idiot."
"No, you did not?" Marcus groaned, annoyed and got up, getting his phone back. "She must think I am stalking her right now."
A smirk rolled over Mick's lips, and he shook his head. "Panic! Oh, gosh, there's panic!" He sounded over-dramatic.
It didn't matter now, Jane would see Marcus was the first person to watch her story. He tapped on her profile picture and looked at the story she posted: a photo of the flowers. A soft smile came on his face, the flowers... Jane couldn't decide which bouquet she wanted, so Marcus basically randomly pointed at a bouquet, and she picked that one. It gave Marcus a warm feeling.
"Alright, so, you are still in the first phase, yeh?" Cate sounded excited, but also strict.
"Hmm, what?" Marcus looked up from his phone.
"First phase?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
She nodded. "So, what is your next move?"
"Woman is gonna play Cupid here," Mick chuckled, but looked at Marcus. "Have you planned anything yet?" He added and smiled.
"Jane is coming over for dinner this Thursday." There was no reason to hide it. Besides that, he didn't want to have Callum walking around when Jane was coming over. "But I have no idea what to make. Pizza is just so simple."
"Pasta, everybody loves pasta. And there are a million variations," Cate advised.
"Oh, that reminds me to say there are leftovers in the kitchen," Callum mentioned.
Marcus nodded and politely smiled.
"And get some pastry from the bakery, always works," she said and looked at Callum. "Right, Callum?" An amusing smile covered her face when Callum rolled his eyes.
"Just keep it simple, mate," Mick said. "Pasta, chocolate cake and a nice wine or beer. Nothing can go wrong with that."
"We will help you," Cate offered.