NAOMI COLE—SEPTEMBER
A SMILE WAS ETCHED on my face as I climbed into Dante's car, shivering due to the chilly temperature. Two weeks had passed since we came home from France and instantly, the two of us were thrust back into our busy lives. While he was focusing all of his attention on the company and finalizing everything for his new home, I did the same for my classes that had started up one again, the internship, and volunteering I had picked up. With our focus being on everything else in our lives, Dante and I rarely had time with each other—except for the time we spent together on our lunch break in the backseat of his car. Although I enjoyed the time I was spending with Veronica and my brother, it was definitely difficult to not be putting all that time into Dante and I's new relationship.
"It's getting so chilly out there," I spoke to Dante who had a small smile on his face as he stared at me with a loving look in his eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I missed you," he admitted, making my heart pound in my chest and a cheesy grin make its way to my face. I was sure I was flushed as well. "Can I not miss you?"
"You saw me yesterday."
"For only an hour alone together," he groaned, letting his head fall onto my shoulder once I was settled into the passenger's seat. "That's not enough."
I pressed a kiss to his forehead and ran a hand through his hair before he lifted his head and started the car. He hadn't let me know where he was planning on taking me for today, yet I had the small inkling that he would finally be taking me to his house. He had yet to invite me over to help him unpack—because he surely needed the help—and I was sure that he was annoyed with me nagging him and would appease me.
His free hand rested on my thigh as he drove, running soft circles on my leg over the fabric of the stockings I had worn. Dante was one for surprises but had made sure to let me know to dress up a bit today, so I wore a fitting, white sweater and a caramel colored corduroy skirt over white stockings with small hearts on them.
"You haven't told me how classes have been going. Are you glad to be back?" He finally spoke once we were at a red light, turning to face me and letting me know that I had his full attention—that he cared.
"You know I'm a sucker for learning, so I'm definitely excited to be back...not for the stress. I just...I can't wait until I'm done and can finally begin my career," I gushed, biting down on my bottom lip to hide the smile that was fighting to break out.
"I see you hiding that smile," he chuckled, sending me a glance out of the side of his eye as he pulled off. "Don't hide your happiness, sweetheart. It's not something to be ashamed of."
His words made my heart flutter; I had never heard him say something so profound though I wasn't surprised by it. He just seemed to have so much wisdom that he kept to himself.
I didn't respond right away, pondering about whether or not I should ask the question that was on my mind. It wasn't that I was nervous to ask Dante deep questions anymore—we were in a comfortable relationship—it was just that I struggled to word them sometimes. It was hilarious to me that I could share my thoughts on paper so easily, yet verbally was still a struggle for me. That seemed to be something Dante and I both struggled with.
"Did you...or do you hide your happiness?"
Silence hung in the air after I released that question, making me wish that I had just kept my mouth shut. I glanced over at Dante in an effort to gage his reaction to see that he was biting down of his bottom lip, his hand tapping the steering wheel lightly.
"I did," he finally spoke up in a low voice, almost as if he had struggled to let it out—as if he was nervous to let it out. "For years I was depressed and no one knew. It started after Anna and I were attacked...I had been...different for years before that, but it was that situation that pushed me over the edge. No one noticed because I had no one to notice. Khalil may have had the inclination, yet anytime he brought up anything to close to it, I would snap at him."
I was shocked at the way he was opening himself up to me, yet more than shocked I was relieved. He hadn't finished the story, yet everything I had come to know about him was being put into perspective.
"In college, I was still taking care of Anna all by myself so I put all of my effort into focusing on her and my work. It wasn't until the day of my graduation that I realized college had never been enjoyable for me...it wasn't what I had longed for it to be for so long. But I couldn't change anything...Anna was eleven and I was still the only person raising her. When Khalil and I started putting the business together, I would go days without sleeping...maybe even weeks running on only two hours of sleep a night because again I was only focusing on work and on Anna."
"When she turned eighteen, it was almost like a breath of fresh air when I dropped her off at college...I knew that she would be fine, that she would enjoy it more than I ever had the chance to, but at that point I was twenty-eight and I felt like...like I didn't have a life. That was also when the business really took off, when I started getting all the attention...and I soaked it in. I started having meaningless sex with women I would meet at the galas I was attending or the clubs I would be at every night of the week. I was really lost, Naomi."
My heart felt like it was being clenched at each and every one of his words. It hurt to know that someone I cared about so much had struggled for so long without any help and it put into perspective how my family and friends must have felt in the year after the situation with Jonathan when I too struggled so deeply.
"And how's the depression now? Did you get help?" I inquired softly, not wanting to push him to speak more if he wasn't up to it. I intertwined his free hand with mine and was glad when he squeezed it.
"It's better...it's being controlled now. Khalil was the one who pushed me to get help, he sat me down to talk about all the shitty things I was doing and I fought him...physically because I couldn't accept was he was telling me. And he still helped me, he forced to to go to a doctor, forced me to go to a therapist, forced me to talk to him and it really helped. Khalil saved my life."
We sat in a comfortable silence for a while after he finished the story, not needing to say anything because our contact was enough. My other hand rested softly on the nape of his neck, rubbing softly.
"I think that what you did by taking care of your sister was very noble...it was the right thing to do. I just wish it hadn't been at the detriment of your mental health, and I'm glad you told me. Know that you can come to me...talk to me whenever you're struggling," I told him, lifting our intertwined hands and kissing the back of his.
"Thank you," he spoke softly, sending me the slightest bit of a melancholy smile that made me wonder if he regretted telling me or felt like this ruined the mood. He replicated my actions, kissing the back of my hand as well.
He let the sound of the radio fill the silence around us, continuing in the direction of wherever he was taking us. It was a relatively short ride to the suburbs where he pulled up to the front of a restaurant I had never heard of. From the looks of it, it was just one step below an upscale restaurant—and the people walking through the door surely proved that.
After opening my door for me, he wrapped an arm around my waist and walked by my side into the restaurant. I had assumed that he brought us to this restaurant due to how far it was from the city—there was less of a risk for encountering someone we knew.
"Reservation for Mancini," he spoke to the host when we entered, tightening his hold on me when the man's gaze lingered on me for a little too long.
Dante didn't strike me as someone who was jealous—I knew for a fact that he wasn't—but I did find some joy in that subtle ways in which he showed off his protectiveness over me.
"Right this way."
We followed the man to our table, walking past the other guests who all seemed to have something in common—wealth. One of the tables we passed, seated by a group of women who appeared to be my age, caught my eye—or a specific blonde caught my eye. I gulped, turning my gaze away to make sure she didn't look in my direction and take notice of Dante and I because she was one of the last people we needed to have any suspicion about our relationship.
"Your waitress will be with you shortly. Enjoy the meal," the host spoke once we were seated although my mind was far from worrying about my meal.
As soon as he walked away, I gently kicked Dante under the table who was staring at the menu intently. He looked up at me with furrowed eyebrows after the kick, only for them to calm when he saw the look of concern on her face.
"Danielle's here," I hissed as lowly as possible, letting my eyes shoot in her direction for a second, hoping he followed them.
I watched as his jaw clenched when his gaze settled on her, letting out a rough sigh as he turned back to face me.
"We're okay. She can't see us from here," he spoke encouragingly, although with just one shift—or even when she stood up eventually—she would be able to see us.
Still, I went along with what Dante said and focused on the menu. The items on the menu were quite expensive, but I knew that Dante wouldn't let me cover it. I hoped that once I settled into my own career, I would be able to be the one to spend money on him as well. I never wanted this relationship to be one sided.
"How are you feeling...after seeing your ex again?" Dante inquired as I sipped the mimosa that the waitress brought over for me. "I feel like I haven't asked you enough."
Immediately after seeing Jonathan again and the days following, Dante would outwardly ask me how I was feeling about the intense emotions that seeing him had caused to resurface. As expected, I hadn't been myself after seeing Jonathan—most days I had been quite moody—and Dante had been there to comfort me despite our distance and busy lives. As the days passed, Dante's worries lessened when I started feeling better, yet he had subtly continued asking despite me not being willing to talk much about it.
"I've been...feeling so much better. It still crosses my mind a lot more than I wish it did and brings back memories of...everything he did to me and the dark state it had left me in."
He reached across the table and took my hands in his, rubbing circles over the skin soothingly. His eyes held a tenderness that I was beginning to grow fond of—it told me that he was really serious about this.
"Like you told me, I'm here when you need to come to me or talk to me. I...I can't explain how much I hate him for what he did to you."
"Ditto," I replied, downing the rest of the mimosa just as our brunch meals were being brought back to the table. While I had ordered brown sugar french toast, Dante settled on Belgian waffles.
"I'm be right back," I told Dante about halfway through the meal, standing from the table and making my way to the restroom that wasn't very far. I was relieved that I didn't have to pass Danielle's table in order to get there.
Quickly, I used the bathroom before then checking my appearance in the mirror. Today, I had decided to wear quite a bit of makeup and was worried about it smudging. As I was doing so, one of the stalls to the bathroom creaked open and Danielle stepped out.
"Damn it," I muttered under my breath, lifting my gaze in the mirror to see that she had that fake smile on her face.
"Naomi! I thought that was you, but I wasn't sure. I was wondering who Mr. Mancini could have possibly been seated with," she spoke in that saccharine voice that let me know she most definitely knew that it was me who was with Dante.
"Oh yeah? I had no clue you were here," I lied, sending her a bright smile before making my way over to the door. I was more than ready to get away from her.
"Naomi, wait," she called out, her voice suddenly devoid of that artificial sweetness she tended to add to it. "Why are you here with Mr. Mancini?"
There is was: her vindictiveness was making its appearance. I turned around to face her, feeling my eyes narrow to match her beady ones that we staring me down.
"It shouldn't matter why I'm here, but if you must know, we're speaking about my future at the company and what I plan to do."
With that said, I once again turned to walk out the door, ready to leave her behind. So far, I had done pretty well at ignoring Danielle within the workplace and it felt like this moment was completely demolishing that wall I had put up between us.
"Sleeping your way to the top, huh?" Danielle spoke from behind me with a little chuckle that was void of any humor.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I threw back at her, spinning around to face her, her arms crossed over her chest in an effort to intimidate me. It wouldn't work.
"You're not here to talk to him about your internship. I'm not stupid, Naomi. I notice that you're always in his office, always trying to speak to him, sneaking out to the backseat of his car during your lunch break," she sneered lowly, approaching me slowly with her eyes narrowed even farther.
As much as I wanted to call her out for being a liar—she wasn't. Clearly, Dante and I hadn't been careful enough and Danielle was just vindictive enough to care and bring it up. There was no doubt in my mind that I would be a social pariah in that office when we got back on Monday.
"Why is it any of your business anyways?" I raised, cocking a brow right back at her. "Are you that obsessed with Dante...or is it me you're obsessed with?"
Her eyes widened—I had her stuck. Lauren had let me know just how lovestruck she had been by Dante for as long as she had worked there, pining after him to no avail.
"It's not going to last...it's not going to get you anywhere. What do you think everyone's going to think about you fucking the boss?"
With one final glance, Danielle pushed past me, sashaying out of the door and leaving me shocked. That interaction had been so short, yet here I was with my blood boiling and wondering how the hell I would possibly show my face at work on Monday.
Dumbfounded, I remained rooted in my spot trying to make sense of the jumbled thoughts clouding my mind. I was wondering how Dante and I could have been so stupid—we had made the agreement to remain strictly professional at work, yet we let our urges get the best of us. To make matters worse, I entertained Danielle's little charade, feeding into the attention that she so obviously craved instead of continuing to deny.
I was unsure as to whether or not there was a rule within the company that forbade relationships between coworkers, yet I was sure that once word spread of Dante and I's relations, I probably wouldn't want to show my face there ever again whether it was allowed or not. I was sure that while Dante would most definitely move along unscathed by this, I would be the one to face the consequences. I couldn't believe I would risk my livelihood—my future career—over my own selfish impulses.
Having finally collected myself, I confidently held my head high as I made my way out of the bathroom, sure that Danielle's friends would all have their eyes on me as I made my way back to the table. No matter how humiliated or dejected I was feeling at the moment, there was no way in hell I could let her know that she had gotten to me.
Sure enough, my gaze caught hers and I watched as the smirk on her face grew trifold as one of her friends whispered something in her ear. I simply turned away from her, taking my seat yet again across from Dante who was completely oblivious.
"She knows," was all I had to mutter for Dante to raise his head and look at me with wide eyes, his mouth stuffed with the waffles that had been eaten. "She confronted me in that bathroom. Dante...we should have been more careful."
"Why should we have to stifle ourselves...our relationship...over someone else?" He threw back, taking another bite of one of those waffles.
My brows furrowed as I simply stared at him, unsure as to how he could be so nonchalant about this. "Because my reputation could be on the line. You know how she is, everyone will know soon."
"Naomi, don't worry about it. I promise you that I'll handle it," he said with a sigh, reaching over to grab my hand uninhibitedly. I could practically feel Danielle's eyes on us.
"How?"
"We'll let everyone know that we are together. She'll look stupid trying to be vindictive if we admit that it's true."
"And...what about the legality of it. Can you...can we get in trouble for dating as coworkers?" I questioned as I bit down nervously on my bottom lip.
"There's no rule at the company stating that employees on any level can't be in a relationship with one another. She's only doing this to get people at the office on her side, to make them view you in a negative light," he assured me.
We finished off the rest of our meals as we tried our hardest to ignore Danielle who was so obviously staring at us. Although Dante had reassured me quite a bit, I was still nervous by just how far Danielle would take this? What if she went to investors who had an issue with Dante dating an intern fifteen years his junior. He didn't seem to be worried, yet I couldn't help but wonder if this was something that could follow me the rest of my career. Women always tended to be the ones who got the short end of the stick in these types of situations.
Still, I figured that it was best to play it by ear—I wanted Dante and I wanted to be with Dante despite the risk that I knew was being taken. I made the bed and I had to lie in it.
"That was delicious," I hummed once we were back in his car and we were driving away from Danielle and all her nosy friends. It almost felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest when he pulled off. "Where to next?"
"My house," he revealed, glancing over at me with a sideways smirk as I clapped excitedly. "I think you'll like it...it's your style."
"It doesn't matter if I like it Dante, it's your house."
"The way I see it, you'll be there a lot so it needs to be somewhere you find enjoyment as well."
A blush reached my face as I turned away to look out the window, nibbling on my lip to stifle my grin. "You always know the right thing to say to me. That's something I really like about you."
***
I COULDN'T HOLD BACK the gasp that escaped my lips as Dante pulled into the driveway of a beautiful colonial style home on the outskirts of the town. He hadn't been lying when he said it was my style—the combination of the home's impeccable landscape to the little touches of modernism to the otherwise centuries old architecture had me enraptured.
"Look at that grin on your face. I knew you'd like it," he chuckled as he put the car in park, turning to face me in the seat.
"I'm not sure if I like it...I love it," I mused, not even hesitating to jump out of the car and leave him behind.
I ran down the driveway towards the sidewalk where I could get a full, frontal view of the home. My eyes trailed up the brick path that led to the front door that was surrounded by four, eggshell white columns that held up the faux balcony above it. Along the entirety of the home were uniform windows that I just knew caught the natural just right with how they were facing the sun at this point. What caught my eye the most however, was the sunroom added onto the home that was slightly obstructed by a gargantuan oak tree. I already knew that would probably be my favorite part of the home.
"Are you going to let me give you a tour or just stand there and stare?" Dante inquired from where he was standing beside the car, dangling the keys between his fingers.
We met at the front door and I watched as he slowly inserted the key and turned the knob even slower, most definitely antagonizing me. Finally, however, he pushed the door open and took my hand in his as he led me into the house.
Knowing Dante, I wasn't surprised that with the inside of the home he had gone with a mixture of vintage and modern touches. While the floors were very clearly new wood, much of the decor had an older feel to it.
There wasn't much to see there, so I let him drag me to the expansive living room. I had been expecting the home to still be completely empty, so when I saw all of his new furniture—some of the furniture that I had helped him choose—I let out a gasp in both awe and disbelief.
"I can't believe you moved in without my help," I whined, turning to look at Dante with a pout on my face I crossed my arms. "This isn't fair."
"Is it not fair to want to surprise my girlfriend?" He mused back, a playful smirk growing on his face as he pulled me into his side. "What do you think about it? Seeing the things you picked out pieced together."
"I think it looks wonderful, babe."
We moved onto the rest of the house, seeing each and every room, each of which left me in complete awe. True to Dante's nature, all of the rooms in the home were mostly black, white, and gray, yet were wonderfully designed and styled nonetheless. Dante and I's tastes in furniture and decor seemed to mesh perfectly.
"This is going to be your favorite part," he spoke once we made it back inside after viewing his backyard equipment with a pool, small greenhouse, and fully furnished porch.
He pushed open the door to the sun room and I followed closely behind, in awe at just how much I loved it instantly. He hadn't uttered a single word to me about the fact that this was apart of the house, so seeing the room with potted plants, bright orange and sage green cushions, and little touches that fit me so perfectly let me know that there was a reason he had kept that from me.
"What do you think, sweetheart?" He asked when he turned down to look at me, a satisfied, toothy grin on his face that had my heart fluttering.
Knowing that he not only had decorated this room for me, but had shared yet another one of those beautiful smiles with me had me wondering what I had done to become so lucky as to have Dante in my life. How lucky we were to have one another—to be able to share our deepest secrets and worries with one another, to share our humor with one another, to share our love with one another.
As much as it scared to me to make the realization...I loved Dante. There was no doubt in my mind that that was what I was feeling for Dante in this moment. And it was what I had been feeling for a while.
"I think that I am so lucky to have you."
a/n: thank you so much for your patience. i have an injury that makes it hard for me to write for long expanses of time...and my chapters are long. i'm getting better slowly but surely!!!
some chapters back i asked you guys for tropes, and i found a way to incorporate them all into the sequel of this novel. one of the tropes had already been in mind—one that many of you were divided on—but i'm going to use it nonetheless because i think the story will only be best if i follow what allows me to create my highest quality work.
what do you guys think about dante's confession? how about danielle threatening to expose them? how do you feel about dante decorating a whole room for naomi in his house?
some drama is coming soon ya'll...
i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and make sure to vote!!!!