Amara pov
Elaina? Oh shit, I hope it's not Marco's mother. Jeong looks at me like I've just grown two heads.
"Everything okay?" he asks.
"pffft, why wouldn't it be? " I say.
He stares at me for a while before shrugging his shoulders and getting up. I open Stefano's messages and smile immediately... he's trying.
Stef💙
Hey ummm, we reached home safely.
Stef 💙
Was that your brother?
Stef💙
Sorry, you don't have to tell me. Enjoy the rest of your day 😘
Me
It is my brother, what is Marco doing?
I put down my phone and it immediately dings. Woah, that was fast...
Stef💙
Oh ok, Marco's asleep right now.
Me
Ok. Enjoy the rest of your day Stefano 👍
Stef💙
I'll try to beautiful.
Try? Oh well.
_____________
One week later
Stefano pov
It's been a week since I've seen her beautiful face. I've been tempted to go to her bakery or house so many times but I know she said she needs space and that's exactly what I'll give her.
I need to see her though. It's driving me crazy. Marco has been going to her everyday and he doesn't hesitate to rub it in my face.
Aria suddenly walks in my office, without knocking because apparently Dante told her not to. Marco immediately wiggles in her arms and as soon as Aria sets him on the floor, he comes wabbling to me.
"Hey buddy" I say before lifting him up and placing him on my lap.
"Papà , I miss chu!" he says while giving me a tight hug.
"Papà missed you too buddy" I say kissing his cheek.
He giggles and takes my phone from the table. He hands it to me and I unlock it for him. He likes watching videos and playing games on it.
"Marco has to stay with you for the rest of the day. Dante is taking me away for the weekend and he just told me. You know, you really need to teach your best friend to tell people things before the time we have to leave" she says.
I frown at her.
"What about Leonardo?" I ask.
"Oh him, didn't he tell you? He flew to England for a meeting yesterday" she says nonchalantly.
"I didn't know. Okay at leats it's the weekend. I can take care of my son" I say.
She waves bye to Marco, who doesn't see, before leaving.
I kiss Marco's cheek and continue doing my work on the laptop.
"Mawa" he suddenly says.
I immediately look at him and see him pointing at my phone. I take it from him and see a picture of her and Marco I took when we were at the park.
She's hugging Marco with a huge smile on her face. I wish I could return that smile back on her face.
"Papà, we go Mawa fow cookies!" he says jumping up and down on my lap.
Mmm. Perfect excuse to see her. I quickly text Aria and ask her where the bakery is. Turns out it's near my building.
"Okay buddy, let's go see Mara" I say smiling.
"Yayy!" he giggles clapping his hands.
Yay indeed Marco, yay indeed.
_______
Amara pov
I slump on my small couch in my office. I'm exhausted. Since valentines day is near, I had to bake a lot of cookies with pink icing, heart shapes and all that shit.
"Boss lady, your favourite bubbly toddler is here, and he demands your attention" David says smiling.
They all know and love Marco just like I do. Sometimes when Leonardo leaves Marco with me for a few hours, the whole staff members are in my office with me. Now imagine how much the customers complain.
I smile and stand up to go see my one and only little jellybean. I'm surprised to see Stefano standing with a nervous smile on his face while Marco wiggles in his arms.
I smile and walk to them. Marco immediately jumps to my arms and I hug him closely while placing kisses all over his face.
"Mawa!" he giggles.
"Hey jellybean" I say.
He hugs me tighter and I laugh softly. Stefano awkwardly looks at me.
"Hi" I say softly.
He looks hot. His hair is all messy as if he ran his fingers through them multiple times. He's dress shirt is rolled up to his elbows and his lips are wet. Yum.
"Hey Mar- Amara" he says nervously.
I smile at him before motioning him to follow me. I lead him to my office and he takes a seat on my couch. I go to my desk and place Marco on it before taking taking out his cookies from my drawer.
"Fank you, Mawa" he says happily.
"Your welcome baby" I say kissing his cheek.
I watch him munch on his cookies before turning to Stefano.
"Can I get you something to eat and drink?" I ask.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asks.
"No..." I say
"Well, can I take you for lunch? Please." he says while playing with his fingers.
"I would love to" I say with a smile.
His face lights up as soon as I finish my sentence. I softly giggle at his relieved face.
"Shall we?" he asks standing up.
I nod and pick up Marco before we leave my office. Stefano opens the door for me and I thank him.
I place Marco in his car seat before sitting in front. I don't miss the huge grin on Stefano's face as we pull away.
_
_____
As soon as we reach our destination I jump out and take Marco with me. He brought us to McDonalds which means... Chicken nuggets!
We enter and I immediately order our food, a happy meal for Marco and Chicken nuggets with fries for me. Stefano can order his own food.
We sit at the farthest table and eat our food in silence.
"Thank you for waiting for me" Stefano says sarcasticly as he sits across me.
"Thank you for bringing me out to lunch. I don't think I would've eaten if you didn't come" I say.
He smiles and reaches across the table to squeeze my hand. I smile back before dipping my fry in his sauce.
"Mr. Ricci? I thought you were gonna say away from this gold digging bitch" a woman behind me suddenly says.
I turn and see a tall slender blonde with a name tag that says 'Stacy'. Ughhh, here we go...
"Stacy, I'm not gonna warn you again. Stay away from me before I get a restraining order." Stefano says, he's nose is flaring with anger.
I softly squeeze his hand and his eyes immediately shift to mine. I smile reassuringly and his face softens.
"I work here now, can't you see. After you fired me because of this... Thing" she says glaring at me.
"What the hell is your problem with me! I don't even know you" I say angrily.
"You're the problem. Elaina doesn't want anyone near Stefano and she told me to keep an eye on you until she gets back. I guess I don't have to do that anymore though" she says with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" Stefano says harshly.
"She got back from Korea a week ago, so I'm sure you'll see her soon, toodles" she says with a smile before walking away.
Oh shit.