The soft buzz of a vibrating phone wakes me. It sounds louder than it actually is, given that it's on top of a wooden nightstand. I groan softly as I reach over, feeling the very soft aching between my legs. Thomas. I wasn't aware that he'd have my number, I didn't even know he needed it.
I look at the time. 11:00pm. It's pretty late for him to call. I look to my side and at the empty space of the bed. Once again Nicco isn't here. And it's far too late in the night for him to be working, he finished work hours ago. I didn't even feel him slip out of bed. My hand grasps at my phone and I press answer, immediately pulling the phone to my ear.
"Hello?" I answer.
I can hear the smile almost immediately in Thomas's voice. "Hello, Miss Cousy. I will be at the apartment in exactly fifteen minutes. Mr. Rianchi asked that you dress a bit formal tonight. He'll see you soon" he says.
My eyebrows squint as I listen to his words. Dress formal? He'll see me soon?
"Miss Cousy?" He calls my name after a moment of defeating silence.
I stammer. "Uhh, yeah. Sure. I'll be ready soon" I say before I press end call. I pull the sheet from my body and stand up, soon turning the lamp on. God, how will I get ready so soon?
I rush into the bathroom, grabbing at a toothbrush and a bottle of toothpaste. Fifteen minutes? Is that all? At least my hair is the least of my worries. I wash away my sleepy breath and hurry out into the closet. Mmmh. It smells like Nicco. He smells like a warm hug on a cold day.
I nearly search the closet up and down, looking for the suitcase Nicco had packed for me. It isn't here. Where the hell could it be? I start to panic. Without clothes how will I get ready?
I search the place again, soon planting my eyes against a black dress and a pair of heels. Beside it is a black necklace and a note from Nicco.
You'll look beautiful. See you soon.
Ugh. He's had this planned? Where is he?
I snatch the dress from the hanger, slipping off my shirt and shorts I've worn to bed for tonight. The dress slips onto my body and I reach for the heels, trying my hardest to multitask. So much runs through my mind. Should I apply makeup? Something light? Ugh. Forget it.
By the time I am finished with all my thinking and making sure I looked presentable, Thomas calls me again. I hurry over to my phone and answer for him. It barely even rang once.
"Hi, I'm coming down the elevator now" I say before he even gets a chance to say anything.
He hums. "Will do. See you soon, Miss".
I hang the phone up as I grab my clutch, holding it tightly as I walk through Nicco's penthouse. My heels clack against the floor as my feet bring myself closer to the elevator. It comes open and I stand there a bit puzzled. I have yet to press a button.
Thomas stands there with his hands clasped behind his back, a small smile on his face. "We won't be going down. We'll be going up" he tells me.
Going up? As in on the roof?
I question him not, stepping onto the elevator with him. I can tell that he's trained. His smile falls and it's the sudden poker face, a face that Nicco is so good at. Ugh. I want to know what he's thinking. And why am I going onto the rooftop?
The elevator ascends and I stay quiet as I look at the patterns on the floor, soon looking up and at him. He looks straight ahead and at the doors. The moment they come open I am met with a very loud sound.
"Right this way" Thomas steps out before me, holding his hand out to direct me towards the path.
My eyes squint as I follow the way, the rails on the sides not giving me the access of going anywhere else. The sound gets louder as I approach and I am soon placing my eyes against Nicco.
His darkly colored suit is the next thing I notice besides a fucking helicopter. It roars in power as the wings go round and round. God. This is mesmerizing.
Nicco smiles as I slowly approach him. My hair nearly flies all over the place but once he's close enough he helps me to fix it, placing his hands onto my hair and pulling it back a bit. He kisses my forehead. Oh. So gentle. Not always.
"As expected you look beautiful" he pulls back and looks at my dress. His eyes scan my face first, and then my collar bone on down. He looks as if his breath is taken away, standing back and widening his eyes. Oh god. He's making me blush hard. He's very good at this.
I smile up at him. "Thank you" my voice stifles out. For some reason I am shy. Extremely shy. I've never felt this way.
He nods. "Are you ready for your first helicopter ride?" He stands back and gestures towards the vehicle.
It seemed to grow on me. It's very large, and shiny. I'm sure this costed a lot. It is black all around, golden letters on the side. Rianchi. At this point I'm sure he likes to brand everything he has. Or owns.
"Yes. Where are we going" I ask, my mouth not being able to hide a very apparent smile. Ugh. I am so excited. I try my best not to show it, god no, I'll look like a complete adolescent. But I am screaming in the inside.
He shakes his head as he pulls the door open. "Can't tell you. You'll just have to wait and see". He holds his hand out for me and I grasp onto it as I listen to him. There's more of a surprise?
He sits me inside and pulls the very complicated seatbelt over my body. He buckles me in, and pulls it tightly to make sure it's secure and fastened. Sort of like he does when he ties me up inside of the bedroom.
"Don't touch anything" he demands. I nod as I look at him, watching as he steps down and closes the door. He walks around and gives Thomas a nod before Thomas disappears through the door we previously exited. Wait, is Nicco driving this thing?
Nicco walks around and gets inside of the helicopter with ease, pulling his seatbelt over himself and securing it. "Haven't flown since I was twenty two years of age. Do you trust me?" His smile causes me to smile although I am a bit frightened. Twenty two? What is that like one hundred years ago?
I shrug slyly as I look at him. "Should I?".
He just chuckles as he grabs the small phone inside, voicing something to the other person on the line. They voice back a few words and numbers and Nicco puts the phone back. He goes into this mode. Mode of intensiveness. He looks as if he's studying the lights against the inside of the vehicle carefully before looking at me.
"Don't be afraid, okay? I got you. I promise" he pulls his hand away from the wheel to touch my thigh gently. It calms me a bit. Not his hand, his dazzling green eyes.
When he pulls his hand away he puts it back onto the wheel and really starts to pay attention. He grabs a set of headphones and hands them to me. "Put these on". I listen without a doubt. I put them onto my ears and can hear the sound of a males voice. His voice is unclear to me because I am not listening in the first half but I sort of catch him at the end.
"Please confirm, over".
This reminds me of a show on the television where one is trying to get to the other. They may have a hard time hearing each other because of the staticky radio.
Nicco confirms with the man and he starts to lift the helicopter. Oh god. This feels so weird. My stomach is turning but this excites me in the best way possible. I watch the ground as we slowly lift, soon going forwards. The city below us looks so beautiful. But it gets tiny really soon. Everything looks like specks. The city lights twinkle like a star and it looks as if everything has flipped. It's as if you were on the ground looking up at the stars but instead it's the other way around—I'm in the air looking down at the city.
I stay there for a while, mesmerized with the view of it all. I've never had such a view. When I bring my eyes back ahead of me I nearly still myself. The sky is pitch black and I feel as if we'll somehow crash.
Nicco notices. "Don't worry. I'm trained. Learned when I was just nineteen. You can do anything with money. I've flown plenty of times" he tells me. But it doesn't stop me from being afraid.
"How can you see?" I ask.
He points to a screen inside of the helicopter. I have no idea what I'm looking at.
"This is equipped for night flight. There is a helipad where we will be landing" he tells me.
"Which is?" I try and squeeze out the answer. He gives me a smirk before shaking his head. He looks back ahead of him and focuses on the sky.
"Why did we land here?" I ask Nicco as he unfastens my seatbelt. He throws the heavy duty stuff to the side and holds his hand out for me, helping me out of the large vehicle. All of its movements from the wings have stopped and it sounds quiet. But we've landed on top of a building, why?
He shakes his head as he closes the door behind me, snaking his hand around my head to fix my hair once more. A sweet gesture that I'll never get tired of. He pulls my braids back a bit and flattens them. How sweet.
"We're going to eat. This is why I wanted you to get all dressed up" he answers me just as Thomas pushes the large door open. It looks as if it can't be opened from the outside, a little pad beside it to scan a card.
I look down at myself then at Thomas as we slowly approach. He holds the door open. "Mr. Rianchi. Miss Cousy" he greets us. Nicco gives him a small head nod before guiding me inside. Mmm, apples and cinnamon. It smells wonderful. Makes me hungry for pie.
Nicco leads us down a series of stairs and down a very long corridor before the smell of the food gets stronger. And suddenly the chattering of many people's conversations begin, and the soft sound of jazz music. As we go deeper into the scene I see a group of people playing an instrument. Ooh, how lovely.
I stand by as Nicco pulls a chair out for me, soon sitting down as he adjusts it for me. He walks around the large table and takes a seat for himself before gazing at me. It is a soft gaze. A sweet one.
I'm star-struck. He is gorgeous. And he looks very sweet.
A man dressed in all black soon comes to the table, a small smile on his face. "Evening, Mr. Rianchi, Miss. can I start you off with anything to drink or eat as an appetizer?". Ohh. I guess Mr. Rianchi is a known man, Mr. Billionaire.
Nicco smiles as he looks at me. "We'd like a bottle of Romanée Conti" he tells the man. He smiles as he nods slowly.
The man soon turns around and is off to disappear before my eyes lay back on Nicco. My head tilts slowly and he looks at me, waiting for me to say something. "Wine? Don't you think I'm a bit too young for that?" I ask and he chuckles lightly, a smile never appearing on his face.
"I think you're able to manage with a bit of wine in your system. I'll fill your glass but you can only have a few sips" he demands, a small smile now plastered on his face.
Wow. How lucky.
My eyebrows temporarily raise as I look at him. "Okay, Mr. Billionaire" his eyebrows push together "don't think you're famous because the guy taking our order knows your name".
He shrugs. "Well I'd hope the workers here know who owns the place. Why do you think we have the best seat in the house? There is no one else here in this room with us" he says.
A small gasp falls from my mouth as I look around. He's right. No one is here besides the ones playing the soft instruments. They are up on a small ledge, their instruments in their hands or between their legs. And then I notice what they are wearing, and what it looks like here. Black, hints of gold everywhere. Golden menu, black chairs, black table cloth. Ugh.
I'm embarrassed. I was so high of Nicco's actions that I didn't even take a step back to realize. And he notices it too.
"His name is Elliot. He's fairly new, has only been here for a few months. Do you think he's doing well?" He asks and without hesitation I nod.
"Yes, he seems very nice and well trained" I say and he nods. His jaw clenches a bit as he looks down at the menu but he soon releases it.
"I actually wanted you here tonight so that we could discuss a few things, that aside from the fact that I am deeply sorry about not being able to spend much time with you. I at least wanted your last night to be enjoyable." Nicco sits the menu down and moves it aside as if he doesn't need to use it anymore. And of course he doesn't, he owns this place, he probably knows exactly what he wants.
But he says enjoy myself. I have. I've had many baths inside of the tub, which is larger than the one back home in Seattle. I've gotten my nails done, and I've gazed at the stairs at the rooftop. Is there anything I'm leaving out?
"This was a business trip, not a vacation. I understand that you may not have all of the time in the world, but I did have fun. It was fun just being here with you" I say truthfully. His lips curl in the way they do when he's hearing something he wants. It's so sexy. A happy Nicco.
"And what would you like to discuss?".
He sucks in a small breath of air. And suddenly Elliot appears again. He sits down two fresh wine glasses before easily popping the cork out. As he tries to pour Nicco just grabs the bottle.
"Thank you. Can we place an order now? I'd have the steak and mashed potatoes, green onions on top. And she'd have the-" he stops himself and looks at me, waiting for my answer.
I give him a small smile before looking at Elliot. "I'll have the grilled chicken salad" I say and he nods before turning around.
Nicco raises an eyebrow. "Where did your appetite go?".
"Well I was asleep before all of this so I guess I'm not too hungry". Nicco's lips curl even more.
He takes the bottle and begins to pour some into the wine glasses. Mine first. He pours enough and then pours his. I waste no time reaching over to my wine glass. This wine looks very expensive and tasty. "Ah" Nicco says, making me halt my movements.
I raise an eyebrow as I look at him.
"Sips. Only sips." He reminds me. I nod, my eyes wide as I reach for the glass.
"So the discussion. Would you like to have a key to my penthouse? And you could bring more of your clothes, put them into my closet. And your hair stuff, your products for your face. I think it would look nice inside of the penthouse" he says.
My heart stills for a second. Moving in? That's a big step. I've never actually made it to that step in a relationship. It scares me. It intrigues me. It makes me happy.
"You want me to move in with you?" I ask. He smiles a bit more as if he were to say yes. "Nicco that's crazy" I say.
His smile falls a bit. "How come? You don't want to live with me?".
"I do" I say. I do. I truly do. "It's just crazy".
"Is that a good crazy or a bad one?" He asks.
I smile a bit as I shrug. "A good one? I guess. I mean, what happens to my little apartment? What if I want to go there?".
He lets out a breath as he sits back onto his chair. "That will be well taken care of. I'll cover all expenses. You'll be able to return there whenever you'd like".
My mind stirs. That's so sweet of him. and it shows a bit of progress. He can't control me that way. I have the will to return back home whenever I please. It fills something in my belly.
"How soon are we talking?" I ask.
His small smile reappears like it never left. "The moment we touch Seattle. There's already a key with your name on it. I can have Hudson gather your things and move them into the penthouse in no time. But I want to be sure it's what you really want. It's what I want" he tells me.
I nod. "I like the idea of that. It's not like I didn't practically live there anyways" I say and he nods. I've been sleeping over at Nicco's apartment since the first night we spent together. We've basically been inseparable.
"Exactly. Now you'll have all access to the penthouse without me being there" he says.
All access?
There's more that I didn't see?
X
"So fucking tight"