--Angelina POV--
"What do you think?"
"I think it's unfair how beautiful you are," Her words caused a laugh to jump out of my throat, and she laughed with me, sitting back on her seat as she sipped on her milkshake.
We've been shopping for probably hours, but I honestly didn't notice due to all the fun I was having. My legs might have been sore, but my heart was filled with laughter, something that it's been missing for too long.
"And I think you need to stop inflating my ego," I sighed, walking back into the changing room as I pulled the curtain closed and stripped myself out of the outfit I had been trying on.
"Dear Angelina, you have no ego to inflate, and that is exactly why I'm trying to give you one to inflate. Honestly, where is your confidence? If I looked half as good as you then I'd be so confident that people would hate me. But you, you need to embrace yourself more,"
"I wish it were that easy," I chuckled, slipping into the next dress on the pile that I was trying on. And unlike all the others before this, I genuinely liked this one. It was a simple yellow sundress that reached my thighs, but it was beautiful.
"You know what I think?" She sighed.
"What do you think?" I amused her.
"I think being a Duchess took its toll on you, and when you got divorced, it was the finishing touch in breaking your confidence," I paused for a moment in fiddling with the zip. She really hit the nail on the head with that statement.
Having put all of myself into perfecting my image of being a Duchess; when Donovan divorced me, it felt as though he hated me at my best. And if he hated me for all that I was, how pathetic of a person am I actually?
I no longer had the title of Duchess to hide behind, so I felt exposed. And I hated to admit it, but I was scared of what people would think of the real me.
Oddly enough, I didn't have that worry when I was around Lucian and Julia.
Pulling open the curtain, her mouth fell open when she caught sight of me.
"Help zip me up please," Dispersing the previous conversation, she stood up, coming to help me zip the dress up as it perfectly pulled itself up against me, a perfect fit.
"You have to get this one. I swear, it was made for you," Julia always knew what to say. I didn't know her for long, but it didn't matter, any sane person could tell that she was a good person with good intentions.
She knew I was uncomfortable in my skin, so she gave compliments that made me feel good about myself, but when she saw me growing uncomfortable, she changed the subject, and made me feel at ease.
Having a considerate friend like this, it baffles me on how lucky I've become, it feels like we've known each other for years.
"If you insist," I nodded, giving her a little twirl as she clapped her hands, and I went to look at myself in the mirror once more, feeling a tinge more comfortable with my reflection right now than compared to yesterday.
As we walked down the busy streets of New York a few minutes later, our arms linked through each other's, and our shopping safely stashed away in the boot of our car, we entered the cafe that Julia's been gushing about for the past half an hour.
"They sell the best chocolate chip- Wait, what the hell are they doing here?" I paused behind her, closing the glass door behind me as I stepped into the cafe.
"Who- Oh," I sighed at the sight.
I had completely forgotten that they existed for a moment. But nothing good lasts forever, not when these two were involved, clearly.
Donovan stood up out of his chair as I came to stand in front of him, Julia reassuringly stood by my side as she glared up at him for both of us while Nevaeh continued to sit down, simply looking up at me in surprise.
"Lina. What are you-" I raised a hand, closing my eyes to dismiss him as he shut up.
"I'm here to have a nice cup of coffee, I don't want any drama today, so please, pretend you didn't seem me," And I turned around, going to the till as I looked over the menu.
"Are you sure about this? Shouldn't we just leave,"
"You told me that I'd be missing out if I didn't come to this cafe? And today's my only chance since I'll be leaving soon, remember?" I cocked my head to the side, confused.
"I know. But it's just a cupcake, and I assumed you'd prefer missing out on the cupcake, and unnecessary drama, instead of getting them both," Chuckling, I shook my head.
"No drama today. We'll sit at the other end of the cafe, and mind our business," I reassured as she rolled her eyes, not sure if she should believe me or not.
"If you say so," She sang, going to speak our orders to the waiting cashier.
Going to sit by the window seats, I looked out to the bustling city streets, taking in the differences between New York and Rome. I loved my home country, I never really thought about it, but I realised every time I left the country for anything, mostly business trips.
The Roman air, its people, the sunny days, and even the memories, the good and the bad. Rome is where I was born and it's where I plan on staying, but after meeting Lucian, I can't say I'm so sure anymore.
"You thinking about that husband of yours?" Julia's voice brought me back to reality as I caught her grinning at me like a little fangirl.
"Yes, but rather than him. I'm thinking about my home country,"
"Italy? You miss it," She correctly guessed.
"More than I thought I would," I sighed, slouching on my chair as I picked my mug up, sipping on the hot cappuccino that almost burnt my tongue.
"It must be hard for you to adjust to a completely new country..." She fell silent for a moment, looking down at the coffee in her mug, deep in thought.
"I never really thought about it, but Angelina, you've been through a lot, from being a Duchess to an ex-Duchess, getting cheated on, and wrongly divorced with no alimony. And now you're married to a better man, but you had to leave everything behind... Are you okay?" I blinked, not having expected the question.
Now that I think about it, I don't remember the last time anyone's asked me that question.
And my heart swelled at the fact, my eyes almost tearing up.
It was such a simple question, but it held such a reassuring weight that made me feel as though I wasn't alone, and maybe I wasn't anymore?
"Yes," My lips crept up into the happiest grin, a little laugh escaping through as I closed my eyes to hold back the tears.
"I'm okay... I'm better than okay. Thank you for asking," And she grinned with me, laughing at me as I laughed at her for no apparent reason.
"That's good to hear," She sighed.
With the lighter atmosphere hovering around us, we talked about anything and everything. I wanted to tell her about the contract, but thought against it, I should discuss it with Lucian first before going and sharing the information with anyone.
And I couldn't dismiss the fact that while I loved Julia, she's also been friends with Lucian for longer than me, and was even engaged to the man at some point. What if she learnt to hate me after finding out about the contract? What if she thinks I'm taking advantage of him?
Dismissing my negative thoughts, I went back to the conversation.
"What do you like about him?" She asked.
"Lucian?" I asked as she nodded.
"He's always pulling pranks, doesn't know a thing about love or being romantic in the least, doesn't know how to cook to save his life, he's a loner whose only friend is his business rival and ex-fiancé, and I could go on forever." She exclaimed, baffled as I laughed at her words, but I couldn't really say much about that last point since I was in the same boat.
"You're not wrong. He tried making pancakes on our honeymoon, and almost burned the whole villa down. He got shouted at by the chef later, and it was a hilarious sight, like a child getting scolded by his father," I clenched my stomach with how hard I was laughing.
"When he sleeps, he needs to hold onto something, and I always almost end up getting strangled. He can't wake up early, ever. Since he found out I was ticklish yesterday, he's taken every opportunity to tickle me. I hate it," I shivered at the memories, my waist started tingling at the memory.
"So, is this what you love or hate about him?" Julia leaned her chin on her palm as she grinned at me, and I stuck an offended tongue out.
"Hate, of course. Who would love getting strangled, or tickled, or burned alive?" I shivered at the memories once again as she chuckled, not saying anything.
But now that I think about it, I can't imagine a Lucian that's good at cooking, has a reasonable waking up time, respects my personal space to not tickle me, and doesn't pull pranks. I complain about it now, but I know that I'll look back at these memories fondly.
We're not going to be married for long, two years, maybe even one. I shouldn't get too attached to him or it'll just mean more pain.
I jumped, surprised when I heard tapping beside me, and turned to see the man of my thoughts standing there with a little smirk on his face.
He hit his knuckles against the glass of the cafe, catching my attention as his other hand sat in the pockets of his pants. He looked handsome, wearing a casual outfit today compared to his usual suit.
A white knitted jumper with some jeans and boots, and a long beige trench coat, his hair was a perfect mess, looking as though he had styled it only for the cold New York air to blow through it, putting his hard work to waste. But I'd say that it only made him look better.
I waved for him to come inside, and he nodded, sending me a wink before turning to go to the entrance, and I watched after him, catching Julia's grinning face as I quickly snapped my eyes away from Lucian to glare at her.
"What?" She innocently sipped on her coffee.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked as he sat down on the seat beside me, his arm going to rest on my chair while his fingers made circles on my shoulder.
"I called the driver, and he gave me your location," He gestured outside as I caught sight of the Mercedes we had come here in; the said driver was currently leaning against the hood of the car as he tapped away on his phone.
I hummed, going to pick my mug up to drink my coffee, but nothing was there, and then I turned to see Lucian sat beside me, my mug in his hands as he inhaled my coffee, and once he had placed it back in front of me, there was barely anything left in there.
"You cheeky little-"
"Hey! Ouch!" He hissed in pain as I grabbed his cheek with my fingers, pulling him as he profusely apologised.
"That's what you get," I flicked his forehead as he rubbed his sore cheek, glaring at me like a little child that got caught stealing candy from his mother's bag.
"You two look like an old married couple," Julia boredly stated.
"We are a married couple, you silly duck," Lucian shot back.
"Did you just wake up?" I realised as I asked, looking at the time which read 1pm.
"No, I woke up an hour ago, got ready, and had breakfast,"
"An hour ago? Wow, he really does love to sleep in," Julia laughed, pointing at him.
"Shut up, Julia. Resting is important," Lucian glared at her.
"You're not just resting, you're full-on Sleeping Beauty," She giggled.
I sighed, massaging my forehead as they continued to bicker back and forth. Imagine if these two had ended up getting married? It would have been chaos. Married couple my ass, they were more like siblings.
"Enough of this nonsense, Angel, let's go, our jet's waiting," Lucian ended the quarrel, standing up as he took my jacket with him, opening it up for me to put my arms through.
"Now?" I asked, but listened nonetheless as I stood up, and he shrugged me into my coat, zipping it up for me when I turned to look at him.
"Yes, we have a honeymoon to get back to. I have had it with this cold American air, so unwelcoming," He cussed, looking out the window as he glared at the scenery with a scowl plastered on his face.
I learnt something new today.
Lucian hated the cold.
...