Staring at the stars I let out a tired sigh as I relax on the beach chair I laid out on my apartment balcony.
It's one in the morning and I couldn't sleep so I look at the night sky with a cover draped over my legs in a hoodie and my bonnet over my head.
I take a sip of my smoothie from the yellow bendy straw before setting it on the outside table next to me.
I grab my phone from the table, I need to talk to someone if I'm gonna go to sleep.
I called Delani. She didn't answer but sent me a picture of her middle finger.
I would probably call Astryd but she's probably working, same with Tyson.
So out of pure spite I called Carter. The phone rang three or two times before he picked up the call.
"Fuck you want?" His voice was deep and groggy from the sleep.
"What're you doing?" I ask sipping my smoothie.
"Sleeping, genius."
I nod humming, "That sounds nice. How was it?" I ask.
I hear him scoff, "If you don't tell me why you're calling me at one in the morning I'm going to hang up."
"I can't sleep." I sigh.
"I don't see how that's my problem."
"I know it's not, but I need to talk to someone before I can go to sleep." I explain.
"Watch a video or something." He suggests.
"I tried didn't really work." I huff as someone honks a horn as the drove in the street below.
"Where are you?" He ask.
"Outside on my balcony, why?"
I hear him let out an exasperated sigh, "What the hell are you doing on the balcony?"
"Looking at the sky and drinking a smoothie." I said grabbing my blended fruit drink taking a sip.
"And you wonder why you can't fall asleep." He mutters, "Ivy, go inside and lay down."
"Can I finish my smoothie first?"
"No. Go to bed." He was strict, and his Italian accent was more noticeable when he was sleepy.
I lazily get up from the beach chair grabbing my smoothie and blanket go back inside my apartment. I put my smoothie in the refrigerator before going to my room and getting under the covers.
"You know what I don't understand?" I am laying my head on my pillow.
"Ivy, do you have insomnia?" He ignores my question.
I ignore his question, "The time before time, like way before humans or dinosaurs existed. I would ask but no one knows because no one existed to know, and if I did ask I wouldn't want a religious based answer but a scientific one. A friend told me about this a couple years and now I can't stop thinking about it."
"I have a friend that thinks like that." He voices.
"Another thing is I don't think I would date someone if they don't know my middle name. I know it sounds childish but I've dated enough men to know that they'll play the long game just to get me in there bed." I rant.
"How many men have you dated?" He sounded tense but intrigued.
I think for a minute, "Let me correct myself, I've talked to a lot of men, probably more than count on my fingers after I graduated high school, thought there were some good ones most of them just wanted to have sex with me; which is understandable I'm attractive, right?"
"No." He said.
"Well you don't really count because you don't like me or you can't see, one of the two." I wave off.
"I can see perfectly fine, Ivy."
"But back to what I was saying, I would always tell them my middle name was a flower and they could just literally look up a list of flowers and guess; it's not like I gave them a limit or anything."
"What is your middle name?" He ask.
"Can't tell you. Goes against my mysterious persona." I yawn.
He chuckles lowly, "You're a lot of things Ivy but mysterious isn't one of them."
"Really? Sometimes I feel like I give off that vibe."
"Sorry to break it to you." He saids unsympathetically.
"No you're not." I roll my eyes a small smile twitching at my lips.
"Your right." He agrees.
We both fall silent but I knew he was still on the other line.
"Carver?"
"Yes, Ivy?"
"Whats up with you and your obsession with Transformers?" I ask.
"I'm not obsessed." He denies.
"Have you seen your room? You have little dolls lined up in your desk." I remind him
"They're not dolls!" He raises his voice, offended like a child.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I laugh apologizing.
"No you're not you're laughing." He mutters in an accusing tone.
"No. I'm, I'm just really happy that you're transformers are not dolls." I try to stop laughing as I stuff my face into my pillow so he couldn't hear me.
"You're a shit liar." He grumbles.
I sober up lifting my head, "On the bright side you're not a twenty eight year old man with dolls in his room."
"Ivy." I can practically feel his glare through the phone.
"Okay, okay. Answer the question."
"I like cars." He answers.
"You know Disney has a Cars trilogy." I said.
"I know it's the reason why I gotten into cars. I even had a car bed when I was younger." Now a smile was along the lines of my lips at his confession.
"Aww, that's adorable." I let out a small laugh, "What color was it?"
He lets out a groan before answering begrudgingly, "Red."
I gasp, "No, that's awesome!"
He chuckles at my reaction, "I thought that too at the time before I grew out of it and gave it to my little brother, but he didn't really care for it."
I pull the cover up over my shoulder, to my neck, as i get comfortable in bed, "You have a brother?"
"His name is Alessandro. He somewhere in Italy."
"Are you two close?" I ask yawning, once again.
"Yes, we talk every week." He says and I think I can hear a hint of admiration in his voice.
"Do you guys speak fluent Italian?" I shuffle under my covers feeling my eyes get heavy.
"Yes. Want me to say something in Italian?"
"If you don't mind." I add on as tiredness blankets over me and I try so hard to fight it off because I don't want this conversation to end yet, especially since Carter is being civil.
"Mi piace il suono della tua voce e potrei ascoltarti parlare per ore." The language rolls off his tongue with such delicacy and softness it traveled through phone and kissed my ears.
"What'd you say?" I ask lowly.
"I said I hope you get sleepy because I'm tired of hearing the sound of your voice." He saids, bored.
"Elegiste quedarte en el teléfono así que debes estar mintiendo." I spoke lazily my eyes getting heavier and slowly falling close.
[You chose to stay on the phone so you must be lying]
"What did you say?" He hums.
"I basically said you were lying." I summarize the translation.
"How would you know? You don't speak Italian." I heard the tinge of nervousness and teasing in his tone, and if I wasn't drifting off I would've teased him about it.
"I just know when someone's lying." I mutter.
He scoffs, "According to you I'm a liar so I also know that your lying." He concludes.
"If your a liar how can I trust what you say?" I let out a big yawn throwing off my sentence.
"You're sleepy, Ivy. Go to sleep." He spoke softly.
A feeling fluttered in stomach, it was feeling that was familiar but foreign, as calmness swept over me and my body slumped, relaxed into my mattress.
"No, I'm not." I deny tiredly.
"I won't end the call, girasole."
Right there! He did it again talking to me softly, it was quiet but I heard it, barely.
"What'd you say?"
"I'd said I won't end the call. Now go to sleep." He repeats and I know he said something else I was just too tired to make him fess up.
"I'm not sleepy." I hum.
Carter's POV
I groan groggily dragging my feet across my carpet floor as I walk into my bathroom. I squint as I turn on the light running a hand through my hair.
I apply toothpaste on my toothbrush before I started brushing my teeth and when I finished I rinse some water over my face before I started getting dressed.
I pull on black slacks and I leave them unzip so I can tuck in my button up— once I find one to wear.
As I search for a shirt in my closet I heard a faint voice from my room, walking into my room I heard the voice again.
"Carver?" The familiar and gentle voice spoke from my phone on my nightstand.
"Good morning." My voice was less harsh than usual with her and I didn't know why, but I didn't like it.
"You didn't hang up." She states sleepily with a tired voice and my eyes looked at the call time.
Five hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty three seconds.
"You're really observant." I said dryly walking back into my closet with the phone in hand.
"It's six in the morning." She deadpans.
"Ou, you can read time too. Is there anything you can't do?"
"It's too early for you to be starting with this 'I'm rude and have dry responses' persona." She complains and I laugh when she tries to mimic my voice with a horrible deep voice.
"I don't sound like that." I chuckle.
"I don't sound like that."
I roll my eyes, "Now you're just being childish."
"Now you're just being childish."
I close my eyes letting out an exasperated sigh because I was annoyed. Annoyed with myself that I couldn't find her annoying as she copies everything I say. I found it adorable and amusing.
"I don't like you." I said monotonously, but it sounded like I was trying to convince myself rather than tell her.
"I'm Carver and I think Ivy is the most awesome person I've ever met, and I always trip her because I'm jealous." She imitates.
"Wow, almost thought I was talking to myself." I said sarcastically with very low enthusiasm as I grab a black shirt and slip my arms into the sleeves
"It's really easy, just talk dry with an Italian accent." She informs.
I scoff buttoning up my shirt, "My accent isn't dry."
She chortles, "What? You want me to say its moist?"
I grimace, but shake my head as I chuckle at her suggestion, "Don't." I said taking out my gold cuff links.
"Exactly." She hums in triumph, "Now pick a color. Gold or silver?"
"Gold." I said adjusting my cuff links.
"Good choice." She compliments before I hear a rummaging in the background.
I take my phone and go back to my room with a pair of shoes. She comes back as I set my phone on the nightstand sitting on the edge of my bed.
"I gotta head to work and I would say I'd call you back, but that's to be determined."
"Don't call me again." I said strictly.
"Don't tell me what to do." She teases, "I'm getting in my car now but I'll see Bee at her appointment today, yeah?"
"Yes." I answer.
"Okay. Bye, Carver, and water the sunflower." She orders.
"Don't tell me what to do." I let out an exasperated sigh when I heard myself saying the words subconsciously as she laughs hanging up the phone.
When I finished getting ready I couldn't stop think about how I reacted to Ivy so...nicely?
I was smiling, chuckling, and showed signs of positivity, which wasn't foreign in general, but only with her it felt strange because I was admiring her.
With my stuff I go downstairs to the kitchen and feed Bumblebee after I let her go outside to do her business.
I grab my phone dialing the number of my assistant as I water the potted sunflower sitting on the windowsill above my kitchen sink.
"Mr. Moretti?" Alice answers the phone.
"Good morning, Alice. At eleven thirty I need you to take Bumblebee to her vet appointment today."
"Okay, is there anything else, sir?"
"Not for now, thank you." I end the call.
I run a hand over my face glancing towards the sunflower. I would take Bumblebee to her appointment, I want to, but I know if I see Ivy my attraction towards her would only grow and I don't think I really need that right now.
•••••••
"Alice?" I smile, "What're you doing here? I haven't seen you in a while." I pull her into hug.
"I'm just here to drop off Bumblebee for her appointments, but I've missed you so much." She beams, her blonde was straighten over her shoulders.
My eyes glance down to Bee with my brows furrowed, "Where's Carter? Something wrong?"
"No, he just called this morning telling me to drop of this cutie for her appointment." She pets Bumblebee's head.
"Oh." My mood dimmed a little with disappointment, but what did I have to be disappointed about?
"So what's been going on with you? How have you been?" I asked changing the subject.
"Nothing much." She smiles handing me the dog's leach, "I'm turning thirty on Wednesday and I'm just trying to get into the mentality of turning the big three zero."
"Aw, what're you doing for your birthday?" I ask.
"I don't have anything planned and I'll be busy working." She waves off.
My brows furrowed and a tinge of sadness hits me, "You're not doing anything for your birthday? And you're working? I don't think I can just let that slide."
"Ivy, really it's nothing." She tries to dismiss the topic.
"No, it's not nothing. I'll back you a cake and bring it to you at the office. If you're doing nothing for your birthday the least I can do is give you a cake." I said determined.
"I don't want you to go through all that trouble." She frowns.
"No, I insist." I smile gently taking Bumblebee's leach.
"Okay." She smiles with gratitude.
"Great! I'll see you Wednesday." I said before we parted ways and I started on the golden retriever's checkup.
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