19th august 2023, monaco
SO FAR SUMMER HAD BEEN AMAZING. Ella's brothers had returned to Italy three days ago. Surprisingly, there were no arguments between any of them and Max. They didn't love him, but they tolerated him. Max had assured Ella that he wasn't trying for their approval, but the next time he met them he would be, and there was no doubt in his mind that he would win them over.
Millie was staying at her aunties for a few days, Victoria Verstappen had picked her up an hour ago. "So what do you wanna do today?" Max asked, drying the dishes while Ella cleaned them. "Oh you still wanna make plans? I figured since Millie was gone you would just go meet your friends?"
"Well I don't wanna leave you here alone, we can go for lunch later?" Max offered, Ella narrowed her eyes. "Just us? Like a date?" Ella sounded skeptical, Max didn't say no. "Enough," he laughed, Ella joined in too. "Okay sounds good. One condition though," Ella stated, Max waited to hear the condition.
"You can't fall in love with me," she joked.
"Won't be a problem," he laughed, or would it? Ella giggled adorably, Max felt his chest tighten and he didn't know why. "I've never been on a date, not really." Ella said simply. Max did a double take. "You're lying."
"No? You've met my brothers, any 'date' didn't last more than two minutes if I met him outside. If he picked me up from my house, he would leave alone." She explained, Max couldn't believe it. Ella was a stunning girl, and more than one of Max's friends had showed an interest upon meeting her once. "So you've never had a boyfriend?" He pried, Antonella inhaled sharply. "Once."
"Antonella. Tonight, I'm taking you on your first real date."
"No you're not." She stated, Max rolled his eyes defeatedly. "Please?" He pleaded, Antonella sighed but gave in. "Fine but it's a friend date, deal?"
"Whatever you need to tell yourself," he joked with a wink. "No more casual lunch! We are going to a fancy restaurant for dinner, and many more activities! So go shower, do your hair, get dressed and get ready to be treated as you deserve." Max wasn't sure where this idea had came from, or why he was acting like this all of a sudden. But he was in a good summer mood, and once Max got an idea he would do everything in his power to make it happen.
"Okay," she laughed, but Max was serious. "I'll pick you up at 6." He said, disappearing to his room. Ella laughed once more, and decided to watch some Kardashian's before she started getting ready.
At 6 on the dot, Antonella heard a knock on her bedroom door. She opened it and it was no surprise that Max was waiting for her on the other side of the door. It was a surprise, however, that he was holding flowers. "You look gorgeous,"
"Thank you Max, they are stunning." She took them out his hands and wasn't sure what to do, Max laughed at her. "Okay so next time, on a real date, you say; I'll just go put these in water, come in!" Max gave her advice, Ella rolled her eyes and told him to put the flowers down somewhere. Max did as he was told. "Ready to go?"
"Almost just have to grab my bag," she smiled and picked her bag up off her bed. She checked her outfit in the mirror once more. Max was wearing a simple white shirt, and slacks. But he did pull it off. He didn't have a jacket on due to the summer heat, which was also why Ella opted for a tight fitting yellow backless square neck dress. The colour suited her skin perfectly. "You look great, let's go!" Max said excitedly. "Okay! In a hurry are we, Max?"
"Tonight I am not Max. You are not Antonella. Tonight I am Emilian, and you are Vittoria." He stated. Ella furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "How do you know my middle name? Okay which brother told you?" She asked with a pointed finger, Max said nothing, but hurried her out the door to begin their 'friend' date. "Remember no falling for me!" He laughed before they left the house.
They shared a walk at sunset to the fancy restaurant Max was talking about earlier. Max hadn't removed his hand from her lower back for even a second, Ella didn't mind it. "So what will we be doing tonight?" She asked, Max explained it was a surprise, and she would have to wait to see what he had planned. "So tell me about yourself, stranger. What do you do for a living?" Max asked her, Ella laughed but played along with his game.
"I'm a nanny, for an amazing little girl." Ella explained, Max raised his eyebrows as if he was hearing this for the first time. "Sounds enjoyable! What's her father like?"
"Old and grumpy," she replied instantly, Max rolled his eyes at her, though he couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not that much older than you. Just under three years. And am I really that grumpy?"
"I'm kidding! You have become less and less grumpy as time has went on, promise." Ella laughed, Max sighed and insisted he was glad to hear that. "So tell me what is your passion?" Max asked, Ella struggled not to laugh. She was struggling to take this night seriously so far, but things would settle at dinner - she hoped.
"I don't think I have one," the girl shrugged, Max furrowed his eyebrows in doubt. "You're telling me you always planned on being a nanny for a princess?" Max questioned with a side of sass, "Well no... I wanted to be a chef. But I never got around to it, I think I've left it too late now."
"Nonsense. You are a very good cook Antonella, I'm sure you could do it." Max complimented, Antonella said nothing more on the subject. "I thought my name wasn't Antonella tonight?" She teased, "You know I thought about it and I really don't want you calling me Emilian. I hate that name."
"Max definitely suits you better. And Vittoria is my mother's name so," Ella explained, Max nodded and directed Ella left towards the restaurant. "Here we are."
They were shown to their table immediately, Max pulled the chair out for Ella like a gentlemen, and ordered some water for the table. "This place is really nice," Ella commented, Max agreed and told her he'd been wanting to try it for a few months now. "What are you thinking of getting?" She asked him, Max had decided on the burger. "Aren't you gonna ask me what I'm getting?"
"I know what you're getting already." Max shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing, folding over his menu. "How could you possibly know that? I'm not even 100% sure on what I'm getting yet."
"You're getting the lasagne," Max stated shortly, Antonella couldn't think of a reply because he was right. "How did you know that?"
"I know you," he replied quickly, before ordering drinks for them both when the waitress returned. Antonella bit back a smile as she watched Max converse with the waitress, ordering food for the pair of them. "So, tell me about yourself," Max said casually. "Max you can't be serious! We're already acquainted."
"Fine fine, you ask a question then." He ordered, Antonella thought for a second. "What's your favourite colour?"
"That's your question?" Max laughed, Antonella shrugged her shoulders and demanded to know the issue with her question. "No issue! No issue, it's just I already know your favourite colour."
"No you don't, we have never had this conversation before!" Ella laughed with doubt, Max tilted his head with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe not, but I do know quite a fair bit about you." Max took a sip of his drink as Antonella shook her head vigorously. "I think you're bluffing. Whats my favourite colour then?"
"I will tell you in a second. But first, for fun, why don't you believe me?" He bargained, Ella couldn't stop smiling. "Because we've never had this conversation before! I've never even told Millie, and my brothers don't know so how would you?"
"I know you very well!" Max insisted, Ella didn't look so convinced. "Not the real me! Not really!"
"Your favourite colour is navy blue. I know your pizza order. You don't like whipped cream. You have a tiny freckle on the inside of your ear. You make a certain face when you're tired but don't wanna admit it. You fiddle with a pen when you're bored, although I can't work out why on earth you even bring a pen everywhere you go..." He laughed, Ella was speechless, but Max didn't stop there.
"Your favourite cereal is cinnamon toast crunch. Your favourite ice cream flavour is mint or chocolate fudge brownie but only if it's ben & jerry's. You always order the same thing from the chinese. You love cooking, you've always wanted to be a chef. You can't choose a favourite style of music because every artist you listen to is so different. Whenever you eat pizza you fold each individual slice in half. On a good day you order a hot chocolate with no marshmallows and no whipped cream, on a bad day you order a latte. Adriano is your favourite brother because he protected you from everything when you were growing up," Max continued, but Ella couldn't believe he noticed all of that.
"You always scrunch up your nose before you try a new food. Your favourite subject at school was music. You sing in the shower. You dance whenever you get the chance. Your favourite cocktail is a mojito, but you don't get drunk often. When you were younger you had a pug, callled Rufus, he was your bestfriend. You hate broccoli, but still put it in every pasta dish you make because it's Millie's favourite..."
"Max..." She said softly. "Your favourite colour is navy blue..." Max averted his gaze as he spoke.
"You're right. You do know me," Ella mumbled the last part, and struggled for words. She had thought that Max wasn't too fond of her, but this suggested otherwise. Why would Max remember all this stuff?
"Well we live together, and spend a lot of time together. It's natural that I would pick up on some of your idiosyncrasies," Max explained himself, Ella nodded in agreement and thought of Max's little quirks she had noticed. He always left the door open when he showers, for Millie. He only ever listened to music when in the gym. He is right handed, but holds his knife in his left hand when he eats. He laughs at his own jokes. He's notorious for eye rolling and peeling off every scab he gets.
"Enjoy," the waitress said kindly before leaving their table. The pair of them enjoyed their food, and each others company as the conversation progressed into new movies and tv shows.
After a lovely dinner, Max and Ella had a scenic walk through the city at night time, Ella enjoyed herself a lot more than she thought she would, her and Max actually got on very well.
"So on a normal date this is where you'll say your goodbyes," Max explained, Ella laughed at him and pretended to shut the door in his face. Max kept it open with his foot, and laughed. "I'll go put your flowers in water, since I should have done that before we left."
"Wait you haven't even said goodbye to me?"
"Max we live together!" She giggled, Max pouted, and put both of his hands around her waist. Ella smiled at him. "Thank you for a lovely night, I had fun." She said softly, her back leaning against the door, Max looked down at her intimidatingly. "So did I, Antonella." He said, looking longingly into her eyes. He slowly moved closer and closer, Antonella inhaled sharply. Was Max about to kiss her?
At the last second before Ella assumed their lips were about to meet, Max had dropped his hands from her waist and swiftly made his way inside the apartment. "Goodnight Antonella," he said loudly. Ella paused for a moment, before entering the house. What just happened?
a/n
sorry for the long chapter
but i really love this chap!!!
also WP is absolutely
broken and won't let me
add any new photos so umm
i'm really annoyed!
hopefully they fix it before i
publish chapter 39 as that's the
last chapter i have with photos