✧
I don't know why I turn up at my father's office after he asks to see me.
I don't want to see him. But I'm more intrigued with what he has to say.
We both know I don't come for his company or to catch up. I'm still latching onto his deal of allowing me to take my grandmother's things if I manage to create profits from a new business. It's obvious he didn't like my idea to help out at the cafe but it's not his choice, it's mine. He always tries to find a way to meddle.
When I knock on his office door, I contemplate barging in. He won't appreciate that.
A part of me wishes I didn't even come. Why do I run when he calls?
I hate myself for it every damn day.
As I hear a light murmur behind the door, I press down on the handle and step inside. My father stands behind his desk, phone at his ear. He takes one glance my way and says nothing, no expression of happiness whatsoever.
The feeling is most definitely mutual.
I shut the door behind me and walk towards his desk, taking a seat in front of him and making myself at home. He watches my every step and I can't help but flash him a sarcastic smile as he hums through the phone.
"Alright, I'll speak to you about this later." He says sharply.
The next second his phone is down and he clears his throat. We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity and I shake my head slowly. "You wanted to see me?" My tone dips with boredom.
He narrows his eyes at me. "How pleasant, your old man isn't even worth your time."
"I'm busy, father. I've got things to do, rather than being called in at the middle of the day. There is such a thing as a phone, you know? Which I realise you know how to use, taken you were just on one." I say a lot harsher than normal.
I really didn't expect my mood to dip this low being in his presence.
The last time I saw him, he annoyed me more than words can describe. Now I can only imagine what else he has to say, that is so important for a meeting.
"How professional, Declan." He flashes me a scowl of disapproval before taking a seat at his desk.
I sigh and draw my ankle onto my opposite knee. "What did you wish to discuss?"
"I wanted to ask how the cafe business is going," he says, leaning back in his chair rather leisurely. "But since you decided to be assy, maybe I don't want to know."
My eyes roll on their own accord. I'm tired of his silly games. "The cafe is doing great, actually." I state.
His eyes widen with shock. "Oh, really? That's a surprise."
"Surprise?" I repeat. "I know how to run a business, I did it with my own company in the past. What on earth would you be surprised about?"
My father snorts quietly. "The fact a cafe has little to no profit benefits. You and every other hippy tea loving cafe in this town and country. You won't make profits unless you take the business into your own hands and make it into something more sustainable, like a gym or a widely used space for a select clientele."
I scrunch up my face. "You're suggesting I take the cafe and make it into something else?"
"That is precisely what I'm telling you."
"No," I lean forward. "I would never do something so disrespectful and disgusting. They trusted me with their business and I'm going to do everything I promised, not rip their livelihood away from them like it's nothing."
He blows a long breath out through his mouth and then attempts to wave me off. "That's why you'll never be a successful businessman, Declan. You never want to take risks that could give you everything, always playing it by the rules. Rules are made to be broken, in a world like this you have to act smart. It's every man for himself."
I stare down at the man who I'm somehow related to. The thought of taking Chessman's away from Luca and Hazel. My stomach lurches at the thought of Luca's face, how devastated he would be. If I crushed him, Hazel too, I'd never forgive myself.
I could never live with the guilt and happily get on with my life.
"I don't care about being successful if I'm trashing an entire family's lifelong business."
He clears his throat loudly and clasps his hands over his stomach. "Well, I've changed my mind," he grumbles.
I narrow my eyes at him. The heat inside my stomach begins to bubble and I don't want to get angry, not at his work. "What are you talking about?"
"If you want your grandmother's things that she left you, then you're going to take the business and make it into something new."
My feet press to the floor and the chair slides against the ground harshly. "No," I bellow at him. "How dare you change your mind when things don't go your way?"
He shrugs simply. "Business, son."
I bite down on my jaw so tightly that I almost crack my entire mouth open. "I am not taking their business, their property to benefit myself."
"Well... then I guess you won't get her things. Simple."
My fists itch to punch the living daylights out of this evil man. But I know right now that's not the best thing to do. I feel my nostrils begin to flare and I tell myself to take a breath before I do something I will regret.
Although in the moment it'll certainly feel liberating.
"Why do you have to be such a bitter, old man?"
He laughs. He has the fucking audacity to laugh. "Because without me, Declan, you'd be wasting your life away. Giving your spare time to help a family that should be paying for your damn time! You're a fool for thinking that you're doing good by helping them. They're destroying the economy."
"What the fuck are you even talking about?" I explode, my voice bouncing off the walls loudly. "You are chatting complete shit. You're just trying to punish me for whatever reason and I'm sick of it."
"Hmm," he huffs, glancing at the watch on his wrist as if I'm wasting his time.
My chest heaves uncontrollably. I wish I never came to listen to his bullshit. "I don't even own rights to the cafe," I spit at him. "So I won't be able to do as you wish. The business is still safely in the family's name and I refuse to take that away from them because I am a good person. Not everything is about money, you're so shallow that you can't even see it."
My father stares back at me with his lifeless, dark eyes. "You know what you have to do, Declan."
I resist the urge to be highly immature and flip him off. He deserves a lot worse. Instead I turn and exit his office without uttering another word. Bile rises in my throat at how frustrated and disgusted I am. The violence inside my body is painful and I know I'm better than knocking my own father down. Even if he deserves it.
As soon as I'm outside and I get into my car, I see a text from Luca.
For a moment I pause before opening the message.
Luca: Hey, something is lodged in the dishwasher and I cannot get it out for the life of me. If you've got time, could you pop by and check it out? Don't worry if not, I can have another look at it after work.
I read over the message a couple times.
My foul mood makes me want to speed off to the gym to relieve all my emotions. I check the time and tell myself that I should calm down before bursting into the cafe with a face like thunder.
An hour in the gym wasn't enough. I needed another two weeks to process this anger.
When it approaches closing time, I head over to Chessman's. The cafe is empty when I arrive and I spot Luca behind the counter, wiping it down with a damp cloth. As the bell rings he glances up and offers me a gentle smile. "Hey," he says warmly.
"Hi," I say quietly.
Luca's eyes follow me as I walk towards the dishwasher and yank off my jacket, draping it over one of the chairs. I push up my sleeves and open it up, checking for what the problem is.
"Is everything okay?" He asks gently, his hands clasping together in front of him.
My eyes remain focused on the dishwasher. "Fine."
Luca says nothing more. I lower down to the floor and check the filter first, it seems to be blocked. I grunt as I attempt to move through whatever has caused it to stop working. Luca bends down beside me and watches what I do.
"I think there is something at the back too," he comments. "I tried with the filter but I couldn't get the top off but I think it's leaking. The rubber has broken."
I say nothing and continue.
Luca then points into the dishwasher. "Right there."
My jaw aches as I clamp down, I slam my hand onto the lid of the dishwasher a lot more aggressively than I intended. I hate that Luca flinches from the loud sound because it was unnecessary. "I'm trying to fix it, Luca." I say harshly. "I can't see with your hands in the way."
When I turn to him he blinks at me once and swallows. "Sorry."
A pang in my heart makes me feel bad but I glance back to the dishwasher and attempt to get it fixed. I curse to myself when I can't quite get it right but I'm determined to fix this thing before I end up ordering a brand new one.
"Fuck sake," I grumble under my breath.
Luca hovers by me. "Do you need me to do anything?"
"No."
I see him nod out of the corner of my eye. For the next five minutes I do as much as I can to fix the dishwasher but I'm seconds away from destroying the entire thing. I stand from the floor and wash my hands in the sink before drying them on a tea towel.
"Can you fix it?"
Something bubbles in my stomach and I turn to Luca suddenly. "Can you just give me two fucking seconds, please?"
Luca's eyes cloud over with embarrassment and I curse to myself for being such an asshole. "I'm sorry." He whispers before walking past me, head down and shoulders slumped. "I'll leave you alone."
Guilt washes over my body and I hate myself for even talking to him like that. Why am I taking my anger out on him when he's done absolutely nothing wrong? I feel my temples begin to ache from how hard I'm gritting my teeth.
"Luca," I murmur pathetically before leaning out to grip his wrist. He stops but only because I'm a lot stronger than him and he will have to wrestle to get out of my grip. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice like that."
When I loosen my fingers he manages to rip his hand from my grip and shakes his head. "It's fine."
I step closer and twist his body to mine, taking his face between his hands because I don't want him to step away again. His devastated face makes my nausea increase. How could I be so damn rude to him? Those big blue eyes flick between mine slowly and I can see the confusion and hurt behind them.
"It's not fine, so don't say it is," I lower my voice and take a slow breath. "I'm sorry. I've–I've had a rough day and everything is just grating on me."
My eyes flick down to the floor for a second before I meet his gaze again. "If you had a bad day, you should have said. I don't expect you to always come if you're busy or have other things to worry about."
I grip his face a little tighter and tilt his head slightly. "I don't want to disappoint you, I never want to let you down. That's why."
He stares back at me, eyes finally softening. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"My father is just an asshole," I blurt and drop my hands from his face.
"You went to see him today?"
I nod. "Yeah. He's insufferable. He thinks that every business has to earn millions upon millions to be successful. He's also keeping some of my grandmother's things from me, she passed away a few years ago and I want them. But he won't give them to me."
Luca's brows furrow in my direction. "Why?"
"Because he's a narcissist. He loves to control. He's trying to blackmail me into getting her things and I refuse to do what he says because I have morals. He loves to destroy lives." I admit and take a large breath.
His hand brushes against mine gently and I glance down. Our fingers lace together, my heart thumping inside my chest as he gives mine a squeeze. Then he tugs our hands and we sit on the chairs closest to the counter.
"What was your grandmother like?" He asks and I glance at him in surprise.
My lip curls to the side thinking about her. "The most generous woman. I know everyone says grandparents go above and beyond but she did everything, she was a superwoman. Her name was Mabel. Sometimes I can't believe she gave birth to my father when they were so different. She gave her all, my father likes to take things that don't belong to him."
Luca remains quiet but his eyes encourage me to carry on and I feel comfortable sharing this with him. "She always told me that happiness comes above anything else. Including money and status. I guess she didn't want me falling down the rabbit hole my father ended up in. She loved dearly and I miss her so much. I know she left me a watch my grandfather gave her, she wore it every day for fifty years."
"I don't understand how he can keep it from you if she wanted you to have it."
I shrug. "Apparently it's not in her will and he refuses to show me it. He's just using it as a way to coerce me into doing his dirty business or whatever he wants from me. I'm sick of it and I can't wait to be free from him."
His lips slip into a frown. "Can't you get a lawyer?"
"I've tried but he always does something to manipulate the situation with money. He's always got some trick up his sleeve."
"I'm sorry you have to deal with this."
"Me too," I say with a forced smile. I take in Luca's face and still feel that rock of guilt inside me. This time I lean over and take his hand in my hand, running my thumb across his knuckles gently. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."
He shakes his head slowly. "Thank you for coming over to fix it, even if you weren't in the best mood. It means a lot to me."
A spark heats my heart and I inhale a breath. Everything pleases Luca, that's one of the things I like dearly about him. I could arrive with a doughnut and he'd act like I brought him a house. He's always so appreciative and my grandmother would have loved him.
"I didn't even check if it worked," I comment.
Luca glances over to the counter and then smiles. "I have every faith in you."
When he turns back, we're offering each other bigger smiles and I feel a lot lighter than I did when I walked in here. I never should have taken my anger out on him, he doesn't deserve that. He deserves better.
We don't take our eyes off each other for what feels like an eternity.
"Why did you kiss me the other night?" He whispers, leaning in close.
My eyes involuntarily drop down to his lips, tracing the outline and memorising the shape. I definitely remember the feel and taste of them. "Because I wanted to." I say deeply.
"But why?"
I tilt my head slowly, analysing him. "Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to kiss you?"
"Yes," he laughs hesitantly. "I was confused but pleasantly surprised. I have to admit."
Heat floods his face and I love when he blushes. He's adorable. So damn adorable.
I raise my hand and swipe it down the curve of his face softly. "I enjoy your company," I explain. "I feel like I can be myself around you. You also make me feel so fucking young again and that definitely feels liberating."
A laugh echoes from Luca's mouth and I beam at him. "Surprised you don't find me immature."
"I think we're all immature at times," I say slowly.
"True." He says as I tilt his chin.
I focus on his lips. My body begging me to lean forward and brush mine over his. But something is telling me to slow down. That this doesn't have to be rushed. If I'm going to be seeing Luca most days, then I am more than happy to let fate do its work.
Neither of us are going anywhere any time soon.
✧
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Author's Note
Declan's father can do one. What an asshole😡
I love the little moment between Declan and Luca. I'm glad Declan apologised and spoke about what's making him so angry.🥹
I adore these two with my whole heart🩷
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