Amelia's POV.
"What the hell was that?" I whisper to myself, walking around the park.
I was really surprised (and ashamed) when I saw that Leonardo was kneeled in front of me, holding my hand, our fingers intertwined. I didn't even realise until I saw Jennifer's deathly glare towards our hands. I was... really ashamed.
I couldn't think of anything in that moment, so I decided to leave for a walk. However, Leo and Jennifer are lovers, I don't want to be a problem for their relationship. As far as I've known Jennifer, she is a really jealous type, and I've seen that from the first day I've moved here. She wants Leonardo all to herself, not that I am going to take him away from her or something.
But again, when I felt his hand on mine, I felt like something was burning inside of me. When he looked me in the eyes, it looked like he was trying to say: I'm here, I won't leave you.
But once again, why would he say that? He's my boss -kinda- and he has a girlfriend. I don't want to destroy relationships, especially not his.
Why would I destroy his relationship anyway? It's not like I love him, let alone him being in love with me.
Alright, stop with the deep thinking.
I check the time and it is almost 8 pm. I should turn back home, it's getting dark. I make my way to the apartment, and once I open the door, I see my brother on the couch asleep.
He fell asleep again in here, I think to myself. This might be his favourite place to sleep. I carry him to our room and place him carefully on the bed. I kiss his forehead and get out of the room. When I pass Leonardo's room, I hear some ruffled voices. I want to open the door slightly and hear what they are talking about, but that would be eavesdropping. I decide to not do it, but as always curiosity gets the best of me and I open the door slightly.
I slowly take a peek, and what I see next makes me to find the Holy Water to unsee it! Jennifer and Leonardo are naked under the sheets and kissing slowly, passionately. She whispers something in his ear and he laughs, grabbing her by her hair and bringing her mouth back to his. Hurrying to get out of there as soon as possible, I kick a vase accidentally. It drops and breaks into pieces, creating a loud noise. Not moving, I raise my head and I see that both Leo and Jennifer are looking at me.
Ashamed for the hundredth time today, I run out of there and go to the living room. Suddenly, I feel sick, like I'm going to puke. I really did see Leo having sex with Jennifer... I don't know why I feel like I want to rip her hair out of her head, it just doesn't feel right to me. How could Leonardo fall for a bitch like her, he deserves better.
Not wanting to think about this anymore, I go to my room and lie down on my bed. I try to close my eyes and sleep, but their images of kissing and cuddling don't leave my mind.
Oh god, what will I do now?
****
The next morning was... awkward. When my brother was around I would talk to him just so the situation would be a little, you know, not awkward. But when my brother left for school and there was just me and Leo left in the apartment because Jennifer left early in the morning, but like really early, we would just look at each other for a second or two and never speak a word.
"So, I'm leaving now." Is all that Leonardo says, before grabing his briefcase and leaving.
"Bye!" I say, more like whisper.
Great, now I was alone in the apartment and I could keep myself distracted by doing the chores. One, two, three hours pass and I didn't even realise until my phone goes off. I accept the call immediately, not really looking who called me.
"Hello!" I answer.
"Hello? What do you mean by 'hello'? You just moved to New York a month ago and now you are talking like a citizen with manners? No 'hiii bitch' or something like that?" I hear the voice from the other side of the phone, and as soon as she spoke, I smiled.
"Claire!" I say happily. "Sorry I didn't see who was calling. How are you?"
"I'm good, but like really good!" She says.
"Glad to hear this, but is there any special reason why you are this super duper good?"
"I'm in New York!" She exclaims happily.
When I hear her say this, I start jumping up and down like an excited kid. "Really? You're kidding right?"
I hear her frown. "Why would I lie to you? Amelia, instead of being happy that your crazy best friend is here to lighten up your day and make your life better as I've always done, you ask me if I'm kidding."
"Duh, okay okay, tell me where you are, I'll come right away." I laugh.
***
Claire told me to meet her at McDonald's, and I quickly ran out of the apartment and went there. I see her seated in a table, waiting for me. When she sees me, she quicly gets up and runs towards me. I open my arms to hug her and she does the same.
"Aww, girl I really missed you!" Claire says while hugging me.
"I can say the same Claire!"
We let go of each other and take a seat.
"So, how is New York treating you?" She asks, ordering her food.
"Well, not complaining. I'm pretty good I guess." I answer, and I order my food too.
"How is Jonah? I miss that little cutie!"
"Hahah, he's really good. He's happy to be back in here though, I can see that he misses this place a lot. You know, this is the city where we have a lot of memories with our parents, maybe he feels close to them when we're here. To be honest, I feel the same."
Claire nods. "Yeah, I can see that. What about Leonardo?"
When his name is mentioned, my cheeks heat up, and the scenario from last night starts playing again and again in my head like a rollercoaster. "W- what about Leonardo?"
Claire furrows her eyebrows. "I'm asking you if he's good? And if you're good with each other? Like, is he treating you well and paying you good?"
I swallow. "Y-yeah, of course."
Our orders arrive, and we start eating.
"Something suspicious has happened, I can see it. But I'm figuring that out. So tell me Amelia Sophia Montero, what has happened between you two?" She looks at me with a suspicious look.
"What do you mean, nothing happened between us." I answer.
"Are you still a virgin?"
My eyes widen. "Gosh, of course I am."
"Okay than, thank God or else I would've killed you if you hadn't told me."
"Well I guess Jennifer isn't anymore." I say to myself, but I guess I said that louder than it was supposed to be.
"Who's Jennifer?" Claire asks, putting her elbows on the table.
"Leonardo's girlfriend." I answer. "I saw them doing the dirty last night."
Her eyes widen. "What? You saw them having sex?"
As always, her voice is louder than it should be in these cases and people glare at us for some seconds.
"Can't you be any louder, God!" I say with irony. "Yes I did but, ugh, they saw me seeing them while doing it."
"Ugh, and I was hoping for you two to be dating by the end of the month." She said sadly.
"What? Dating? No no no, he has a girlfriend. Well, a bitch for a girlfriend but that doesn't mean anything!"
"Uh-uh, it doesn't mean anything, yeah. Like it doesn't mean anything the way your cheeks turn red when his name is mentioned." She points out.
"I- "
"Amelia, you know I'm always right, even though you never listen to me and get disappointed in the end when you don't." She says. "I saw it since the beginning, since when he showed up that you two have chemistry, girl. And my instincts never lie. Never!"
"Yeah, but this time they are babe."
"Oh, you think so? We'll see whose instincts are lying very soon." She provokes, winking at me. "You'll fall for each other in the next weeks and he'll dump that bitch Jennifer sooner or later."
"Yeah yeah, whatever makes you sleep at night." I brush the topic off.
Two hours pass and me and Claire talk and laugh with each other. She told me that she is going to college soon, and I couldn't be more happier for her. She's going to live by herself now, not depending on her parents. I can't wait to collect the money to go to college too...
We go shopping together and buy a lot of clothes because we've always been obsessed with them. It was good to see her after so much time, it feels like I'm back in Georgevill and back to my daily routine. Eat, sleep, take care of my brother and hang out with Claire. But so much changed in the past weeks I would've never imagined it. But life is full of surprises...
"Do you wanna come and stay at Leo's apartment today? I don't think he'll mind." I offer Claire.
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Of course, if he can invite his girlfriend over, why can't I invite my best friend?"
"Okay then." We both make our way to the apartment. We arrive there and get inside.
"Wow, this apartment is great. But again, if he is rich and has a lot of private houses and mansions, why did he choose to live in here?" Claire asks, sitting on the couch.
"I don't know, I have never asked him about that. We aren't that close..."
I start telling her everything that happened with Jennifer since I came here and until now.
"So, you're telling me that you are keeping distance from him because she told you you're a gold digger?"
"Yup."
"Okay, I knew you were stupid, but not this much. That boy was interested in you since he came in Georgevill, apologised to you and asked you if you could be friends. He got you a job, pays you good, and now you're telling me that you're keeping distance because that bitch told you you're a gold digger? I wouldn't be surprised if she told you that because she saw that he was interested in you and wanted him all to herself. Heck, I wouldn't even be surprised if she isn't even his girlfriend!" Claire yells, and stops to regain her breath.
"Jesus, Claire, chill!"
"No I can't chill!"
"He isn't interested in me, and she's his girlfriend. What can you say about them doing the dirty last night?"
"She's a bitch, she could've manipulated him!"
I think for a moment. Claire really confuses me. "No that's not true. Leonardo is in love with her."
Claire pinches the bridge of her nose. "Amelia, you're so naive you know that right? You think everyone is nice and kind just because you are like that. But let me tell you something sister, people are manipulative and evil. Don't believe them!"
"Okay, okay, I got it!" I say frustrated. "Maybe you're right, I'm naive and dumb and stupid."
"I'm saying this to you because I love you Amelia. And I don't want you to get hurt."
"I know that."
We both hug.
"Okay, now let me bring you some cookies which I baked earlier."
***
Some hours pass, and suddenly me and Claire hear the door being opened. Of course who else would it be except Leonardo. And my thoughts are confirmed when he appears to the living room, looking tired more than usual. His eyes are red like he was... crying?
He looks between me and Claire, trying to not show his real emotions. As far as I know him, he's a man who wants to controls his emotions, and not to appear weak or emotional in front of the others.
"Who is she?" He asks me, pointing his head at Claire.
"Hi, I'm Claire, Amelia's best friend." Claire greets herself.
"And who told you to come here?" He asks angrily, and me and Claire exchange looks.
"Um, I didn't think it would be a big deal to invite Claire over..." I begin to say, but Leonardo cuts me off.
"You can't invite people over like it's your place!" He yells, and I jump in my spot. "Remember that you work here, you aren't my guest! You can't act like you own this apartment, because the real owner is in front of you right now. This is not a public house, okay?"
We all stay like that for a moment, quiet and not speaking a word, just looking at each other. Then, Leonardo ruffles his hair angrily and leaves to his room.
"What the hell is wrong with him?" Claire asks, throwing her hand in the air.
"I don't know, maybe something at work made him angry." I say as a possibility. I've never seen him this angry before, so if he was that angry, it must have been something really important.
"Okay then, I'm leaving. I don't want to make him more angrier than he is." Claire says, getting up.
"I wanted us to be together for the night, but Mr. AngryPants ruined everything." I say sadly.
"AngryPants? I like the nickname. Don't forget to add 'rich'." She winks at me.
I just roll my eyes.
We say our goodbyes and I close the door. When I go to the kitchen, I see Leonardo leaning on the counter, watching me straight into the eyes.
Okay, creepy.
I pretend I do not realise that he was watching me like he was going to eat me alive. Maybe he's yelling at me soon. Maybe he just finding the right time to catch me off guard and scare the shit out of me. Maybe he's...
"I'm sorry."
My train of thoughts is interrupted when I hear his voice, and the words that leave his mouth. Did he really apologise?
"Um, what?"
"I said I'm sorry for bursting out like that in front of your friend, and for making her leave. I just, wasn't really good at that time." He says, coming towards me.
"Yeah, it's okay. You just ruined our girls' night but yeah, whatever." I roll my eyes.
"But at least you could've told me you were inviting someone." He crosses his arms over his chest.
"You were at work!"
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Wouldn't you have found out sooner or later, at work or at home?"
He wanted to say something but then closed his mouth.
"Yeah, thought so too." I say, crossing my own arms ovet my chest.
We just keep looking at each other, and my mind decides to bring up the scenario I saw last night. I feel my cheeks heating up, and I remove my gaze from him and look everywhere but him. I think he notices the change of my expression, because I can see him from the corner of my eyes that he's nervous too.
"Look, about what you saw last night..."
"What? I didn't see anything." I lie.
"Don't lie to me, you seemed like you had seen a ghost in that moment."
Well, it was worth trying.
"Umm..." I try to speak but I just don't know what I should say.
"Just listen to me and don't cut me off. I was, drunk. Like really drunk and didn't know what was doing. I drank so much wine that my system stopped working..."
"Wait, why are you giving me an explanation in the first place?" I cut him off again, even though he told me not to do it.
"I'm just clarifying that what you saw last night was a thing of the moment, and I would like to think it never happened. Can you do that too?" He asks.
Why would he ask me that, when she's his girlfriend and everyone knows that a couple can do such... things.
"So, you want me to pretend I never saw you having sex with Jennifer?" I ask, realising I used the inappropriate word. God, I hate myself.
"That too, but pretend that me and her never did such thing. It would mess things up."
"Why would it mess things up? You're boyfriend-girlfriend after all." I shake my head.
He looks at me surprisingly. "What?"
"What?"
"Wait, me and Jennifer aren't a couple. She's my childhood friend."
I look at him, surprised as well. "You two.... aren't a couple? Really?"
He sighs. "Yeah, Amelia. We were drunk and didn't know what we were doing. If our families find out that we did such thing, they will tell us to get married as soon as possible. Our families wanted us since the beginning to get married, but we made it clear thet we are just friends. If they find it out, they'll be like: 'we told you, you are made for each other' and they'll do everything to marry us. In that case, the two of our families will be one and our companies will be the strongest and the most powerful. So, you can call it a business thing also."
I listen to him very carefully, and realise that Claire was right.
I'm dumb.
When I first came here, Jennifer told me she was his girlfriend, and saw me as a threat about Leonardo. She did everything to show me that he was hers only, while on the other hand Leonardo hasn't even noticed that she loves him. I would call it obsession but whatever. He's asking me to not say anything about what I saw, why would I? I won't go around and scream: Yo, Leonardo and Jennifer had sex!
But what I realised, is that he's not in love with Jennifer. Love and marriage aren't on his to do list...
"You don't even have to ask, I won't say a thing, promise." I smile.
"Thank you!" He smiles back and hugs me.
Wait, hugs me? What should I do? Should I hug him back? Should I pat him on the back? Should I....
Come on, just hug him, Jesus Christ.
I hug him back, and I feel his muscles tensing a bit. After some seconds, we let go of each other. He looks at me for a moment.
"Grandma has invited us for dinner tonight, and wants you to come too. Oh, Jonah also."
"That's great!" I say happily. "Wait, so that means we're going at your parent's house?" I ask.
"Yes. It's going to be me, you and Jonah, my parents and grandma, and a couple of other relatives. But don't worry, I'll be with you so you won't feel alone."
When he said those last words, my heart skipped a beat. Claire's words start flooding my mind, but I shake them off.
"You're alright?" Leonardo asks me.
"Yeah, yeah of course." I reply.
The doorbell rings, and Leonardo goes to check up who is it.
"Ohh, here's the little boy!" I hear Leonardo saying, followed by the squeals of my little brother. They really do get along very well though. I can tell Leo loves kids.
Then I start to think about tonight's dinner. I will be meeting Leonardo's family. Well, I have met them before too, except his dad and the other relatives he talked to me about. But to be honest, this dinner is making me anxious. Isn't the girl supposed to meet the boy's family when she's his girlfriend?
Gosh, the fuck am I saying.
Claire really makes me crazy sometimes with her deep thinking and shit. It's her fault, I'll keep in mind to kill her soon.
However, I really hope the dinner will turn out good. After all, what can go wrong?
__________________________________________________________________________________
I'm alive people! I finally updated. Sorry for this late update, but I couldn't find the inspiration for a new chapter. But now, I know what I'm doing in the next chapters ;)
Ahh I'm so excited for you to read them soon. I'll be writing a new chapter this week and hopefully it will be posted as soon as possible.
So what did you think of this chapter? I was starting to think that the cold relationship between Amelia and Leonardo should be over and so I made them friends again haha. But it's Amelia's fault that she's a little dumb and let Jennifer to get into her.
But however, the next chapter will be a blast!!!
Stay safe!
-Love, Angela 💫