As always, Massimo was dressed in a crisp white shirt and dark slacks. There were no suspenders keeping his pants up today, so he looked a whole lot more casual than he usually did, but there was still something majestic in the air about him as there always was.
“What are you doing here, Massimo?”
“I’m here to order my usual vanilla latte with almond milk. Made by the best barista I know.”
“And how many baristas do you know?”
“Just you.”
“So, just the one?”
“Yes,” he confirmed, his lips twitching up at the corners into a small, barely-there smile.
“I could argue then the title of the best barista Massimo Mancini knows holds much less meaning now.”
“I could meet and have a drink from all the baristas in New York and you’d still be the best.”
“I would argue that you’re biased.”
“There wouldn’t be much to argue as I can tell you right now that you’re correct,” Massimo chuckled, a humoured glint in his eyes as he stared at me, his intense gaze unwavering. “I am very biased when it comes to you, my Cara.”
My insides warmed at the affectionate title. Especially now since I knew what it meant…and then I remembered that he had a girlfriend. Benedetta.
“Why are you really here, Massimo?” I asked, sending him a pointed look.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Well, I’m fine so you can leave now.”
“What about my drink?” he protested, almost looking alarmed at my quick dismissal of him.
“Fine,” I sighed heavily. “One vanilla latte with almond milk, coming right up.”
After Massimo paid, I started on his drink order and from the corner of my eye, I caught sight of him slipping a few notes into the tip jar. Notes for me.
I didn’t bother calling him out on it. There would be no point. Massimo Mancini did what he wanted, when he wanted.
“Now that you’ve got your drink, you can leave now,”
“But we usually talk for a while before I leave,” Massimo protested, almost sounding like a whiny child.
“Not this time,” I told him, shaking my head. “I’m busy and need to get back to work, so you need to leave.”
Massimo looked torn, almost as if he wasn’t sure whether he should honour my request or not. When he eventually sighed and nodded his head, albeit begrudgingly, I frowned. Was he giving in? So soon?
“When does your shift end?”
“In five minutes.”
“Then I’ll wait outside for you, Cara,” Massimo tipped his drink at me before he turned around and headed out of the store. I was in the right mind to call after him. To demand that he make himself scarce, but the words died on the tip of my tongue before my mind could fully comprehend them.
He had left before I could stop him…not that I actually wanted to stop him.
When Isla arrived promptly on the hour, not even five minutes later, I hung up my apron and handed out of the store. She worked mostly during the week and during the day, so I didn’t see much of her. She was the oldest of the employees that this branch had, in her mid-thirties, and talking with her when my shift ended and hers started every other Sunday evening was always one of the highlights of my week. However, this week, I offered her a quick hug before I rushed out of the store.
True to his word, Massimo was sat outside the store on a bench, leaned back with his legs kicked out in front of him, scrolling aimlessly on his phone between sips of his drink.
“What have you got there?” Massimo asked as soon as he spotted me, slipping his phone into his pocket before giving me his undivided attention. It was not something that was missed by me, nor something not valued, and I had to remind myself once again why things wouldn’t work out between us. There were several reasons, so I attempted to remind myself of each one…but it appeared that my mind drew a blank with Massimo’s intense gaze set on me.
“A coffee Frappuccino with soya milk,” I told him.
“Mind if I have a sip?” he asked, his words catching me off by surprise. What was even more surprising was that I nodded my head in agreement and took one more sip before handing it over to me. When Massimo offered me a sip of his drink, I shook my head and waited patiently to receive mine back.
“It’s a little too strong for me,” he pulled a face as he returned my drink, and I laughed.
“Not a huge coffee fan?”
“Not a strong coffee fan,” he clarified. “On the topic of dinner, why don’t we get some together?”
“We weren’t on the topic of dinner,” I pulled a face, unable to hold back the chuckles.
“Come on, Cara,” Massimo sighed. “Get some dinner with me. It’ll be harmless.”
I knew for a fact that dinner with Massimo would be far from harmless. In fact, it would probably be the opposite of harmless as I would undoubtedly end up falling for him even more, and that was a dangerous game.
“I want a burger,” I told him, my lips pulled down in a small frown. “And some fries.”
“Your wish is my command, Cara,” he chuckled and threw an arm around my waist as he stood up, pulling me into his side. “There’s this burger shop I walk past every time on the way here. I’ve been wanting to try it out for some time now.”
“Frank’s?” I guessed, my lips turning up at the corners. I loved Frank’s and sometimes grabbed some food from there for Luciana and I on my way home. Their chicken dynamite burger was the best, and had just enough melted cheese to make my intolerance act up. Not that I ever paid much attention to my lactose intolerance.
Massimo nodded. “Have you tried it before?”
“Yes,” I grinned. “The chicken is great but the beef? Not so much so if you decide to go with the beef, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Cara,” he chuckled, giving my hip a gentle squeeze as we turned around and headed in the direction of Frank’s. It was only a few stores away from Starbucks.
“How are you really feeling, Cara?” Massimo asked, toying with the last chip on his plate. It was small, crinkled, and looked like the worst in the batch. As a poor college student, I would have wasted no time in eating it, but Massimo couldn’t be further from a poor college student if he tried. In fact, I doubted he had ever been a poor college student.
As always, the burger and fries from Frank’s was exquisite as always but I had to admit, it tasted even better with the company. Even if I was still determined to hold him at arm’s distance, my head and heart were not on the same page regarding the matter.
My heart wanted Massimo. My head wanted Massimo as well, but it was far more guarded than my heart. Far more cautious.
“I’m perfectly fine, Massimo,” I offered him a small smile as I reached for my sofa. Or the little that remained, anyway. “I had the Advil that you left out for me, and then Dino made me eat some toast before I left. And then after a coffee at work, I was back to my usual self. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Massimo sighed, his lips turning up at the corners just slightly, but not enough to be considered even a small smile. Yet, it made my heartbeat faster than it would from a full-blown smile from any other man. “Although, I would have much preferred it if my brothers didn’t let you leave.”
“I had work,” I chuckled. “And it wasn’t like I gave them much of a choice.”
“I was very upset to wake up to an empty bed this morning, Cara.”
“I had work,” I repeated.
“You could have at least woken me up before you left. I would have loved to have given you a good morning kiss.”
For a brief moment, I considered telling him about what I had seen this morning. About catching his brother and his girlfriend sucking face in his own face, but the thought quickly passed and I, too, was quick to force it out of my mind. Just because I was upset with Massimo, mostly because I couldn’t have him to myself like I so badly wanted because he had a girlfriend already, didn’t mean that I needed to be a bitch and hurt him like this.
Hurting him would only be hurting myself.
“I doubt we would have stopped at just a good morning kiss,” I rolled my eyes, growing increasingly annoyed at myself for not being able to stop the smile that my lips curled up into.
“I have to admit, you’re right about that,” Massimo smiled, like actually smiled, and for a moment, I had to remind myself to breathe. If I didn’t, I risked passing out, and then I would miss the way the infamous Massimo Mancini was grinning at me right now.
His eyes were darker than usual, and his gaze intense and smouldering as he stared at me. The lone crinkled fry lay forgotten on his plate as he stared at his, refusing to look away. And I could do nothing but stare back. To hold his gaze so he knew that whatever it was that he wanted – and I had a pretty good idea of what he wanted because I wanted it too – I would be giving just as hard as I got.
If I wasn’t mistaken, it looked like Massimo was giving me the bedroom eyes And while there wasn’t a bedroom in sight, there certainly was mainly clean bathrooms that most of the public had absolutely no idea about.
This would be the last time, I promised myself. This would be the last time I entertained such feelings for Massimo Mancini but first, I needed to get him out of my system once and for all.
And what better way to do that than to have him thrust into my system so fervently?
-
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Layla Knight
30.01.2022
