Emily hung up the call and rose to her feet, still in total disbelief about the whole situation. It made no sense and regardless of how hard she thought about it, it all felt like something completely out of Giovanni’s character. Why did he have to come all the way to her school? And like that wasn’t enough, why wasn’t he leaving? Still feeling awkward, she walked towards the main entrance of the library with the thought of going to fetch him from wherever he must have parked his car and was probably waiting for her. But much to her surprise, the moment she was about to approach the door, she caught him strolling into the library, hands shoved in his pocket as he looked around for her. “Mr. Giovanni?” She called out to him in a low voice, waving her hands to get his get his attention. “Um, here.” “Oh there you are.” “How were you allowed in?” She immediately asked as he walked up towards her. “It’s a student only library.” “Well, I have my ways,” he raised his eyebrows. “You sa
A small smile appeared on Emily’s face as she returned to her seat in the library to meet Giovanni still asleep. His head was now properly rested on the table, his face completely hidden thanks to his postion. Immediately getting on her toes, she tiptoed towards over to her seat and just as she fell into it, careful not to make too much of a sound, he raised his head. “Oh,” she bit her lip realizing she must have been too loud. “You’re awake.” “What do you mean by that?” He stylishly rubbed his eyes as he asked. “I wasn’t asleep.” “What?!” Emily exclaimed in disbelief. “You were asleep! You fell asleep!” “You must be mistaken,” He adjusted his jacket and smoothened his hair with his palm. “I am unable to sleep anywhere that easily. Maybe I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds and you mistook that for me sleeping but you’re wrong. I was not asleep. I was still fully aware of everything going on in my surroundings.”“Oh, yeah?” She smirked. “Do you know when I left here then? Wh
Close to another hour passed and finally Emily was done for the night, Emily proceeding to have Giovanni drive her home. It was already late as they embarked on the night drive, the road stretching ahead of them, illuminated by the gentle glow from the moon. Silence settled between, only broken by the soft hum of the engine as they drove. With gaze fixed on the road, thoughts roamed Giovanni’s mind. It had to be the latest he found himself driving and instead of normally wondering why he was driving so late, he couldn’t help but wonder if school work made Emily that busy all the time. Did she always spend so long at school? And even if she did, did she always have to return home that late at night? The fact that her parents barely cared about her was already established but was it that bad? His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he kept on imagining. For some reason, the thought of her being out that late every night made him uneasy, prompting him to finally speak up and bre
For the millionth time in barely an hour, Emily typed in the words "zoos near me" into the search bar.She had been rephrasing, retyping and researching over and over again, trying to figure out which zoo was going to be perfect for her and Giovanni to go to. Though zoos had always been a place she really wanted to visit, she never made any actual plans for it, the preparation process suddenly feeling more hectic than she could have thought.She was done with her classes for the day and was simply whiling away time before heading home.Other than that, she was stylishly looking around her, hoping she'd see or run into Tyler at least once.He wasn't present in classes the entire day and like that wasn't strange enough, he wasn't replying to any of her messages or calls, leaving her with no choice but to worry about him."Why does it cost so much to enter a zoo?" she hissed to herself as she tapped on another z00 that seemed close by. “Shouldn't it be-“"Have you finally lost your mind?
“One restaurant, another restaurant and a concert?” Giovanni clicked his tongue as he sat in his office, trying to count the amount of dates he and Emily had gone. According to his plans and the contract he had her sign, they were to go on exactly 9 dates before the wedding. Yet from his calculations, he could only count 3. Was that really all or was he forgetting one? “Zoo date.” He quickly added the zoo to the list since they were heading there the following day anyways. Regardless, that still made the total count 4, making him wonder how they were going to manage 5 whole extra dates. Pulling open his drawer, he reached for his own copy of the contract and flipped through it. There had to be something about the dates- specific dates for each ones or how to complete them all before the wedding or just anything related. However before he could go through the contract as thoroughly as he’ll have wanted, he was interrupted by a knock on the his door, August immediately stepping i
It was finally the day set for the zoo date and Giovanni couldn’t believe how much of a hurry he was in to finish his work for the day and head over to Emily’s college to pick her up. He was to pick leave his office by 12pm, get to her by 1pm and by 2.30pm, they would be at the zoo. It was a plan he had carefully drafted the day before and in contrast to the plan, he suddenly found himself being extra busy. Despite getting to work exactly 7am, he still had a pile of work to attend to. A pile he couldn’t see himself getting rid of before 12pm.With a groan, he massaged his temples and peered at his laptop screen, his head slowly beginning to ache as a result of staring at screens for so long. He needed a cup of coffee and just as he was about to call for it, the door to his office flew open to reveal August. “You seem busy.” “I am busy,” he replied him, barely sparing him a glance. “Why are you here? I need a cup of coffee so are you here to help me with that?” “That’s not the ac
“What are you doing here?” Emily was walking out of the cafeteria with a bottle of soda in her hand when she spotted August walking towards her. “And why are you smiling?” She added before he could reply her initial question. “This is weird.” “Miss Stark-“ “I told you to call me just Emily,” she corrected him. “Hearing Miss Stark from Giovanni is more than enough. I don’t need you calling me that too.” “Alright then, Emily,” he nodded, his smile still on his face. “You must be wondering why I’m here.” She indeed was. Giovanni was meant to come pick her up himself so they could go to the zoo so of course it was strange to see him in his place. “Well, Giovanni is busy,” he said, Emily immediately blinking. He was busy? So busy he was going to cancel their date?! “So, he asked me to pick you up on his behalf.” “Oh,” Emily heaved a light sigh in relief but almost immediately, got worried again. “Wait, what?! So you’ll be going on the date with me instead of him?!” “What? No!” Augu
Giovanni and Emily walked side by side, a comfortable distance between between them as they walked into the zoo. The afternoon sun beamed down upon them, casting a warm glow that mirrored the growing excitement in Emily as she walked in. “You seem excited. Really excited.” “Oh, I am,” Emily nodded at Giovanni. “Extremely excited in fact. I’ve always wanted to visit a zoo.” “Why did you never visit one then?” Giovanni asked they strolled in. “It’s not much of a big deal, is it?” “You’re right,” she nodded. “I’ve just never had a reason to come. The way I grew up, I didn’t get a chance to have whatever i wanted simply because I wanted it.” “Oh,” he wiggled his eyebrows. “At least, you’re getting to visit it now. You should make the most of this opportunity then.” “Ah yes I will!” She didn’t wait for him and quickly took the lead, waking around the zoo to take advantage of the opportunity in her hand to the fullest. It sef what she had always wanted anyways, Emily cherishing eve
Several months later… “And that’s a wrap for today.” August raised his head over his macbook to take a glance at Giovanni, genuinely amused as those words escaped his lips. Months ago, he was the boss that didn’t care about things like a stated closing hour. He worked till whenever he pleased and only left the office when it was beginning to feel too late to be in the office. But now, he was a completely different person- he never spent a minute past 4pm working. “Alright sir.” “Yes, sir.” “Thank you for today, sir.” The sounds of papers shuffling filled the air, followed by the scraping of chairs as staffs rose to their feet, hitting the floor with their heels as they rushed out of the meeting room. In no time, the room was left empty to no one but August and Giovanni, preparing to do the same. Except Giovanni was more nervous than August could ever be. “You leaving work by exactly 4pm would never cease to amaze me,” August had to comment. “I guess love really does change
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Giovanni watched August loosen his tie as he nodded, seeming convinced on the decision he was about to take. After what seemed like an eternity, they were both done with work for the day and naturally, were supposed to head home. But August had decided he wanted to visit a bar and of course, drag Giovanni with him. A sigh escaped Giovanni’s lips as he watched his best friend finally free himself from the clutches of his tie, dancing a little as he shoved the little piece of clothing down his pocket. Though he wasn’t sure what exactly he was expecting when he called Tyler several hours, he was sure that wasn’t it. “Yes,” August nodded, flinging his arm across Giovanni’s shoulders, earning a shudder from him. “I’m just going to drink a little then head home.” “A little?” it was hard to believe he wasn’t drunk already the way his words drawled. “August, you intended to drink just a little yesterday?” “That was yesterday,” he waved his fingers in
August woke up with a headache, serving as a dreadful reminder of how the previous night went. Dozens of bottles of wine, hundreds of honesty laced words. And of all the audience to have accompanying his foolishness, it just had to be Giovanni. “Fuck,” he groaned, reaching for his phone. He could remember Giovanni driving him home after he drank himself to stupor but that was all. He couldn’t remember anything else- like how he had gotten into his bed or how he had gotten his phone next to him. “Shit, what’s the time?” He swiped his phone unlock to check the time but literally immediately, his eyes caught something else. It was his call log. And sitting prettily at the top was a missed call from Tyler. It was more than enough to cure his hangover, his eyes immediately widening. A missed call from Tyler? How did that happen? When did that happen? Why did that happen? For the hundredth time, he let out a groan, realizing he still had no memory of what happened the previous night
“You think you have a crush on August?” Tyler took in a deep breath, sitting up as the words finally escaped from the clutches of his throat. After weeks and weeks of denial, he had finally decided to come clean to himself. And finally, his best friend too. “Yes,” he nodded, his heart racing in his chest. “I think I have a crush on him.” Emily’s expression was unreadable for a while, wavering between shock and confusion. She always knew there was something fishy going on between him and August. She knew there was more to their relationship than he was admitting but couldn’t frankly figure out Tyler having a crush on him. “Are you surprised?” Tyler swallowed as he asked. “Disappointed? Dis-” “No, no,” Emily quickly interrupted him. “It’s nothing like that. Shocked? Yes, I am, a little. But disappointed? I’m not ‘dis’ anything.” “Oh,” he broke into an awkward chuckle, his chest feeling a lot lighter. “Well, yeah. I know you’re probably wondering how it all happened but I guess,
Emily feet remained glued to the ground, shock flooding her veins. Not just shock though- she had a couple of other emotions running through her. Anger, deceit, betrayal- to a name a few. Her sister was fine? Stacy was fine all along? She was just hiding from her and making a total fool out of her with the consent of both her parents? All along, her disappearance was just an act put in place by her and her parents because she didn’t want to get married to Giovanni? She didn’t want to believe her ears but with every second that passed, the brutal truth was slapped onto her face all over again. It was slowly making sense and finally, the anger in her grew and overpowered every other emotion she felt. Without hesitating for even a second, she balled her fist and immediately pushed the door to her parents’ room open, revealing herself to them. “Alright dear. We’ll call you some other time to- Oh my God, Emily.” Her face grew cold as she stared at them, watching her mum immediately
Their ride to Giovanni’s had only lasted a couple of minutes when his phone vibrated by his side, signifying a text message. Busy with driving, he immediately asked Emily to check what it was on his behalf, the duo immediately realizing August needed Giovanni’s presence for something urgent. Needless to guess, something work related. “I could cancel,” Giovanni suggested, noticing the disappointed look on Emily’s face. “Tell him I’m busy or something. I don’t have to-” “No,” she shook her head, refusing his offer. “You don’t have to.” “But-” “It’s probably important,” she flashed him a weak smile. “And come on, you’ve been away from work for a while so it’s probably really urgent. You should go. I’ll be fine.” “Alright then,” he nodded in return. “But I’ll drive you home first. Do not even try to object to that. I’m driving you home.” Already disappointed at their time together getting cut short abruptly, Emily had no intention of wasting the few moments they could spend togethe
Giovanni: I'm outside.A text from Giovanni had never given Emily that much joy. And without wasting a single second, she grabbed her bag and dashed out of the classroom, heading to the parking lot to meet the man responsible for her bundle of joy.Her temporary goodbye to Tyler was quick. And thanks to her all sense of reasoning being overshadowed by her happiness, she couldn't notice how absentminded Tyler was as he mumbled out a reply.But that didn't matter. Not at the moment.In a flash, she found herself at the parking lot, her head shot up as her eyes roamed around excitedly. In barely a minute of searching, she found him waving at her and eagerly rushed towards him."Hi.""Hi."Awkwardness threatened to settle between them, Emily quickly fighting back by breaking into a light chuckle. Followed by a blush creeping towards her cheeks as he remembered everything that transpired between them twenty-four hours ago."Hev.""So how was your test?" Giovanni asked. "Did it go well?""
With head hung low, Tyler managed to drag himself back to class. Darn that test he needed to write. Scrap his grade that needed to be saved- all he just wanted to do was head back home and get busy with anything that was going to prevent him from thinking. But he had no choice, hence had to be in class whether he wanted to or not. “Tyler!” The second he stepped into class again, he heard Emily call out his name. “Here.” He looked around him and realizing the professor was still yet to arrive, he walked towards her with a sluggish nod and returned to his previous seat. “Who did you head out to meet?” She asked immediately without wasting a single second. “Who was it? What was so urgent?” “Nothing,” he looked away. “It was nothing.” “You went to meet someone,” she insisted. “Who was it?” “I didn’t meet anyone.” “Was it a girl? Ah, is it a girl? Is there a girl you’re hitting on?” “No, it’s wasn’t a girl!” “I thought you said you didn’t meet anyone,” a full smirk appeared on
Tyler got on his toes and as quietly as he could, he picked up his clothes from floor and threw them on. August was still asleep and he couldn’t be more glad for that. It was the perfect opportunity for him to sneak out of the house without waking him up and in the process, starting unnecessary drama. Just like he did the previous night, he had a lot of emotions running through his veins. Confusion, nervousness, anxiety- the list could go on. But at least, one thing he was glad he wasn’t feeling was regret. Regret for sleeping with August. He spared his sleepy self a quick glanced and sighed, immediately getting the last bits of his things. All ready to leave, he walked out of the room and in no time, was successfully out of the house. “Crap.” He had classes in the morning and a test in the afternoon. He didn’t feel particularly great about himself though, making him contemplate ditching both of them. But he immediately remembered he couldn’t. It was a major test and unless he wa