“Gio, are you awake?” Giovanni slowly blinked his eyes open, his gaze scanning the unfamiliar room he found himself in. The sterile scent of disinfectant filled his nostrils, and the rhythmic beeping of a nearby medical device echoed in his ears. And there, right in front of him, stood August, wearing a worried expression."Giovanni?" August's voice was filled with concern. "Can you see me? Can you hear me?" Hiss vision cleared, and he could indeed see August, his features etched with genuine worry. The throbbing in his head had subsided, replaced by a dull ache. How long had he been unconscious? Minutes? An hour? It was difficult to gauge the passage of time. All he knew was that he had experienced a sudden darkness, followed by the gradual return of colors."What happened?" Giovanni's gaze darted around the room, finally realizing that he was in a hospital bed. "Did I pass out?""Yes, you did," August replied with a sigh. "You freaking passed out. Do you have any idea how worried
Giovanni barely spared his father a glance when he immediately shifted his gaze to August, arching a brow at him. “Did you call him here?” “What?” August shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I don’t know why or how he’s here. I-“ “I heard you collapsed,” Albert ignored them and walked towards his son. “Isn’t that enough reason for me to be here?” “How did you hear?” Giovanni asked him, his gaze still on August as he now shot him an accusing look. “It’s not a big deal.” “If it isn’t a big deal then why are you not on your feet talking to me?” Albert fired. “And don’t try to bully August. He didn’t tell me anything. You don’t think you were teleported from the office all the way here, do you? Of course at least a hundred staffs saw you on the way so it’s only expected for me to find out. It’d be weirder if I didn’t!” “Oh, right,” Giovanni lowered his head, finally reasoning with him. Walls indeed had eyes and ears especially in an office like his. “You didn’t have to come all the way h
"Oh. My. God." Emily's heart skipped a beat as her eyes fixated on the screen of her phone. The gossip blog headline she had just read sent a shockwave through her body, leaving her frozen in her steps. The color drained from her face, and she felt a sudden rush of emotions surging within her."What's going on?" Tyler's concerned voice broke through her dazed state, causing her to snap back to reality. He had also halted, his eyes filled with worry as he observed her sudden stillness. "Hey, Emily? Are you okay?""What?" She blinked, momentarily disoriented. Her gaze shifted to Tyler, his furrowed brows reflecting genuine concern. "I... I'm..."Curiosity got the better of him, and he lunged towards her and took the phone from her trembling hand, scanning the headline himself. "What were you reading?""Billionaire Giovanni Rueben slumps and collapses at work! What... what is this?" She averted her gaze from Tyler, knowing that he would question her about her lingering feelings for G
Emily’s first instinct was to turn around and leave. But August must have realized as he immediately quickened his steps and caught up to her before she could walk away. “Emily, wait up,” he rushed to stand right in front of her. “Please wait. I need to talk to you.” She refused to look at him, feeling emotions she had managed to temporarily set aside rush towards her all over again. He was probably thinking she was mad at him but she wasn’t. She just didn’t want to be associated with anything and everything that reminded her of Giovanni. “Emily, I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be-“ “I’m not mad at you,” she quickly interrupted him to say before he could go any further. “I don’t have any reason to be.” “Emily,” his next words were accompanied with a sigh, followed by him taking another step towards her. “I’m so sorry, Emily. Those aren’t just words. I really really mean it. I had no idea Giovanni was going to-“ “It’s fine,” she finally looked up at him and
“Should we sit in my car?” Tyler arched a brow at August, watching him immediately shake his head in a useless attempt to change his words. He couldn’t help it though. With Emily now gone, it was just him and Tyler and he just needed to think of a way to break the tension between them and have them finally talk. “We can sit at the cafeteria if you want,” he spoke up again. “How’s that? We can-“ “Your car’s fine,” Tyler interrupted him to say, finally making a decision. “We can sit in your car and get all of this over with.” “What? Oh okay then. Great.” He led the way and with a groan, Tyler followed him. His reason for suggesting his car was simple- he didn’t want to have an awkward conversation with him where every random student walking by could see them. And the best way he could think of to avoid that was by staying in his car as he suggested. They got into the car and just as Tyler wanted, the windows weren’t open. It was a bit conflicting for him though as though he want
Giovanni was struck with awe numerous times as he packed his things littered all around the hospital room. For heaven’s sake, he only got admitted simply because he passed out but his father and August must have not gotten the memo as they were nothing but dramatic. By his bedside, there was a huge bouquet of flowers sent by his staff at work and by the window, another huge bouquet of flowers sent by his father again. Like that was not enough, he had gotten tons of other get well soon gifts and cards, August making sure to decorate the room with every single one of them. As absurd as it sounded, he didn’t stop there and went shopping on his behalf, getting him clothes, toiletries and everything he concluded he was going to be needing for at least a week rest at the hospital. It was all seriously overwhelming and utterly ridiculous. But maybe he wouldn’t have minded so much if just a single one of the gifts came from Emily. But no. There were all from bunch of strangers he barely
Emily watched her toes dancing to a tune audible to just her, a sigh immediately escaping her lips. She was home alone and had absolutely nothing to do. Thus, left with the task of entertaining herself with literally anything she could think of.Her legs were stretched in front of her, her thoughts continuously roaming about. Luckily though, she was able to think of things other than Giovanni, her thoughts focusing on Tyler and August for a while. The mere thought made her giggle as she wondered what could have happened between them. As much as she no longer wanted to associative with anything related to Giovanni, August seemed like a decent person so she had decided to make him that little exception. And for that to happen, she was going to need him to get along with Tyler well. Smacking her lips together, she recollected his face and how desperate he looked to get Tyler’s forgiveness. It only struck a nerve of curiosity in her and immediately allowing it take over, she reached
Color drained from Emily’s face as she stared at the person in front of her. Giovanni. Giovanni was in front of her. He was at her front door. Though it had been only a couple of days since she last saw him, she could swear it felt like it had been forever. He didn’t really look different making her wonder if he had been doing great the entire time. He had been doing great? How could he be fine? After ditching her putting her through all of that? Her emotions quickly shifted into anger as she continued to stare at him, remembering the moment he left her on the isle. The tears she shed in response and how he didn’t even care for a split second. Quickly pulling herself together, she composed herself and eyed him from head to toe. Then she folded her arms and finally spoke up. “What are you doing here?” “I wanted to talk to you,” he blurted out. “Can I talk to you?” “You’re pretty much doing that already.” “Miss Stark-” “Can you stop calling me that?” Emily interrupted h
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