Part 5

/His POV/

I tugged at the roots of my hair, angrily slamming the phone on the bed. The sound of the notification was causing a throbbing pain in my temples. Sara—my assistant couldn't stop texting me mundane details for some reason.

It started small, her glossing over the day-to-day meetings that I might have to do over Zoom. The minutes that we had to go over from previous ones. As long as it went—she started getting personal. Inquiring about my family and how I spent my time. She also suggested to come over to make things easy.

I could see the signs, the signs that she was getting attached quickly.

The very first time we had sex I had made it clear to her that it’s just that. Lately, it seemed as if she was getting a different idea in her head.

“Edward?” At the knock on the door, I was startled, head snapping towards the direction of the sound.

“Dad.”

“Care to join us?” My father questioned while standing at the edge of the door.

“Sure. Where are we going?” I asked, pocketing my phone in my pants and shuffling towards the stairs.

“To your uncle Armund. He has been driving me crazy all day.”

“That's not even surprising, Dad.” I snorted as we passed the hallway, my eyes going towards the third door on the left. “Tell me something new.”

Aria must be sleeping. I thought as I saw the door was still locked. A smile made its way to my face as I remembered the last encounter we had. Never had I met someone like her. A spitfire. Everything she does is unpredictable and somehow always hurts herself in the process.

But what if she already has a boyfriend? A random thought popped into my head. That was not possible though because she would have brought him along to the wedding. Maybe he will show up on the day of the wedding.

I stifled a groan. Why did it matter? It’s too messy to get involved with her. Why was I thinking about her non-existent boyfriend?

The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I heard the commotion in the drawing room. My body sagged as I braced myself for the drama.

***

The commotion got louder as I stepped inside. What were they talking about? Armund sat on the chair, his head dramatically thrown over, staring at the ceiling.

“This is so unprofessional…” I heard Armund’s wife murmur, palming her forehead. From the corner of my eyes, I spotted Francesca with her legs pressed together, chewing on her nails.

My mother was sitting next to her, patting her side, talking in hushed whispers with Francesca. From the expressions on their face, it was something serious.

“Is everything alright?”

At my question, I noticed Armund perk up and immediately sat upright and turned to me.

“No,” Francesca exclaimed, sagging further in her seat.

“It’s the baker. They backed out last minute and now we have no one to cater for all the planned dinners. Especially the wedding cake.”

Oh. I twisted my lips at that.

“Find another one then.”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds, Edwardo.” My mother shook her head. “No one in our contacts is ready to cater on such short notice. We tried to offer extra money but then the location is a problem for them.”

“Ahh…” I made a sound. “What about a local bakery? It’ll be easy for them to cater for us.”

Armund groaned. “We thought that but who will do that? It’s a lot of work, going around to different shops and tasting their menu, discussing our budget, so many things.”

“Right…” I winced, glaring at my father who suddenly was interested in the carpet.

“Fine, I’ll get it sorted.”

“Really?” Armund’s eyes brightened. “I’ll be so thankful Edwardo.”

“No need for that uncle. I’ll go first thing in the morning.”

“Alone?” Francesca laughed. “You do not even like sweets.”

“So what?”

“How will you be the judge of good dessert then? I have an idea!” There was a glimmer in eyes that shone through. “Take Aria along. I mean we both have the same taste.”

“What?!”

“Si.” My mother perked from her side, clapping her hands. “That’s a brilliant idea.”

I looked to my mother whose demeanour instantly shifted and she looked at the bride again. “I am just saying it’s good to have someone who knows the bride’s taste, right Francesca?”

“Of course.” I sighed, seeing through their plan.

***

“So are you excited for tomorrow?”Francesca teased as we were lounging by the dinner table, a glint in her eyes. My legs were crossed awkwardly, hitting the table repeatedly. The dull light above made it seem as if she had an ulterior motive.

"Yeah like I have a choice" I muttered while picking the water bottle from nearby. I unscrewed the cap of the bottle and took a huge gulp, not realising how thirsty I was. Must be all the time I spent in the sun outside, that's what was making my throat feel dry.

“Hey! You volunteered for that!”She exclaimed, slapping my arm. It stung so I pushed at her arm causing her to shoot me a nasty glare.

“Because you looked this close to crying.” I teased while pinching both my fingers in front of her.

Her eyes widened at my comment and she made an affronted sound, nudging at my shoulder, “I was not.”

“You keep lying to yourself.”

I could feel my mother’s eyes on me as she was busy fluffing the pillows on the soft. She gave me a stern look, “Edwardo.”

It has always been like this, the dynamics between me and Francesca.

“Shut up!” My cousin childishly rolled her eyes.

As Aria walked into the dining room, I stumbled while trying to sit up straight. It’s been a whole day since I last saw her, the last time being me wrapping a bandage around her ankle. Maybe taking a nap was after all the cure she needed.

“Looks like I made a good suggestion. Thank me later.” Francesca mouthed, looking in my direction.

Aria avoided looking in my direction, barely maintaining eye contact as she went on about her task. What was she playing at? Was she going to pretend that I never carried her to the room?

There was no doubt in my mind that I was attracted to her. How could anyone be in her presence and not want to have her? She was all delicate and soft, like a hedgehog with spikes always carrying anger on her nose.

“Hey, Aria. Excited to go to town tomorrow?” Francesca smiled looking in her direction and that's when I realised what she was doing. She was trying to fix us up. Is that why she mouthed in my direction that I should thank her later?

I noticed that Aria’s eyes widened as she lifted her head to look in my direction. I smirked at her, already thinking about a long drive with her.

***

As most of them filtered out of the kitchen, it left Aria and me behind. She was rummaging through the fridge, semi-aware of my presence behind her. I tried to take my eyes off from her behind but it was impossible. She was bending right in front of me, her round perky hips made me feel to sink my teeth.

I clenched my fists by my sides, trying to think of unattractive things. Already it was impossible to control around her and now that she was bending in front of me it seemed almost impossible. I could feel a stirring in my stomach, fingers curling in a fist.

She finally pushed the door of the fridge with her backside before turning to stand on her feet.

A squeak escaped her lips as soon as she noticed me standing in front of her, a hand coming to cover her mouth. The hold on the juice box was tightened as she tried to even her breaths.

“You almost scared me. What are you doing here?" She asked while unscrewing the bottle cap of the juice box, her tongue jutted out in concentration. The pink tip of her tongue, wet and glistening made me imagine her on her knees, as she would be begging for more.

“Well?” She looked up, waiting for my answer.

“So are we back to talking then?”

With that, she gulped the juice, the remaining trailing from the corner of her lips. My eyes followed the movement as the orange liquid kissed her skin, dribbling from the corner of her mouth to her chin. I parted my lips, breathing through them as she rudely wiped the liquid off and stared at me.

I looked away, embarrassed at being caught. Something was wrong with me because no one had affected me in that way before. It was like I couldn't function around her without making a fool of myself.

She shrugged.

“How's your ankle doing?” I blurted out to fill the silence in the room but then bit my tongue.

Aria did not look the least bit annoyed, instead, she was taken aback by my sudden concern. She forwarded her leg in my direction and tapped it harshly against the floor. Was she trying to prove a point or something?

“Yes! All good. I'm indestructible.”

"That's a nice attitude for someone who is five inches tall.”

She blinked her eyes, her nose flaring comically and gripped the box, “Shut up. I'm 5’4.”

A laughter bubbled out of my chest at her comment. She was lying. There was no way she was of average height.

“Is that the lie you told in the amusement parks?”

“Lie?! I got by easily because I'm average.”

"Whatever helps you sleep at night" I shrugged as she took another sip of work juice. It was clear that she was pressed about her height so I decided to drop the topic. Getting on her nerves was the last thing I wanted. Especially since we would be going on a long drive into the town.

"So are you excited for tomorrow?" I questioned, wriggling my eyebrows in her direction.

She scrunched her face cutely like she was trying to figure out what I was talking about. As if realisation dawned on her she scoffed and shook her head.

"Thank you for reminding me that I signed up for my destruction"

"Awe I feel so much love right now"

She made a sound of acknowledgement, "As you should."

"Don't worry I will make sure that you won't be able to forget it"

Aria made a face at that, placing the juice box back on the shelf and turning towards me, "Is it going to be that bad?"

I nodded sympathetically, "Yes. The worst.”

"Ugh and here I was thinking meeting you was already the worst.”

“Careful now.”

“Whatever.” She said while walking past me, her head brushing against my shoulder. For a second it seemed as if she was going to say something but thought against it.

***