The engine roared to life sending vibrations to the black leather seats. Elias gently caressed my hand with his thumb and within seconds our fingers are interlocked. My hand felt very small against his firm hold. His hands were rough and calloused in contrast to mine that were soft. The small gesture sends waves through my body that settled on my stomach.  My anger and sadness I felt just minutes ago was now a distant memory.

How could a simple touch have such an effect on me?

"Are you okay?" his voice was low almost like a whisper.

I give him a reassuring nod "Yes, I'm okay."

His eyes descended from my face to my chest as he blinked and looked away. I peered down to see five buttons on my blouse undone. I sighed the perks of having big boobs.

My mouth formed into a smirk "Elias, they're just boobs." I couldn't resist teasing him, but deep down, I was pleased that he had enough respect for me to look away.

He averted his attention back to me as he slouched a bit in his seat "What are you in the mood for?"

What I'm I in the mood for? is he talking about food? Why does everything he says sound remotely sexual? I blame the accent and that baritone voice of his.

"Uhh, anything sounds good really. You decide I'm not picky."

"Okay, what about some Mexican food?"

I gagged for dramatic effect "Anything, but Mexican food. I've eaten that a lot this past week."

He rubbed his beard as if he is in deep thought. "Okay, what about sushi?"

I stuck out my tongue and winced "I'm allergic remember?"

He does not look a tad bit annoyed by my indecisiveness if anything he actually looked amused. If this had been Thomas my head would have been cut off and fed to the wolves by now.

He looked deeply at the roof of his car until his mouth curved into a smile. "What about Thai Food?"

I get my hand from my side and motion it as if I sliced my neck with a knife.

He laughed as he shook his head.  I was not purposely trying to be indecisive. In my defense, it was that time of the month. I was craving everything but nothing at the same time.

I grabbed my free hand, yes my other hand was still interlocked with his and pointed it into the air.

"You know, what sounds really good. A good ole tasty burger from In and Out!"

He gave me a look that signaled, he was least than impressed with my choice but never less he stayed quiet. The sound of a humming engine surrounded the concrete parking garage. I rested my head to the side as I stared at the blurring images of cars we were passing by.

Our fingers were still intertwined making me want to die in a good way. I felt as if I reverted back to my middle school days when I had held my crush's hand for the first time. Except this was not my middle school crush he was my boss. This should feel wrong but it didn't it felt so right.

Once he had realized what he was doing, he quickly let go of my hand. I wanted to reach out and yank it back. But logic told me otherwise.

I had felt a little guilty that I was not completely honest with him earlier. I was not okay but being in his presence did help. He was the perfect diversion from my disastrous life. He didn't need to know the reality that I was broken, a shattered mess barely hanging on by cheap glue.

I tilted my head back so that he is back in my vision. His eyes intensely focused on the road, with one arm extended gripping the steering wheel. The sun illuminated through the windshield, showing off his beautiful olive skin tone that contrasted well with his plump lips that were a dusty pink shade. In the direct sunlight, his eyes turned a shade or two lighter, almost like honey.

His beard was a little longer since the first time I had met him. But It was still groomed to perfection making his chiseled face even sharper. His midnight hair was loosely combed back, it was the perfect combination of not too short but not too long. His suit was tailored to every contour of his body accentuating his big arms.

What captivated me the most, wasn't his looks, it was his aura. He was confident, respectful and kind. He was refined but had a roughness to him. I loved it that his presence demanded to be acknowledged without him saying a single word.

He bit down on his bottom lip taking me away from my thoughts. It was not until we were in the parking lot of In and Out that I decided it was a no for me.

In and Out had lost its appeal as soon as I spotted the Italian restaurant up the road. But I decided not to say anything about it. I mean he did drive halfway across the city to get me here. I would just have to deal with it.

As I was about to open the door he stopped me and leaned towards my seat. His face was inches away, giving me a perfect angle on those soft lips of his. Was it bad that I wanted to touch them? Hell, I wanted to taste them too.

"What is it, are you not wanting to eat here anymore?" his rough voice masked the playfulness in his tone.

How did he know what I wanted without me saying a word? Well, maybe I shouldn't give him too much credit a four year old could probably read my emotions. Hiding what I felt wasn't exactly my forte. That was on the list of things to fix about myself.

I put my hands over my thighs and decided to be honest. I mean he did already know what was going on through my head. And I was too hungry to be coy about it. "I saw that Italian restaurant up the road– I licked my lips, "Italian food sounds so good right now."

He gave a big sigh of relief "Italian it is, to be honest, I'm not really a fan of burgers."

I scrunched my eyebrows at him as he hightailed it out of the In and Out parking lot. Was he really going to scarf a burger down even if he didn't like it? And more importantly what kind of person doesn't like burgers.

We waltzed into the giant wooden doors that were covered in greenery. The Italian restaurant was quaint and not too fancy. The lighting was dimmed and candles were lit across the tables. I felt a wave of jealousy wash through me seeing the many couples in the restaurant. They were all completely swooning over each other and looked madly in love.

Must be nice.

We didn't wait long before our host who was a tall, lean young man with a thick Italian accent seated us. He led us to a wooden booth that was against a red brick accent wall. I sat across from Elias as the host took out a small notepad.

The host pierced me with his deep blue eyes from head to toe. Oh, he was definitely checking me out. "What can I get you to drink Fiorella."

Heat rose to my cheeks as I sweetly replied "Vino Rosso, per favore."

He gave me a wink before turning to Elias who seemed less than pleased by our little encounter. "And for you signore?"

"Gradirei una birra."

The host bowed as he left, leaving Elias and I to bask in our silence. I suddenly felt anxious about being in his presence. Even though I had no reason to be, Elias had already seen me at my worst, Drunk and ugly crying. But the romantic setting of the restaurant made it feel like this was a date.

He put down the menu as he looked at me "You speak Italian, That's very impressive."

My head tilted to the side as I shrugged my shoulders "Yes and I speak Spanish as well. Where do you get your accent from its sounds Spanish?"

"Si, but I've lived in many different countries since I was young, it's hard not to pick up a mixture of dialects."

The waiter poured the red wine and handed Elias a beer. The waiter asked if we were ready to order and we both said yes. I had decided on Fettuccine Alfredo while Elias ordered Beef brasato with pappardelle and mint. The waiter excused himself once again as I downed the wine hoping it would settle my nerves.

I poured myself more wine. Elias had suggested we make a toast. I clinked my wine glass with Elias's beer as he said "Per un nuovo inizio."

To new beginnings.

I took another sip of my wine as I ran my fingers through my wavy brown locks "Soooo, Do you always wear suits, what is your ethnicity and what countries have you lived at? How many languages do you know, are you like a human translator?"

Yeah, I definitely needed to slow down on the wine.

He gave me a big grin. Maybe, I wasn't the only one feeling a little buzzed. "No, I don't always wear suits. My mother has Mexican ancestry while my father has both European and Latin American", he paused as the waiter put down our salad and breadsticks. "It would be much simpler to ask what country I haven't lived it. I was born here in America but shortly after my parents moved to Spain. We resided there for three years before we moved to Italy. We stayed in Italy for about three years then moved to Mexico when my grandmother went ill. We lived in Mexico for 6 years until my mother died." He stopped as his Adam's apple bobbles up and down.

After taking a swig of his beer he continued, "We moved everywhere my father was needed. Constantly, moving from place to place gets very old. So, when I was eighteen I couldn't wait to move back to states and have been here ever since. As for languages, I know many, my father drilled me as a child that the more, I knew the better. But living here in California, I mainly just speak Spanish and English." He sighed, "but that's enough about me tell me more about yourself, Scarlett."

Now I was the one smiling widely "I'm afraid, my life was not quite as eventful as yours. I was born and raised here in California. My parents never really talked to me about my culture. It saddens me, that I don't know much about where I came from. I mean, I know my Abuela is from Mexico, so I'm definitely Mexican but my mom's side is a blur because she was adopted."

"Don't worry I'll teach you, Mexico is a beautiful country," he said with pure confidence.

I will gladly be your willing student.

We are now silenced by our delicious food in front of us. The steam rose off the fettuccine as I twisted it with my fork and pulled it into my mouth. It tasted as good as it looked. Our silence was not uncomfortable, the alcohol had seemed to do wonders because we were both at ease. I twirled the wine inhaling the sweet smell as I took another sip.

"Elias, how did you and Alexander become partners? You guys seem like polar opposites."

He wiped his mouth with the white napkin clearing his throat before speaking "If you think he is unrefined now, he was worse then, trust me. One day when we were still in college, we were both bored and started developing an App that was for online transactions. He dealt more with the graphics and I dealt with software. We had no intention of making money off it, it was more of a hobby. Long story short, we had people interested in buying it, they offered us a huge amount of money and we took it. Now, looking back it probably wasn't the best idea to sell it but you live and learn. "

I leaned closer to the table soaking in everything he was saying. Learning about the man behind the suit piqued my interest.

He straightened up his posture. "Alexander is the way he is because he doesn't have to deal with the things I do. I have a substantial amount of pressure to make sure everyone is happy and that alone is damn near impossible but regardless I try. Alexander crunches numbers and advises me on what cuts need to made. I am the one who has to execute, telling employees they are no longer needed while they beg me not to fire them. I have to look them dead in the eye and enclose that their best isn't good enough. I have to make tough decisions daily for the good of all. It's very hard to laugh or make jokes after all that. In this business, it's cutthroat and at the end of the day you have to find a way to sleep at night."

His expression was no longer cheerful, it was somber. I had always noticed the hint of torment in his eyes but now I knew the cause of it. Maybe we were all broken inside. My heart sunk in my chest knowing my intrusion caused this. All I wanted to do at this moment was comfort him as he did for me. But I was frozen in my seat.

The tension was cut in half when a sweet older woman in her late 60's walked toward our table. Her grey hair was pinned back and she wore a brown long skirt with a pink flower cardigan. In her small hands, she held a vintage Polaroid camera one that had to be more than several years old. She had a name tag that had the words Proprietario Lucinda .

She glanced at Elias and me "Bella coppia, Qual è l'occasione? Anniversario?"

I hastily replied "no lui è –"she quickly cut me off as she clapped her hands and pointed to a wall "Per favore, baciare!"

The wall was filled with Polaroid photos of couples kissing above it the word amore was in cursive. My gaze went back to the older lady the warmness she had before was gone as Elias spoke to her.

The woman's face formed into a frown as she began to walk away. My conscience could not bear making two people upset tonight. One kiss on the cheek could not hurt, right?

I got up from my seat and made my way to Elias who had his attention focused on his pocket for some reason. "Aspettare" I yelled as I swung my body onto Elias's leg. I descended my lips towards his cheek but right when I did he turned his head.

Before we knew it our lips had crashed together.

My breathing slowed. His lips were soft and sensual. Our bodies reacted instantly-my arms flung around his neck and his wrapped around my waist. Everything faded to black and went silent except for my beating heart.

Thump

Thump

Thump

Thump

Our lips separated as an eruption of cheers and whistles surrounded the small restaurant. My eyes opened to see the restaurant beaming at me and Elias. Heat rushed to my face as the woman put the photo down on the table holding the other in her hand "un bacio che parla dall'anima."

I looked at everyone in the restaurant as they resumed back to there evening. I glanced at Elias who seemed just as surprised as I was.

I whispered in his ear "I guess for the rest of the night we aren't  Elias and Scarlett, We are  two people madly in love celebrating their anniversary."

He smiled as he settled me off his lap. He wrapped his arm behind my neck as he slowly caressed my arm. "Si, two people in love indeed."

I gave him my hand "I'm Miel, and you are?

He laughed, "I'm Oso."

Wow, bear and honey huh? Very Clever, I'll give you that pooh bear ."

It was fun to act like two people in love, we laughed throughout the rest of our dinner. We both made up stories about who our newly found identities were.

Oso was a carpenter and Miel was a talented painter. They had met in Italy when Oso saw her painting a beautiful mural. Oso was intrigued by Miel's beauty claiming she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Oso kissed Miel once and the rest was history Elias stated.

The waiter brought us semifreddo and insisted it was on the house.  I took the fork with the dessert and placed it into his mouth. He licked the fork slowly as our eyes were locked in place. He lifted the fork into my mouth as I licked the fork a little slower than he did.

He motioned that something was on the crevice of my mouth. I ran the napkin over my mouth hoping I had taken care of it. I assumed I didn't when Elias ran his thumb slowly across my lips. Afterwards, he licked his thumb clean of the mousse.

We were playing the part all too well. It was starting to feel real, too real.

I ran my fingers through his beard "Thank you for this, Thank you, for – everything."

He smiled "I should be thanking you, it's a pleasure having you in my company."

The waiter gave Elias the ticket, I had offered to pay but of course, he refused. Elias signed the receipt as I stared down at the Polaroid photo from earlier. I now understood the older lady, if I didn't know the truth I would think we were a couple too.

The chilly air blew through my hair as I looked at the midnight sky through the passenger door window. The drive back to my home was peaceful. The music blasted from the speakers as I extended my arm out the windows to feel the cool breeze. The hesitation of the unknown was riddled in both of our eyes.

Yes, the kiss was accidental but it never meant to happen again. Regardless, it left a revealing truth in its wake. What I felt didn't make sense. Nothing made sense. Everything was going fast and It was hitting me all at once before I could recover from the whiplash.

My mom had always told me to listen to my heart because the heart knew what the mind couldn't explain. Right now, my heart wanted to sleep but it also wanted Elias. It felt both freeing and absolutely terrifying to admit that.
                                                                                    ****

Fingers feathered down my cheeks down my jaw to the nape of my neck. I opened my eyes, Oh Elias. The car was now halted in place. I wondered how long we've been sitting here, why didn't he wake me up? I smiled but he only half smiled back.

His smile seemed forced like he was hiding something. There was a darkness in his eyes, his jaw was stiff and his muscles were tense. I quickly sat up in the passenger seat and that's when I saw it or should I say him.

Thomas stood against his Audi. His gaze was cold as he bore holes into my skull through the windshield. My chest tightened, this is bad.

"I'm going to walk you inside" it was a demand more than a question, I knew Elias would not let take no for an answer.

I stayed frozen in my seat, thinking of the millions of ways this could turn out. Elias unlatched the door and held my hand as I exited it out.

"That's one hell of an Uber driver baby where did you find this guy? "Thomas scoffed and spit on the rose bush giving Elias a look of disgust "I got it from here amigo."

Elias was undaunted by Thomas's words. His tall frame towered over me as If I was his most valuable possession. He put his hand on my back and gave me a look to continue walking.

"Is this guy deaf Scarlett? Tell your amigo to hit the f*cking road."

Thomas formed a wicked smile "Baby, did you tell your amigo how you stripped for me?"

Thomas licked his lips "Black Lingerie always looks so good on you but he wouldn't know that, would he? I bet he doesn't even know how good you taste." Thomas jaw clenches as he faces me "Tell him to leave Scar–."

Elias's cool composure was thrown out the window before Thomas could even finish. His face hardened and the veins in his arm started to pop out "Why don't you tell me to leave."

He charged toward Thomas throwing him against the car. Thomas winced in pain. Elias grabbed him by the collar as he gritted his teeth. "I'd be very careful of what you say about Scarlett next."

Elias stood four inches taller, his build was twice as big as Thomas. Thomas would be utterly destroyed by this wolf of a man named Elias. Not that I cared that much about Thomas getting his butt kicked, I needed to stop this.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I grabbed Elias by the shirt walking us away from Thomas who was hovered on his knees. There was no doubt Elias came willingly there's no way I was strong enough to drag him If he resisted.

"Elias, please you don't have to get involved in my mess, let me handle this. "

His eyebrows furrowed as he inhaled a deep breath. I don't have to even say the words for him to know what I'm asking him. He gets the message loud and clear.

He brought his face to the crook of my neck, "Prometeme?"

A promise, a mutual understanding between two people to trust. Every bone in my body sensed his hesitation to leave me with Thomas but regardless of how he felt. He let me decide that alone spoke volumes to me.

"I Promise."

He gave me a kiss on the forehead and walked away. I watched as he got into his car, waving goodbye as he drove away.

I looked over my shoulder to see a Thomas seething with rage. I walked towards him, my heart was not beating out of my chest nor did I have fear or sadness. My blood boiled with anger, anger towards a man I once loved, a man I thought I would spend forever with.

I don't even look towards him "I am not talking to you now, so don't even waste your breath. I will talk to you when I'm ready if that day ever comes."

"No, Scarlett you are going to talk to me right now. Let me get things straight here, we break up for what a little over a month— Tell me did you deliberately seek out my worst fücking enemy to lay in bed with."

"Yes, I deliberately hunted down your worst enemy and rode him into oblivion the first chance I got. Is that what you want to hear? That's all I'm good for right? Just for pleasure never substance right?"

I turned around having enough of his stupid jealous nonsense. He acted as if he was the captain of high moral ground. He is is the one that cheated on me.

He ran back into my view "Look, I'm tired of fighting, but you can't expect me not to be mad. Clearly, something is going on between the two of you and I don't like it one bit."

I folded my hands across my chest and rolled my eyes "You have no right to be mad. It's also none of your business. You think the way back in my heart is by spewing careless hurtful words at me every chance you get. That's not love, that's flat out abusive. You only love me when I do as you say. Go find yourself a new puppet, toy, whatever. Stop worrying about me, and get your life together and do something with it."

I opened my front door hearing him yell in the distance "You're the cause of all of this" he signaled his hand up and down his body "I'm a mess because of you. You cause me nothing but pain. Four years and you throw it all away. Whatever you do, just promise me you will tell me if you're in danger or if anything out of ordinary happens. The world is a very cruel place Scarlett."

My head dared to twist around but I don't I just slammed the door behind me. What danger could I possibly be in? I make my way towards my bedroom when I heard a crackle from behind me. My throat stiffened as I turned around.

"Omg, that was so awesome! It's was like King Kong vs Godzilla out there!" my sister closed the white French doors to the office. "Please tell me that guy was the Boss you were telling me about!"

"Isabella, really were you just creeping out the window the whole time?"

She laughed as she gives me a big hug "Don't look at me that way! Dad forgot to pay the Netflix subscription so that outside was my only entertainment for the night."

I shook my head as I walked down the narrow hallway to the bedroom. I undressed and slipped on whatever I had in my dresser. I jump onto my bed and think about my more than eventful day.

I decided to shoot Elias a text letting him know I was fine. I switched my phone for my kindle that was placed on my wooden nightstand. Not even a page in and my phone starts vibrating I glanced over the screen to see My Awesome Boss Facetime. 

"What's with the cryptic 'I'm fine' text? I have a sister to know I'm fine means everything but fine."

But I am way too occupied with the view to utter a reply. A freshly showered Elias with a white towel wrapped just below his waist showcasing his v line and happy trail. His black wet hair forms a curl over his forehead. A droplet escaped his curl to fall down his chest to his abs then down past his v line.

The image I had conjured in my mind did no justice, this was better than my imagination. Is he trying to seduce me right now?

I heard low chuckle "I could ask you the same thing."

Did I say that out loud? I quickly look down to see my breasts in full display in my black nightgown. Heat flushed to my cheeks as I quickly covered myself with my comforter.

"No Elias, I'm fine, you know like I'm okay? There's no secret meaning behind it."

He got out of view for a brief moment, I assumed to put underwear on because the towel is gone. He turned on a lamp on his nightstand and plopped on to his bed still shirtless. He laid to his side as he ran his hand through his hair. Our brown eyes locked together.

"Do you want to keep each other company?" His voice sounded huskier than usual.

A smile brushed across my face "I'd like that."

He smiled a smile that says a million words. I returned to reading my book as he worked on something on his laptop. We both set our phones against our pillows. As I was started to get lost in my book, I was curious to see what Elias was up to now.

I looked over my phone to see his laptop was now closed and set aside. His body was half covered with a grey comforter with his eyes closed shut and his full lips were slightly parted.

I checked the time on my phone to see It hadn't even been over five minutes yet. I wondered why he had even asked only to fall asleep so quickly.

The tranquility displayed across his face was contagious I could not help but feel it too. My eyes felt heavy as I watched his chest rise and fall. My heart felt light, my body warm, as I welcomed the silence.

• • •

Translations
Fiorella (Italian)- little flower

Vino Rosso,per favore (Italian)-  red wine please.

Signore(Italian)- sir

Gradirei una birra (Italian) ill have a beer

Si- yes

Per un nuovo inizio (Italian) - to new beginnings

Cariño (Spanish)- darling/ dear/ sweetheart
Proprietario(Italian) owner

Bella copia, qual èl'occasione? Anniversario? (Italian) - beautiful couple, what is the occasion? Anniversary?

No lui è ( Italian)-no he is

Per favore, baciare( Italian) please kiss

Amore(Italian)- love

Aspettare(Italian)- wait

Un bacio Che parla dall'anima - a kiss that speaks from the soul

Prometeme(Spanish)- promise me

Lo prometo( Spanish) I promise