Chapter 22
Gabriel
“Fire him.” I sit back in my seat, annoyed.
“You can’t fire him,” Alessio gasps as the boardroom falls silent.
“Watch me.” I push my intercom. “Greg, get Rodney Roberts up here, please.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Listen, I know this report is not great but he can improve on it, I’m sure.” Alessio fights his case.
“I agree with this, he’s trying. We need to give him another chance,” Victor chips in
“We’ve already given him another chance and he didn’t come through, he can sponge on someone else’s time and money, not mine,” I snap.
“But…”
“Why do you soft cocks always feel sorry for people, this isn’t a fucking charity organization. If you don’t perform, you don’t get to keep your job, it’s as simple as that. He is at the top end of his game- he doesn’t have the privilege to be lazy.”
My intercom buzzes. “Yes,” I answer.
“Rodney Roberts is off sick today, sir.”
“Of course he is. Thank you.” My eyes flick to Alessio, and he winces.
“The final nail in his coffin.”
“Can I take your order?” the waitress asks.
I glance over to Serafina, my date. “Cosa mangi?” (“What are you having?“)
“I’ll have what you’re having.” She smiles over at me.
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Chapter 22
I stare over the table at her. Grow a backbone, for fuck’s sake.
Ugh.
“A green salad and the lobster times two, please,” I close the menu and hand it over to the waitress.
Serafina is as beautiful as they come, tall, dark and with a body to die for, Italian to the bone, and
nothing about her interests me in the slightest.
hink I’m broken.
1 subtly glance at my watch, two hours until I can get the hell out of here.
Violet
Laughter and screams sound through my house as I chase two naked toddlers around with nappies. To them, getting out of the bath and having me chase them around with clothes is the funniest thing ever, and I have to admit, even I love it.
品
My babies are eighteen months old, the biggest blessing and the absolute loves of my life. Our home is filled with laughter and chaos but above all…so much love.
Dominic is the oldest, he has dark wavy hair and olive skin with big brown eyes, he’s a mini version of his father. Personality and all, he’s feisty and short–tempered, dominant and intelligent and the biggest mommy’s boy of all time. And then there’s Lucia, we call her Lucy for short. Although she looks like her father, with her dark hair and big brown eyes, she couldn’t be more different. Tiny compared to Dominic, she’s calm and placid with the sweetest little nature. She idolizes her brother and has a quiet confidence about her. While Dominic wants to sit curled up on my lap, Lucy to sit with Buddy on the couch, she doesn’t want to sit on my lap, she’s so independent.
“Come on, guys, we need to be on time today,” I plead.
prefers
Dominic squeals with laughter and runs into my bedroom and dives onto the bed as I chase him. “You’re a little nudist, Dom.” I tackle him and roll him over to hold him down. “Stop squirming I put his nappy on as he laughs and tries to escape me. “Come on.” I try to act stern as I struggle to fight him. “We don’t have time for this today.”
I’m not lying, we really don’t. I go back to work next month, and today our new nanny arrives. I’ve concocted up a plan and in my head it makes perfect sense, but in reality, I have no idea how it’s actually going to turn out.
Deb and I have spent hours and hours discussing how the future is going to go down and one thing is
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Chapter 22
strikingly clear: I need to prepare for the day they ask who their father is. I can lie to the world about
artificial insemination, but I will never lie to them.
When they ask and they will, I’ll tell them the truth.
I need to prepare them the best of my ability, I need them to learn about Italian culture, speak the language and appreciate the difference between our heritages.
I’ve hired a young Italian nanny, she arrives today.
She’s going to study teaching part–time at the college and live here rent free with pay, in exchange for minding the kids while I work three days a week and teaching them how to speak Italian.
They need to learn it along with English, now, in their formative years. And besides, it will kill two birds with one stone: I can go back to work and get a new roommate, the kids will benefit and she gets to live in America for a few years. It’s a win–win situation…I hope.
We stand at the arrival terminal; the children are sitting in their double stroller and are completely preoccupied with their muesli bars, their latest obsession, and I’m about to go into cardiac arrest.
This is a terrible idea, what the hell was I thinking?
A stranger living in my house…she could be a serial killer or anything. Those references could be completely doctored.
I get a vision of how feral the twins can be and my temperature rises. What if she’s a princess, I can’t
deal with perfect princesses.
Our life is chaotic, and Buddy our dog sleeps on the couch when he isn’t supposed to and our house isn’t always tidy and…I begin to feel sick to my stomach.
What have I done?
My phone beeps a text.
Just getting off the plane now.
She’s here.
I smile and nervously type back..
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Werdal the arrival gate.
I’m the one with the double stroller.
The people begin to walk down the ramp and I watch on with my heart in my throat. “Look, here comes Maria,” I tell them. “Helave please, no tantrums today.” They keep munching on their muesli bars, totally uninterested in anything I say.
I see a young girl with dark hair, and she sees me and smiles and waves.
She’s wearing a gray tracksuit and her long dark hair is up in a high ponytail. She bounces over. “Violet?” “Maria?” I smile awkwardly.
“I’m so glad to be here.” She laughs and pulls me into a hug. Thank you so much for picking me up.”
She’s normal.
She bends down to lean into the stroller. “And who are you?” “This is Maria,” I tell them. “This is Lucy
and Dominic.” “Hello, cuties.” She smiles.
Downtly drops his muesli bar on the ground and without missing a beat, Maria bends and picks it up with her bare hands.
“Oh, that’s gross, sorry.” I wince. “Let me take that.”
“No, I’ve got it.” She pulls a tissue out of her pocket and wraps the sloppy muesli bar up. “We’ll get another one when we get home,” she tells him. “Lick your fingers.”
Dominic smiles up at her all awestruck and licks his fingers.
And just like that everything falls into place. Suddenly, I know that this is going to be wonderful. That she is going to be wonderful and the world is officially saved.
She gives me a big, friendly smile. “Let’s go home.”
I pull the car into the parking lot of the mechanic’s, damn it, this is a shit fight. I quickly give the car a neaten up and collect the receipts and coffee cups in the front console. Why does my car service always fall on the most chaotic of days? Maria had a college assignment due this morning, so I was up helping her with that until late last night, and then this morning Dominic was running through the house and bumped his head. To top it off, Buddy went out this morning and got completely covered in mud, came back through the doggy door and rubbed it all over the living room rug and couch as if it were a trophy.
Ugh ‘s been the morning from bell and I haven’t stopped rong since the moment i would ligt
I would have conceded the car service if it were not for one small detail
“Hey, you,” a raspy voler calls from inside the office and I smile
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
