The Story Of An Anonymous Girl ✔

Chapter 33

OLIVER

I hate Pretty Woman and Crazy, Stupid Love. But I love to see Mia laugh at certain scenes when she watches the movies. She loves to see Julia Roberts singing 'Kiss' in the bathtub and Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling doing the famous 'Dirty Dancing' lift.

I want to do the lift with Mia once. I don't know why, though. I guess I just love the fact that she'll be running into my arms.

"Did you order?" Noah's irritating voice snaps me out of my sweet reverie.

"I am."

"Thinking of Mia, weren't you?" He says loud enough only for me to hear.

"I wasn't." I snap at him.

"Lie all you want, Oliver. I can see your face light up at the mention of her name."

With that, he skipped away to the couch like a happy kid leaving me fucking hanging.

I groan internally and move to one of the couches.

"Ugh. It's cold. Why don't you have heating here?"

"I end up messing the whole system. I asked you if you wanted sweatpants. Want to cuddle and share the blanket?"

Shit. Why the hell did I say that? Please say no, Mia.

"Okay."

Noah smirks, looking at me.

As she gets up from the smaller couch and moves over to me, I open the blanket and wrap it around the both of us. She is freezing. She leans into my chest, and a sigh leaves her lips. I engulf her waist with my hands. Do friends cuddle like this?

"You are like my personal heater, Ollie." She says, breaking my train of thought.

"You are like my personal icebox, Mia." I quip back.

Before she can say anything, the bell rings.

"How did the delivery guy get here so fast?" Noah asks me.

"I don't know."

"Noah, can you please get the food?" I ask, not wanting to leave Mia from my grasp.

"Okay."

He pauses the movie, getting up from the couch and moves towards the door.

"Leo?"

"Noah?"

"Come on in, Leo and Isa. Isa, aren't you forgetting something?" He says, puffing his cheeks and crossing his arms.

"Bend down, Noah, then I will give you a kiss." She says, giggling.

Noah bends down, and she gives him a chaste kiss on his cheek. Noah kisses her on her forehead in return.

"OLIVERRRR!" Bella shouts as she spots me and runs towards me.

I remove the blanket from my body and wrap it back around Mia.

"Ciao, mia cara. Come stai, Bella?" I ask, picking her up and seating her on my lap. (Hello, my darling. How are you, Bella?)

"Sono buono. E felice che papà sia tornato a casa. Mettimi giù, Oliver, voglio incontrare Grace." (I am good. And happy that dad is back home. Put me down, Oliver. I want to meet Grace.) I give her a kiss on her forehead and set her down.

"Hello, Grace. I am Isabella. You can call me Isa or Bella." She says, climbing off my lap and standing near Mia's legs.

"Hello, Bella. You can call me Mia." Mia removes the blanket from around her and stands. Bending down, she picks Bella up effortlessly.

"Leo, I thought I was meeting Bella on Friday." She says with Bella still in her arms.

"I know, Mia. But, when I told Bella about you, she wanted to meet you instantly. So, I called Oliver to get your address, and he didn't pick it up. So, I tracked his phone and came here. I didn't expect you to be here, though." Leo replies, sitting on the couch where Noah was seated. Noah sits next to him.

"Oh. So, Bella, what did your father tell you about me?" Mia asks, and she answers instantly, "He told me that you are an excellent student. You are very strong."

"Is that so?" She questions and Bella counters her response, "Yes. Can I ask you something?"

"Mm-hmm." She hums back in rejoinder.

"Are you dating Oliver?"

Before Mia could say anything, Leo swooped in to say, "Bella, you can't just ask anyone that."

Why did you have to do that, Leo? I wanted to hear her response.

"It's okay, Leo." Mia replied.

Then she leaned towards Bella's ear and whispered something. Bella didn't say anything after that, and the both of them kept giggling.

"Noah and Oliver, I got Chicken Penne Alfredo Pasta. And lots of it."

"Then what are we waiting for? Christmas?" Noah asked caustically.

"Well, if Bella and Mia can stop giggling like two teenage girls discussing boys, then we can eat."

Just then, the bell rang once again. I get the door and see that the delivery guy is here. I thank him and go back inside.

"Sushi is here too!" I exclaimed. That seemed to get Bella's attention.

"Oliver, posso averne anch'io?" (Oliver, can I have some too?) Bella asks me.

"Bella, no. Avevi già un po' di pasta a casa. E hai anche la scuola, domani." (Bella, no. You already had some pasta at home. And you also have school tomorrow.) Leo says before I could say anything.

"Papà...." (Dad....) Bella whined, pouting and making the best puppy face ever.

"Bella, you always have trouble sleeping after eating a lot." He is about to get mad.

I start to open my mouth to say something, but Mia speaks before I can say anything, "Bella, how about this? You eat one piece of sushi, and then you and Leo go home after that. Then, on Friday, we can eat and do whatever you want, okay?" Mia says, nuzzling her nose with Bella's.

"Okay." Bella replies cheerfully.

Noah, Leo and I keep staring at Mia. I know that we all are thinking the same thing.

"Leo, is that fine?" Mia asks.

"Yes." He replies.

"It's settled then!" Mia exclaims.

Mia sets Bella down on the kitchen counter and takes one of the packages from me. Mia takes out a plate from one of the cabinets in the kitchen and puts sushi on it.

"Here you go, Bella. Would you like to eat on my lap?"

"Yes." She replies gleefully.

Mia moves back to the couch with Bella in one of her arms and the plate in the other. She sets Bella in her lap comfortably, and Bella starts eating. She mouths to me What as she notices the three of us staring at her. I just shake my head in response. She continues to watch Bella as she gobbles down the sushi.

"Bella, slowly. You don't want to choke yourself." Mia says, and Bella slows down a little bit and continues eating.

Once Bella is done eating, Leo says, "Sei soddisfatta adesso, tesoro?" (Are you satisfied now, sweetheart?) Leo asks Bella.

"Sì, papà. Grazie per avermi permesso di mangiare sushi." (Yes, dad. Thank you for letting me eat sushi.) She replies joyously. Leo moves to the couch and takes Bella in his arms, smothering her face with kisses.

"Mia, can you please see them out?" I ask, knowing that Leo wants to talk to her.

"Sure."

"Thank you, Mia." Noah says in response.