His world

Chap. 2 - Together - Annalise

      Once again when I get up Stef is gone. Begheera had drug Nat's shirt into Stef's warm spot. Aside from dragging her shirt around he still acts normal and happy. I know he'd be happier if she was here. "I miss her too bud." I tell Begheera before letting Jackson out. Walking through the kitchen I find a note from Stef.

We're going to dinner be ready by 7, love you

I don't work on any projects today. I spend my day cleaning and getting ready for our date. Two years together and he still surprises me with dates. Whether it's a movie date at home with ice cream or a fancy dinner date.

"What do you think?" I ask Beretta who's sitting on the bed like she knows what I'm saying. I lay a black dress with off the shoulder sleeves and a red dress with a slit up the side on the bed. She walks over to the black dress and starts kneading. I laugh as she flops over and goes to sleep. "Red it is." I pet her and put on the dress.

      I've never been a make up girl. It just doesn't feel right on my face, not that Stefano would care if I wear it or not. If I do wear it he likes seeing mascara run down my face with tears of pleasure. I groan at the thought of it. I don't want to make my panties wet until after dinner.

     The living room clock chimes at seven. As soon as I decide to read while I wait Stef walks through the door. He holds out his hand that has a single flower. On our first date he picked a flower outside of my apartment and he's done it ever date since. I take it and thank him smelling it.

"You look amazing baby." He says kissing me. I stop him before we can get any further. We'd never get to dinner if we started right now. We drove in comfortable silences. I mainly admired the landscape out the window.

Arriving at the restaurant we take our seats. Everyone here already knew him and referred to him as Mr.Ferrari. To be honest they seemed a little scared, but I ignored it. When the waitress comes she only keeps her eyes on him.

"Can I get you anything else Mr.Ferrari?" She seductively says, pushing up her breasts. I ignore her seeing that he paid her no mind. Women always want his attention, but he only has eyes for me.

"No, that'll be all." He dismisses her, and turns back to me. "How was your day baby?" The waitress gives me a glare and stomps away. Bitch, I roll my eyes at her and give Stef my whole attention.

"It was good, I didn't do much besides clean and read," That really all I did, but considering I usually do a lot of work I don't feel lazy. I laugh remembering what Jackson did, "Jackson went outside and saw his reflection in a puddle. He wouldn't stop barking at it, and when he tried to attack it he splashed him self."

Stefano laughed at our big tough dog. He's a great guard dog, but he can be really silly sometimes. Stefano's laugh makes my heart leap. His smile was one of the first things I noticed about him. That and his muscular tattooed body. No wonder women swoon over him.

"We should go the aquarium. They got a new shark." I say excitedly, making Stefano smile. Nat use to call me a geek for my excitement. I know sometimes it makes me sound like a kid when I get excited about stupid stuff like that, but I don't care. My papa always told me to be passionate about what you love. And I love sharks.

      Through dinner we laugh and eat good food. I hope when we're old we can still do this. After two years together we still have fun. I just wish he'd let me see his family. I know he at least has a brother.

His bright smile dies and he puts on his remorseful face. He's leaving. Every once in a while he has to go on trips for work. At first I thought it was him cheating, but I trust him not to. I'm more worried about him getting hurt. Sometimes he comes home beaten up or even has bullet wounds. The fear of him never coming back to me is greater than him cheating.

"How long are you gonna be gone?"

"Hopefully only two days, but maybe more." Two days isn't bad. Once he was gone a week. "How are your projects going?" He asks paying the bill before we walk to the car.

"Good, I just finished a project yesterday. I should be done I time for the show in Italy, maybe we could go sight seeing, or to visit your family." I'm quite with the last part I know he doesn't like to talk about them.

"Anna." His voice deep and cold. I know he doesn't like talking about them but I don't understand why.

"Why don't you talk about them Stef? At least Antonio, I mean him getting hurt was the reason we met." We met at the hospital. His brother Antonio came in with a concussion and my co-worker gave him my art show address.

"Because and that's final!" He yells making me jump a little. He never yells so when he does it's startling. I huff in annoyance and cross my arms.

       It irritates me that he won't let me see them. He doesn't even talk about them. Sometimes I think it's because he doesn't think they'll like me or that I won't like them.

      Getting home I don't wait for him. I'm too mad, I stomp up stairs like the waitress stomped away from our table. At least I have a viable reason to be pissed. While I'm taking my make up and dress off I hear Stef change before leaving the house. The door slamming startles me again.

         When we have fights like this and he leaves, theres a voice in the back of my head tells me he's cheating. I know he wouldn't but it doesn't stop the thought.

      I lay down in our bed wanting to cry because of the fight. I stop, telling myself there's nothing to cry about. He'll be back and he's not cheating. I hope.

     I don't know how much time has past but I didn't get a wink of sleep. Hearing the door creak open Jackson wags his tail but doesn't move to bark or attack. I know it's Stef. His familiar footsteps shuffle to the bathroom. He takes and shower and meets me in bed. I still play sleep, even as he pulls me closer and kisses my shoulder. His wet hair feels cool on my skin. Only when he lays his head down to sleep can I feel tired enough to fall asleep.