His Employee

Chapter 6

    I wake up on the couch by myself to see a note on the pillow.
Evelyn,
I had to leave early for a meeting. See you at work. Emilia is with my parents.
I make myself look presentable and then leave for work.
    I sit at my desk and run more reports waiting and hoping to see Stefano. I am not quite sure what happened to make him open up to me like that last night, but I loved it. I finally see him walk past and he doesn't even glance my way. What. The. Fuck.
    I feel a little pain in my chest.
    I bury myself in work reminding myself as much as I want a relationship...this is what happens. I felt so close to him. That just must not have been really him.
    I look up to see him opening my office door. "How may I help you, Stefano?" I inquire. "Lunch plans Evie?" he asks. I don't know what it is about how he says my name whether it's the nickname or the way it rolls off his tongue but it gives me butterflies. "Nope. What do you have in mind?" I ask. "The fine dining place down the street right now," he says. "Sure," I nod. I walk over to him as he holds the door open for me.
    When we finally get to the restaurant and seated he orders us wine and whiskey. "I'm sorry I had to leave before you woke up this morning," he says. "It doesn't matter," I say as our hors d'oeuvre get set in front of us. It's a beautiful plate of canipés. "It does matter," he says a glimmer of hurt passing his eyes briefly. "Well, what's it matter? You're the same as you always are," I shrug. "Eveyln if you haven't noticed Bianca and I just broke up and you would be receiving hell if anyone found out right now. I don't care about me but I am very much in the public eye," he says coldly. I nod taking in his words. "These are delicious," I say. "They are," he nods. "How can food be so beautiful?" I inquire. "It's not the most beautiful thing here," he says. "Well duh. I think that girl over there is a model," I whisper. He rubs his forehead. "I was talking about you," he whispers leaning towards me. "Oh," I blush seeing the side of him I saw last night. The side I only really saw when he was with Emilia. "Do you know what you want to eat?" he asks. "Not a clue. Everything looks so good and so fancy," I say. "Do you need help?" he asks. "No surprise me," I laugh. He almost smiles at that.
   Our food finally comes and I look down at the massive plate. It has multiple lobsters, a fancy butter sauce, steamed clams, mac and cheese, and sauteed green beans. "Oh my god," I gasp. He got the same thing he ordered for me. "Try dipping the lobster in the sauce," he says before taking a bite of his. I break off a piece of lobster and dip it in the golden sauce. As soon as I taste it but tastebuds light up. "This is the best food I've ever eaten," I smile. "I think I'm in love with this dish," I say all giddy inside. "Have you never had it before?" he asks. "No my dad made enough to support us and get the necessities but that was all. We ate grilled cheese or rice and gravy almost every day," I explain. He just stares at me. "Well be doing lunch more often," he finally speaks. "Wait what was that?" I ask too distracted by this amazing food. "We will be doing lunch more often," he says almost laughing. I smile at him.  "Look at that baby," I say when someone walks in with what appears to be a newborn. "They're cute," Stefano nods. "They are cuter than cute! They're precious," I smile. "I take it you love babies as much as older children?" he asks. "I adore babies and kids. I've always wanted one," I admit. He just nods. "Do you love babies?" I ask. "I think they're cute. I loved Emilia when she was that little of course," he informs. We go back to eating over small talk.