“Sure. I’d love to.” On hearing Emily’s acceptance to go abroad with him for the weekend, Giovanni got into his car and drove straight home. The ride home was silent though oddly enough, he found himself tempted to play music in the car. It was late already but once again, he was doing things he never saw himself doing in a million years to come. Celebrating his birthday, having a cake and gift in his car, accidentally kissing someone, driving so late at night- the list was endless. And with Emily present, it just seemed like that list was only going to get longer. After refusing to give in to the temptation to play music, he finally got home and immediately reached for the barely eaten cake in the seat next to him. With a sigh, he reached for the bag containing his little gift and stepped out of the car, walking towards the front door. With gaze fixed on the door, he had only taken a couple steps when he abruptly stopped, catching a familiar figure in sight ahead of him. He was

The flight to Canada lasted a couple of hours and finally, Emily and Giovanni were at the city of Ottawa. Luckily, they still had about an hour to spare before Giovanni’s meeting. Enough time for them to get to their hotel and get settled in. “So let me guess,” Emily spoke up as they drove to the hotel Giovanni ordered the chauffeur to take them to. “Do you already have your room booked? Let’s say, five start hotel, premium suit and you already have everything you could need prepared in anticipation of your grand arrival?” “No, Miss Stark,” Giovanni shook his head. “Why?!” “Because this trip is an impromptu one,” he faced her as he replied. “I only made plans to come here yesterday so I wasn’t able to book my room in advance.” “Oh, interesting,” she was having fun teasing him. “Must be a first time for you. Since you’re so prim and proper and-“ “Sir, we’ve arrived.” “Shh,” he hushed her as the chauffeur pulled over in front of the hotel. “You talked all the way so how about yo

“Mr. Rueben, are you listening to us?” A light groan escaped Giovanni’s lips as he glanced at his wristwatch, nodding in response to the question he was asked. He was listening but definitely had stopped listening a couple of minutes ago. “Yes, please go on.” His business partner to be in front of him went on speaking and all it took was a couple of words for Giovanni’s attention to slip away all over again. His mind travelled to the time and in the long run, Emily. He had promised to get back to the hotel by evening but with the look of things, that was going to be nothing but an empty promise. It was past 7pm already and he still wasn’t done for the day. He had no one but himself to blame though. He had made August tweak his schedule so he could fit everything he had to do in one single day. That way, he could have the following day to just himself and Emily without any work interruptions. “I believe that would be all for today. It is a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Rue

Emily stirred in her sleep, slowly becoming aware of the warm presence around her. The bed felt warmer than usual and to make it even more confusing, it wasn’t feeling as soft as she expected it to. At least not the entire bed. It was like a part of the bed felt harder than usual. And around her, she could feel something just as hard. It couldn’t be the pillow though. After all, pillows were supposed to be soft and incapable of moving on their own. Her consciousness slowly started to seep in, Emily moving her body to press it against whatever felt so warm around her. A light smile appeared on her face and just as it was about to widen, she opened her eyes, reality hitting her immediately. Right next to her, serving as form of warmth was no one but Giovanni. Her eyes slowly widened as she gave her surroundings a quick glance, catching Giovanni’s arm wrapped around her. He was hugging her. He probably had been hugging her all night. Crap, they probably cuddled all night. The urg

Their morning started on a good note as just as planned, they got ready to head back home. Giovanni’s private plane was on standby, ready to take them back to the U.S and knowing it was a school day, he suggested them leaving early enough so they could get back in time for Emily’s afternoon classes. It was an offer she didn’t refuse, considering the fact that her afternoon class was an important one. Excitedly, they checked out of the hotel and had the chauffeur drive them back to the airport where they took the plane. They got in, had their luggages tucked in and in no time, began their three hours long flight back home. “I don’t think I’ve mentioned this but thank you for the trip,” Emily had to say to Giovanni. “It was my first time abroad and it was fun. It was the perfect break I needed from school and all of that chaos.” “It’s nothing, you’re welcome,” he nodded at her. “I’m glad I could make it worthwhile.” “I guess so,” she chuckled. “It was great.” “The wedding is in