This fic is dedicated to Angel, to whom I lose bets and then owe fics and vids. So here it is, Angel. I hope you like it.
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Chapter 1
"Is Wili still mothering you?" Betty asked through her cell phone as she walked down the halls of MODE.
"Oh, Betty, you have no idea," Christina said, mumbling the words while she ate. "She actually brought cupcakes this morning. They are delicious!"
Laughing, she said, "You have to get well as soon as possible. You know I can't work here without you!"
"The doctor says I'm getting better every day. I feel a lot—"
"Oh my gosh!"
"What is it, Betty?" she cried.
"Gio's back!" She clicked off her phone and ran towards Gio. "Bongiorno!" She hugged him tightly.
The muscles in his back and shoulders tightened until she let him go. Giving her a brief glance, he tersely said, "Hey," before hunkering down over his cart and walking swiftly away from her towards the hallway.
Frowning, she chased after him. "Gio!" she shouted. "Gio, what's wrong?"
He stopped and sighed. Closing his eyes, he tried breathing in and out. "I don't want to talk about it."
She smiled. "But you went to Rome! You must have seen amazing things."
He nodded. "Oh, I did. But I didn't enjoy one damn thing about it."
"Why?" she asked, her brow furrowing.
His eyes trained on hers in what looked almost like a crazy haze. "You dumped me right before I got on the plane. I moped around Rome for weeks."
Her mouth dropped open. "Gio…Gio, I'm so sorry."
He waved her words away with his hand. "Food had no taste. I went all the way to Italy to find my flavor and everything tasted like cardboard. Pizza. Bread. Cheese. Pasta. All like cardboard."
"Gio, maybe you should have waited before you went to Rome."
Shaking his head, he said, "I had already bought the tickets, remember? You had told me that you definitely wanted to go, so I bought them. It was part of the plan. I thought I'd get over you in Rome."
Her throat clenched at his words. She hadn't realized how much she had wanted to hear those words, how much she liked the thought. "You're not over me?"
He raised his eyebrows. "Over you? I hate you."
All of the breath was taken from her. Her face scrunched. "Excuse me?"
"I didn't find my flavor. I completely lost it. I've been home for three weeks and I haven't been able to make one damn decent sandwich. I've had complaints. I'm losing business. I hate you."
"Gio, what can I do to help?" she asked, her shoulders slumped.
He looked at her coldly as he said, "You can let me forget I ever knew you."
She watched him walk away from her, pushing his cart down the hall. She felt terrible. And guilty. Her heart squeezed tightly. She didn't want him to forget her. She didn't want to forget about him. As tears stung at her eyes, she realized that she had underestimated her feelings for him.
She would fix this. She needed to fix this.
TBC
