June 2007

Lulu absentmindedly stirred her iced coffee, "It's been two weeks," Lulu muttered. Jason sent Milo to Miami to work on a project and the time line was up in the air. Milo had been gone for almost two weeks and as far as she was concerned that was two weeks too long.

"Never fear Blonde One," Spinelli said. "The Jackal is at your service."

"Oh really?" Lulu asked.

Spinelli's eyes grew wide, "No - not that, that's not what the Jackal meant," Spinelli stammered. "Unless of course - unless the Blonde One desires that. It would be the Jackal's humblest pleasure to serve you in whatever capacity you desire. Although Muscles may object to - "

"Thanks for the offer Spinell, but I think I'll pass," Lulu said and smiled. Spinelli was a great friend, but that's all he would ever be. She knew that Spinelli had a crush on her, and he acted like a twelve year old boy around a girl for the first time. Spinelli hoped that she would end her infatuation with Milo and become interested in him, but that just wasn't going to happen. She was hooked on Milo Giambetti.

"When you go home and see Jason, tell him he's being mean and he didn't have to send Milo away for this long. What did I ever do to Jason? It's not like I re-arranged his precious t-shirts or anything." For the most part, Jason was the perfect roommate for Spinelli. Jason paid all the bills and didn't question him on his whereabouts. There were only a few rules at Casa de Stone Cold and aside from leaving the room whenever anything mob related took place it was to stay out of his bedroom. She'd visited the penthouse often and had only seen one person other than Jason enter his bedroom - Graciella. And each time Graciella entered his room, she had a basket of freshly laundered t-shirts. Lulu shook her head and laid her head on the table, "I've turned into her."

"Turned into who?" Spinelli asked. "Not the Bad Blonde One?"

"No, not Maxie. I've turned into that girl - that girl that can't go five minutes without seeing her boyfriend," Lulu muttered. She prided herself on being independent, on being her own person separate from her boyfriend. But here she was, sullen and pathetic because she hadn't seen her boyfriend in a few weeks. "I hate that girl."

"What girl?" Milo whispered as he leaned close to Lulu.

Lulu turned around and smiled, "You're home," Lulu whispered and she jumped up and into Milo's arms. "I'm so glad you're home."

"Me too," Milo said and softly kissed Lulu. He reluctantly broke their kiss, "I have to meet with Johnny. It could take a while. At least an hour, maybe two."

"Now?" Lulu asked and wrapped her arms around Milo's neck. "Right now?" Lulu teased Milo with short kisses. "Are you sure you don't want to leave here with me?" She loved Milo, she loved that he loved his job and that he was good at it - but right now, she wanted to be with him.

She had been dating Milo long enough to know the protocol. Nothing serious was going on in Miami, because he actually had time to talk to her more than once a day for more than five minutes at a time. If Milo was here to meet with Johnny that meant he'd already checked in with Jason. And technically meeting with Johnny could wait. If it was serious, he would've checked in with both of them at the same time. If it was really serious, one or both of them would've flown down to Miami. But Milo was here, that meant it could wait.

Milo closed his eyes for a few seconds, "I want to, believe me I do - but I can't," Milo said, disentangling himself from Lulu. "The sooner I check in with Johnny, the sooner I'll be home."

Lulu narrowed her eyes at Milo in a mock glare, "Two weeks Giambetti," Lulu reminded him. She quickly kissed him, "I've slept alone in your bed for two weeks, two lonely weeks." They had been dating for almost three months and spent time together everyday, everyday except for the past fourteen. It was stupid, but everyday he was gone it felt like ten.

"I know," Milo said. "But I'm home now, I'll make it up to you, okay?"

Lulu smiled, "You better or else," Lulu warned and gently tugged Milo's tie.

"Or else what?" Milo asked.

"You've got five seconds to get into my office or you're fired," Johnny said from the doorway.

"Johnny - can't Milo check in with you later?" Lulu asked.

"No, he's going to check in with me now," Johnny said.

If she couldn't appeal to Johnny's compassionate side, maybe she could blackmail him into letting Milo leave. Lulu smiled at Johnny, "Fine, I'm supposed to meet up with Carly and do some shopping. I'll make sure to mention to her that I saw Alexis leaving your office today," Lulu said. Carly was secure in her relationship with Johnny, but there was one person that made her blood boil - Johnny's ex, Alexis.

Johnny paled, "That's not funny," Johnny said. "She was here to drop off contracts for Nikolas. We're buying some of his property, you know this."

"Yeah, I do know this," Lulu said. "It was really thoughtful of Alexis to drop them off in person instead of giving them to your lawyer, don't you think?"

"I'll catch up with you later." Milo said and quickly kissed Lulu. "I'll call you." Milo kissed Lulu again and whispered, "Behave," before following Johnny into his office.

Milo set down his bag by the door as he entered his apartment. The lights were out and it looked like no one was here, but he'd seen Lulu's car in the parking lot. "Lulu?" Milo called out as he took off his suit jacket and loosened his tie.

Lulu walked into the living room, carrying a single candle. The candlelight bounced off the darkened walls and Lulu's face, "Hi," Lulu said and set down the candle on the table.

"Hi," Milo said, walking across the room. "What's all this?"

Lulu smiled and lit a few more candles, "Dinner," Lulu said.

"Did you make this?" Milo asked, peeking in a few of the containers. "It looks great." If there was one thing he'd learned about the Spencers since he started dating Lulu was that only her Aunt Bobbie could cook. The rest of them shouldn't be anywhere near a kitchen. But while Lulu's cooking was barely edible, it still managed to look good.

"Do I look like I'm mad at you?" Lulu asked as she finished setting the table.

"No, but I thought I'd ask first," Milo carefully said. Lulu couldn't cook and she knew she cook, but for some reason she was really sensitive about her cooking skills, or lack thereof. The last time she made dinner it was a disaster. He still wasn't sure what she had done wrong, but her version of eggplant Parmesan would not be featured in any cooking magazines.

"Baby, you just got home. I want you to spend the night with me - not in the bathroom," Lulu said.

Milo smiled, "So what do you say -" Milo's voice trailed off and motioned to the bedroom.

Lulu shook her head, "Later," Lulu said and motioned for Milo to sit down.

Milo walked around the table and pulled out Lulu's chair, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head once he pushed her chair in. "I missed you," Milo whispered. A year ago, he would've jumped at the chance to go to Miami. But he hadn't really wanted to go this time. He and Lulu had slipped into a comfortable routine. They had lunch together nearly every day and on days he didn't work they hung out together. He'd gotten used to coming home and finding her asleep in his bed.

"I missed you too," Lulu said. "Now eat before everything gets cold."

Milo sat down across from her and laughed softly, "Aren't you bossy tonight," Milo said.

"I thought you liked it when I was bossy," Lulu said.

A smile filled Milo's face, "Yeah, I do," Milo said.

They spent the next hour laughing and talking, just catching up while they ate. It amazed him how comfortable he was around Lulu considering the night he met her he'd barely been able to string together a few sentences. He fell head over heels in love with her the moment he met her. Some days it amazed him that she picked him. It seemed like every guy in town was vying for her affection and early on in their relationship he doubted she could feel for him what he felt for her. But then she'd smile at him and it was like they were the only two people in the room.

"I got you something," Milo said. He got up and walked across the room, rifling through his bag until he found the box he was looking for. He lifted a silver bracelet out of the box and presented it to Lulu. "It's a charm bracelet." He'd bought it on impulse, he saw it in the hotel gift shop and thought Lulu would like it. Now he wasn't so sure. " If you don't like it - "

Lulu cut Milo off with a kiss, and traced her fingers over the single star on the bracelet. "I love it," Lulu said. "This reminds me of the night we met. I was so drunk and you were so - "

"Tongue tied?" Milo asked.

Lulu laughed, "Yeah," Lulu said. "But you were so sweet. You asked me if I wanted to take a walk by the lake - "

"And look at the stars," Milo finished. That was the exact reason he chose a star for the first charm. He couldn't believe he'd suggested something like that the night he met Lulu. But she remembered it and suggested it to Milo on their first date, and it was under the stars that they shared their first kiss.

Lulu held out her wrist, "Put it one me," Lulu said, smiling at Milo as he fastened the clasp. "You know what else it reminds me of?"

"What?" Milo asked. He pulled Lulu closer to him, and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Our first kiss," Lulu said.

Milo slowly smiled as Lulu slid her arms around his neck, "Me too," Milo whispered before kissing her. "You know, when I got to the coffee shop you were talking about some girl you don't like. Why do you hate her?"

Lulu laughed and slid her arms down Milo's chest and started unbuttoning his shirt. "I was talking about me," Lulu said. "You know that girl - the one that can't be away from her boyfriend for more than five minutes."

"I love that girl," Milo said, pulling Lulu closer. He slid his hand down her back and unzipped her dress. "I love her a lot."

"Good," Lulu said, pulling Milo towards the bedroom. "Cause she loves you too."

THE END