"Thanks Craig. See you next week with the pictures!" Ellie called back as the group left the shoot. They were met in the hallway by Keith who was dressed in designer jeans strategically ripped and a white muscle shirt with silver glitter on the front. His blue eyes where lined with a smear of black from the shoot. He smiled easily at the group as he walked up.
"Hey girls…."
Dylan shot Keith a look that almost made Paige laugh out loud. She couldn't help but snigger behind her hand. Dylan turned his glare to her and she stopped and gave him a smirk. He rolled his eyes at her and turned his glare back to Keith.
"Sorry. Sorry. You didn't let me finish. Hey girls…. and Dylan." Keith saved with a twinkle in his eyes.
Paige loved seeing him like this. He would tease Dylan unmercifully and help keep his spirits up. She already saw the twinkle starting to shine in her brother's eye. "You all have fun at dinner, you hear? You both deserve it." She said with a flick of her hair and her signature smirk.
Keith smiled down at her and asked "Why don't you two join us? I'm sure you could push the meeting till tomorrow."
Ellie and Paige looked at each other uneasily. They had a silent agreement not to tell Dylan about Marco coming back until they were sure on what Marco's intentions were. Paige didn't want to let her brother fall harder in love with Marco only to have him run away again. "Uh… no… sorry. We have to keep it. And you too love birds need some time alone."
When Dylan heard the love bird comment he turned to face Paige; his eyes showing that he was seething. Keith only had to look at his face once before getting into action. He quickly gave both Paige and Ellie a kiss on the cheek before pulling a shocked Dylan towards the door. "Come on Love we have to get there by 5:30 or they will cancel the reservation." They could here him saying loudly as he successfully pulled Dylan out the doors.
They both sighed with relief. Their hands found themselves intertwined as they walked down the hallway towards their office and Lily's desk.
"Mr. Del Rossi?"
With a start Marco looked up from his cell phone and saw the secretary calling him with a sweet smile on her face. He readily smiled back though he knew his was probably quite thin. He was a little too nervous for social interaction at the moment.
Casting a weary almost pleading glance around the lobby Marco stood and walked to the kindly woman. "Yes?"
"They are on their way from the shoot. I've been instructed to escort you to the meeting room. Join me?"
The Italian grinned as heartily as he could and waved a hand at the hallway. "Lead the way mia cara," he said, smiling much more genuinely at the furious blush that rushed across the woman's nose. It was amazing and horribly amusing how oddly females acted around him when he spoke in Italian or his accent ever showed through more than usual. For this reason he tried to keep it down, but of course living there for the past few years he couldn't help himself.
"Right this way sir."
He allowed Lilly to guide him down the twisting halls, trying to keep from bumping into others as he stared at the publicity shots lining the walls in bold black and white, splashes of hot pink and black catching his eyes as he turned his head one way to the other. She finally stopped in front of a brushed silver door after an elevator ride up three stories. The company's logo was etched across the door, shining brightly and multi-faceted under the lights.
"Well, I've got to return to my desk. It was nice meeting you Mr. Del Rossi."
The dark man turned and shook her hand in a soft grip. "It was nice to meet you as well. Call me Marco," he said, grinning, watching that adorable flush alight her face once again as the R in his name accidentally came out with a slight roll. The girl only nodded and turned, walking back towards the lobby, leaving Marco alone, just him and door.
After several painful moments of pacing and deliberation Marco finally turned towards the door full on, glaring at it openly and only half expecting it to swing open with an ungodly amount of horror movie creaking. Taking a final breath he stepped forward and grabbed the handle, pulling back and sighing in relief at the soft metallic whoosh that was made as it swung forward. He smiled grimly and stepped into the office, closing the door behind himself, the muffled click of it settling back into its frame seeming overly loud in the deadly silent room.
The office itself was lovely, he thought. Across from him an entire wall was devoted to a window, sparkling and perfectly clear, tinted lightly and allowing a pleasant amount of sunlight to fall in onto the black carpet. With experience he knew that black in interior decorating was a very grave subject. It usually darkened a room beyond repair, especially in such large amounts as an entire floor, but, he mused, whoever did this had a very keen eye.
The walls flashed dazzling white and the desk, chairs, even the picture frames were all of the same brushed silver, winking out mellowly amid all the startling contrast. On the walls huge photos hung, all photo manipulated to have things such as shirts or eyes magically bright pink, as were the company colors. And right behind the desk was the largest picture of all, a very grown up and beautiful Paige, Ellie, and Dylan smiling out to the quiet room.
Marco stared in awe up at the trio, eternally amazed at the sight they made together. They appeared so seamless, so happy and carefree, professional with an air of playful good-naturedness balancing them out. Dylan stood in the middle, a lazy arm around both of the young women's shoulders. He was smiling, though not as stunningly as the other two, but it didn't seem to matter. To Marco he was still as amazing as he had always been. Even in black and white he was still as golden as he remembered him, and blown up to epic proportions like this he could truly believe the way he used to say Dylan was larger than life.
He shook his head, trying to dispel his thoughts. This was several years ago and these mental games would not help him live in this place peacefully. He had to maintain his professional mindset around them.
Nodding his head Marco turned his gaze away from the man in the center and focused his eyes from jumping from woman to the other, taking them in as best he could. Paige was lit up brightly, smiling as if it would fade away if she stopped. Her eyes were crinkled, her laugh lines very clearly defined. And against all the times Paige whined about premature wrinkles in high school, he had to say they suited her wonderfully, if only to know she smiled so often as to gain them. Her hair was littered with hot pink streaks, enhanced with the help of a computer and shining out almost blindingly from the stark black and white, as did her pink shirt.
Ellie perhaps looked the strangest to Marco, if only because the smile on her face was wider than he ever remembered it being. Then again, six years was a long time. But the years had obviously been good for her as well. Her hair was a tad bit longer, falling to her midback now instead of just below her shoulders and still as straight and thick as it had been. His eyes followed the black streaks littering the strands, the most common trademark of the fashion world. Hair in exotic colors was supposed to be a form of beauty and art in itself, which is why most fashion gurus had them, as well as eccentric makeup, though he was glad to say the girls both looked relatively normal in that department, obviously preferring a more natural look.
Marco smiled as he remembered how life had been just before he left for Rome to continue his studies. He had stayed up many nights with Paige and Ellie, to watch them interact if nothing else. He remembered how they had slowly migrated towards each other their junior years, their fights escalating beyond some petty girlhood rivalry to something relatively out of this world. They sniped and insulted and sometimes even ended up pulling hair in hallways.
But sometime during the summer before senior year the feelings shifted. Oh they still fought. Most ruthlessly...but they were also seen chatting amiably in class as well. Somewhere in there, Marco had realized, they had called a truce of sorts. And to make matters worse, they had rather liked said truce.
It wasn't until halfway through twelfth year that their common love for fashion and design caused a great uproar between them and in no time at all nights of homework were spent between them sketching like mad in Paige's kitchen and consuming large amounts of coffee as they threw idea after idea at each other. Marco remembered more often than not the two girls falling asleep together on the couch from outright exhaustion, and not necessarily at opposite ends all the time. It had been an absolute joy to watch them slowly figure it out, though with Dylan's help they added pushes here and there just to be sure.
It wasn't until Christmas that all the waiting and hard work finally paid off. At the Christmas party that, surprisingly enough, Paige and Ellie had planned, organized, and decorated for, they entered and caused an explosion. They had walked into the Michalchuk living room hand in hand, smiling broadly and greeting guests as if positively nothing out of the ordinary had occurred at all, smiling the whole time as if they had unlocked the secrets of the universe.
That was the first time Marco had seen them together as a couple, and with the last few months of school he was allowed to watch that romance between them blossom before his very eyes. It was amazing to watch really. They complimented each other...even when their eyes were spitting fire there was still this overwhelming tenderness and protection shining there. And as their fights grew less and less Marco remembered their smiles had grown more frequent.
Their nightly fashion meetings seemed to have paid off as well, if this building, and this office were any indication. To think he had witnessed the very beginning of it. All those planning sessions that lasted until three a.m. and those thousands upon thousands of sketches that had littered Ellie's room as well as the large posters of magazine cut outs that graced Paige's walls. They ate, slept, and breathed fashion and design and Marco was glad to see that had worked out for them.
Smiling softly he picked up a small, framed photograph off of the desk, tracing a finger over the sweetly kissing couple that were depicted there. He was happy for them as well. Even without the business they were a success all their own. He sat the picture back down and threw himself heavily onto one of the large white chairs, wiggling around until his small frame almost disappeared into it...and he waited.
Ellie squeezed Paige's hand more firmly as she watched the girl bring her unoccupied hand up to her mouth and start biting on her thumbnail, casting bouncing glances around the hallways as they walked but seeming overall very calm. Of course, she knew this woman far better than the casual observer and smiled fondly as she reached over and delicately lowered Paige's hand back to her side.
"You'll ruin your nails you know."
The blonde snorted and rolled her eyes. "For once it doesn't seem like a major upheaval."
"That's only because you're nervous," Ellie countered, smiling a small smile and tugging her forward. "It won't be so bad. It's still Marco after all."
Paige grimaced and waved her free hand enthusiastically. "That's just it! It's Marco! We haven't seen the idiot for six years. What if he's some bitchy model like most of the others? Or...or I don't know!"
Ellie stopped walking and forced Paige to stall as well. "Oh please, Marco never had a bitchy bone in his body. So what if he's a little narcissistic? I'd say it's about time he realized how gorgeous he was all those years. He was always so modest and embarrassed about his looks in high school. And I sincerely doubt he's anything else negative and unwelcome. As you so brilliantly pointed out he's Marco."
"You're right," Paige sighed. "Just...if I start crying or something promise you'll throw me out of the room?"
The redhead laughed and leaned in to rest her forehead against the other woman's. "I promise to throw you out on your ass if you start blubbering. You have my word."
Paige pulled away with a smirk and straightened her shirt with critical hands. "Good. Now come on. We have a client waiting." Ellie only rolled her eyes as she was dragged down the remainder of the hallway.
The two woman finally reached the silver and door and quickly pulled it open, assuming their client had not yet made it there, giggling slightly as they tugged each other around. Ellie spun the blonde around in a broad circle, smiling as she watched her hair sweep through the air. Bringing the arch to a stop, the blonde rushed forward and knocked into her slightly, causing them to both snort and giggle again.
And then Ellie looked over her girlfriend's shoulder and noticed they were not in fact as alone as they had thought. Almost curled up in one of the chairs in front of their desk sat an achingly familiar man, almost a carbon copy of the boy she once knew only far more ethereal and beautiful than she ever remembered him to be.
Paige caught sight of the redhead's change in expression and immediately whirled around with wide, round eyes until she too came face to face with the person that was sitting there, staring at them with a small nervous smile.
The air surrounding the three suddenly became very thick, sparks of unease slicing through heavily. The girls stared down him with overly intense gazes, wearing down the young man's resolve as well as his confidence. The silence stretched on for ages it seemed, quiet minutes leading to nowhere and all while the tension grew ever higher.
Finally, after what felt like years, Paige's slack, dumb expression melted into a blinding smile and she rushed forward with the energy and glee of a small child at Christmas, enveloping the Italian man in a tight one-sided hug, her arms warm across his shoulders. He could smell the faint powder and lilac scent wafting off her and smiled lightly as he lifted shaking hands to pat her on the head awkwardly.
Looking over his shoulder he could see Ellie smiling fondly at the pair of them. He nodded in acknowledgement of her before gently forcing the blonde girl off of him. She looked sad for a moment before lighting up all over again, waving her hands wildly and babbling nonstop.
"Oh my God, Marco. It's so good to see you. Why did you leave? Where have you been? How have you been? Why did you leave? Why didn't you call? You look amazing. How did you get into modeling? Why did you leave?"
Marco grinned at her never ending spout of questions and looked beyond her again at his redheaded friend. The sparkle in his eyes plainly said "it's nice to see you again"
"Likewise," he replied silently, falling easily back into their wordless conversations where their eyes and their movements did all the talking. She was smiling in a way that showed she was glad he was there and Marco was replying in kind. It was amazing to see her in real life. So very beautiful and bright, Paige as well.
Suddenly a hand made impact with the back of his head and Marco snapped to attention quickly, rubbing the tender spot that had been thwapped so mercilessly. Looming over him the blonde woman glared at him through slit eyes. "You're not even paying attention! Why did you leave?"
Marco smiled and shook his head, making vague shooing motions to the desk in front of him, inviting them to sit down. The two girls did so, Ellie taking residence in the large high backed chair and Paige sitting on the edge of the desk, both staring at him intently.
The Italian man sighed and settled back in his chair. He stared off out the window and thought a bit about how to word it. Eventually he just gave up and said what came to mind first, and luckily, it was the truth.
"I got a college offer in Roma."
Paige's expression turned sarcastic in a heartbeat. "We know this. Doesn't answer why you never called."
Marco's face tightened and his eyes dropped to his hands quickly. "I didn't exactly think you'd want to speak to me after I ran off like that. Plus you all seemed so happy. I figured a quick, relatively painless escape would be best."
For the second time during this meeting a hand made brutal impact with the back of his head. "Holy...OW! Is that absolutely necessary!" he bit out with a scowl as he looked up at a very self-satisfied blonde woman.
"You are in a world of trouble, Delstudly. How in the hell could you think we'd all be happy after you left like that? We're were in tears for weeks you bastard!"
Ellie shot up from where she had been sitting behind the desk and rushed around the edges to Paige, leaning in to whisper in her ear, saying who knew. Marco watched and continued rubbing at the back of his poor head as Ellie assumedly calmed the other girl down. He noticed her eyes were rather glassy.
Paige finally pulled away and said a quick thank you before turning back to the dark man. "Fine then. So...you left for college. You never came back though. Why is that?"
"Right after I got my degree I got a job in an advertising company to earn back some of the money after the college loans so I could get a first round trip back to Toronto. But I was leaving the agency one day when my, um, boyfriend at the time came up to me and told me they had a business proposition for me. Come to find they wanted me to start as a model. It wasn't anything big...but at the time...it erm, meant a lot to me. So I stayed and clawed my way through the ranks until I was the undeclared cover model of the company. But the business has been doing badly as of late and they're merging with several other companies. And well...here I am," he said with a sheepish smile, spreading his arms apart as if to say "ta da."
The girls however were not impressed. "You stayed in Italy for a guy?" Paige questioned in a disgusted voice.
"God, you make it sound so horrible. I did a lot of things when I was still dating Dylan, including graduating early. So it's not so surprising. Honestly," Marco growled out, shifting guiltily in his chair and avoiding looking in their eyes.
Ellie however came to his rescue. "That's understandable. We just missed you is all. I wish you'd have atleast called. We had thought you had died or married some girl or some other repulsive thing until we saw your face on the Domani adds. Which I might add you were stunning."
The redhead watched as the Italian man blushed horribly and smiled self-consciously. Paige turned and shared a look with Ellie, raising her eyebrows. How could a model be modest? This was unheard of.
"Well, um, thank you. But, erm, anyway, they said that my best bet with my particular mix of looks was what your company was in search of. So they threw me on a plane straight to Toronto."
Paige nodded and started digging through one of the desks drawers, pulling out a thick sheath of paperwork. "Yes, you have something that we've been trying to capture in our advertising for ages. So...let's get started? I can't wait to have you back. Not to mention, now it'll be me bossing you around instead of the other way again," the girl said with an evil grin.
Marco smirked and carried on another wordless conversation with Ellie, grinning widely when she rolled her eyes and said with her eyes that Paige was actually a giant pushover. They continued this for awhile before drifting into a comfortable silence. Everyone soaking in everyone else's presence.
Until suddenly Paige asked softly, "Are you here to stay?"
Marco couldn't help but think she was talking about something other than the job. Her usually twinkling eyes were dim but there was an odd glow that appeared when she was talking about someone… Dylan.
The reality of what she was asking crashed down on him. She was asking would he leave again. If anything over a friendly relationship with Dylan happened and it didn't work, would he run away again? Could he work with Dylan as an employer if nothing else? Could he have a friendly relationship with Dylan? Could he not let his personal life interfere with his job? Marco's brain was about to overload with all the thoughts and questions swirling in there. Though he couldn't promise he nodded yes anyway.
All at once he was enveloped in a bear hug from Paige, before she opened the door and almost shot out of it. Calling the whole time for them to follow her and then to Lily to set up a reservation at a restaurant for dinner.
Ellie and Marco both stood up staring at each other for a minute before the taller girl hooked her arm through Marco's elbow. While they walked down the hallway following the voice of Paige, she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Welcome back Del Rossi, welcome back."
Dylan was still mumbling when the waitress sat them down. He ran his hands through his hair while he read the menu.
"What are you mad at me now for?" Keith said running his own hands over his hair. An edge could be detected in his voice.
"You had to agree with her. You let her say that-"
"Hun, she was just teasing us. I've learned from experience that it's better to agree with Michalchuk stubbornness then arguing. And anyway if I let you two argue we would have missed the 5:30 reservation." Keith said with a slight whine at the end which Dylan couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
Dylan stopped mumbling but was still pouting when the waitress left with their dinner orders.
"Honey, what is this really about?" Keith asked cocking his head to the side to examine Dylan.
"I don't want to lead you on. I don't want anything but a friendly relation-,"
Keith interrupted him, "Look Dylan I know. Although I don't understand why you wouldn't want to be with someone as handsome as me," He stroke a model pose that made Dylan role his eyes with a slight smile playing on his lips, "I know that you don't want a romantic relationship. And nothing that your sister would say would change that. You shouldn't let people work you up like that. One day it could cause you to have a stroke from stress… or kill them. Not sure which"
"Yeah I guess." Dylan smiled at the younger man who was one of his closest friends. The conversation grew into more interesting things as their dinner arrived.
Just as Dylan was starting to truly get all the way relaxed Keith asked, " What would you do if Marco came back?"
Dylan thanked his lucky stars as a large beep made him take out his palm pilot right then. It reminded him that he was to have an important phone call in less then fifteen minutes. He stood up quickly, "Oh my god. I am so sorry Keith but I've got to go back to the office I forgot that I have a really important phone call. I'll get John to come back to pick you up once he drops me off at the office. I have my car there."
He gave a bewildered Keith a kiss on the cheek before jogging out of the restaurant.
Paige was still bouncing ahead of them, chatting cheerfully with Lilly as he and Ellie approached at a more leisurely pace, silent as the dead but saying enough with their eyes. He was content to watch the way Ellie smiled softly at the blonde as they walked. It was enough to make that large photograph in their office seem pale in the face of the real thing.
As they finally entered the lobby Paige swaggered over and peeled the red head's arm off of his, pulling her a couple of feet away and glaring at Marco possessively with good humor in her eyes. Ellie appeased the woman by kissing her cheek before turning to speak to Lilly quietly. Paige took this time to attach herself to his arm as well.
"You're still gay right?" she asked on a giggle watching her significant other talk to their secretary.
The Italian rolled his eyes and nodded emphatically. "Yes, still very much gay. Ellie is safe."
Paige stuck her tongue out and let go of his arm. As she walked away she spoke softly over her shoulder. "Wasn't Ellie I was worried about."
Marco stared after her with wide eyes, wondering just exactly what she meant.
Dylan rushed out of the parked car and thanked John before walking as quickly as possible towards the glass entrance of Pellie Designs. He had exactly ten minutes to reach his office before the head of the Domani Fashion Agency called. If he was lucky he'd get a few minutes to mentally prepare himself.
Humming to the cheesy elevator music filtering into the building Dylan all but sprinted through the main lobby, waving a hand at Lilly, and after spotting his sister on the way, winked sweetly before turning to continue his run upstairs.
As he turned away from the blonde woman suddenly a warm wall made impact with his chest. He felt his eyes snap shut in anticipation of the crash and resulting crash. Vaguely he registered small hands grabbing onto his shoulders until his loss of equilibrium became more important than who was clinging to him.
Feeling his entire body topple forward, uncomfortably aware the wall wasn't as sturdy as he had presumed it to be, Dylan felt the thud as his body, and what he assumed to be another man's, hit the polished marble floor with a rather lurching amount of force.
Dylan shook his head dazedly and allowed his eyes to flash open, millions of hurried apologies already flowing out of his mouth as he started to push himself up.
Until a pair of familiar brown eyes fluttered open beneath him and stared up at him in wonder.
"M-Marco?"
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