N: This is a short one, i was stumped for a minute until i got to the end. I used google translate for the italian...i probably could've just called my one boss, but whats the fun in that. Anyway, this was slow to deal with because of internet issues, but read it and enjoy. Hopefully i'll have more time in the near future to work on this. Enjoy!

Lauren

"I love snow, but this is a bit much." I peered out the front window of Pho-tastic, watching the blizzard outside. "This is Michigan, not the arctic." I shook my head and leaned back against the counter. "I kinda can't wait for Italy now." I glanced over at Tamsin sitting on the counter, her legs swinging as she played a game on her phone. I chuckled at the determined look on her face. "Crushing candy that intense?"

Tamsin gave me a dirty look before tucking the phone away. "Shut up. It's addictive." She yawned like a growling bear. "Besides, it's slow as shit. What else am I going to do? You do all the side work, cleaned off the gum from under the counter, and alphabetized the entire condiment section in the walk-in." She rolled her eyes and hopped off the counter. "Didn't you have a date yesterday? Was it a horror show? Is that why you're eager to hit Italy?" She moved to the coffee maker, pouring both of us a cup. "Bo seemed nice. She sure as hell tips nice."

I couldn't contain the grin the second I heard her name. "Bo." I sighed like a love-sick idiot. "Bo is amazing." I turned to look at Tamsin, and knew I was blushing by the smirk on the blonde's face. "I was thinking out loud about Italy. This snow would drive anyone out of the country." I stepped away from Tamsin to look for my bag. I had a sudden urge to see if Bo had messaged me about this weekend.

"So… spill it. What did you kids do on your date? Did you take her for a walk in the snow? Was it the most romantic thing you've ever done?" Tamsin was firing off questions like she was a police interrogator. "Are you going to see her today? Ask her to marry you?"

I laughed, digging in my bag for the phone. "We talked for hours. I did walk her home in the snow. No, it wasn't the most romantic thing I've ever done. Marriage is a million years off for me, and I'm hoping she will ask me out for this weekend. Even though I technically asked her out again last night." I scrunched my face up as I unlocked the phone. "Wow, I really have lost my dating game. I asked her out and now I'm waiting for her to ask me out." I shook my head. "Cupid would have a field day with me."

"I am, and it'd be great if you got your shit together." Tamsin mumbled so low, I barely made anything out. I ignored her snarky comment and focused on my phone. My heart fluttered when there were two messages from Bo.

I read the first one. It was her being cute and wishing me a good morning, the second I barely scanned over three words when the bell over the front door tinkled. I sighed and set my phone down to greet the, probably, only customer we would have all day. I grabbed a menu and set it on the counter, keeping my eyes down. I was mildly irritated someone braved the blizzard for noodles. "Tamsin, you want this one?"

Tamsin laughed, "Oh no, this snow bunny is all yours."

I looked at her confused as she swaggered away. "What?"

"I think she means me." Bo's voice cut through my irritation, "Hi Lauren."

I looked up to see Bo standing in front of the counter, bundled up from head to toe with at least an inch of snow on her knit cap and shoulders. "Bo! What are you doing here?" I waved for her to sit down as I filled a hot cup of coffee and set it in front of her. "It's a blizzard out there."

"I know. It took me twenty minutes to walk here from the library across the street." She shrugged her heavy coat off. "But I had a craving I couldn't resist." She met my eyes and instantly blushed, "For um..noodles. I think I have an addiction." She blushed harder, tilting her eyes down as she sat on the stool. "I mean…"

I chuckled, leaning over the counter, a flustered Bo was adorable. "Pick anything you want, I'll make it fresh for you. The cook is taking a nap in Kai's office." I ran my eyes over her features, finding my favorites from last night and discovering a few new ones. Bo was definitely beautiful. "How was class this morning?"

Bo wrapped her hands around the coffee cup, looking up from the menu a second before I stopped staring at her. She smirked when she caught me, "It was cancelled and no one told me. So, I hoofed through the snow for nothing. Decided to go to the library for a few hours to work on homework, then figured I'd get some fuel for the slog home." She let out a soft sigh, "I should've checked the group email first. But I woke up late."

I frowned, filling a bowl full of hot and spicy soup. "I apologize for keeping you out so late, Bo. My classes are twice a week and in the evening, even then I rarely go to them since I'm so ahead in my core classes. I've forgotten how much it sucks to get up early for class." I slid the bowl to Bo. "Here, I made it this morning for Tamsin. She was complaining about how frozen she was."

"I HATE SNOW! WHERE I COME FROM, SNOW IS BOREAS BEING A JERK AND FIDDLING WITH RAIN." Tamsin shouted from the kitchen.

I frowned at my co-worker's weirdness. "She's a strange one."

Bo nodded, sipping on the soup. "Mmmm this is very good! It's way better than Kai's." She winked at me, "Don't tell him I told you that. He might cut me off, or hire you permanently."

"He's already offered me a permanent spot twice, but I've turned him down. I have no idea what will happen after Italy, if I even come back from Italy." I picked up the menu, not thinking about what I was saying. "I'll make you some Udon, and a few pot stickers."

"You're going to Italy? When?" Bo's voice was quiet. She tipped her head down, looking at the soup.

Shit. Shit. I knew that look, Bo was invested in me and I should've told her about Italy last night. I liked Bo, a lot and was probably equally as invested in the girl after one day, but Italy was something I had to do. No matter what. "End of the semester." I swallowed hard. "I'm going for three months on an internship program sort of deal. I get my final credits for my degree, and I've always wanted to learn how to make pasta." I felt my heart tighten, my gut telling me something I was ignoring. I even heard Tamsin huff loudly from the kitchen. I stared at Bo playing with her soup, a sad smile on her face. I swallowed again and stepped away from the counter. "I'll go get the noodles started."

Bo nodded, keeping her head down, her brow scrunched up. I hustled to the back, running into Tamsin sitting on the export island, shaking her head at me. "For someone so bright, you're as dim as a broken street light."

I frowned and pushed past the girl. "Why? We just met last night, had one date. It's not like we're soul mates. We're friendly strangers at best." I was hundred percent lying to Tamsin and myself. "It's not like cupid is doing this. The chubby cherub is a figment of hopeless romantic's imaginations."

"I'm not chubby." I heard Tamsin mumbled under her breath before she stood next to me, poking my shoulder. "That friendly stranger is drowning in her soup. She likes you. The way she watches you as you talk, well, there's something there." She grabbed the plate of rangoons in front of me, shoving one in her mouth. "Don't be stupid and stop wasting my time. I've got shit to do in Fiji."

I squinted at the woman, utterly confused by her words. "What?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes and walked away, "You're a big girl, figure it out. Look in Bo's eyes, they'll tell you everything."

That idiot Lauren didn't listen, she spent the entire lunch avoiding looking Bo in the eyes.

Don't ever compare me to the chubby porcelain figurine your grandmother's all have sitting on top of their pianos. I'm not chubby, I'm far from angelic. My trucker's mouth proves that. I almost revealed myself to the dumb big brained fool Lauren. She's so stubborn and ignorant to her heart. I wanted to grab her, shake her like a sack of flour and give her the full show of my wings coming out, but I refrained when I heard Meg chirp in my ear. I had to force these two together naturally, not by beating Lauren senseless and laying her at Bo's feet.

That afternoon I sat and watched Lauren blow it like a drunk blowing a PBT and failing. She couldn't get out of her own head or overcome her past heartbreaks. She was afraid of what Bo made her feel and she was shriveling up. When Bo walked out of the restaurant an hour later, I knew it was the end of this round. The next day when I saw Lauren texting Bo and reading the very civil responses from Bo, I punched her in the shoulder. I was pissed that it was fucking kismet the night before and Lauren blew it.

It got worse when later that afternoon Meg sent down word to do a memory wipe and return to the office for a strategy meeting. She had sent down the video of what would happen that weekend between our two girls. They would try one more time to go out, but Bo's walls had gone up and she pushed Lauren deep into the friendzone, and Lauren took it. So much so, she boarded a flight to Italy the next morning and disappeared into the land of pasta and self-pity. I called Meg while I sat on top of the dumpster, the stupid snow falling again. "I'm going to kill you Boreas…"

"Tamsin. Cursing the cousins of Zeus won't help you." Meg's voice was firm. "I assume you saw the video?"

"I did." I glanced at Lauren tossing the trash out, she smiled softly at me, and I flipped her off with a smile. "Is there anything I can do? I know these two are meant to be. I was there during their first date, saw the sparks fly like Zeus during allergy season. I can fix this before Friday."

"I know you could, Tamsin." Meg sighed heavily. "But I consulted with Mike in soul retrieval. This is the path their souls have to take for right now. There's something in one of their backgrounds that needs to be resolved before love can happen."

I groaned, leaning forward as the snow crept down my jacket. "They're perfect for each other."

"They are, but timing…"

"Can kiss my ass." I slid off the dumpster, landing softly in the snow as I looked inside the restaurant at Lauren smiling with the cook. "I guess I'm matriculating the hell out of Michigan?"

Meg chuckled, "Yep. You'll be sent back up the second you wipe Lauren's memory of you."

I frowned as I walked back inside. "It's a shame, I think I was starting to grow on her." I wiped my nose. "When will I be back on this case? Three months when Lauren comes back from Italy?"

"Not exactly, Tamsin. We'll talk when your home." Meg hung on me, leaving me to curse out loud in the cold air. Her being vague always meant bad things.

XXX

Bo

One year later –

"I'm right around the corner. Our driver got lost." I was running through the streets of Florence, Italy, with my producer. "I know Leah, there wasn't a thing we could do. Time is a suggestion here." I clicked the phone off and tossed it into the bag. I looked at my producer, Bonnie. "Leah is aggravated."

Bonnie laughed, slowing down as we came to our destination. "When isn't she aggravated? You'd think we were working for CNN and not a food channel." Bonnie grabbed the door to the fancy pasta house we were due to be at an hour ago to film a new segment for said channel. "She won't stay mad too long, Bo. I'm pretty sure she has a crush on you."

I sighed, straightening out my shirt and putting down the bag as a hostess greeted us. "You keep saying that, but then I know for a fact her and Joe in editing are doing it on those late-night editing sessions." I stood up. "Plus, I'm not in the market. I just broke up with Joan a month ago. I am in desperate need of being single for a while. I Suck at dating." I was being truthful, I sucked at dating. Had since college and was pretty confident I'd never settle down. I smiled as I greeted the hostess, speaking rapidly in Italian. Thank god Bonnie was translating for me, or I'd be lost in this country.

"Come on, Bo. They're going to take us to the kitchen. Chef Fulvio is already working on the day's menu. It'll give us some good b-roll footage for the intro." I nodded, grabbing my small camera from the bag and followed Bonnie.

I was nearing the halfway mark of my paid internship with this network. Having moved out of photography in the last few months of my senior year, and into cinematography. This internship literally fell in my lap a day before my graduation ceremony, and I scooped it up. I needed a job and a distraction.

A distraction from a beautiful blonde who filled my heart and broke it all at once. I sighed as I tweaked the camera's settings. I'd never stop thinking about Lauren, it only dimmed in intensity as the year flew by and she disappeared into a fond memory. I'd hoped, wished, I'd move on from her, but I couldn't. I spent many nights cursing cupid for giving me such false hope in sending Lauren my way. She opened my heart, but left it empty in a way no one could fill it. I saw that last weekend we spent together, that Lauren didn't feel the same as me, and I'd better end it before I got even more invested. So, I walked away from her. But I never forgot her. I shook my head, "I bet cupid would love to shove another arrow in my ass."

"Funny you should say that, that's exactly what I'm about to do." The raspy voice sounded familiar, I turned to look at it's owner. A tall blonde with incredible green eyes smirked at me, and I swore I knew her from somewhere. She walked over to me, and slapped me on the shoulder, sending a weird fluttering feeling into my chest. She bent down to my ear, "Bo, it's great to see you again and it's time we do a full court press this time."

I glanced at her, confused but extremely calm at this stranger's audacity. "Who are you?"

"A friend." She gently guided me through the back of the kitchen, calling out in Italian. "L'equipaggio della camera è qui, fulvio. Sei tu e il tuo assistente pronto?"

The chef grinned, and nodded. "ovviamente!" He waved Bonnie and I over with excitement. The blonde held on to my shoulders as she whispered once more in my ear. "Do me proud, Bo. I'm about to change your life, and I really need you to fight her, fate, and that jerk Mike in souls. Fall in love. Let it happen, because I'm getting real tired of matriculating up as a failure."

I gave her a dirty look, "What's your name?" I was going to report her to the manager and get her thrown off the production set until I was done.

She chuckled, "Tamsin. And I'm about to be your best friend." She then winked at me when I heard another voice enter the room. " Fulvio, mi scuso. Ero con il macellaio che ottiene il proscuitto."

My head spun around at the voice, and locked eyes on Lauren walking into the kitchen, buttoning up her pristine white coat. She smiled at Fulvio and Bonnie, then her eyes drifted to mine. She froze in her steps as recognition washed over her face. "Bo?" I swallowed hard as my heart began to race like it did back at Pho-tastic, the first time I locked eyes with Lauren. I pressed a hand against it, and cursed cupid and all the other love gods for doing this to me right now. I wasn't ready for this, or Lauren to fall back into my life when I thought I was over her.

Truth was, I was far from over her.

Tamsin

There you have it. At least we're somewhere warm and snow less. But, this isn't going to be easy. Italy and its natural romance helped these two. I think I gained twenty pounds in this round of trying to get these two to fall in love with each other. Stress eating is a disease.

They'd grown in their time apart, but did they figure out that their true soul mates were sitting right in front of each other? Did Lauren finally figure her crap out? Will Bo forgive herself and Lauren? Hmm…I'll let you think on it and we'll compare notes in the next chapter. I have to go meet with Meg and request some time off. Seems I was invited to a wedding next week and it's one I really want to attend. Toodle loo kiddos!

TO BE CONTINUED