Page 14 of Already His

* * *

Mia

I went to work and tried to put Elliot out of my mind, an impossible task, it turned out. His bespoke suit was already prepared, and Stefania emailed me to say it had to go to his office.

When a client paid as much as Elliot Winter paid, underlings worked all night to finish things.

Not Stefania, of course, probably some unpaid interns.

I ate lunch in the park with Dominque and ignored the ringing in my pocket. When I checked my phone, I had two missed calls. One from my father, the other from Elliot. I was touched Elliot had called at all. To him, popping a stranger’s cherry was probably not the ground-breaking event it had been for me, though, I couldn’t deny our connection. There was something I saw about Elliot, a genuineness that I didn’t think he showed many. I was honoured he’d shown me.

I stared at the two missed calls, and as my entire childhood and conditioning had taught me, called my father back.

“Ciao, papa, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, carina, just checking on you. You are coming to the communion on Sunday?’

“Yes, dad. I’m still coming. I told you that yesterday.”

“Well, the thing is Simone wants some time to get to know you before. I told him you might be free on Saturday for dinner, here in the neighbourhood.” There was a tension in my dad’s voice that broke my heart. My father was nervous to ask me because this was something he wanted so much. I felt sick for a moment, but it passed like it always did.

“Ok, if you want me to go, I’ll go,” I told him, dropping Dominque’s probing gaze.

“Brava, I’m so proud of you. This is the right thing for you, carina, you’ll see,” Vittorio said. I could only nod.

“See you at the weekend papa,” I mumbled and hung up. I tucked my phone back in my bag and slipped sunglasses on. I felt like my eyes looked far too teary right now.

“Don’t tell me that was the infamous Elliot Winter?” Dominique teased. I shook my head.

“No, it was my dad,”

“Oh, about that arranged date or whatever,”

“Yeah. Saturday, we’re going out,” I said heavily. Dominque sighed and lifted her arm. I snuggled into her side.

“Why do this to yourself, Mia? Just tell your dad no,” she said. I shook my head. It was impossible.

“What about Elliot? You’re just going to ghost him?”

“I’ve got to take his suit to him later,” I said. It made me feel excited to have an excuse to see him again.

“And then…”

“And then… nothing,” I said quietly. I might have had a wild night of dreamlike fantasy, but I was a realist. People like Elliot Winter didn’t exist in the same world as Simone Masteiri and I knew which one I fit with, as disappointing as much as I’d like to dream big.

Chapter 9

Mia

Itook the suit to Elliot’s office. A towering skyscraper downtown. Inside everything was white marble, glass, and steel. I felt like I was in the future.

I was sent upstairs to the fourteenth floor, and his secretary called him to ask if he had time to see me. When he opened the door and saw me sitting there, his smile made something in my heart thump desperately.

“Mia, come in,” he said, holding the door open for me. “Hold my calls,” he directed his secretary.

“But your conference with Lassiters at four-“

“Cancel it. This is personal and I’m not to be disturbed,” Elliot said decisively, without taking his eyes from me even once.

---