Page 22 of XOXO

“The offer still stands,” I said, holding the bag up.

She gave me a small smile. “Enjoy it. I should get going.”

Vi waved at Matteo and his date, who didn’t even have the decency to say or do anything back.

“Please take it,” I said, as I walked her to the door. “It’s a great dessert and a great bottle of wine.”

“No, you⁠—”

“Take it please,” I said, giving her the bag. “Something to remember me by.”

She fidgeted with the handle of the bag. “I had a great time with you and I don’t think I’ll ever forget you. Maybe if I can, I’ll make a stop in Paris before I go back home.”

“That would be great,” I said. “Message me on Rendezvous and we can have a friendly meet-up.

She leaned up kissing me softly, ending it just as quickly.

“Bye, Levi,” she smiled. “Thanks for everything.”

“Bye, Vi,” I said, hating she was leaving and feeling like I was missing out on something great.

Reluctantly I closed the door taking a deep breath as I turned around to go to my room and maybe wallow for a minute. Matteo and the woman he was with were walking towards the front door speaking in Italian very quickly. My Italian was decent, but when Matteo talked like that, I had a hard time keeping up.

I walked past them ready for the night to be over, but apparently I hadn’t suffered enough.

“Levi,” Matteo called out to me before I walked down the hall toward my room.

I took a deep breath, turning around. “Yeah?”

“You ok?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, I’m tired,” I said, getting annoyed.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you guys were coming back so soon or else we would have headed⁠—”

“It’s ok, probably for the best anyways,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “She’s leaving Paris, on to the next city on her vacation.”

“European vacation?”

“Yeah, or at least I think she is,” I said, needing this conversation to end. “We didn’t talk about the details, just that she didn’t live here and she wanted to keep thing light.”

“I’m sorry,” he said with remorse in his tone. “I have macarons in the fridge and I’ll make us espresso martinis and we can watch that new movie you’ve been wanting to watch.”

Matteo didn’t look like his confident self. He was fidgeting looking at me with those brown eyes like a sad puppy dog.

“Ok, let me go and change,” I said, turning to go to my room.

I needed some comfort and for one night I’d let this space disappear. I missed my best friend.

7. Violeta

Oh, you have a girlfriend? Let me ruin your life.

“Estás buenísima,” he murmured, kissing my neck.

You’re so hot.

“Gracias,” I said, as he rolled off me.