Love and Grief

Arie dragged his feet into his apartment dreaming of the contents in his fridge. The leftover pizza from two days ago or the Chinese he ordered yesterday, either one of them will do for late breakfast. He entered his kitchen tossing his zip-up hoodie across the kitchen floor but stopped walking towards the refrigerator after seeing a bigger surprise than he hoped to find in his fridge.

"Hey, boyfriend." Darien said smiling at him. His dining table has restaurant-quality food and his favorite champagne.

"Hey," Arie stuttered.

"You didn't tell me you were coming."

"Is that a welcome home Bae?" Darien was still smiling as he approached Arie and hugged him.

"I'm sorry I'm just so surprised." Arie shook his head wearing a silly grin on his face. He then hugged Darien again.

"Then I guess my plan worked." Darien chuckled.

"God! I missed you so much." Arie kissed him on the lips, though Darien wanted his boyfriend more than the latter realises, he wanted them to eat first.

He placed his index finger on Arie's lips pushing his face farther away from him.

"How about we eat first?" He said walking towards the dining gesturing at the seat near him.

Arie sat on a chair beside Darien smiling while Darien poured some wine into the glasses.

"How long have you been in town?" Arie asked helping himself to some food.

"I got in this morning and stopped by mamma mia to get you some real Italian food plus your groceries need a refill." They both turned to stare at his kitchen cabinet with the same thought in their minds.

"You remember how much I love mamma mia," Arie said to avoid talking about his lack of groceries.

"It's your favorite restaurant." They both laughed as Arie gobbled up the food in front of him.

"I love you," Arie said with a mouthful of gnocchi.

"Of course you do." Darien smiled.

"Are you gonna stay for long this time, let me know now so I can be prepared."

"Yeah," Darien sighed. "We are shooting some scenes here so I'll be around for a while, well that's until we're done."

Arie drank some wine before saying what he had in mind,

"Then I guess we make the most of it, it's been a while you know."

Darien nodded smiling.

****

Jemima had been sitting on a chair outside the conference room for half an hour waiting to talk to Matteo. The lawyers had already left but Matteo and the others hadn't come out of the conference room. She didn't want to go in there and interrupt whatever they were doing but she was getting tired of waiting. She concluded that if no one comes out in the next twenty minutes she would go in there to meet him.

Shortly after Edward came out through the door holding a thin file. Jem quickly ran up to him.

"Hi, hello." She stuttered. Edward stopped to listen to her. He is aware of what this little lady means to his master so he gives her all the respect he could.

"Is Matt still in there?"

Ed shook his head. "He should be in his office by now.

"But I've been here, I didn't see him leave the conference room."

Edward remembered Matteo leaving the conference room angry but he didn't leave through the door or any door he just disappeared. But he can't tell her that so he made up a lie as quickly as possible.

"There's another door, a short cut to his office, he likes taking there whenever he needs to blow off some steam.

Jem nodded. "Can I talk to him,"

"I'm sorry ma'am but you can't, if he didn't take this door then he doesn't want to see anyone including you."

That was surprising for Jem. He asked her to marry him, and he is the one mad at her for no reason. Jem clicked her tongue and then tucked her hair behind her ears.

"I need to talk to him, I'm confused I need to hear from him." Jem felt her eyes burning with hot tears. It's hard not to think about it, why Matt is so mad at her. Shouldn't he be by her side supporting her decision since he was the one who suggested it? She loves him and she's willing to spend the rest of her life with him. She just wants to hear him say the same. If they're going to enter a contract marriage they'll need to come to terms.

She stared into Edward's eye trying to take a hold of herself.

"Can you help me pass a message to him?"

"Anything for you," Edward said with glitter brimming his eyes.

"Tell Matt that I did what he asked, I accepted to be his wife not only because of the debt my family owes him but because I... Because I love him." Her heart stopped for a moment as she said that last word. She didn't know loving someone so much can hurt this much, surprisingly the pain she felt in her chest is more severe than what she felt during her last breakup. So unbearable that her heart stopped.

This love she feels for Matt is draining the life out of her. It's torturing her and Matt isn't paying attention to her feelings. She closed her eyes and inhaled, it gave her heart a rhythm again.

"I just want to know what he thinks of me, is it anger, hate, or love? I'm willing to take my chances with him regardless. He knows where to find when he's ready to talk." Jem touched her cheek after realizing her face was wet. She wiped her face with her hand.

"I'll be on my way now." She sniffled.

"I will do well to pass your message. Just take care of yourself, Matt would feel a lot better if he knows you're okay."

Jem nodded and forced a smile. "Thank you..."

"Edward." He noticed she was inquiring what his name was.

"Edward." She smiled. "I'll see you around." She waved as she walked off.

Edward's eyes followed her to leave before he continued on his way to his boss's office.

Matt was standing near the glass wall staring at the busy city. Having his brother control this wonderful city behind his shadow is taking a toll on him, he can't take it much longer. Not when his favorite person is getting hurt.

Edward entered his office a bit tense by the way his emotion affected his office. It's like his entire office feels what he was feeling. Edward knows it is part of who he is but despite knowing for so long he still could never get used to it.

"Matteo," Edward called at him. Though he couldn't see Matt's face he knew his boss wanted him to stop talking.

"I heard what she said,"

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

"There's nothing I can do."

"This girl loves you, Matteo you know she does."

"I don't know if I can say the same." Matt turned to look at his loyal assistant. Edward thinks that after so long his boss finally found the girl but the truth that he doesn't know is that love never stood by him and Jem isn't going to change that. Not with Trevor in the picture.