"If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea

I'll sail the world to find you

If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see

I'll be the light to guide you

Find out what we're made of

When we are called to help our friends in need

You can count on me like one two three

I'll be there

And I know when I need it I can count on you like four three two

You'll be there

'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do "

Bruno Mars' s angelic voice busted through my phone speakers when my alarm went off, I groaned before sitting up and rubbing the crust off the corners of my eyes. I sat there like a dead corpse for nearly 20 minutes before getting up from the couch I slept in last night heading towards the kitchen, I stumbled upon an empty bottle of Margarita on the floor, FUCK ! I was only supposed to ease the stress off, I mentally face-palm myself. I turned to look at my living room and it literally resembled a shit hole, I massaged my forehead when I suddenly got a migraine. I slowly walked upstairs to my room, I entered and went straight into the bathroom and prepared a warm bath for myself.

I removed every piece of clothing on my body and went over to the sink to brush my teeth, memories of yesterday weighing heavily on my mind. After brushing my teeth I tied my hair into a messy bun and stepped into the tub, sinking in and letting the warm liquid relax every muscle on my aching body. The sound of people walking around and cabs honking ironically calmed me down, my eyelids suddenly got heavy but I tried my best to fight the sleep. I fell asleep at 03:50 this morning and my alarm usually rings at 07:30 for work , so I barely got sleep and my body made that quite clear by refusing to fully function. I closed my eyes, sinking deeper into the tub and let the much needed sleep consume me. Guess I'm skipping work today

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

(13:36 PM)

'BANG BANG!'

My eyes fluttered open but instantly shut closed again when I came in contact with the sun that was shining through my bathroom window. I turned to the other side of the tub, my back facing the window. I shivered when the now cold water made movement in the tub

'BANG BANG'

Who the hell ?! I stood up from the tub and hopped out, I snatched the towel off the rank and wrapped it around my wet body. I hurriedly walked downstairs, wetting the floor in the process of doing so. I didn't order anything so I don't have any packages and I highly doubt it's De'arra because... you know... Yea. I got to the door and unlocked it, i pulled the door open and met the bottomless dark brown eyes I've been dreading to see. I tightened the small towel that barely covered my wet body, I started to get intimidated once more. His eyes were so empty and endless, they didn't have an ounce of kindness in them, rather range. My eyes searched for something to stare at, with hope of avoiding his intense gaze. He pushed passed me inviting himself in, rude ass! I closed the door and followed him into the living room that I haven't cleaned yet, gripping the towel tightly.

"You didn't show up for work today." he said calmly obviously trying to compose his anger that was very much evident, I gulped.

"Yea." I simply answered avoiding his gaze but I felt his eyes burning the side of my face, he scoffed. His brow furrowed as he blew the air out of his mouth, minty .

"Yea? I'm honestly restraining myself from cursing the fuck out of you" he said slowly but venomously, restraining my ass, you just cursed at me . Silence wrapped inside my apartment as I continued to avoid eye contact.

"All of a sudden you're mute huh?!" he barked at me, his voice gravelly deep. My eyes instantly landed on him, I furiously crossed my arms and furrowed my brows

"First of all, don't bark at me in my house. You may be my boss but outside of work, in my apartment, your authority is what I say it is, DUST ! I'm sorry I didn't show up at work, that's inconsiderant and unprofessional of me. Lately I've been over working myself due to Mia's absence, I was given work that I wasn't entitled to or work that I wasn't trained enough to do but regardless of that, I made ends meet SO forgive me Mr Leonardo for actually putting my physical health before my work. " I said raising my voice a little, he arched his perfectly shaped eyebrow. He looked taken back by my boldness

" Excuse me? " he questioned before chuckling, humourlessly. He took steps towards me, looking straight into my eyes. He stood before me, quite too close as he hovered over me. I looked like a midget compared to his giant self

"By 'putting your physical health before your work', do you have any idea what you almost did? Huh?" he spoke, his minty breath fanning me in the process. I looked up at him puzzled, what was he on about ?

"No I don't have any idea, care to enlighten me?" I said disinterested , I guess that made him even more angry because his breath quickened.

"." he said too calmly for my liking . He took a few steps towards me, if he came any closer our noses would probably touch.

"Now tell me Ms Gaffley, what do I do about that? Come on you tell me " he said urging me on sarcastically, I gulped

"Nothing... ?" It sounded more like a question than an answer, he smirked wickedly before twirling his long finger on one of my curls.

"Oh no Miss Gaffley, that would be foul towards the rest of my employees" he said before chuckling before his hand moved from my curls to my neck, he wrapped his hand around my neck and backed me towards the wall behind me . He applied pressure around my neck but not too tight to a point where I couldn't breathe. I shivered when my back came in contact with the cold wall, he lowered his head and whispered in my ear

"You clearly don't want this job Ms Gaffley, you are welcome to leave tesoro " his voice deep and husky,his Italian accent nearly made me plead to him to have me right then and there . His dominance did something to me. I was ready to drop this damn towel and let him have his way with me, with me moaning his name.

He pulled back from my neck and locked eyes with me, smirking. He leaned in and placed a kiss on the corner of my lips, I widen my eyes at him. His lips sent the most exciting electric shocks through my entire body, making the tiny hairs on my skin stand up. It felt like he was already inside me by the way I became wet, I squeezed my legs together. He chuckled at my reaction before removing his hand from my neck and tucking it in his suit trousers

"I better see you at work Monday Ms Gaffley" he said and headed towards the door, leaving without giving me a chance to respond. I stood there reminiscing about what just happened until the sound of my phone ringing interrupted my thoughts. I moved away from the wall and walked towards it, picking my phone up from the couch and answered without looking at who it was.

"Hello ?" I answered after removing the towel and settling on the couch

"Hey Mandy" Mia's high pitch voice rang through my phone, I chuckled at her excitement

"Hey girl ! I'm so happy to finally hear from you,texting wasn't doing me any good but how're you my Italian babe?" I said with the biggest smile on my face, I haven't seen Mia in a long time so hearing from her was good.

"Tell me about it ! But I'm well and how are you doing my African goddess?" I chuckled at her calling me an African Goddess

"Don't flutter me Mia but I'm doing good babe, when are you coming back home ? It's your birthday tomorrow" I asked while toying with my hair

"I recently just landed tesoro " she said but what caught my attention was that she called me the same word Leonardo called me

"Hey Mia, what does that word mean?" I asked curiously

"What? tesoro?" she asked puzzled

"Yes ! teroso or terusu, whatever that name is. What's the meaning?" I said horribly pronouncing the word

" It's Te-so-ro Mandy and it means sweetheart in Italian, why are you asking though? Are you reading an Italian dictionary? " she said before laughing at my pronunciation. Why would Leonardo call me that ? The fact that he called me a sweetheart, undeniably made me a little bit happy but just a little bit

" Uhm Mandy?! You're still on the line ? " Mia said pulling me out of my thoughts, I decided to change the topic.

"Yes! Yes! I'm still here, hey... Uhm how about a Girls day tomorrow? For your birthday, that's if you don't have any plans though" I asked before balancing the phone between my ear and shoulder, I stood up from the couch and cleaned my living room while waiting for a response from Mia

"OH MY GOSH YES ! I surprisingly don't have any plans tomorrow since EVERYONE in my family is busy tomorrow, so yes I would love to Mandy " she said sounding a little bit disappointed or down but yet excited , she doesn't know that they're throwing her a surprise party.

" It's a date then, I'll see you tomorrow my Italian babe " I said smiling because I knew what her response was going to be

"Oh it's definitely a date, see you tomorrow my African Goddess" she said and made kissing sounds and ended the line after. I removed my phone away from my ear and threw it on the couch while smiling, tomorrow is going to be good.

A/N

I can't wait till D and Amanda make up because De'arra has big news to share with Amanda, these bitches better make tf up ?!! I actually love Mia and Amanda's relationship, I love Mia in general 😻

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