Chương 52: Chapter 52 - Nice To Meet You

"Ok see you soon!" I got up to prepare the boxes of food to bring him.

Initially I was not going to offer but my mom planted the idea. A few hours earlier we were having dinner when she began asking about Dantes arrival. "So did the boy arrive already?" She poked at her food nonchalantly but I could tell she was dying to ask.

"Yes he arrived and is most likely by now in his place of residence." I wolfed down another bite of the Ossobuco the chefs made. Normally my mother would cook but since she was busy helping my dad with some work stuff she asked the chefs to step in. To make up for the fact that she did not cook, she made some cannolis which are both a fan favorite between myself and my dad.

It was still really delicious but I made sure to leave room for dessert. "Ahh I see isn't that nice Enzo." My mothers tone indicated she wanted to rope my dad into the conversation but clearly he was not expecting to be involved as he stared wide-eyed at my mom.

He cleared his throat and drank some of his wine. "Sure good for the kid. Honey pass me the butter for my rolls please." He waved his hand over in my direction clearly looking for an escape despite the fact that he had finished his rolls a little while earlier.

"Since the chefs made quite a bit leftover why don't we offer some for him? I am sure a home-cooked meal would be nice after all that traveling."

To be honest I was not too sure what my mom was aiming at. She and my dad were not super ecstatic for his arrival because they preferred me to find someone organically, but it seemed now that she was acting as a wingman.

"Uhh sure why not." It was not super late but I figured that I would at least play along for now. If it meant getting my mom off my case for now. I called him up incase he was already sleeping but to my luck he was still up and accepted my proposal.

So with boxes in tow I went to grab my car. My driver had already taken off for the day and it made no sense for me to call for him for such a short drive. So I drove myself instead.

I actually was refreshed at being able to drive myself. When I was sixteen I begged my dad to teach me to drive and it went well at first, I drove myself often. But after the caffeine incident, he became more paranoid about me driving alone so he insisted that I get a driver instead.

"There is too many reckless drivers and for your safety. Who knows who is behind the wheel these days." I agreed at the time because truthfully the incident also shook me up a bit. I was a semi-public figure. An easy sitting duck if I was not vigilant. So it stayed that way for a while but every so often times when I could rive myself came up and I took them.

It felt more normal.

"I will be back soon ok." I waved my parents off and I follwoed the directions to his place. The route was the same as if I was heading to work but with significantly less traffic.

Eventually I reached his building. The apartment complex stood tall and grandeur when mixed in with the typical glass architecture that the business buildings often sported. I input the code and went up the elevator.

'This is a really nice building. I wonder who designed it?' I thought to myself while looking at the mix of gray concrete and modern furniture. It was like a modern day castle. The doors opened to his estate.

"Oh wow." I have only seen homes like this on television where the elevators opened directly into the room itself. His home was beautiful but also a stark contrast to the decor from the exterior of the building. It was stylized like a modern Italian home with rustic elements blended in.

He was not in the living area nor in the kitchen. I set the food down and texted him letting him know I was inside. I personally disliked the idea of wandering around someones home when they were not present. So I limited myself to exploring just the open communal areas. His kitchen was quite impressive.

There was a lot of cool drawers and even a wine cooler built into the island. The pans and a few cooking utensils hung over the island on a metal chandelier which was pretty cool. Though I felt was a bit of a danger.

He had a good selection of wooden furniture which, since my family started out by making those items, was a nice touch for me. Though after exploring in silence I heard what I thought was running water. Initially I thought I turned on something on accident but did not see anything in the kitchen.

The penthouse was two stories and sounded to be upstairs. I walked towards the winding staircase peering over the ledge.

"Aspettare! I am coming one second!" His voice resounded loudly from what I assume to be his bedroom. He came running down the stairs pulling on a sweatshirt which had the name of the university he went to.

His abs on clear display for a few seconds. His wavy brown hair much darker than the photos but also clung in small ringlets clearly damp. Dante de' Medici was just as handsome as his photos if not even more so.

I felt a bit dazed as it had been a long time I was in shock at someones beauty. It felt like slow motion as he approached me from the stairs. I soon regained myself and focused back on reality.

'Shoot he must have been showering.'

I hoped my face was not flushed. "Benvenuto! Piacere di conoscerti!". My grandparents instilled in my parents to teach me Italian so I would have no issues when visiting so thankfully I was pretty fluent. But it had been a long time since I spoke the language. My voice sounded foreign in my ears. 'God damn pull yourself together Celeste.'

His tall frame pulled up in front of me forcing my head to look up to match his eyes. His brown eyes twinkled with mirth as he chuckled at my greeting. "Nice to meet you."