Rules and Roses

Chapter 5

I think Alfredo knows about my discussion with Piero. He’s been smiling at me for the past three days, even during our meetings for his autobiography. We are currently working on the autobiography and it's coming out nicely. This book may be one of my best works but I'm not getting any credit for it so.

I haven’t summoned the courage to tell Imelda about my arrangement with Piero and it’s majorly because I don’t know how to feel about it myself. Piero has pretty much been out of the villa and thank goodness for that. I don’t know how I’d act around him. It has mostly been Imelda and I eating together in the dining room because Adolfo prefers to eat in his suite upstairs.

We are currently eating this crazy sweet Italian bread with whipped cream sauce for dessert and I know I have to tell Imelda. She’s moaning about how amazing the dessert is but I can't help but wonder what her reaction will be. Will she be aghast or fascinated? Well, spit it out, Marigold. Just say it.

“Piero asked me to be his baby mama.”

Instant choking. I scoot over and rub her back gently while she chokes it out. When she’s done, she looks up at me with watery eyes and flushed cheeks, “What the f**k did you just say?”

I shrug. It’s out in the open now anyway, “Piero asked me to be his baby mama.”

“I heard you, b***h,” Imelda says through squinted eyes.

“Then why’d you ask?” I roll my eyes. I should’ve expected drama.

“Excuse me for finding it shocking that Mr High and Mighty wants to put his baby juice inside you.”

“Actually, he wants me to help him carry his ex’s baby.”

Imelda’s eyes slowly widen to the size of snowballs, “What the f**k?? He asked you to do that?” her eyes squint at me again. She’s all full of squints today, “Why do I get the vibe you said yes?”

I shrug, “Because I did.”

Imelda shoots up from her chair, “WHAT?”

I take a big bite of bread slathered in whipped cream and avoid her gaze, “That’s crazy, Marigold. You hardly even know this man and all of a sudden, he wants you to carry another woman’s child? Why would you say yes to something like that? This is something that’s going to affect the rest of your life. It's not that simple.”

Okay, now I’m pissed. Where does she get off acting like I don’t know what to do with my life? I look up at her with a levelled gaze, “Yes, I know what decision I made and whether you like it or not, you’ll have to accept it. Something in what he told me and how he told me touched me. I want to do this for him and it doesn’t really matter whether you like it or not so sit down and shut the f**k up.”

She visibly calms down and sits back down. I go back to my sweet bread, determined not to let this get to me. After a few minutes of silence, Imelda speaks up again, “Look, Marigold. I know you’re a grown-ass woman and you know how to run your life but I just want to be sure you know what you’re getting your ass into.”

I give her a small smile, “I do know what I’m getting into and I really want to do this. Besides, he’s paying me ten million dollars.”

Imelda throws her arms up, “Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place? For ten million dollars, even I’d have triplets.”

I burst out laughing because I know Imelda has a chronic fear of pregnancy and childbirth, seeing as both her mother and older sister died during labour. She wouldn’t have a child for a hundred million dollars but it’s nice to hear it from her. It makes me feel better.

“I just wish your baby daddy wasn’t such a prick,” she grumbles.

“He’s not all that bad actually,” I defend.

“It’s nice to see that not everybody in the room hates me,” we hear behind us and jump up so fast, we nearly leave our asses on our chairs.

Piero is standing behind us, looking all domineering and delicious as usual.

“Why would you sneak up on us like that?!” Imelda practically screams at him which is probably the most ballsy thing I've ever seen her do. I’m pretty sure nobody ever screams Mr High and Mighty as she has so aptly dubbed him.

Piero ignores her outburst and turns to me, “If you’re done with your meal, Marie, we have something to discuss.”

I just nod because the eye contact we are sharing right now is melting my panties slowly but surely. f*****g this man will be a terrible idea so I have to get my grip. He’s used to having ‘relationships’ with women that last nothing longer than three weeks. I know he tires of women quickly and won't hesitate to move on as possible. So I have to get my affairs (p***y) in order and get my head out of the clouds.

Meanwhile, Imelda looks like she’s going to blow a gasket, “Her name is NOT Marie. She hates it when people call her that. What exactly is your problem?”

Piero looks at her with a hint of annoyance in his eyes and says in a very levelled voice, “Will you calm down, Imelda? I have done absolutely nothing to you so I don’t know why you despise me so much.”

Imelda actually stutters at that before huffing and storming off.

I look at Piero with an equally calm gaze, “You upset my friend, Piero. Don’t upset my friend again.”

He nods once, “As you wish.”

I nod once as well, “I do wish.”

Ha! That’ll teach him. Two can play this game of cold and unaffected.

We stand there for a few minutes just staring at each other until he clears his throat and speaks, “About what I

said earlier, that we have something to discuss.”

“Yes?”

“First of all, I would rather discuss sensitive issues like the one you were discussing with Imelda in private. My father employs the best servants but-?

“Excuse me,” I cut him off, “servants? Where are we? The middle ages?”

“What would you rather I call them?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Anything is better than ‘servants’.”

“Very well,” he says, “my father employs the best workers but I personally trust no one.”

“Of course, you don’t,” I murmur and he pointedly ignores my remark.

“Next time, MARIGOLD, private. Now follow me.” He turns around like a dumb robot and starts walking away. Like a dumb mini-robot, I follow him through the labyrinth that is his family house until we end up in his office. I know it's his office because of the office supplies (obviously) and also because Adolfo pointed it out to me the first time we worked on his autobiography. Their offices are just opposite each other in a long hallway.

His inconspicuous security guard stands at the door while we both go in.

“Please, take a seat,” Piero points at the end of the large well-lit office to a set of plush brown leather sofas. I plop my butt down on one of them and he takes a cross-legged seat opposite me.

“Sup?” I ask and I think I see a flicker of amusement in his eyes but when I look closer, it's gone. I must have imagined it.

“I have arranged with the doctor and he is ready for the procedure to begin tomorrow. You will have to go to the hospital tomorrow to see him. From what I understand, you will take shots every day for approximately two weeks before the procedure. Then you will take shots for a week more to stabilize your system.”

He eventually looks at me and realizes that I've gone white as a sheet.

“What’s wrong?”

I gulp to get rid of the huge lump in my throat, “Shots? I didn’t know shots would be involved.”

He reaches over and grasps my hands in his much larger, warmer ones, “Marie, you’re shaking. Are you scared of needles?”

“Extremely.”

He squeezes my hands and looks me in the eye, “I’ll be there for your shots, okay? I won't let you go alone.”

I roll my eyes. What a dumbass. “Do you think that your presence would automatically just make things better? b***h please.”

He smiles at me and I make a double-take. Piero just f*****g smiled at me. Mr My Face is Set in Stone just smiled at me. My head blows into about fifty pieces and I expect bits of my brain to be all over his upholstery. He has an absolutely beautiful smile, from the way his lips stretch out to his white beautiful teeth. He has one imperfection, though; a chipped incisor but it adds even more to his allure. I can't believe I'm in front of a man this sexy and I can't even make a move. I don’t realize that I'm smiling back at him like a loon until my cheeks start to hurt.

“Nevertheless, I’ll be there with you.”

“If you insist,” I joke, “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“No, actually. I’ll see you tomorrow. You can see yourself out. I have work to do.”

“Bye bitch.”

He raises a brow at me (that seems to be a habit of his) and I ignore it. I leave his office and smile at the guard who of course, doesn’t smile back.

I walk down the hallway, trying to figure out which turning to take when Abelie, like a cute little ghost, pops out of nowhere to show me the way to my room.

“Actually, Abelie, I’d like to sit in the garden for a while.”

“Of course, signora. There is a section of the garden that I’m sure you would love.”

Abelie leads me to a beautiful secluded rose garden and silently slips away while I'm ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’. There are all colours of roses here and the garden smells absolutely wonderful. The grass is green and lush and the rose bushes are impeccably trimmed. It’s like a small pocket of heaven tucked away in Italy.

I sit down on a stone bench and think about Piero, specifically, his smile. I know I'm swooning like a teenager but I can't help it. If I can't have the man in real life, at least I can give myself the satisfaction of riding his face in my imagination.

A voice cuts through my imaginary c*********s session and it belongs to Adolfo.

“My wife started this garden. We call it ‘Eva’s Place’. She would be so proud to see what it has become today,” he says.

I turn around and smile at him, “I’m sure she would be ecstatic.”

He’s wearing comfortable brown slacks and a cosy sweater. This is Adolfo in home-mode and this is the Adolfo I've been seeing lately. He’s definitely taking his retirement seriously. He walks up and sits beside me.

“I understand that you are to carry and birth my future grandchild.”

He’s smiling so I smile slightly too, “I understand so too.”

“I hope Piero isn’t coercing you into this as he does to get everything he wants.”

I laugh. He knows his son well, “No, he actually asked quite nicely. I want to do this for him and for you too.”

“Bless your heart. I just had to be sure that this is something you really want.”

“It is, Adolfo. Trust me.”

“Good. You know, Piero’s situation makes me wonder what my life would be like if Eva had never had the two beautiful children we have now. It would simply be like she was wiped from the surface of the Earth. I'm glad Piero has a chance to keep a piece of Calliope in his life.”

Damn, Piero must’ve really loved this woman. I wonder why she left him.

“Calliope? She’s Greek. That’s fascinating.”

Adolfo chuckles, “I see Piero hasn’t told you about her. It’s not in my place to give you those details so an old geezer like me should keep his mouth shut.”

“Old geezer?” I saw with faux astonishment, “you don’t look a day over fifty.”

Adolfo laughs out loud and we settle into a comfortable silence. Him thinking about his wife whom this beautiful garden was named after and me having fantasies about his son who is about to become my baby daddy.

Yikes.