Our Pizza Romance

Chapter 39: Ricotta

"Do you wanna go dress shopping tomorrow?" Hailey asked over the phone.

"Dress shopping for what?" I asked rummaging through my closet to find my cardigan. It was a little cold outside so I decided to wear my cardigan over my t-shirt.

"For prom! Did you forget? Its only like a few weeks away. Derek is taking me to their senior prom. Leo is going right?", Hailey asked.

"Uhh I totally forgot about that". Leo did ask me about it but with the exams approaching and Leo's injury I forgot about it. "So are you free tomorrow?"

"No I am sorry Hailey. Wee are having dinner with Leo's mom tomorrow".

"Ohhhh...we can go some other day. Awww you are meeting his mom!"

I laughed, "Its not like that actually. I have met her a couple of times".

"Oh whatever you say.... but still its cute! Leo really loves you. I am so glad you guys are dating now", she mused. "But....".

"But what Em?"

"The thing is I never said 'I love you' to him back. After my last relationship- I just couldn't do it", I said sadly.

"Ohh Em. So what? Take your time. I'm sure Leo doesn't mind. I am pretty sure you love him. But- you are just not able to spell it out". "I hope so I really do".

"So I heard from George that one of Jules' minions was lurking around your place".

"Oh yes Amber- She is such a bitch. She wanted to deliver Jules' get-well-soon gift to Leo. I kicked her out. Not to mention she was making things up like how Leo visits Jules at her place". I refrained from telling her about Amber's warning about Andrew. I didn't want her to worry about it.

There was a long pause from her end. My heart was beating faster against my chest- what if she thinks its true. I decided not to pay attention to Amber because she's a liar and I am pretty sure this is one of Jules' schemes to break us up. She just wants me to fall for it which I wouldn't. Hailey laughed, I breathed out a sigh of relief. "That sounds so stupid. Oh god Jules should come up with better plans".

"I know", I laughed. All of a sudden I heard a shrill drilling sound coming from downstairs.

"What the hell is that noise?" Hailey asked over the phone.

"I don't know. Let me check. I will call you later".

"Bye", with that I hung up.

I went downstairs to see Leo shirtless fixing the back door lock. I wish I could have just taken out my phone to take a picture of the marvelous view in front of me, but I I don't want to fuel his ego anymore. Stop drooling Emma. "You never told me that the back door lock doesn't work at times", Leo said that got me out of my trance.

"Huhhhh- Uh yes it doesn't. I always forget so I never got around to fixing it. But I do put a sofa in front of it for protection".

"No wonder I find the sofa oddly placed every morning. Em you should be more careful. With the recent events going on- you should have gotten that door fixed a long time back", Leo said with a concerned look on his face. "Why aren't you jumping over this man? Because if I were in you I would have", said George from behind me. I didn't even notice he was here in the first place.

I looked behind to see George blatantly checking him out. I didn't even know how he got here. I laughed. He was so transfixed by the view and I can absolutely relate.

"Boy, Did you sit in a pile of sugar?"

"No why?" Leo said.

"Cause you have a pretty sweet ass", I couldn't breathe from laughing too hard. "Did you just come out of the oven? Because you're hot!"

"George I-", Leo was blushing.

"Do you have a sunburn, or are you always this hot?"

...........

"Do you think he will ever get out of the bathroom?" George asked. After that hilarious encounter, Leo decided to go for a shower. It has been forty-five minutes but he still hasn't gotten out yet. "Not till you are here", I retorted jokingly.

"You are right. He couldn't handle my pickup lines".

"So.... George how are you doing?" I asked. After the breakup he was pretty upset but that lasted for a day or two because now he pretends as if nothing happened. He doesn't even want to talk about it. "I am good actually. Being single feels great!" He said a little too excitedly.

"Oh okay-".

George interrupted. "I mean I deserved it. I am such a clingy bitch. I wanted to move in with him after we were done with high school. I was thinking of applying to the same college as him. But he thought we were moving too fast- I don't blame him though. His parents may live under the same roof but they sleep in seperate rooms. They fight all the time. That really affected him", he said sadly. "I do fucking miss him though and not to mention his abs".

I was done with fifty percent of my exams. Till now everything went well except math as I gave up on understanding geometry and trig ages ago. I got out of the school right then I received a text from Sebastian. Sebastian: Meet me in ten minutes at Wendy's? Its kinda urgent.

I was surprised that he wanted to meet me in such short notice.

Emma: Okay.

It was a five minute walk to Wendy's from our school. I reached there and ordered myself some fries and coke as I waited for Sebastian.

Sebastian arrived a few minutes later looking like he ran a marathon or something.

"I am sorry for being late", he said taking a seat. He ordered himself a salad and a mineral water. I ordered myself some more fries.

"How's George?" He asked giving his full attention to the salad in front of him.

"He's not okay. You guys need to get your shit together. I am sure its hurting you both-".

"No, he deserves better.... I love him but I can't give what him what he wants".

"Relationships aren't easy. He might act cool but I know him. He misses you a lot".

"I miss him too", he said looking despondent. His eyes were watery. "Anyways-", he cleared his throat. "Em I need to tell you something- And it might be true or not- I don't know. But I needed to let you know about this". "What?" I asked getting worried. What does he want to talk about?

"You know how I live a few blocks away from Jules' place right?" "Uh-huh".

"Well-", he sighed. "For the last few weeks I have been seeing a bike parked in front of her place whenever I go for a run in the evening. That bike seemed familiar to me but I couldn't figure it out. Turns out it looks exactly like the one Leo has. So I didn't find it fishy since someone else might have a similar bike as his. But today I saw him getting out of Jules' place and then-".

"Are you sure? Leo does go to visit his dad in your neighbourhood. His dad might just happen to live close to Jules' place". "Yeah that might be it. I have thought about that too- I just needed to be sure", he said giving me a reassuring smile.

By the way tell your boyfriend to stop visiting Jules at her place........ Today I saw him getting out of Jules' place... These words reverberated in my brain on my way home. I couldn't focus on my surroundings. I almost got run over by a car. After a hasty apology I left the fuming driver who was still screaming at me for being so careless. I didn't want to jump to conclusions that easily but Amber warning me about Leo visiting Jules and also Sebastian seeing Leo's bike parked in front of Jules' place, both the events happening at the same time seemed odd.

"Hey beautiful. How was your day?", Leo asked greeting me with a kiss on my cheeks upon entering the house. He had his exams today too and I am sure they went great seeing the smile on his face.

"It was okay I guess", I said nonchalantly.

"Why do you look so down then? Did anything happen?"

"Leo-", I was contemplating whether to ask him about it or not. I sighed, "Have you been visiting Jules?"

There was a elongated pause where the only sound I could hear was the sound of my heart beating against my chest. He started laughing, "Is this some kind of joke? Why would you even ask me that?" "Well Sebastian saw you getting out of Jules' place......and you have been disappearing off...".

"My dad lives just beside her house and work at the garage is hectic so I need to go off when they need an extra hand...", he explained.

"Oh okay. I am sorry for suspecting you-".

"Its okay babe. If I was in your place I would have done the same thing too. I am glad you asked me", somehow I wasn't convinced but I didn't let that thought irk me. I trusted Leo and trusting your significant other in a relationship is important.

"Did you take your medicines yet?" I asked changing the topic.

"Oh shit!" I gave him a stern look. He keeps on forgetting to take his meds all the time.

I turned around to fetch him some water and his medicines when I noticed a pink basket on top of the dining table. The basket looked awfully familiar. Then it clicked in my brain, it looked exactly like the one Jules got Leo and Amber came to deliver it to him that day.

"Leo, where did you get this basket from?"

"Oh that... my stepmom gave it to me as a get-well-soon gift after she got to know that I got injured".