Chapter 85

GIULIA

"Rise and shine, darling. It's a new day!" Kenzo yelled, unceremoniously drawing the curtains to let in the morning sunlight.

"Kenzo!" I groaned, turning my back when I felt the harshness of the sunlight on my face. I covered my body with the blanket and made to place another pillow under my head when he snatched it from me.

"It's almost 8 O'clock, darling. Time to wake up, and make some cool cash," he said in a singsong voice, tugging the blanket away from my torso.

"Can't I sleep for an hour more?" I pleaded, dragging the blanket with him. My eyes were still drowsy, and I wanted nothing more but to fall back to the bed, and doze until my eyes hurt, but the damned devil was out to frustrate me.

"That won't do." He yanked the blanket out of my hold and stepped back. "I gave you enough time to sleep. It's time to wake up now. Rise and shine, Beauty. You have a long day ahead of you."

"Fuck you!" Growling at him, I turned, wincing sharply at the bright light coming from the window. Resigned to my fate, I laid face down, knowing it was the only way.

"Oh, darling. You know I can't do that, right? Mark will have my head."

"He better do!" At this rate, I would gladly lend Mark a hand should he ever think of castrating the devil in human skin. I wouldn't bat an eye even if he screamed the entire house down. That was how much I despised him at the moment.

"Come on." He climbed on the bed. "You need to wake up. It's already late."

"Not it's not." I turned to face him, with my lips in a straight line. "What's with you this morning?"

Smirking at having gotten my attention, he got up on the bed and started walking on it. "Don't tell me you have forgotten what today is?" He asked, sounding sad, like a puppy who was abandoned by the owner.

"Which is?" I begrudgingly sat up, my eyes going over to him. "What is happening today?" I demanded, yawning.

"Have you forgotten already?" He plopped down on the bed, pouting as he took my hand in his. "Didn't you promise to go on a run with me? Don't tell me you have forgotten that already?"

"I haven't." Lying through my teeth, I got up from the bed, and trudged towards the bathroom, coming to a stop when I passed the mirror on my bedside table. I had to retrace my steps back to it, to be certain the person I saw staring at me was myself.

I looked like a mess with my hair all over the place. "I bet birds nestled on it last night," I mumbled, resuming my walk to the bathroom.

"I will be downstairs waiting for you. Don't keep me waiting, okay?" Kenzo called out the second the door closed behind me.

Muttering a response to his words, I walked over to the tub. I was still sleepy, but I knew there wouldn't be any rest for me. Not with Kenzo hovering around like a hawk seeking its mother.

I brushed my teeth and had a quick bath, to fully wake me up, before I left the bathroom to get dressed. There wasn't any need to be overdressed since we were only going for a run. I wore the three-piece grey tracksuit Mark bought two days ago and paired it off with black sneakers. I combed my hair, and tied it up in a tight bun, to avoid getting a whiplash during our jog.

I had just taken my bottle holder and phone when Kenzo yelled my name from downstairs.

"Coming!" I raced out of my room, and down the stairs to meet the grumpy man who was already dressed and waiting for me.

Unlike me who seemed to be overdressed just for a jog, he was only sporting a black singlet and blue running sweatpants. He didn't go to the extreme of putting on a jacket like I did. Instead, he let his muscles be exposed to any who might wish to ogle at them. Not like I wasn't.

"Thought you would sleep there."

"I would have." Smirking at the fuming man, I hastened towards the exit.

….

The run was as liberating as he claimed. Since I returned, he had been trying to force me to go on a run with him, to boost my mental health, he said, but I always found a way to evade him until I couldn't anymore. He was like an annoying housefly, one I couldn't ignore the buzzing forever.

"Let's rest here," he suggested after a full 30 minutes of running through the track. Sighing gratefully, I walked over to the bench and sat down, uncorking my water bottle to take a gulp.

"Do you feel different?" He asked, breaking the comfortable silence between us with the question.

"Yeah. Aside from not feeling my thighs, I haven't felt this relaxed in days now," I confessed, smiling. "Let's do this each day. I know I'm always a pain in the arse every morning, but I can get used to waking up early if I do it for one week."

"Yeah, that's an excellent suggestion, but we shouldn't overdo it. Once in two days seems to be the safer bet," he concluded.

"Why?" Frowning, I placed my water bottle next to me and relaxed on the bench, my gaze going up to the overcast sky, a clear sign it might rain this morning or at noon.

"Why? Are you for real?"

Tearing my gaze from the sky, I turned to look at him, my eyebrows raised so high they almost reached my hairline. "What are you trying to say?"

"God, I can't believe she has forgotten," he groaned, not making sense at all. "Since you have forgotten, dear Lia, I will have to remind you," he said in his best professional voice. "You are pregnant. Running miles every day isn't good for the baby."

I grew cold at his words, and my mood dampened drastically. Unshed tears brimmed my eyes at the reminder of what I lost.

"Lia? Are you okay?" He demanded, his tone laced with concern as he reached over to wrap his left arm around me. "What's going on? Why did you suddenly grow silent?"

I stared at him, mustering enough courage to tell him about the incident. It was long overdue. He deserved to know what happened in Seattle. "I lost my baby," I said at last, and that was all it took for the tears to come rushing, like a storm, slamming a boat with rage. All my bottled emotions were let out, creating an onslaught of pain, one that almost knocked me off my feet.