Chapter 54
“What kind of surprise?” Melina asked.
“I wanted to keep it until it was closer to the time, but with everything that happened today, I thought you might need something to cheer you up” Marco said. “Before I tell you, promise me you won’t get mad at me for overstepping”
“Marco what did you do?” Melina asked with a raised brow.
“Well…you see…I know that holidays can be tough if you are away from home” Marco said.
“What holidays boo? It is still October” Melina said incredulously.
“Yeah, but Christmas is just a couple of months away” Marco said.
“O-okay?”
“I thought you would be happy to have your family and friends around for Christmas, so I booked tickets for all of them. They will all stay here with us for two weeks” he said and looked at Melina waiting for her response.
“W-what? Are you serious? If this is a joke, it’s a really bad one. Are they actually coming here for Christmas?” Melina asked and tears started flooding from her eyes.
“It’s not a joke amore. They are all coming”
Melina threw herself to his arms and started peppering kisses all over his face.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can’t believe you did that” she said while she was still peppering kisses on Marco’s face. “Wait! How did you do that?” she asked.
“Well…I might had used your ex-boyfriend’s phone to access his social media and find your friends, so I can message them” Marco said innocently.
“Theo is still here?” she asked.
“I sent him home a few days ago, after I made sure the message of leaving you alone had been clearly imprinted in his thick skull”
“Hmmm…okay, I don’t really care about him. Who did you contact?”
“Stella and Sissy first and then they gave me your brother’s contact details”
“Oh my god Marco. My parents know we are living together?” Melina asked in shock.
“Yeah…sorry about that. I didn’t know you hadn’t told them”
“I wasn’t hiding it from them. It’s just that I have never lived with anyone before and they haven’t met you yet, so I didn’t know how to actually tell them” she admitted. “Where they mad?”
“They didn’t really seem mad. They actually seemed happy about it. Your dad even said he was relieved. He even wished me good luck and said that they have a no-return policy” Marco said laughing.
“Of course he did. He thinks he is so funny” Melina said smiling.
“I have to say amore, that I think I am already your parents’ favourite and they haven’t even met me in real life”
“You will be my whole family’s favourite. My parents and my brother will love you for making me happy and the rest of the family will love you because you are tall, with no rescinding hairline and you are not fat”
Marco laughed and pecked her lips. “Are you happy amore?”
“I am. You didn’t have to do all this, but thank you”
“I want to spend Christmas with our families. Maybe we can make it a tradition”
“I would love that” Melina smiled at him. “Erm…Boo…there is something that I wanted to ask you”
“What’s up?” Marco asked curiously.
“Well…you know that I am from Greece and our customs are different than the American ones. We don’t celebrate Halloween in Greece, but I am kind of looking forward to having the full experience now that I am here”
“You want to go for trick or treat?” Marco asked teasing.
“No silly. I know I am too old for this, but…I was wondering if we could have a Halloween party. At one of your clubs. And maybe…you and I could do couple costumes” Melina said and looked at Marco with anticipation.
“We can certainly do a Halloween party at one of my clubs. But I don’t know how I feel about the costumes. I don’t do costumes” he said carefully.
“Please boo! It will be my first Halloween”
“I don’t know…” Marco said, and he scratched the back of his head.
“What if I offer you a deal?” Melina asked.
“What kind of deal?”
“If you do the couple costumes with me at the Halloween party, you can pick a sexy costume for me to wear when we come back home” Melina suggested.
“Hmmm…that is a deal I cannot decline” Marco said.
“Is that a yes to the couple costumes then?” Melina asked excited.
“Yes amore. Do you have something in mind already?” Marco asked.
“I do actually. I have two and you can choose which one you prefer” Melina said and clapped her hands excitedly.
“Let’s hear them”
“First option is Aladdin and Jasmine. We can even dress Johnny as Abhu. Oh and Alessio can be the Genie!” Melina said. “The second option is Hercules and Meg. Alessio can be Hades and Johnny can be Pegasus”
“I am going to suffer either way, so I will let you pick whichever you prefer. Have you told Alessio about your plan?”
“No, not yet, but he won’t say no to me”.
Alessio opened the door as Melina was saying that, so he asked “What is it that Alessio doesn’t know but he won’t say no to?”
“We are having a Halloween party and we are all getting dressed up for it” Melina said. “We will go as Aladdin and Jasmine and you will be the Genie”
“Hell no” Alessio said.
“Please!” Melina said to him with pleading eyes. “It is my first Halloween and are literally the only friend I have here” she said and gave him her best puppy eyes.
“That is called emotional blackmail, you know” Alessio complained.
“Is it working?” Melina asked.
“Fuck. I can’t say no to you, can I?” Alessio said.
“Evidently you cannot” Melina said and stood up, walked to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you Alessio! You are the best”
Alessio cleared his throat and asked “I take it everything is okay now?”
“Yes, everything is okay” Melina smiled.
“What happened?” Alessio asked.
“Aldo fired her” Marco replied in a cold tone.
“Marco you know what that means” Alessio said in a serious tone.
“I do” Marco replied.