A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Alena

The line went quiet for a few seconds until a sigh was heard.

"How can I say no to you?"

The words were simple but it showed defeat. I didn't have to persuade him to agree with me, he had agreed to me without protest. I knew Matteo only wanted the best for me when it came to my safety but if Angelo had to be around my work area, I didn't want that. Matteo was more worried about my safety ever since what happened. He felt even more pressured when Papa had warned him about what could happen. Not just that, with the recent news of my pregnancy, he was being burdened with responsibilities. If he could, he probably wanted Angelo to wander around the area of my office.

"I really hope you understand," I replied.

"I do. I'm trying really hard to understand you,"

"I just don't want him around my work area."

"He'd be out of your sight, Alena. You know Angelo,"

"I know. I also know that he's really good at what he does,"

"Then? You can't reconsider it? Just for my sake."

I sighed deeply before I shook my head, to show my disagreement. Matteo was trying his best to persuade me even though I had thought otherwise. Instead of completely agreeing to him, I decided to come up with a different plan. It was to ensure the both of us could win.

"Let's try to think of something else. We'll come up with something different," I said.

"Like what? Do you have an idea?"

"I do, actually. I have a lot,"

"One of it is to make sure Angelo stays away, huh?" He asked which caused me to scoff, liking how much he knew me. It was the initial plan but I wanted Matteo to have some peace of mind as well when it came to me-he had other things to worry about, he didn't have to keep thinking about my safety when he was busy.

It was better for him to focus on other things whenever he could instead of all about me.

"He can come over after a couple of hours. Do a few a check ups Then, he can leave." I replied, putting up the suggestion. It was a win-win for me because at the same time, Angelo could monitor the situation and report back to Matteo while I didn't have to worry about having any of my colleagues see him.

It was bound to be weird if I saw him wandering around just to keep me safe.

"I don't completely agree with you but that's something," he said

"That is something..."

"More than nothing. Fine."

"So, do you agree with me? Do we have a deal?"

"Yeah, we have a deal."

My lips curved up into a smile as I thought of my victory. It wasn't anything much compared to the other things Matteo had gave in but it was something-it could provide both of us the same thing we wanted even though we had to compromise. "Great! Love you,"

"Wait, are you going already?"

"I do have an appointment later. Then, I'll be a bit busy for my rounds."

"Alright, I understand. I'll see you at home tonight?"

"Absolutely,"

"I love you, Alena. I really, really, do."Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

The way he spoke his love for me had warmed my heart. I loved the way he pronounced the word 'love' even though it wasn't any different than anyone else but it was the sincerity. I could feel his love even through the words. I could see his love even when we weren't near.

This man had committed everything to me. He had gave me his whole life. I was never going to repeat the same mistake and waste the rest of our love story. "Hove you, too." I muttered, smiling.

Both of us smiled at each other for a few seconds before we decided to wave goodbye. Once we had ended the call, I went back to clean up my office until I was satisfied. It didn't take me long to go on my day with the rest of my appointments. My other colleagues were surprised to see me because they didn't expect to have me around today.

I, on the other hand, didn't expect how short the maternity leave felt for them.

During lunch hour, Lily and Zach went to wait for me at the cafe near the hospital. We had walked to enjoy a well-brewed cup of coffee and pastry. We used to hang around here during our lunch hour before I started going on maternity leave and it somehow became our usual routine.

One of the reasons why we loved hanging around here was because of the vibe. They had a good choice of music and we could never get bored of chilling and talking here.

Besides, their cup of coffee was always good.

However, after I found out I was pregnant again, I needed to stay away from caffeine. It was going to take me awhile to get a taste of their delicious coffee-a little sip wasn't going to hurt but I knew it was best to take extra care of myself this time.

"It was bad about what happened to him though," Lily spoke, talking about a patient that had passed away last week. He was her patient and he had been declared terminal a few weeks ago because of cancer. "He was always so hopeful about getting better. I could see how much he gave up when they told him he wasn't going to make it,"

Zach nodded his head, "How old was he again?"

"In his forties. He had two kids,"

"Damn... are they still young?"

She nodded, "The eldest was probably like ten,"

"I feel bad for his family."

Wed, Nov

"His wife couldn't stop crying when he passed."

I took a sip of my hot chocolate as I listened to them.

9

Doctors or anyone who worked in the medical field, we had to face a lot of losses every day. Some people were hopeful they

diagnosed. However, doctors were just human and could survive while others had already gave up the moment they wer we only predicted what was going to happen after diagnosis. If the patients ended up surviving, it was because of a miracle.

I could never have the heart to tell anyone the truth. It broke me

"Alena?" Lily called out.

I turned to look at her, "Yeah, what's wrong

"I thought you wanted to order your favourite latte,"

"I kind of miss their hot chocolate too," I cleared my throat.

I knew my friends were going to find out about my pregnancy eventually but it was best to keep it a secret for now. I wanted

to make sure that this pregnancy was going to make it pass the first trimester then I was going to reconsider telling them- they were going to find out anywa

en if I

didn't because my baby bump was going to show.

I was a little bit scared to tell them. I

same disappointment again.

was still traumatised about what happened with Marco as well, I didn't want to face the

"Yeah, they taste great." Zach interrupted.

"So, tell us, how was everything? How have you been holding up" Lily asked, turning to look at me. She was focused on me as she smiled, waiting for me to respond.

"It was hard for me at the beginning but Matteo helped me a lot I replied.

"I'm still really sorry about what happened to you,"

"It happened. It just did."

Zach and Lily both stared at me as they tried to find other words to say. They were probably regretting this whole lunch but deep down, I knew because they cared. They only wanted to know about what happened to me and how I had coped with it, they weren't trying to be nosy or anything.

"I do hope there's a rainbow for you at the end of the road,"

I smiled at them, "I'm very hopeful for that."

They both went to talk again about a few other things while I looked around. I was trying to find if something had changed in the café ever since the last time I was here. Not much had changed but they had different decorations up. A lot of customers were in the café, just another regular day for them.

My eyes wandered around to the different cars stopping by the drop-off. Some were old people, probably for their routine checkup. Some were families. Some were just people in suits, probably here for a visit. It had been awhile since I sat quietly and watched the people around me as they went on with their lives.

People never stopped living even if sometimes I felt as if my life stopped. Whenever I faced disappointment, everything around me somehow stopped moving but it never did. People continued on their lives as if nothing happened because nobody cared about anybody. I blinked a few times as I felt someone staring at me.

A figure was standing near the drop-off.

The reason why he caught my attention was because of the way he was standing there all by himself. As he was drowned in the crowd, he hadn't moved at all. He was just standing there like a statue as he continued to look at me even though I couldn't see his face. A hat had covered his face but I noticed the smirk.

I began to feel uneasy as I continued to stare at him, trying to convince myself that I was probably hallucinating things. However, the figure was real and I wasn't hallucinating anything he had nodded at me when he knew I saw him.

My heart was starting to beat fast as I tried to get a clearer view of him. My hand was also gripping hard onto my phone, knowing that if I was able to run away, I wasn't going to leave my phone behind. Then again, Lily and Zach were probably going to wonder.

They were both busy talking about something and I hadn't been paying attention ever since I saw the figure. I was beginning to feel scared about what was going to happen; what was the man doing here? Had he been following me around all this time?.

I looked around, trying to see if I could find Angelo but I didn't know if he was around at times like this. I had told Matteo I wanted him to come only a few times when I was at work and I was regretting my decision.

Within an instant, a group of people had passed by and as soon as they were gone, so was he.