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MARIA

For the following two nights, Leonardo was tormented by nightmares.

My lack of awareness had set him off onto a spiral of changes in behaviour. It was my mistake in being inattentive to what triggered him; fires. It made sense.

He hadn't been the same since, similar to how he was before; unemotional, unhappy and uncooperative.

Leonardo started taking the meds he had stopped taking before but they clearly didn't have much of an effect on him.

We slept in the same bed at first. But the moment my heartbeat and warmth wasn't sending him on a peaceful journey to sleep, he gave up completely on sleeping.

I was in the kitchen that morning with Sofia, distracted. My hands were kneading the dough she had made but my eyes were cast on the window outside, gazing at the serene view before me without focusing on it. There were many other things swirling around in my mind - Leonardo was clearly upset but whenever I tried to talk to him, he'd shut me down immediately.

I didn't realise how much I was sighing until I heard Sofia laugh, "you're sulking so much, Maria. What's on your mind?"

My head snapped towards her and I met her kind eyes whilst she laughed. I stopped kneading and looked down to see that I had basically destroyed the batter. "The dough has been kneaded enough, sweetheart!" My face crumbled as I sighed again, whining childishly, "oh, Sofia, I'm sorry! It's just - I mean, how long can a meeting be? It's practically the afternoon!"

Sofia shrugged, her genial smile showing slight wrinkles by her cheeks. "You're right. But maybe you should wait a little longer, you've been knocking almost every ten minutes. It's only been half an hour this time because you zoned out."

I sulked again, sheepishly looking away as I took my hands for a thorough wash under the warm water, "it's been hours. What is he doing? Staying on hold for customer service?"

Sofia chortled, shaking her head at me, "ahh, what a funny girl you are. You remind me of my daughter!" My heart warmed at her sweetness.

"That's because I'm one of kind!" I playfully responded, cheekily smiling at her with a wink. I liked being around Sofia, she was an older woman who had her two children young. She'd been working at the villa for a half a decade; cooking was her forte. Leonardo always made his own food at home so seeing him enjoy Sofia's food was significant. The bond I had grown with her over the two days had felt unexpectedly maternal. I felt like I could tell her anything and she'd be there for me.

"I can't keep waiting!" I blurted out, dropping the towel I was using to dry my hands down suddenly. I let out a brave breath, lifting my head high as I announced, "I'm going in!"

Sofia gave me weary look with her blue eyes. She knew Leonardo inside and out. "This had nothing to do with me!" She deeply chuckled, lifting her hands as peace.

"I have to!" I convinced myself, though I knew he hadn't been in a good mood for a while so the likelihood of our conversation going well was slim to none. "Otherwise he's going to think that I forgot!" I said as I left, courageously making my way to Leonardo's office.

Of course it just had to be at the top floor. With a pout, I climbed up all those wide stairs, breathless by the time I got to the top. When I reached his door, I mentally had to psyche myself up before knocking.

When he didn't reply, I entered on my own accord with a hard look on my face once I realised he was no longer on a call. "Leonardo, is there a reason why you haven't come to look for me after you finished your meeting?" I raised an eyebrow and stared at him sternly, folding my arms as I leaned against the doorway.

I could barely see him; it was no surprise his office was as dark as the one back home. Luxurious art against black walls, tall midnight shelves of books behind him whilst he sat in the middle on a tidy desk before him that had stacks of papers on each side. He had pulled the curtains together and the room had only illuminated by his computer and the lamp in the corner.

"What is it now, Maria?"

I was irked by the fact that he wasn't even looking at me, his eyes dictated on the screen before him as he typed quickly. He sighed as his eyes briefly glanced up to mine before back to the computer.

"Am I bothering you?" I questioned sharply, watching as he stood in all his tall glory, his massive back facing me as he put a few items into a drawer.

He pulled off his glasses and left them on the desk before replying, "maybe yes, maybe no." Leonardo tucked his chair under the desk, taking his phone as he began to walk towards the door near me.

I stood before him, my eyebrows narrowed. "'Maybe yes, maybe no'?"

His eyes finally settled on my face and I could see the tiredness underneath them. "If I say no, you'll tell me I'm lying. If I say yes, that would be the wrong answer. It's a trick question." I rolled my eyes at his intelligence.

"Well, why don't you just tell me what's going on so I can understand better?"

"You already know my answer to this, so don't make me lose my breath." I was about to shoot something back until he impatiently added, "just tell me what you want."

"I'm asking for one moment of your precious time today to go somewhere with me," I finally said with hope whilst analysing his tired face. He probably didn't get to sleep much last night either.

"I'm a bit busy as you can clearly see," Leonardo bluntly replied, "if it's for another tourist day, ask Sofia or someone else to go with you. There will be other people like you that like to waste their time seeing the same things you can see in a picture online." We had already had that debate earlier during our trip yet he chose to irritate me again.

He went to move past me but I took a step closer to him, the gap between us practically closing completely. His chest, pushing against his black shirt underneath caught my eye but I forced myself to look upwards. Leonardo's eyes dropped downwards on me before slowly coming back up.

"I don't like your tone."

"And I don't like being disturbed."

"I'm a distraction?" I inquired with irritation as he moved past me, stopping in his tracks. An exasperated sigh came from him. I turned and glared at him whilst he gave me a frustrated look.

"Oggi lo sei {today you are}," Leonardo honestly muttered, his phone beginning to ring. He pulled it out and looked at it. I rubbed my forehead as I felt the annoyance build within me. The last thing I wanted to do was snap.

He didn't seem to care at all. I went back to my original intention to come into his office. "Leonardo, do you know what today is?"

Leonardo looked at me as if it was a normal, casual day. "Saturday," Leonardo simply answered before sarcastically adding, "in case you couldn't fucking tell."

"Saturday?" I repeated in case he didn't hear himself, in a mix of disbelief and concern. "Is that all today is?"

His phone started ringing again. "Anything else? Or can I answer this call?"

"Oh no, it's absolutely fine!" I sarcastically retorted, giving my widest smile as I shrugged. "You can fuck off to work since you're so desperate. I wouldn't like to 'distract' you anymore like I've been all morning for the simplest conversation!"

"Thanks a lot, I really fucking appreciate your kindness. I'll be back tonight in case you still want to discuss what the date is!"

I burned a hole of anger through his back as he retreated on a call, huffing as I almost slammed his office door shut, my back against the wall.

"How do you not know it's your birthday, Leo?" I muttered, sliding my fingers through my hair as I sighed.

That was not how I planned for our conversation to go.

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My reflection on that conversation had led my guilt to push me to remind Leonardo what that day was.

The loud 'pop' had made both Sofia and I flinch in surprise at the sudden sound from the corner of the room. She laughed simultaneously as me, the noise waking the both of us up to our senses. "These balloons don't go as big as I thought!" Sofia laughed, as I came down the ladder with a blissful smile.

It was late afternoon once we had finished up decorating the living room. My eyes intently assessed whether or not the birthday banner was straight and in the middle of the wall. His birthday surprise would have to be at the villa since the he couldn't make the reservation I had made days before.

I climbed back up the ladder to adjust its position and continued our discussion, "well, I used to think driving was scary but once you're behind the wheel and you have a few lessons, it's not as intimidating as you think."

Sofia gave me an unconvinced look. "Mmm. . .I thought so too until I kept stalling and hitting curbs!" I let out a laugh as she went on, "so I decided not to be an independent driver. I'll keep being a passenger, my husband will drive me around! That's his job now."

Satisfied with the banner, I came down again with a chuckle, "that's more like it!" Sofia finished tying the helium balloons onto the wall, a triumphant look in her eyes as we both took in the hard work we had been doing for hours. "I'm sure he'll like this, love. This was very thoughtful of you."

"I doubt Leonardo has had a birthday party before," I told her as we both closed up the ladder. "So I want to make this one special."

Leonardo's birthday happened to be on the same day as Sienna's. That would explain why he seemed to have no recollection of the date, he must've have erased its importance after the fire. My heart sank at the thought of what could be on his mind at the mention of her age.

"Leonardo used to always celebrate mine," I disclosed with a small chuckle. "My mother used to make excessive events for my birthday, give me expansive, unnecessary presents and splendour. . .but she never once asked what I wanted." I pondered on the past as I pensively spoke. "The best part about my birthday was sneaking out of the party to see him."

I smiled at a memory, "once he pushed my face into the undercooked cake he made me. It was drenched in icing. I never actually got back at him for that day, now that I think about it." I could still remember the taste of all the sweet cream pressed into my mouth, his mischievous laughter after I stared at him with a completely white covered face. He wasn't laughing so much afterwards once I smeared the cream back on him.

"And he had the skill for handmade art. He carved me a little unicorn - slightly crooked, but the thought and effort he put into it count," I told her, unable to stop smiling. "I still have it. It was better than all the ridiculous things my mother thought was good for me. .I'd take his wood carvings over anything she'd ever give me."

Sofia's eyes were full of endearment. "Young love, it's sweet. . .I miss the days where my husband and I were like that. Cherish it, Maria, cherish it with all your heart."

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~ Author's Note ~

A lot of bickering this chapter and stubbornness from the two of them but it's all part of the plan...
Maria wants Leonardo's attention but he seems to just shut her down. Is it because of what happened at the festival?

**I promise - Leonardo's birthday will be a significant next chapter so please keep reading to see!**

The next couple of chapters are some of my favourites! Things are finally starting to pull the two of them together!

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Thanks for reading!

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