Calix Radcliff's POV

"I'm full, thank you Mom." I told her, stopping from loading my plate again for the third time, like she always did, she overloaded me with food the moment I stepped off the flight, claiming I didn't eat enough. Maybe she was right but I would never admit that to her.

"I'll take it if he won't have it." The little kiss-ass that had decided last minute to come with me pipes up, and straight away my mother overloads Silas's plate, a happy smile on her face that hadn't left since the moment we had arrived. Coming to Greece for a short break was a last minute decision, one that I hadn't regretted so far. I was here sitting on a deck that looked out onto the ocean having dinner with my mother, sisters and best friend.

The only thing missing now was Scarlett. I had become so used to having dinner with her everyday that it was weird not having her near me.

"You don't eat enough." My mother chides, repeating the conversation I always got. "You need to stop working so much and look after yourself, Αγαπημένος."
(Sweetheart.)

"I've been eating more Mama, υπόσχομαι." I treasure it and she didn't look like she really believed me until Silas piped up.

(I promise)

"That's because you eat most of your meals with your little girlfriend." He says dramatically, automatically catching the attention of the three women at the table who readily listen to him. "He eats breakfast with her after they work out, and most days they schedule lunch meetings so they eat together then and then they cook dinner together at night."

"You seem to spend a lot of time together, υιός." My mother looks at me with a knowing smile. I knew she was ecstatic, she had been wanting me to get a girlfriend for years. She had tried so hard to set me up with her best friend's daughter throughout my teenage years and was disappointed when I never once showed an interest in her or anyone else for that matter. Now she was really happy I had finally found someone.

(Son)

"We're neighbours, like right next to each other and it's easier to cook when you aren't cooking for one. And we schedule lunch meetings because it's her free time, she's always busy."

The three of them look at me sceptically, then look at Silas for reassurance who shrugs. "Well he's right there, Scarlett is this kickass girl boss who is always busy, like we have to schedule hangout sessions like a week in advance."

"Do you have any photos of her?" Thalia asks, crowding closer to Silas on one side and Karisa quickly moves to the other side.

"Oh I've been waiting for this one." He grins slyly at me and I just know I was in trouble. "I've been taking pictures of them to play back on their wedding, I have a whole collection by now."

And he did, he had photos of us from the polo match, at the office, at the charity gala and at my penthouse. There were already almost a hundred and my guess that he wasn't the only person taking those. A couple of those were from when we were alone with either Imogen or Quinn.

"You know that's a bit stalkerish, Silas, and very creepy."

"Shut up." Thalia demands, "She's gorgeous, are you sure she's interested in him?""

"Why wouldn't she be interested in me?" I ask slightly offended at my older sister's tone.

"Because she's like ten out of ten, absolutely gorgeous and she sounds like a total model, then you on the other hand." Thalia looks me up and down in a very obvious way that has me rolling my eyes.

"At least I can get someone interested in me." I clap back.

"That's enough, you two." Mom stops Thalia and I's back and forth bickering. Thalia and I always got on each others nerves when we were growing up. She was the middle child and I was the youngest and we would constantly bicker. As we've gotten older, though, we still go at each other but with none of the heat we used to have. "What did you say her name was, Cal?"

"Scarlett Vanderburg, she's one of the top lawyers in New York, maybe even the world. She lives in the penthouse next to me and we aren't dating yet."

"Yet?" Karisa asks with a raise of her eyes brows and a smirk.

"Yet." I confirm. "We both know we want each other but we can't do anything about it yet because she's my lawyer."

"Does her being your lawyer cause a problem?" My mother asks.

"No, besides maybe conflict of interest but because I'm the plaintiff, but we're playing it safe because I don't want to lose this case." I hadn't told them the details of the case. Besides Scarlett, Silas was the only one who knew a few details, all they knew was that I was suing someone who worked for me. My mom and sisters never really cared for anything to do with my company anyway so they never asked for details; they were more interested in my personal life anyway.

"You make a relationship seem too easy." Thalia rolls her eyes, "Like you seriously both know the other likes each other and are doing nothing about it?" She asks, wanting confirmation.

"They do things about it, even though they haven't put a label on it. Those two spend so much time together, like I hardly see them outside of the office anymore." Silas complains. "Those two spend any time together they can."

"Like you don't you don't spend any extra time you can with Imogen?" I tease back. I had grown quite fond of the young woman who had captured my best friend's heart. We weren't that close but had hung out multiple times along with Si and Scarlett to know that she was decent.

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because we're actually dating, you and Scarlett are only friends."

"Not really."

"Yes really."

I leave the conversation at that or we would be arguing for ages, instead I stand up and help my mother gather all the plates and put them in the kitchen. We hang out for a bit more outside, feeling the breeze floating off the ocean but when my phone beeps I excuse myself with the defence that I was tired and ready to sleep off the jet lag which they all believed with the exception of Silas who knew this routine all too well by now.

"Καληνυχτα μαμά." I whisper to my mom, pressing a kiss to her cheek as I leave the room, not even waiting until I've reached my room before pressing the Facetime button at the corner of my phone screen. I lay back on my bed and watched as the dial tone turns into the scene I had been waiting to see. Scarlett had changed out of her work attire and was already dressed in one of those comfortable woollen outfits she seemed to have a surplus of.

(Goodnight Mama.)

"Hi." She smiles softly at me while brushing a lock of blonde hair that had fallen out of the clip that was holding the rest of her hair back and now framing her face. Her silver eyes were light but with the reflection of her sage green outfit looked like the colour matched. She was sitting in her office, a scene I knew all too well by now. She had a glass of white wine in front of her and a couple of folders. It was clear that she was answering the call from her laptop from the angle that I could see her from.

"Hey angel." I match her smile, and lean on my side watching the screen. "How was your day?"

She lets out a sigh, her smiling dropping a bit. "Long, or not really I don't know. I was just a bit stressed and a lot going on in my mind."

I love how honest Scarlett is. If you ask her about her feelings she won't lie to you and I respect her for it, and I make sure I do the same. A lot of the time I hate talking about my feelings to other people, worried that it would just burden them but I realised I like listening to Scarlett telling me about both the good and the bad, and she said she did too, that I wasn't burdening her, that she loved listening to me talk too.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I didn't push for her, I had an inkling it had to do with one or some of the siblings that worked for me. I think I knew who they were but I won't go ahead and do something if Scarlett doesn't want me involved.

"No, I think just talking to you is helping." She says softly, she gathers up the laptop and changes rooms, this time taking a seat in her bedroom, the stone wall behind her white headboard the scene. "So how was your day?"

"It was okay, I'm glad to have spent even a day with my mother, and I think Si is glad to have a break too." As much as I hated leaving Greece I kind of looking forward to going back home for the first time ever and it was all because of the woman who was on my screen.

The same one who lived in my head, all day, everyday. Her light grey eyes looked almost translucent in the dimly lit room she was in. She was studying me in the way she did to everyone. She was always scanning people for their body languages, and like she could read their thoughts but somehow now it felt a lot more like she was trying to read my heart and soul rather than my head.

"I get out of the city once a month at least for a weekend. I have a beach house upstate I sometimes go to but my parents go to more than I do but most of the time I book into a resort in the middle of nowhere and enjoy the solitude."

"Do you ever have company?" I ask.

"No." She shrugs before meeting my eyes through the screen. "But that doesn't mean I'm opposed to it."

"Is that an invitation, Miss Vanderburg?" I smirk, ignoring the warm feeling bubbling in my chest.

"Take it as you wish, Mr Radcliff." She shrugs but a smirk tilts at the corners of her mouth. She lets out a yawn but the two of us continue talking for a while longer until neither of us can keep our eyes open for much longer. "Good night, Calix."

"Night Scarlett." I whisper back.

"You can call me Lettie now." She cuts the call before I can reply. She had mentioned once when we were out the first time with her, Imogen, Silas and Quinn that she only lets people she knows really well and trust call her Lettie. This is a huge chest and the butterflies that had simmered down come back at full force. I decided on doing one last thing before putting my phone down.

Calix: Goodnight Lettie

♦

One of my favourite things about Greece were the beaches. I loved just sitting on the sand and thinking. My life here felt a lot slower, like I was able to take a step back from life and just breathe a little before heading back to the state of chaos I lived in.

"There you are." I hear from behind me, I glance over my shoulder to see my mother heading down the steps from the house and takes a seat next to me on the sand. "I was wondering where you disappeared off to. Although I should have known, you have always snuck away from us to come down here every trip we took."

"Yeah, I love it down here." I tell her, watching the water glisten under the red and pink hues of the sunset. "It's so peaceful and so different to everything back in the city."

"Yes, New York isn't the calmest of places, it's one of the reasons I moved back here."

"You didn't like the city that much to begin with." It wasn't a secret, we all knew the reason she stayed in the city was because of my father. Without him there, she quickly packed up and moved back here. My father had done all he could to accommodate her, though. He had bought property outside of the city and didn't mind that he had to travel a lot longer to get to work, just that she was happy.

"Not like you and Edward did." My chest constricts at the mention of my father. Edward Radcliff was the best husband and father. He adored my mother and sisters and spoiled them all rotten but he was my best friend. The one I went to for everything, he came to all my games, and all school functions, listened to me talk about things even if he had no interest in them, and he paid attention. When he got sick, he deteriorated quickly and it killed me.

I think that was part of the reason my sisters let me have the whole company even though they had more of a right to it because they were older. It gave me a purpose, something to wake up and have to do everyday. It kept me busy.

And that's what I was doing everyday, I was alive and just surviving. I never really enjoyed life, just went through it.

That was until now, Scarlett gave me a reason to keep breathing. She makes me want to live and I wake up excited every morning to see her.

"I'm okay, Mama." I told her.

"You know, Cal. For the first time in years I actually believe that." She whispers, her dark eyes glistening. "I love you, and when you come back I want you to bring that girl with you."

"I will."

I have had the worst writers block for this book and I have no idea when the next chapter will be out but here you go.

On top of having writers block I have been loaded with school and been sick so I have had little motivation to write but I'm going to try and write some more, I promise.

Anyways please don't forget to vote and leave me a couple comments with your thoughts

Ara <3