Matteo #2
“No, I need to get out,” he said standing. “Like you said, I deserve some happiness.”
“I’m in Athens with some friends I met here,” she said.
Ru looked over his shoulder with a scowl. He looked so offended I almost laughed.
“Mario, it was amazing. The islands were so beautiful. I swear they didn’t look real,” she said, walking to the dining room and standing up her phone, looking so animated as she talked about our last two weeks.
Ru took a deep breath before leaving for his room. I shook my head, wondering what the hell was going on in that mind of his.
“Is he ok?” Levi said, sitting close to me, leaning on my shoulder.
“Yeah, but I think it's going to take him some time. I think he’s facing a lot of things right now that he doesn’t know how to deal with,” I said, kissing his forehead, holding him close.
“I heard you guys talking,” he said, looking over at Vi who was still talking to her brother. “I don’t think she would do anything like that to Ru, but I think for his sanity, he should bring up an NDA. She would totally sign it.”
“Yeah, maybe I’ll suggest—”
“Are you sure you’re ok with these guys?”
I stopped talking to hear what Vi’s brother had to say.
“Yeah, I promise. They are nice and cool guys,” she sighed.
“Maybe you should give me their names and I can decide for myself.”
“Mario, everything is fine. I promise. They even hate me staying in hostels,” she said. “So far I've been staying with them and they have been adamant about finding better accommodations for me.”
“Well, thank god someone is keeping you safe,” he sighed, as a kid yelled. “Well, keep your location on and don’t go back to staying at hostels. If you need me to, I can send you money.”
“I have money,” she said, and I could picture her rolling her eyes. “I just want to make my money last in case I want to stay here for longer or hell, maybe I’ll go to Asia.”
“Your apartment lease is almost up and instead of paying it, maybe it’s time to pack it up and put it in storage for now,” he said. “If you come back—”
“I will eventually,” she said, hesitantly.
“I feel like we shouldn’t be listening,” Levi said, kissing my cheek.
I wanted to shush Levi, even if I knew he was right.
“—I’ll make some calls about my apartment.”
I glared at Levi because we missed some of the conversation.
“I can do that, just tell me if you have a preference for storage units,” her brother said.
“I don’t think so, but whoever packs my shit up needs to be careful with all my computer stuff,” she said sternly. “I swear, if they damage any—”
“Yeah, yeah, we won’t damage your babies,” he said, sounding just like Vi. “Oh, and call Yani. She said she had some questions and wanted to see when she should set up that meeting.”
“Oh my god, did she finally get a meeting?!” Vi yelled.
“Yeah, she did,” he chuckled. “Email her.”
“Oh my god, I’ll send her one right now and then I have a lot of shit to get done,” Vi said excitedly. “I love you. Besos. I’ll call you later!”
“Love you too, Peach,” he said, as his kids said bye.
“Byeeee!” she said, and I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder.
She was grinning at her phone, her excitement was palpable. She looked my way as if sensing my gaze.
“I’m sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I hadn’t talked to my brother in forever.”
“It’s ok,” I said.
“Sounds like you got exciting news,” Levi said.
“You have no idea,” she said, coming over and sitting close to us as Ru came out of his room. “This might be the break I’ve been hoping for and it might change everything.”
She typed on her phone, her smile never leaving her face.
“Are you going to leave us in the dark?” Levi asked
“Hold on,” she said, typing while her tongue poked out of her mouth, deep in concentration.
Why was she so fucking adorable?
“Ok, so I developed a language app that basically makes you take a test and finds out how you learn and then we come up with a plan. We also have a network of people who will converse with you in the language you choose,” she said, opening her phone and showing us.
“Wait, you own Hablar?” Levi took the phone from her. “This is fucking brilliant, Vi. I thought some guy owned it.”
“No, me and another girl do. She does all the paperwork and I do all the programming, but we just haven’t had the capital to take it further and I need another coder. It’s—”
“I’ll help you,” Levi said immediately. “Vi, I have people in boardrooms talking about this app.”
“Shut up,” she said. “It’s a great app, it’s fine on this small scale. I’ve been ready to take it and make it more, but I’m stuck and I need help.”
“Count me in. You don’t have to pay me,” he said, as I took the phone away and looked through the app.
It looked good, really good. Ru leaned over, watching me look through it.
“Vi, this is amazing,” Ru said. “I know many people who struggle to learn English and other languages.”
“I used all my experiences learning languages and tried to make this to help people,” she beamed. “My partner got in touch with an investor and I really think this might be it.”
“I’ll invest,” I said, handing her phone back. “I can draw up a contract and—”
“No, I couldn’t possibly ask that of you.” She shook her head. “I have someone interested, and this will be all I need. Come on, let's go on this tour and we can celebrate afterwards. Drinks on me!”
She walked to her purse with excitement written all over her face, and I couldn’t help but feel so fucking proud of her. If her investor backed out, I knew I would give her anything she needed. I rubbed my chest as we left the house; I felt the same way about Levi. Was I falling in love with Vi?