"I just got to my unit," Leo said as he tossed his key into the small bowl by the door.

"Two big surprises," Sofia was saying on the phone, and he could hear the smile in it without needing to see her face.

"In one day."

"Just one," Leo said.

"The Skechers one isn’t done yet."

"Still."

"Still," he agreed as he dropped onto his bed and kicked his shoes off.

"I’m so proud of you," she said, all bubbly and just before Mia’s voice came through from somewhere in the background.

"Ok, I have heard enough. When do I get to stop going to school and start freeloading?"

Leo laughed.

"I thought you wanted to be my agent."

"Noah can do it," Mia said, closer now. "He’s clearly better at it."

"Don’t mind her," Sofia said.

"Are you coming over?" Mia asked.

"Tomorrow probably," Leo said. "Jake and Ezra are coming tonight, so we could go and get some food."

Sofia said that was fine and told him to eat properly, which was how she ended most conversations with him, and then the call wrapped up, though he could hear Mia in the background saying they weren’t done talking yet as Sofia ended it anyway.

He lay back for a second until he sat up and opened WhatsApp.

Vittoria’s chat was at the top, where it usually was these days.

He typed hey and watched it send, the single tick becoming two, and then the two going blue almost immediately.

A reply came from here almost instantly.

Can’t really text right now

He read it and felt something deflate slightly in his chest, but just then his screen lit up with a video call from her.

At that, his brow went up excitedly.

He was already reaching for it when his brain arrived late to the situation and started asking questions he hadn’t prepared answers for, and by the time he’d talked himself into picking up the call, it had already rung out.

He stared at the missed call notification before another text came through.

Pickup

It was two words and should have been simple, but something about the tone of it, the lack of anything around it, sat differently than her usual messages.

He was still trying to read it when another call started, and this time he answered before he could overthink it further.

She appeared on the screen in a sleeveless dress with a lace coat over it, hair up in a bun with a few strands loose around her face, and she was setting the phone against something on what looked like a table in her hotel room, adjusting the angle before settling back to look at him.

"Why didn’t you pick up?" she said, trying to look stern while Leo just stared at her.

"I missed it," he said.

Vittoria tilted her head slightly at his words, as if to say, "Really?", before deciding not to pursue it further.

When she finished, Leo looked past her at the door and then back.

"Is that a bag?"

She glanced over her shoulder.

"Yeah. I’m going back."

"To Italy?"

"Yes."

"You said you were staying a week," he said.

"It’s been three days."

Vittoria stopped and looked at him for a moment as her face showed whatever she was battling internally, as if deciding on something, but then she shook her head, seemingly deciding against whatever she was going to say.

"I got called back," she said.

"Oh," Leo said, wanting to ask who before deciding against it.

"My aunt’s been in London, and she’s on her way here now."

"Oh," he said again as Vittoria turned away briefly to finish whatever she’d been in the middle of packing.

She moved around the room while the phone stayed propped on the table, and Leo watched the frame, catching her in and out of it as she moved.

When she came back, she bent down to zip the last of her bag and then straightened up, tucked the loose strands behind her ear, before she looked at the camera properly for the first time since the call started.

"Congratulations, by the way," she said.

"Hmmm," Leo hummed as his eyes, which seemed to tell a different story, came back to Vittoria.

"I saw it," she said. "And I must say I am happy for you."

"Thanks," he said, and his voice came out flatter than he meant it to.

She looked at him for a second, one brow raising for a moment before she let it go.

"I’ll reach out when I land," she said.

Then she paused, and something in her expression shifted just slightly.

"I know I said take your time but don’t take too long."

Leo’s expression morphed into something brighter the moment he heard that, before he nodded.

"Safe flight," he said.

She smiled once before leaning over and then ending the call!

Leo sat in the silence for about forty seconds before the door opened and Jake and Ezra came through mid-conversation, before Jake stopped when he clocked Leo’s face.

"Why does it smell like feelings in here?" he said.

Ezra walked further towards the small refrigerator in the corner before he turned and looked at Leo.

"He’s probably just feeling sorry about the amount of money he’s about to take from Wigan. Congratulations again, by the way, and I must say, damn!"

"That is all you have to say," Jake said towards Ezra before turning towards Leo.

"You are going to have to get your wallet ready, bro."

"You know that our great country and its servants are going to talk over half of that right," Leo said, halting Jake’s celebration before he shook his head and stood up.

"Let’s just go and get something to eat."

"Are you treating....."

"BRUH!!" Ezra and Leo said almost simultaneously, without letting Jake finish before stepping out of the unit.

"See, now that’s just bullying," Jake said before following the other two back out the door.

===

Okay, guys, so Joshua just went ahead and hit the target for the GT Chapter, so I will see you with that soon. Have fun reading and bye for now!