Buzz.

Luca glanced at the phone resting beside the stack of reports on his desk.

A new message had appeared.

Amelia Grant: Hi.

He raised an eyebrow, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

’That’s unusually simple... especially coming from her.’

Normally, Amelia’s messages arrived with enough energy to fill an entire conversation before he’d even replied. A single "Hi" felt strangely suspicious.

Without giving it much thought, he typed a quick response.

Luca: Sup?

The message had barely been marked as delivered when his phone began vibrating.

He looked at the incoming call and laughed.

"So impatient..."

’I wonder what she wants.’

He answered and leaned back comfortably in his chair.

"That was fast."

The moment the call connected, Amelia’s bright, cheerful voice filled the room.

"Hey, handsome."

Luca couldn’t help chuckling.

"Starting with compliments already? What do you want?"

"What?" she protested dramatically. "Am I not allowed to greet a friend?"

"I’ve learned that whenever someone starts with ’Hey, handsome,’ they’re usually about to ask for a favor."

Amelia clicked her tongue.

"You tire me."

Over the past few weeks, ever since they had bumped into each other again at the amusement park, the two of them had somehow fallen into the habit of talking almost every day.

It had started with Amelia thanking him again for spending the day with her.

Then came a few random messages.

Those turned into long conversations.

Before long, it wasn’t unusual for one of them to casually text the other about something completely meaningless just to keep the conversation going.

Sometimes Amelia complained about work.

Sometimes Luca deliberately replied with sarcastic comments just to annoy her.

More often than not, she’d threaten revenge before laughing anyway.

It was easy.

Comfortable.

Neither of them had ever acknowledged it aloud, but somewhere along the way they’d become genuine friends.

At least... that was how both of them currently saw it.

Luca stretched lazily in his chair.

"So, has your boss finally come to his senses and promoted you after witnessing your... exceptional work ethic?"

Silence.

Then Amelia let out a dry laugh.

"Haha."

"You’re hilarious."

The sarcasm dripping from her voice couldn’t have been more obvious.

Luca grinned.

"I hear that a lot."

"I could get promoted whenever I wanted," Amelia declared confidently. "I’m just perfectly happy where I am."

"Oh, really?"

The hint of skepticism in his voice immediately made her roll her eyes, even though he couldn’t see her.

"Really."

"So the promotion isn’t happening because you’re simply too good for it?"

"Exactly."

She sounded ridiculously pleased with herself.

"People as talented as me have to take things easy."

Luca blinked.

"...Go on."

"If I worked too hard," she continued with complete seriousness, "everyone else in the office would lose confidence."

Luca pinched the bridge of his nose.

"The confidence is impressive."

"You only get confidence like this when you’re as amazing as I am."

She paused dramatically before adding,

"It’s the same reason I let you win that bottle game at the amusement park."

Luca almost laughed himself out of his chair.

"You let me win?"

"Obviously."

"You were begging me to help."

"I was preserving your confidence."

"You were literally hiding behind me."

"I was strategically positioning myself."

"You screamed when the first bottle almost stayed standing."

"I was motivating you."

Luca shook his head helplessly.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"It helps a lot."

They both burst into laughter.

The sound lingered through the call, light and effortless.

After running into Luca again that day at the amusement park, Amelia had realized something she hadn’t expected.

Talking to him was... surprisingly easy.

He was confident without being arrogant.

Funny without trying too hard.

And somehow, he always knew exactly how far to tease her before stopping.

Every conversation felt natural.

She found herself looking forward to his messages more often than she cared to admit.

Eventually, the laughter faded into a comfortable silence.

Neither of them rushed to fill it.

Oddly enough, neither of them felt the need to.

After several quiet seconds, Amelia finally spoke again.

"...Are you free tomorrow night?"

Luca leaned back a little farther.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"What you’re planning."

She hesitated before answering.

"There’s a party at a club tomorrow."

"A party?"

"Yeah."

Luca wasn’t particularly interested.

Nightclubs had never really appealed to him.

Loud music.

Crowded dance floors.

People trying far too hard to impress strangers.

He’d always found there were better ways to spend an evening.

But...

Naomi was currently halfway across the world in France.

His work for the day was finished.

And if he was being honest...

The villa had felt unusually quiet these past few days.

He hadn’t realized how much he’d grown used to Naomi’s presence until she wasn’t there.

He found himself smiling at the thought.

’She’s probably buried in another livestream by now.’

Returning his attention to the call, he asked,

"What kind of party?"

"A networking event," Amelia explained. "Some friends invited me. There’ll be music, drinks, and a whole lot of people pretending they’re more important than they actually are."

Luca laughed.

"That’s certainly one way to advertise it."

"So?"

She tried to sound casual.

Unfortunately for her, the anticipation in her voice gave everything away.

"You coming?"

He considered it for another moment.

Then shrugged to himself.

"Sure."

Amelia practically sat upright on the other end of the call.

"Really?"

"Why not?"

"I honestly thought you’d say no."

"I almost did."

"But?"

"I’m bored."

She couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

"That’s surprisingly honest."

"I try."

"Then it’s a date."

Luca raised an eyebrow.

"I don’t remember agreeing to that part."

Amelia immediately coughed into the phone.

"I mean..."

"We’re meeting there."

"Much better."

"Hmph."

"I’ll send you the address later."

"Sounds good."

The conversation drifted naturally into lighter topics after that.

They joked about terrible office coffee.

Argued over which amusement park ride had been the best.

And somehow spent another twenty minutes talking without either of them noticing the time.

Eventually, Amelia glanced at the clock hanging on her wall.

"I should probably let you get back to work."

"I was already finished."

"Oh."

"...Then I should probably stop stealing your free time."

Luca smiled.

"I’ll survive."

"See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow."

After saying goodbye, the call ended.

Luca placed his phone back on the desk before leaning comfortably into his chair.

"A club party..."

He shook his head with an amused smile.

"This should be interesting."

---

Meanwhile...

Inside her apartment, Amelia stared at the dark screen of her phone.

A bright smile slowly spread across her face.

"He actually agreed..."

She hugged the phone tightly against her chest before collapsing face-first onto her bed.

Her feet kicked excitedly behind her.

Ever since the amusement park, Luca had occupied her thoughts far more often than she’d ever admit aloud.

Their playful conversations.

His dry humor.

The effortless way he always managed to make her laugh.

Even when he teased her relentlessly, she never found herself getting annoyed.

Quite the opposite.

She always looked forward to getting even.

Tomorrow night’s party wasn’t simply an excuse to leave the apartment.

It was an opportunity to spend an entire evening with him.

Rolling onto her back, Amelia stared at the ceiling with an unmistakably excited smile.

’Tomorrow night...’