A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Alena

The rest of the day was spent shopping with Mama. We thought it was best to get some fresh air instead of staying at home, watching a movie. We haven't went shopping together for awhile now, it felt nice to experience it all again-I didn't have the time to go shopping much either before this because of work.

Igor had droved us to the mall and followed us wherever we went.

We went to buy different clothes, some jewelleries and makeup. Igor had helped to carry the shopping bags because apparently, as much as we liked holding onto them, they were too heavy to carry on our own.

I had forgotten how it was like to shop until I drop.

The excitement it brought when I used my husband's card to pay, nothing could ever top that. Matteo had given me his credit card for spending and he also said, sky was the limit which meant, there wasn't any limit. I ended up paying for Mama's pair of earrings as well because she liked it so much but hesitated on getting them.

Well, she hesitated because she thought it didn't look great when I thought the opposite. They looked beautiful on her and if she didn't want to buy it on her own, I decided to give it as a gift for her.

Matteo's phone was probably ringing nonstop with notifications every time the transaction went through. He didn't call or text me about it because he was busy but I already told him before I left the house with Mama-he replied with a simple 'okay, take care. I love you! which was fine as well, he knew he didn't have to worry as long as Mama was with me.

Maybe, just maybe, he had Angelo to follow me around.

However, I haven't seen him yet. Was he really that good at hiding?

Right now, Mama and I were seating outside of a café. One of our favourite cafés to stop by whenever we wanted to have coffee because apparently, they tasted really good here. It wasn't just their coffees that tasted great but their pastries and desserts. They all tasted delicious and every time I came here, I always wanted their peach strudels.

Igor was seated on the table beside us, enough for us to enjoy our privacy but also to keep us safe.

It was probably Papa and Alexei's orders to ensure we were fine whenever we went out.

As I took a sip of my iced latte, I enjoyed the amount of people walking down the street in their officewear. It was a normal Tuesday afternoon and people in this city were always busy. I was one of those people except I wasn't in an officewear but in scrubs. My busy days were at the hospital, sometimes I forgot to have lunch.

"I can't wait to go back to work. It's been awhile," I said.

"What do you miss the most?" Mama asked.

"Honestly, how fast time flies when I'm at work. That's what I miss the most,"

""Why is that?"

"Time is slower at home. It gives me more space to think."

""You don't want that, do you?"

I shook my head, "No. Thinking is nice when I'm thinking about the good things in life but sometimes, I tend to overthink and that's when everything goes wrong. I'd simply like to avoid that whenever I can." My lips curved up into a small smile, assuring Mama I was fine. 08:08 Wed, Nov 6

"What does Matteo feel about you returning back to work?" She smiled at me.

"He's fine about it. He knows how much I love my job,"

Mama chuckled, "You do. You love it so much."

"I never thought I'd become a workaholic. It all started as a dream and then it became a reality, I couldn't just let it slip away from me. I had to appreciate myself and how far I've made it to be where I am."

I looked down as Mama reached out to grab my hand, giving me a slight squeeze. "I'm very proud of you, Alena. All the hard work and all of your struggles, you deserve everything good coming your way. I can't wait when you finally open up your own clinic," "I don't think I'll ever open up my own clinic." I scoffed.

"Why not? It's good."

"I'm willing to gain as much experience as possible working at the hospital but maybe one day, I might reconsider it. If I want to go slow, that may be an option." I replied, smiling.

"Whatever you choose, I know it will always be the best for you.

"Thanks, Ma."

We ended up talking about more girl stuff as we enjoyed our coffee. Igor, on the other hand, was focusing onto his surroundings as if someone could come and ambush out of the blue. We had ordered him a cup of coffee to enjoy the day as well but every time he took a sip of his drink, he wouldn't stop looking around.

Igor was keeping his guard up, incase something bad was going to happen.

I understood it from his point of view, knowing he could be blamed if anything happened to Mama and I. We were two important women; one belonged to Mikhail Orlov while the other belonged to Matteo Lerclerc. Enemies loved it if they could get ahold of us. "Igor, you can relax a bit." I said.

"Can't do, princess. Need to be aware of my surroundings," he replied.

Mama chuckled, "Don't mind him, Alena. He's always like that. You should've known better after all of those years in medical school."

"I never really noticed him to be that way,"

"You were too busy with your books."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right."

"I think I want to go to the restroom. Would you mind waiting here for awhile?"

"I'll be here with Igor,"

"Great. It'll just take me a few minutes,"

The restroom was inside the café near the counter, it wouldn't be a problem for Mama to enter on her own. However, Igor's followed her every movement until he could confirm it that she had entered the restroom. Then, he went back to scanning the surrounding, making sure I was perfectly safe.

eyes

I glanced down at my phone, seeing a couple of text messages from Matteo:

'When will you be home, baby?

'We could order in and eat dinner together. I'm almost done at work!

My lips began to curve up into a smile at the messages, knowing we were going to spend some time tonight. He was going to come home a little early than usual which meant more time together, dinner together and probably even watch a movie together. Well, until one of us fell asleep first.

I took a photo of my coffee before I sent it to him with a text message:

'Still enjoying my latte. Will be home before you though!

I had expected him to reply a little bit late but he replied almost immediately.

'Okay, I'm expecting you to do a haul of what you bought.""

My smile never faded as I locked my phone, putting it on the table..

The few days of freedom I had left before I started working again and I was enjoying it. As much as I was excited to start working, I knew I needed to be mentally prepared as well. The night shifts were going to be brutal especially after staying home for so long. I turned to look at Igor who had been staring down the street.

""Igor," I called out.

"Yes?"

"How's your kid?"

He blinked a few times, "All grown up."

Just as I was about to ask something else, Mama came back to take a seat but as soon as she was seated, she began to mutter curses in Russian. I frowned at her, realising I hadn't heard her curse in the longest time ever. She was always keeping her composure.

"Did you just... curse?"

"Sorry, it somehow slipped." She search through her purse before reaching out for her card holder. "I forgot to order more strudels. Now, I have to go back inside and there's a long line."

"I can go and order for you. Is it for takeaway or having here?"

"Are you sure, sweetheart?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded, "It's not a big deal. I'll go and order for you."

"Thank you, sweetheart. It'll be for takeaway and I want four of them."

My eyes widened slightly, "Four of the peach strudels?"

"Mm, one for your father. The rest for me," she chuckled.

I laughed, "I thought we have a strict rule when it comes to eating something sweet."

"Ah, let a woman enjoy her food."

"Fine, four peach strudels in a box coming up.

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I stood up before making my way inside the café, seeing the long line of people queuing. With a sigh, I decided to stand behind that line and waited for the people up front to finish ordering-my eyes wandering around the display of pastries, hesitating on whether I should order one for Matteo.

The woman standing in front of me was holding onto her toddler's hand, who didn't seem to be older than five years old. He had big brown eyes and chubby cheeks, which made me wonder if Marco would've had the same brown eyes if he was here.

I always wanted him to have Matteo's eyes. They were brown and warm.

The toddler walked towards me before grabbing onto my hand which caused his mother to look at me apologetically as she tried to pick him up, "I'm sorry. He's always like this,"

"It's okay. He's a friendly little boy," I replied.

She smiled, "He is. I can't look away for a second, he could be running down the streets."

I smiled back at her, "You have a beautiful boy."

"Thank you. He's my life. Do you have one of your own?"

I blinked a few times, trying to consider it a harmless question. "Yes. He has the brown eyes as yours,"

"He must be very lovely."

"He is."

The line moved forward and within ten minutes, it was my turn to order. Once I had secured Mama's peach strudels, I held onto the paperbag in my hand as I walked towards the door. Just as I was about to pull the door open, someone had bumped into me which almost caused me to stumble backwards.

"Oh, sorry." The stranger said, standing by the door.

I looked up at the man and my heart somehow stopped beating.

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