• desire / dɪˈzʌɪə •
a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.

DAYS HAS PASSED SINCE I last saw the beautiful stranger. I had hoped he would return and order another bouquet, but he didn't and so I forced myself to forget him. As I sat in Frederic's, I couldn't help as my mind was bombarded with thoughts about my mother. Her birthday was just around the corner, but she and I have yet to reconcile since our argument which happened nearly four months ago. The upsetting thing was that my mother didn't seem to care whether I was or wasn't in her life, seeing as she had made a new family with her husband and son.

After my father had left when I was six years old, my mother collected our belongings and moved us as far as possible so that the memories of my father would just be a thought in the wind. It worked for a while, and before you know it, we had settled in the small town of Brownstone where I had worked on completing my high school diploma and dreamed of escaping into the big city. Life with my mother had been more difficult than I would admit, as she worked long hours at the hospital as a nurse meaning that the majority of my days were spent alone. In order to fill the void of her absence - along with my fathers - I became dependent on the friends I had made in school, which had quickly became my second home and spent more time with my newfound family than I did at home.

"Hello? Earth to Sofia?" I heard the voice of Rachel ring in my ears. Pushing the thoughts of my mother into the back of my mind, I sent an apologetic smile to Rachel and the other three girls sitting at the table.

Staring at my childhood friends, I thanked my luck that I had such great four friends that have stuck by me through my tough times and have supported me when I had no one else. These girls - also known as Rachel, Nicole, Madison and Tracy - were the backbone of my successes when I was younger and I couldn't have had better friends. I was forever indebted to them, as I honestly couldn't have survived without them.

"My mom hasn't spoken to me since our fight," I confessed, my hands fidgeting in front of me. My appetite was long gone and all I wanted to do was to go home, curl up on my sofa and dig into that new book I had purchased from the book store.

"It's her loss," Tracy told me as a murmur of agreement passed through the table. I sighed, knowing it was true, but still just as painful to admit.

"I know you guys aren't fans of her, but she's my mother. As much as I want to hate her, I can't," I told them, desperately trying for them to see my point. The girls were never a fan of my mom once they began to understand our family dynamic. Slowly, they had began to loathe my mother for the pain she had caused me through abandoning me once she remarried. It has never been the same since then. Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked up to meet Nicole's hazel eyes.

"We don't want you to hate her, S. We want you to realize that your happiness doesn't depend on her presence. You've done phenomenal the past year and if your mother refuses to acknowledge it, then frankly, I think it's her fault for being on the verge of losing her daughter. Am I right or am I right?" She questioned, her attention switching to the girls sat at the table, who agreed without hesitation.

"I know, it's just... Hard, I suppose," I pause, breathing deep to prevent myself from breaking down. A loud clap caught my attention to see Madison grinning at me.

"Let's forget this for the time being," she suggested, looking at the girls at the table. "We haven't seen in each other in a bit and I don't want this to be a sad reunion! Let's start with Sofia, any men in your life?" I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Now there's something to be depressed about," I replied, thinking back at how lonely my bed has been since I ended things with Charlie. Sure, he was a lying cheating bastard, but at least I wasn't alone all the time.

"Please tell me you're not pinning over that ässhole, S!" Nicole exclaimed, causing me to feel guilty.

"He is so not worth your time!"

"Maybe I should get my brothers to beat him up!"

"I still can't believe he cheated... What a creep!"

I stifled my laugh as the girls protected me once again. My heart was filled with their love, knowing that if I was ever in trouble, they would have my back.

"Enough about me," I said, my mind at ease as I turned to Rachel, "I heard that you, my friend, have been up to no good recently." Rachel feigned innocence as she looked at her friends.

"I'm an angel," she tried to convince us, but we were quick to see through her acting.

"Liar liar," Nicole sang, which caused Rachel to roll her eyes. She put her hands up to surrender, as we laughed.

"So, I was writing an article about the country's crime rate and I came into work that day early for once, which we all know how much of a struggle that is daily. Anyway, as I was walking to my bosses office, I bumped into this hunk of a man who was wearing a suit and the poor guy needed help finding his way around so I took the liberty to help because no one else would. It was all fine and professional, but we somehow ended up in the janitors closet making out." By the end of the story, everybody was laughing their heads off. This was typical Rachel. We loved her to death, but her carefree attitude often lead her into trouble. Rachel's story had been prompted the others to tell their story as I watched, listened and laughed at their adventures. While their lives were filled with exciting chapters, mine were normal at best. I spent too much at the flower shop and not enough friends to make spontaneous adventures. I lived my days with ease, which I didn't mind, but I often found myself feeling lonely as my friends were out making new memories.

"...and then I told the douchebag that if he didn't sit his äss down then I would personally land the plane just to kick him off. Okay, maybe not quite in those words, but he got the hint and behaved the entire plane ride." Madison finished as we tried to collect ourselves from laughing so much. Tracy focused her attention on me, her eyes focused with determination as I went to take a sip of water.

"So, Sofia, how's the love life going?" She asked me as I choked on the drink. Of course she would ask that, my mind sulked.

"I think now's the perfect time for me to have a bathroom break." I told my friends, getting up from the cushioned seat. They awed in unison, to which I simply replied with sticking my tongue out.

Making my way through the restaurant, I couldn't help admiring the interior decor. The walls were painted in a classic white shade with gold trimmings and had matching marble statues placed around in the creases of the walls. What brought it all together though was the cluster of crystal chandeliers that hung from the ceiling, sparkling over the diners below.

Too busy looking around me, I barely had time to react when my body collided with another causing me to nearly fall if it weren't for the quick reactions from the stranger.

"Oh my God, I am so sor -" I began to explain, my eyes widening once I saw that was the same man who had come in to order flowers. If it was possible, he looked even better than when he was at the shop.

"Hey, Dom, they got our table ready!" I heard someone call and the reality of Dom still holding my half-fallen body hit me like a ton of bricks. Scrambling up to a standing position, I tucked the loose piece of hair behind my ear before gaining the confidence to look at my saviour.

"Thanks for saving me. You've prevented me from having a lifetime of embarrassment," I said as Dom cracked a smirk, his emerald eyes sparkling.

"Anytime," he told me, while I swooned at how dreamy his deep voice was. I forgot just how much I liked the sound of his voice. Clearing my throat awkwardly, I brought myself down to Earth.

"I'll let you go on your way," I began, pointing to the hallway going towards the bathrooms, "I'm going this way." His eyes followed my hand before nodding in understanding. We parted ways, but I couldn't help myself to look over my shoulder so I can see him once more. It was hard to walk away despite not knowing the guy and I resisted the urge to crawl under a rock when I noticed he had looked over at me as well, our eyes momentarily meeting before I legged it to the bathroom to hide myself.

I don't know how many minutes had passed since I got to the bathroom and I dreaded going back to my table as the fear of making a fool of myself loomed heavy on my mind.

Maybe I should just slip out the back? My mind whispered, before the rational part of me reminded myself that there was no need to hide. Or, that I couldn't just ditch my friends over some boy.

"You can do this," I muttered to myself as I looked at the reflection in the mirror. Fixing up my makeup, I decided that it was time to make my way back to the table, praying the whole time that I wouldn't make a fool out of myself... Again.

As I saw Rachel's fiery red hair, I knew that I had escaped the chance for embarrassment for the time being.

"Where have you been? We were just about to go look for you!" Nicole exclaimed, causing Tracy to giggle. I had no doubt in my mind that they would have gone looking for me and it made me question how long I had been gone.

Stupid boys and their good looks.

"I lost track of the time," I lied, not wanting to explain my awkward encounter with a customer that was ridiculously good looking who made my knees buckle every time he looked my way.

"Anyway," Madison said, preparing to switch the subject, "I was thinking that we could plan a trip to the Caribbean this summer." The girls switched their interest to Madison, listening to her proposal.

"Now, I know that we're all busy with our own lives and whatever, but I found a great group rate and I could get a discount for us for our flights. What do you say?"

There was a minute pause as the rest of us contemplated our schedules. Nicole was a full-time mother to a seven month old baby while Rachel was a freelance journalist who was often out of town for her job and Tracy was a school teacher. We were all often busy, which is why it was so difficult to get-together nowadays. There was something in the way, whether it being work or family, it was challenging to get time off for the four of us at the same time, but I had to agree with Madison. It's been a few years since we've gone away together and I missed my best friends.

"As long as there's nothing important interfering, I should be fine to go. My boss owes me a couple of weeks holiday anyway," Tracy started off with the rest quickly following her lead. They focused their attention on me as they waited for my response. I wanted to politely reject the offer, but my mind drew blank trying to think of an excuse. The business was doing good, which they were aware of, and there was no family stopping me from going. Sighing, I nodded, causing Maddison to squeal.

"Oh my God, I'm so excited! We all need this and I'll get all the details to you guys and -" my (great, but a little annoying) friend continued to talk about the trip while I could barely keep my mind interested. My eyes skimmed the room, hoping to get a small glimpse of Dom but I wasn't so lucky. He was probably gone with his friend, enjoying a nice dinner with his model girlfriend. I shook my head, snapping the image of a Victoria's Secret model kissing Dom. I felt sick at the thought and instantly regretted getting my hopes up for nothing.

"Ma'am?" I heard a distant voice call and I wondered when was the last time anyone was called ma'am. It seemed so old-fashioned and out of date.

"Sofia!" I snapped my head to my friends, then to the waiter and back to my friends confused.

"What happened?" I asked them, not knowing what was the commotion all about.

"Your drink is here," Rachel pointed out, gesturing to the hunched waiter with a glass of wine in his hand.

"I didn't order a drink?" I told him, looking from the drink. He simply nodded, gesturing to the opposite side of the restaurant where my eyes met the handsome stranger again.

"It's from the gentleman over there," I heard the waiter vaguely say before I turned to look at the glass of wine in front of me.

"Wow, he's a cutie," Tracy was first to say, her eyes lit up like fireworks. Maddison and Nicole agreed, both whistling in excitement while Rachel stared at me, worriedly.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, causing my friends to turn their attention from embarrassing me to puzzled faces. Rachel brought us into a huddle as if she were telling a secret.

"Guys, that's Dominic Pioretti." Rachel whispered as if someone would overhear her. We looked at each other and I felt myself get more so confused. She exhaled in frustration before continuing.

"Nobody here heard of the Pioretti family? One of the three founding families of the city? Control most of the city? Biggest contributor to the crime rate?" Rachel rolled her eyes before leaning back into her chair. As she crossed her arms over her chest, she finished with, "You guys must be living under a rock. They're literally in the news each week with some fight or something,"

"I mean, I personally never heard of them, but are you sure that's him? I mean, what are the chances of our sweet little Sofia finding the big bad wolf?" Tracy questioned, fearlessly examining Dominic, who was now busy conversing with his dinner companion. I, too, began to examine him as I attempted to process the newfound information. Regardless of Tracy's opinion about my innocence, I was capable of a little danger in my life, but I was in no way ready to deliberately put myself into harms way - even for a good looking man like Dominic.

"Don't worry about it, Rach," I said, pushing the drink (along with my disappointment) away from me. Even with Dominic burning through my thoughts like a bonfire, I convinced myself that there were other men out there (less dangerous, too) and that spark I thought I felt would sizzle out soon enough.

Well, at least I hoped.