the escape.

Sean: Yeah. Pub near my place unless it's too far?

Marco: What've you done? Can do. Got a night off tonight.

Sean: Nothing bad. But enough to lose my job maybe

Sean: Lucky night.

“That’s definitely one way to put it,” Tessa laughed, suddenly finding herself wishing she had replaced the travel-sized Bailey’s container she had kept in her school bag until recently. “They’re all analyses of different Holy Sonnets. I’m halfway through grading and I’m just doing anything to keep my eyes open at this point.” It slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Tessa loved teaching literature, and she loved John Donne. The trouble was teaching Donne to sophomores.

Honestly, Marco hadn’t the faintest idea what she was talking about, but that’s why his interests hadn’t exactly followed literary suits. Movies —- artsy movies at that —- were more his thing. “Maybe take a break?” he suggested with a small smile. “Can I tempt you away for a little while, or are you on a serious deadline?” Maybe they all needed to be done for Monday, maybe they didn’t, either way it sounded like she could do with escaping for a while.

She nodded in understanding as he explained that he had his own restaurant. “Hey, classic works,” she smiled. “I will definitely make sure I visit the next time I have a babysitter,” she said, referencing back down to the twins who had now finished their hot chocolates and were chatting mindlessly to each other. 

A nod and Marco let a small smile play about his features. “It always works,” he responded, never having any other ideas for his restaurant. It may not have been a family restaurant, but he wanted to keep the family name going somehow, especially as he hadn’t taken over running of the other business in town. “Please do.”

Where: Ricci’s Who: @xmarcoricci​ When: between 4 and 5 PM

“Hey Mr hard worker.” Katherine made her way into the restaurant’s kitchen, never too shy to find her way into the back of his restaurant, while of course keeping in mind that she didn’t get in anyone’s way or that she was a potential hygiene risk. It was to be expected that she found Marco hard at work, even if the restaurant wasn’t at full capacity yet. Typical. “Think I can steal you away for a minute to get some fresh air? Calm before the storm and all that?” 

“Thank you,” Serena breathed as the coffee was handed over. It saved her at least, of buying her own. The whole ordeal reminded her that she should really get a personal assistant at some point. 

She smiled widely then as the man spoke, explaining his choice. “Oh, that makes sense. I suppose it’s not for everyone all the time. Usually I wouldn’t drink it often either but a few extra shots sound good this morning,” Serena replied with a slight shrug of her shoulder. 

“My name’s Serena, by the way,” Serena said, extending her free hand to him to shake. “I figure I should at least introduce myself, since you’ve given me your coffee,” she chuckled softly. 

Marco brushed off the thank you with a smile and a shake of his head —- really, there was absolutely no need for it. “Definitely depends on the day,” he agreed with a gentle laugh. “Never know, later on today I might have been thankful for it, but definitely not now.” He couldn’t stomach it right now, that was for sure, his working day often called for it though. 

Wehen she introduced herself, he took her hand and gave it a shake, flashing a bright smile in her direction. “Marco,” he answered her. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Sean: Mate. I think I fucked up. Wanna grab a drink later?

“I work at a book store,” the brunette explained. “We’re getting rid of some excess stock and it’s an everything half-off, buy 2 get one free day. We always get overrun when we have those days.”

“Okay, I guess that does make sense,” answered Marco with a nod and a smile. “That’ll definitely keep you busy.” Maybe it was about time he stocked up on a few, he might have to swing by later, before work consumed him for the rest of the day, which it would most likely do.

“But the best pain,” Sophie grinned. She liked hanging out with Marco, he gave back as good as he got which was fun for Sophie, but they also both knew where the line was. At the mention of him being a good influence Sophie laughed, “you are very true about that,” she stated. “So, what’s your plan of action for the night then?” Sophie glanced around the bar, already seeing a few girls looking in Marco’s direction. 

Marco shrugged very casually, a laugh escaping him as he ordered himself a proper drink with the bartender, not just shots. “If you say so,” he teased her lightly, his brows lifting playfully. Of course, Sophie had never known the younger him, before he’d been tainted thanks to heartbreak —- a lot had changed since then. “My plan of action...?” he questioned, reaching for his drink as it was placed down. “Can’t say I had one.” He didn’t always. “Might just let them come to me,” he added, knowing how presumptuous that sounded. 

She smiled softly as he agreed that the coffee shop was a good one, checking on the twins who were still sipping down their hot chocolates. She nodded as he said not to worry about it, it was the answer she expected but she still thought it was worth a try. “Deal,” she answered, before noting what he’d said, “your restaurant?” she clarified, “has it been passed down?” 

Marco simply nodded, glad she agreed. What was the point in rehashing the past over and over again, after all? “Good, that’s settled then,” he responded simply, a smile crossing his features as she continued to ask her questions. They were fair, of course, she wasn’t to know what had gone on over the last twenty years. “No no, it’s still there, I just have my own now, in the West End. Ricci’s.” He supplied. “Highly original name, I know.”

“That bad again, huh?” Sometimes he worried that Marco was overworking himself. He could admire anyone who was that dedicated to their job, but surely one’s job wasn’t supposed to stress someone out that badly. Then again, up-keeping a restaurant and its service was a hard task for anyone, so stress seemed to be a package deal. “One drink coming right up then.” Noah tipped, already making his way towards the stairs that would lead to the small kitchen on his boat. He had bought some heaters for late nights on the boat, so they might as well enjoy their beers on the deck. “I put in a new steering wheel this afternoon, other than that nothing much else.” He lied, he had been busy on that blasted steering wheel for multiple days, and not in a row as work wouldn’t let him. He only today got the mechanics to properly work so that he wouldn’t steer the boat where it wasn’t supposed to go in the future. “Had a call from my ma, but that was only five minutes as one of her clients said some yacht stuff and she needed to confirm whether it was true or not.” He called out from below deck, coming up right after he completed his sentence with two opened beer bottles. “And you? Aside from the hell that was dinner service?” 

          “Definitely, it was this little neighborhood coffee shop, and more people pitched in than they would have expected, I think,” she smiled with a small shrug of her shoulders. It was hard not to speak of New York without missing home, or even the fact that she was missing her brother growing up, but there were opportunities in London that needed to be seized and Gabi had felt that she had done more growing up in the last four years, than she had a lifetime under her mother’s wing in London. “Tell me about it, if my daughter was here she would go on a great big rant on the environment and how mother nature is biting back, but weather has truly been crazy and we’re just in the beginning of spring,” she loved spring. “I’m Gabi, by the way, it’s nice to meet you.”

As she explained, Marco’s smile was soft and he nodded his head, it was definitely something they needed more of around these parts. “That’s always nice to hear,” he responded simply, genuinely meaning it. New York wasn’t somewhere he’d spent all that much time, but in Florida there had been similar types of things going on, which he’d appreciated seeing at the time. When she continued on to mention her daughter, he had to laugh, and then responded with a simple, “I’m sure my brother would do the same.” A nod, and then he extended his hand toward her, introducing himself in return, “Marco. Pleasure to meet you!”

Elise liked Marco. He was easy to talk to, and she always had a good time when she was around him. Her whole life she’d been so reserved, but with him it was like they’d been friends forever. “Yeah? His writing is so mesmerising, when I read Along Came a Spider, I couldn’t put it down. He definitely has a way with words, that one. I will definitely give his others a look, though.” Her gaze dropped down as she stirred half a sugar into her coffee. “It’s been a hot minute since I saw you last. How are you and the restaurant going?”

Honestly, Marco had been hoping that he’d catch Elise today, he was in the mood for enjoying breakfast with a friend, not just his own company. Sometimes that really did get boring. “They’re all like that, honestly,” he responded with a smile, not being able to resist any of his books, truth be told, he’d always been a big fan. “You should do, there’s plenty of them.” Probably a few too many in fact. Once he’d decided on what he was going to eat today and placed an order with a passing waiter, he turned his attention back to Elise. “You know what? Pretty good. We’re working towards that second Michelin star... and I’m good, too. How about you?””

Eyes alight, Serena turned towards the man speaking, grinning a little at his words. A latte, without the wait, even with two extra shots wasn’t something Serena would turn down. “Sure, I’ll take it,” Serena replied with a smile and a nod, stepping out of the line before anyone else could try and take the man up on his offer. 

“Oh?” Her head tilted as he spoke, a smirk on her lips. “You’ve never had it that strong before? It’s not too bad, really. Certainly gives it that extra pep,” Serena told the man with a wide smile; not at all worried about taking a drink off of a stranger. 

"Brilliant!” The coffee cup was in her hand moments later, Marco’s smile bright. At least something was going well this morning, although the barista was still looking a little sheepish over his cock-up. Who could blame him really? Especially when Marco was calling him out to half of the other punters. Not ideal he supposed, but there was no other way of putting it and he didn’t want it to go to waste.

“I have, but I really have to be in the mood and the need for it,” he responded. “Doesn’t taste quite as great. I can definitely imagine it gives you a little more pep, though.” A light laugh followed.

Emilia loved this coffee shop, and they hadn’t messed up her order before, but she could tell by glancing at the barista that he was new, which would explain the mistake. “That is very true, but their coffee is amazing,” she said, sipping the very strong latte. She could see on his expression when he worked it out. They had met at the restaurant but then he had caught her a few more times after that, always completing things at her dad’s direction. “Are you sure?” she asked, “I apologise for that and any other stuff that my dad pulled,” she admitted, “if it makes you feel better he got caught at one point.”

No arguments from him, there was a reason that Marco chose to frequent this particular coffee shop if he was in the area. It wasn’t his main go-to, but then, he lived in a completely different area, so why would it be? It’d be a long way to go just for a cup of coffee and not even he was that crazy. “It is, I can’t argue with that,” he answered her with a smile. What could he say really in response to her? It was over twenty years ago, his parents restaurant, it didn’t even matter now as far as he was concerned. “Honestly, don’t worry about it,” he told her with a shake of his head. “It’s done. Just maybe stop by my restaurant and actually spend some money sometime, huh?”