Tony looked at Mia, who was holding William, her son, standing in awe as she looked at the dish he had prepared for her.
He knew he had succeeded in touching her, even if it was just a small and tender gesture.
"Mia, there's no more food in the fridge. What should we have for lunch?" Tony asked.
Hearing Tony's question, Mia snapped back to reality.
She felt a bit embarrassed looking at Tony.
Knowing that she had revealed a bit of vulnerability in front of the young man, Mia approached Tony with William in tow, handing her son over to Tony to hold while she took a seat at the dining table.
After a while, having finished half of the food on her plate, Mia spoke, "Aren't you planning to leave soon?"
Tony replied, "I'll have lunch with you first and then head back. I don't have anything urgent to attend to."
Mia said, "Then in a little while, I'll take you to the supermarket to buy groceries. I'll cook something delicious for you at lunch."
"Instead of going through the trouble of cooking, we can eat out. I'll treat you to lunch today, how about that?"
Tony suggested.
He made this offer because he didn't want Mia to go through the hassle of cooking.
Yesterday had been a tiring day for her, dealing with him.
Tony wanted Mia to take a break.
Mia knew that Tony wanted to eat out simply to spare her the trouble of cooking.
Though young, Tony was quite emotionally intelligent, which surprised Mia a bit.
So, after Mia finished her meal and took some rest until lunchtime, Tony drove Mia and William to a small restaurant not far from Mia's home.
The restaurant Tony brought Mia to was found on a famous food forum for tourists visiting Boston.
It was renowned for its beefsteak, alongside other delicious Italian dishes.
Even though it was lunchtime, the atmosphere inside the restaurant created a sense of elegance, with flickering candles, rich red wine, resembling the ambiance of a romantic evening date.
Watching Tony cut the steak into small pieces for her, Mia felt like she was returning to the intense and romantic time of her youth, even though she was still very young.
Mia enjoyed what Tony was doing for her, but she still told him, "I have hands; I can do it myself. You don't have to do this next time; save it for the young girls."
"Sometimes I'll still do it. Besides, I do it so you can pay more attention to your little William. Look at the little one, he's got food all over his face again," Tony said.
Mia looked over. At this moment, William was sitting in a small child's chair, holding a spoon and clumsily eating his porridge.
Due to his age of just one year, he was still quite unsteady, causing the food to stick all over his face.
Taking a wet cloth from the table, Mia helped William wipe away the food sticking to his chubby, white, and tender face.
After wiping William's face, Mia started eating the steak that Tony had cut for her. The steak was delicious, sweet, and tender. Mia wasn't sure if the sensation came from eating a tasty steak or from the care and affection she was receiving from Tony.
"Mia, you're a young and beautiful girl! If you don't pamper yourself, how can you keep a beautiful lady like you by your side?" Tony said, raising his wine glass towards Mia, waiting for her to clink glasses.
Smiling at Tony's words, Mia raised her wine glass alongside Tony's.
Suddenly, William, the little one, looked at Mia and said, "Mama," then turned to Tony and said, "Papa."
Mia was stunned, her eyes moist as she looked at her little son.
The feeling of having a complete family made her incredibly happy.
The emotionally charged lunch ended.
Tony drove Mia to a supermarket on the way back.
After asking Mia what groceries she wanted to buy to fill up her empty fridge, he requested her to stay in the car with William while he went shopping alone.
Tony only took 30 minutes to shop for a large pile of groceries.
Carrying bags big and small back to the car, he didn't expect that when he returned, he would see five tattooed men surrounding Mia, using vulgar language and making her uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, William was screaming in the car, frightened.
From the men's words, Tony confirmed that they recognized Mia.
He overheard the leader of the group saying, "Mia, your husband is dead. It's better to come with me; I guarantee you won't have to struggle like now. How can you endure staying alone hungry for love every night? Looking as beautiful as you are, how can you stand being alone for so long?"
"You guys get lost! Otherwise, I'll call the police." Mia angrily scolded, taking out her phone.
"Call the police; go ahead and show it to me." Saying that, the guy reached out to grab Mia's phone.
When his hand was just about to touch the phone, a sudden voice stopped his action.
"Mia, are these guys bothering you?" Tony ran over to Mia, pointing at the tattooed guys and asking Mia.
"No, I don't know them!" Mia knew who these people were, but she still said she didn't know them; she truly didn't want to be associated with them.
Tony said, "Go in the car to handle this; I'll take care of it."
With trusting eyes, Mia followed Tony's words and went into the car, comforting William who was crying.