" A WARM WELCOME"
After three wonderful days, it was time to say goodbye to heavenly Hawaii. This was the first time in a little over four years that I had taken some vacation days away from New York; whenever I had been "on vacation," I never really wanted to be out because I was afraid of something profound that might happen during my absence and always ended up shortening my days off to go back to work. Sadly all good things must come to an end; that's not fair.
I accepted my best friend's proposal to take a few days to relax; I needed to clear my mind of all my occupations. Who am I kidding? I did it because, like the coward I am, I wanted to run away from Stefano Graziani, and for what? To see him in every man on the island, for my mind to play tricks on me and hear his voice in every place or think of him and yell his name every time I had sex with another man.
"Good morning, sunshine" I enter Alena's room humming as she does; it's eleven in
"A BET""I see that being anxious runs in the family," I tell her, placing my hand on her knee to stop her from moving her leg."I'm sorry, I'm just extremely nervous. ""Relax! The doctor will ask you a few questions, give you a lecture, and prescribe the best contraceptive method for you.""Miss Swan, you can come in now," the nurse informs me."Come on," she gets up from her chair, and I can feel a slight tremor in her hands."Good afternoon Christie," says Dr. Ramsay, "I see you are in good company. Who is this beautiful young lady?""It's...""I am Luciana, the baby's older sister," she answers, interrupting me and leaving me in complete shock."Luciana, what a beautiful name and what a nice accent you have," she blushes and smiles at him."Yes, she is my boyfriend's daughter. She is with me today because she wants to know what is the best contraceptive method," I tell the doctor, who quickly get
"PARTNERS IN CRIME"One month, that's how long her love for her family lasted. Just as Stefano predicted, Marella quickly grew tired of playing the self-sacrificing mother who looks out for her children's welfare and wants her home back.One day she packed her bags and left without a word while her children were at school. When they returned, they found a note on the refrigerator informing them "that she had unavoidable commitments that demanded her attention and she could no longer delay her departure."To say that Stefano was relieved not to have her under his roof is an understatement. Luciana was disappointed, as she had hoped to return to Italy, but unfortunately, that was not her mother's plan."Baby girl, do you want a snack before you go to the doctor's appointment?" asked Glorita peeking out of the door of my room."Yes, thank you," I woke up today with my spirits down. I feel exhausted; I have a
"MARELLA PARISI""You didn't answer my question, Marella. What the hell are you doing here?" Stefano is so upset, his face is entirely red, and the vein in his neck looks like it's about to burst. I take his hand in an attempt to calm him down."Relax, dear! You'll give yourself a stroke. What's wrong with me coming for a friendly visit," I tell the witch in her mother tongue,"If you haven't noticed, my guest, who is my girlfriend, doesn't speak Italian.""What a pity! You've lowered your standards, my dear" what the hell? I'm about to slap her, but then I see the smirk on her daughter's face. "I'm not saying it for you, honey, don't think you're so important," this last thing she says, looking in my direction."Don't worry, ma'am; I was never interested in studying Italian. However, I did learn Spanish, French, and German. But fate is whimsical; it took me to the arms of an Italian" take this sweetheart.
"AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION""Hmm?" I answer the incoming call on my cell phone. Who the hell is disturbing my sleep? Waking up a pregnant woman should count as a crime."Oh! Sorry, Cara mia, I didn't think you'd be asleep at this hour.""Are you insinuating that I'm being lazy, Stefano Graziani?" Well, yes, it's eleven in the morning, so what? How dare he call me lazy? Automatically my sleep faded away and was replaced by growing anger.Although looking at it from a different perspective, I had never slept in until so late, unless I stayed up all night. However, it doesn't give him the right to call me so."Christie, please, understand me. If I hadn't called earlier, it was because I feared waking you up. I know that pregnant women sleep more because they get tired faster due to the excess of hormones flowing in their bodies. I should have texted instead of calling. I apologize about that" aww, can't thi
"PROBLEMS" PART 2"WHAT DID SHE SAY?" Many of the customers turn in our direction. Alena didn't miss an opportunity to yell at the top of her lungs."Shhh... keep your voice down! Don't you realize that people are turning to look at us," I whispered with irritation."It's not my fault that people who frequent this store don't miss the opportunity to get juicy gossip. But that is not important; I can't believe that goddamn brat said that to you. I mean, she treated you as if you were a tramp. Doesn't she know that you own the company?""No," I answer while shaking my head in denial, "she must think I'm some subordinate who's just messing with her father to climb the social ladder. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said such a bunch of nonsense."And, what are you going to do? Because this cannot continue, no way, no way. We have to plan the perfect revenge" Alena is so upset that if you prick her vein, it's not blood that spurts ou
"PROBLEMS" PART 1"Oh, so you've decided to be noticed," I say as I inspect the bulge in my belly; I swear it wasn't there before. Until last night I had a flat stomach and a great behind."I think you ran out of room, buddy" I gently run my hand down the length of the bulging area. I can't believe I'm already four months old. It seems like yesterday when I found out I would be a mother.I take the clothes on my bed, and I almost go into shock when I notice the bra is too small, to the point that my breasts practically come out, my pants don't close, and my blouse doesn't fit; when did all this happen? Until yesterday everything fit me perfectly.I guess I will leave the office early to shop for some clothes. I continue trying on one outfit after another until I find a summer dress that, luckily, I can wear with a blazer over it. Alena will enjoy this very much, she loves shopping, especially with other people's money.This w