When I said the day was going to suck, I was not kidding. It was a short, very short time before I got to the bus stop, and, as in all good Murphy's Law*, my bus passed by in that instant. My morning certainly resembled a part of a really bad romantic comedy movie.By the way, I was the young lady who saw the love of her life arranging an expensive trip with her wonderful girlfriend.C'est la vie*, my friends. I cursed loudly and sat defeated on the bench at the bus stop, almost having a syncope during the waiting time for the next transport. Minutes later it finally arrived, preventing me from having a seizure right there. As soon as I arrived at the college, I hurried to my classroom, bumping into the professor who was leaving after the end of the first class. I smiled weakly at her and walked into the class, seeing Sophie staring at me with a thousand questions stamped on her confused face. "What happened?" she asked as soon as I buried myself in my chair. I threw my arms over t
"I don't think he needs me anymore," I joked, pointing with my head at the dog. "I'll be right there, then," I told John. He seemed to awaken from some reverie and looked at me seriously, seeming to sway about something. He looked away, ruffled his hair in a way that bewildered me, and then looked at me again, quickly running his tongue over his lips in a natural way that, if it had been on purpose, would not have been nearly as mesmerizing as this unpretentious act.God, he was so uneducatedly handsome.Liking someone is a strange business, because the person is just there breathing and you think, "Holy shit, what a wonderful human being." Still reluctant, Carter finally said something."I don't know what our level of closeness is," he began, and I looked at him strangely, staring at him with the biggest possible blank stare, "but... You seem to be the only person I can have a decent conversation with." John laughed humorlessly. I froze without understanding the reason for his ra
John's POVSix fifty-five in the afternoon.As I drove to the gym after another tiring day at the office, I found myself thinking about the calls I had received in the last month. By now, I had not had any more unpleasant surprises, which only made me more and more doubtful about the origin of the threats.Why did they occur?Would they still occur?Who was behind this?It was all too suspicious to be put aside. I gave the car to the valet parking attendant and entered the gym, heading straight to the changing room to take off my suit and put on my workout clothes. Once this was done, I walked over to where Paolo and I were exercising, s
Walking distractedly inside the condominium, I noticed from a distance that the hall used for residents' meetings was "full," probably for this reason. The buzz of people in its external area indicated that the meeting was already over. As I approached the place, I noticed that a little girl, "who couldn't have been more than four years old," was standing on the sidewalk, looking somewhat frightened. Strangely enough, I approached her cautiously, seeing her shrink back as soon as she realized my presence. I bent down with the intention of staying at her size, smiling amiably at the little girl and demonstrating that I wouldn't do anything to her. "Hi." I began. "Cool teddy bear" I spoke, referring to the toy wrapped around her little arms. The little girl looked grudgingly at it, and soon after at me, expressing no reaction at all. "What's his name?" I tried again."Mister Bubu." she answered in a mumble. I smiled at her response. "Cool name! Hi, Mr. Bubu." I greeted him, laughing
"No, I believe there was a mistake!", Lavinia's mother defended herself, exasperated. "We were just talking, after all, she lost sight of my daughter!""There are other methods of getting an employee's attention without denigrating them." John stated and I gently touched Val's shoulders in an act of comfort as I noticed the concern evident in her gaze.The nanny looked at me in dismay and I flashed her a friendly smile in mute affirmation that things were under control. I felt bad imagining that she probably needed her job badly, a situation that closely resembled mine and my mother's. "I don't know what happened, however, her behavior could get her a lawsuit for moral damages." The little girl's mother, who was playing near where we were meeting, was stunned and visibly nervous. She became irritated and I once again held her gaze. "Okay. Just ask that young lady to stay out of your business, she's nothing here!" she grunted affectedly. John's expression became stern and I rolled m
Helena's POV"Good morning, Lena!" Barret, the driver, greeted me as he saw me laying out some clothes on the clothesline on that sunny and somewhat hot Saturday morning. "Hey, how are you, Barret? Enjoy your vacation?", I asked smiling. Barret was a middle-aged man who looked a lot like Mario Bros* and possessed an infectious friendliness. A trusted driver for the Carters, he had been working in the trade for over twenty years "his words"."Absolutely! Don't you notice my tan?" he joked, pointing to his own face and I laughed in agreement. "I'd better hurry, Mrs. Carter doesn't usually tolerate tardiness.", Barret said, already pulling away as he waved to me, who reciprocated the act. "Have a nice day!", I wished, raising my tone of voice so he could hear me, receiving an "equally" in response.I focused my attention back on the rest of my clothes, until I heard a distant noise coming from the area where the pool was located.John was there, partially lying on a sun lounger while
"It depends... Do you want it with emotion or without emotion?" he inquired playfully and I looked at him annoyed trying to hold in my laughter. He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay... "I'll leave the emotions for later," he spoke in my ear and I shivered. I looked at him with an arched eyebrow and took his hand, finally getting on the bike. Vicenzo also climbed on, putting on his helmet, and before I could put on mine, I saw John's black Maserati leaving the condo. Our gazes met for a few seconds until he quickly swerved, looking at the street in front of him, and then disappeared from my field of vision. I put on my helmet and grabbed Vicenzo's waist like those little pencil grabbers, soon hearing his laugh. "It's hard to ride a motorcycle when you're short of breath, Lena," he said amid laughter, and I followed, not laughing. "Sorry.""I'm kidding. You can grab all you want.", I didn't have time to sketch a reaction, because after saying that, he took off with the bike. I
Vicenzo finished the song and once again the euphoric round of applause rang out through the lively atmosphere.He thanked me and left his guitar in a corner of the stage, coming toward me with a huge smile. When I was close enough, I clapped my hands together with my expression in clear admiration."I enjoyed watching, rockstar."He bowed and put an arm around me, leaving me partially cornered. I tried not to show any reaction, but it was a little strange to me. Not bad, but different."The guys are going over to the house, shall we?" he asked, closer to me than usual. He was staring at me in a way that was loaded with ulterior motives, and I knew very well where that night would end. And you