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“Don't you ever stop working?” Maurizio crosses his long legs while he stretches completely relaxed on the sofa.
“And you never work?”
The scoundrel smiles without even trying to hide it and manages to infect me with his marvelous good humor. Italian, attractive, fun and waiting for me to finish my work on a Saturday night. I just won the lottery and I didn't buy a ticket.
“What do you think? Drinks, music and wherever the night takes us,” I look at him interested as I point the labeler at my chin.
“It sounds like a good plan but...”
“Excellent plan! And the Temple is the ideal place.”
At that moment Solange enters through the door like an uncontrolled hurricane and Maurizio jumps out of the sofa instantly.
“Hello, I'm Solange, and you are?” My new boss drags the words with very little disguise.
“My name is Maurizio.”
“Maurizio, Italian? Mm... interesting....” The woman looks at him with obvious interest.
The colors go up my cheeks too fast and I don't know how to stop my boss.
“That's what they say.” The man answers amused by the situation.
“Yes, very interesting...” Solange scans Maurizio from top to bottom without any symptom of shyness.
“Ahem, Solange, you need anything?” The woman continues to look at Maurizio for another endless time until finally I get her to look at me.
“Yes, I need you to participate in the great gala at the Temple tonight.”
“Great gala?”
“Yes, I have invited great personalities and you know, among some drinks, I want to announce your great inauguration auction.”
“But we agreed that we wouldn't say anything. It's a delicate subject to show and we have no guarantees.”
I look at her with raised eyebrows trying to make her understand my brief and key message.
“And we won't. We'll announce the big act but we won't say who’s the main star.” Solange winked at me as she refocused her attention on Maurizio.
“And how long have you been in London?”
“Not much,” Solange may be the most attractive and calculating spy, but Maurizio is not far behind.
“I see. I guess enough time to be interested in our art...”
If I wasn't so embarrassed, I swear I would hang her with my own hands.
“Very interested,” Maurizio replies to his attack with a side smile and I feel the heat rising up trough my neck.
I'd like to kill them both.
“And you will know that in this city, we take care of our art with a special mime.”
“And I protect what’s mine in a very special way.”
God, I close my eyes to stop listening. Solange without warning throws a laugh that almost stopped my heart.
“I like you. Anne, bring your friend and don't forget to dress up. See you at noon in the main room,” and with the same energy with which she came in, she goes out the door.
Maurizio comes up to me and takes the labeler out of my hand and starts pushing me through the door.
“I think we already have a plan and you should go home and change.”
“I sit while I pull the bag hanging from the coat rack to leave.”
I have no idea what the rush is or why Solange didn't warn me with anticipation but the nerves start to eat me up inside.
I know the chances of seeing him are very remote but I'm already shaking. As prideful as Reed is, I don't think he’ll go being in a wheelchair, but just imagining seeing him again stirs me up inside. My feelings are clouded and my decisions get lost. I hope that if we cross paths, I can prove that I'm made of steel, even though I'm melting inside like summer ice cream.
“By the way, what is the Temple?” Maurizio asks curious, distracting me from my thoughts.
“A select club and something particular, but don't worry, I'm not going to rape you.” Oh, God! Did I say that?
Maurizio's eyes open in surprise and I smile triumphantly. For the first time since I met him, I'm the one who' ahead making a joke. Well, I'm changing and this is the new Anne Foster or maybe I'm mad as hell. I think about Reed I get depressed, I look at Maurizio smiling, I remember Reed, I cry, I talk to Maurizio and I'm glad... Yes, I'm out of my mind. Tomorrow I call Dr. Klein for a double session.
“Don't you get tired of being so pretty?”
“And you know you don't have to compliment me every time I'm in front of you?”
I try to remain indifferent while I fix his pearl grey tie but it's a little difficult, Maurizio is snatching.
“You're the most attractive woman in the whole room and I won't get tire of saying it.”
His mouth is getting closer to mine and I accept his sweet caress of lips against lips. I am not sure if I should continue to accept a love that I accept simply with tenderness but it is impossible for me to refuse.
Sweetness and attraction blend, and although the fire does not run through my body I do not see why not trying. Life is composed of endless opportunities, who says that this is one of those hidden truths of destiny and that I should’nt try?
Self-esteem refuses outright, she knows that my heart still beats for another man but I turn my back angrily not to see her.
“Maurizio you know that I...”
“Shh, don't think.”
His hands cling to my shoulders and I expect more than just a touch of lips. I have seen it in his eyes. Fire and desire sparkle seductively and I will not stop him. His delicate fingers caress my neck to stick me to his mouth. He is a man who is no longer willing to wait. He needs my warmth and I forget, we are both the answer the other needs. I will close my eyes and dream of a better future.
The heat pierces his suit wrapping me in a pleasant sensation of love and protection that fascinates me. I keep my promise and close my eyes, letting me go. My bitterness moves away and sad memories leave me. I want to feel, just to feel. His tongue caresses my lips and enters my mouth so delicately that I cling to his shoulders wrapped in the sweetest of sensations. His touch runs through my skin and I feel the sweet touch of his soft fingers on my neck. He brings me closer to his hard body while my mouth accepts each of his touches. The sensation is so pleasant that I press my body against yours without caring about being in a room full of people. I want to enjoy. I need to feel like a woman again. I sigh in his mouth delighted with the experience when the sound of a very annoying raspberry tries to interrupt us. I cling tightly to my man refusing to let the sensation end. The annoying sick man continues to cough as if he were losing his life through his lungs.
Maurizio gently takes me away and I raise my eyes with the smile of a girl capable of flying. I find myself in the fifth sky when dark, ice-hard sapphires split me in two and tear off my wings, lowering me to the ground with a thud.
Our glances face each other and I feel all the weight of his recriminations on me. He is furious, his fists move to his nervous sides for hitting. But who does he think he is to look at me like that!
It's not me who left, he threw me out, it's not me who left him for someone else, it was him! Damn it, it was him and not me! Yet there he is, standing in front of me, claiming what he shouldn’t. Wait a minute, is he standing? Is he really standing? And why is the idiot of Suraj smiling?
“You're standing!”