Page 9 of Faking With The Frenemy

I smiled in my semi-consciousness, moving my arm around as I looked for her in the bed beside me. When I did not make a purchase, I tore my eyes open with an effort, surprised. Her smell was so strong in my head that I thought she was still in bed with me.

I glanced around the room and saw I was alone. The sun glowed through the drapes, and I glanced at the digital clock on the dresser. It was several minutes past 10 a.m. It turned out that I had slept for at least twelve hours. I felt very rested, and the throb in my head reduced as I regained consciousness.

Where could she be?

I made my way out of bed, deciding to look for Alessia. I knocked on the bathroom door first but pushed my way inside when I didn’t hear running water. Empty.

I checked the living room as well and the kitchen to the side. There were no traces of Alessia. I peeked into the other bedrooms in my suite cursorily. They were empty as well. I figured she probably had headed back to her room to prepare for the day, and there was no need to stress out looking for her.

I headed back into my bedroom and lay in bed. Alessia’s smell was still strong on the pillow, and I held it close, sniffing in deeply. I smiled to myself, punching the air happily. I had had exciting sex with Alessia many times, and images poured through my mind as I recalled everything.

I knew I had quite an appetite, but even I surprised myself with my hunger. We had gone at it for hours nonstop until morning. I had never done something so crazy or ill-advised before in my life. Thoughts of her body stirred me again, and I closed my eyes as I felt my cock harden.

I stepped into the bathroom for a quick shower. With Alessia, it wasn’t just the sex; it was everything else in between. She was someone I enjoyed talking to, and I looked forward to every minute I could spend with her. The past two days had been the best times of my life, and naturally, I wanted more of that.

I turned the water on, preferring cold, to wake me up and give me a bounce. As the water rushed over my head, it restored some clarity and awakened me. We both had to leave Milan today, I remembered. I had no idea where Alessia was going or how important her engagement was, but I thought about inviting her to Tuscany with me to celebrate Enzo’s father’s 70th.

I felt like she liked me as much as I liked her and would spend more time with me. I saw how she looked at me, and I could tell that my feelings for her were not one-sided. I did not know what to expect, but I was willing to get to know her better and see what might come out of it.

Just a few days with her, and I already wanted to spend every moment with her. Even now, waking up and not finding her beside me, I felt a small sense of loss. I knew it was an irrational feeling, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

I turned off the water, dried off quickly, and dressed lightly. I left my suite and headed for Alessia’s, wanting to have breakfast with her, and asked her to follow me to Tuscany for a few days. I was excited about the possibility of having her along and recreating all we had shared in Milan.

I was about to knock on her door when the door opened from the inside. I smiled in excitement and was about to step in when a lady in a cleaner’s uniform pushed out a housekeeping trolley. I stepped back in shock, my hand still balled up and held upward.

I looked at the housekeeper with confusion but regained my composure. “Good morning,” I said, smiling pleasantly. “I am looking for my friend who stays in this room?”

She stared at me in confusion for a few seconds, and then I slapped my head. Of course, she didn’t understand English. At least not so well.

My Italian wasn’t so great either, but I decided to try again using a few words I knew. “Scusa,” I started, “sto cercando il mio amica?” I pointed to the room behind her.

She smiled and nodded, grateful I had switched to something she could understand. “Chiedo scusa, è partita stamattina.” She waved her hand outward and shook her head regrettably.

I stared at her, confused, not trusting my translation of what she had just said and choosing not to believe it. The housekeeper saw my frustration and tried again. “She… go. She… check out.” She made the hand motion again, and this time, it was unmissable.

I dragged myself back to my suite, my mind clouded. Did something come up that demanded Alessia’s attention? She probably tried to wake me but gave up when I didn’t respond. I had slept longer than before, so that was a possibility.

I rushed back into my room, searching for a note or something. Anything Alessia must have left behind, a note with reasons for her hasty disappearance, and a means of contacting her.

I tore my apartment upside down as I searched for proof that my mind was not playing games with me. I searched everywhere for a note. There was nothing. I slumped into a chair in the sitting room, my heart thundering in my chest. Alessia had left.

I felt a whirlpool of emotions battling in my head, begging to spill out, begging me to let them out. I staggered around, looking for my phone. I found it under a cushion. I picked it up with shaky hands, struggling then failing to get control of myself. I called the one person I knew I could talk to.

“Hey Mikey, you better have a good reason for calling me at six in the morning,” Thale said in annoyance. He still hated waking up early, it appeared.

“I’m sorry, Thale. I just needed someone to talk to, man,” I replied, trying to keep the shakiness out of my voice. But Thale knew me too well, and there was no hiding anything from him.

When he spoke, his voice was anxious and worried, fully awake. “What’s going on? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I replied. “Look, it’s not that kind of problem. I am sorry for alarming you. Actually… it’s a woman's problem, and you’re the only one I know I could go to.”

I heard him snickering on the other end of the phone and quietly waited for him to have fun. “I am sorry,” he finally said, hints of amusement lingering in his voice. “What’s going on?”

I told him all about Alessia, the whirlwind romance, the time we had shared, and all the moments and memories we had created. And then I told him how I had woken up and found out she had left me.

“And she was just gone, man,” I said. “No notes, phone number, social media handle, address. Nothing. She probably never even existed, for all I know. I thought she could be the one, man. What we had was so pure I dared to believe. And she just left. Poof, gone like the wind.”

Thale listened intently and attentively, not interrupting nor contributing. I loved that about him. For all his ability to be a chatterbox and light up any room, he had an uncanny ability to listen attentively, making him one of the most dependable people in the world during a crisis.

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