Excuse me?The hairs on my neck bristle.Who the fuck are you, rude ass?

"I'm the girl staying with him, and you're the girl who isn't.May I help you with something?"

She looks at the door.I know she is thinking of knocking on it."Maximus and I are old friends.My name is Elena.I heard he was in town.I wanted to say Ciao."

"I'll be happy to tell him you stopped by."I stand, blocking the door.

She looks surprised at my posturing."I will leave him a message at the front desk."She tells me, obviously not believing me.

"Perfect," I tell her."I'm going down to see Franco.We'll go together."I gesture for her to return the way she came, and I wait for her to do so.She looks past me one more time to the door, then turns and walks back to the elevator.I watch her gait as I follow her.She walks like a giraffe.

While we stand waiting for it to arrive, I decide to make small talk with her.You never know what you will learn when people talk about mundane things."Are you a runway model?"

"Si.I was a very successful model."She smiles down at me, then looks back at the polished doors.Her reflected expression is smug.

"You walk like a runway model."Like a giraffe.

"Thank you."

"Mmhmm."I step forward and push the button for the lobby "Was?You must be too old now.Yes?"I see her glaring at me in the doors.

When I step back, she says with a smile like a hyena."I didn't catch your name."

"Siri," I say, then add with emphasis."Wright.How long have you known Maximus?"

"A very long time.How long have you known him?"

"Long enough."

"Not long then."She smiles and relaxes a little.

"A very long time ago, you say?Did you babysit him when he was a boy?"I ask, smiling and blinking up at her.It's hard to tell how old she is with all the makeup on, but I'm guessing early thirties.

She smiles, remembering something sweet."He was young, but not a boy when I knew him."She smiles at me with the confidence of an old lover meeting a new lover.She has def hooked up with him.I smile sweetly back, poker face locked down tight, and a twang of jealousy bites me.Then she frowns."I do not know this term babysit."

"It doesn't matter."

I can see her wheels turning."We did not have a baby."She clarifies for me, then asks."Did he have a baby with someone else?"

"No," I tell her with confidence I don't feel.Not that he knows about anyway.

The elevator arrives, and we board it.There is no one else inside.We walk to the back wall and stand side by side.She takes her phone out and texts someone.

I decide not to ask any more questions.I don't really want to learn any more from her.She looks at her phone and smiles.She starts talking, obviously feeling chatty now."I was delighted to learn that Maximus had returned to Rome.I have not seen him for many years."

"Really?How many?"I ask despite myself.

"Ten."Shit!Aurei was 14.Surely she isn't...I look at the ceiling.Karma?What the fuck?"He will be happy to see me."She nods her head."I should not have left him.Ah!But we were too young.Now we are old enough."She smiles at herself.

"Mmm."My poker face grips my face like a vice, of all the luck.This girl is his first love!I can feel it."Why did you leave?"

"The summer was over.I returned to university."She smiles and looks down on me.Fuck!I knew it!She is.

"That's a long time ago.I'm sure he is over it.Actually, I'm positive he is."I give her a look that tells her I'm the girl now.

"Are you traveling with Maximus for business or pleasure?"She asks, uncertain.

"Def.pleasure," I grin then smirk at her.Giving her a look that says, I know something she doesn't know.