Page 29 of Twisted Ambitions
“Leticia!” I say, feeling a little embarrassed for no reason.
“Maybe he’ll ask you on a date.” Aurora smiles and hugs me, looking rather amused by the situation.
Two days later, Henry invited me on a date, a dinner, to be more specific; Aurora and Leticia were pacing back and forth in my room, trying to help me choose the best outfit. I leave them there and head toward the boys’ apartment, open the door, and head toward the gym, noticing their voices coming from there. Before I had a chance to say a word, their eyes were already on the door.
“I knew we shouldn’t have given them a key; now they’ll come in here at any time!” Francesco looks at me and talks to Paolo as if I wasn’t in the room.
“Tell you what? I’ll give you back the key to your apartment, and you willgive me the key to ours. I don’t love it when you spend all of your time there and steal our food!” I say with an ironic smile on my face, making him raise his arms in surrender. “I just came to tell you that I’m going out for dinner, and I don’t need security.”
I turn my back on both of them, ready to leave. “That won’t be possible!” Paolo’s voice sounds assertiveas if I’m under his control, and I look at him, completely annoyed.
“It’s going to happen. I don’t know if you remember, but technically, I’m the one giving the orders.”
“Luca actually gives the orders!” Francesco smirks at me defiantly.
“Fuck Luca, you’re not going with me!”
Francesco looks in Paolo’s direction, making me look at him too. He’s on the phone, probably talking to Luca. I can’t make out what he’s saying, because he’s speaking quietly, probably so I won’t hear. When his eyes meet mine, he shakes his head in the negative. Anger takes hold of me; who does he think he is to boss me around, to have his soldiers following me twenty-four hours a day, and to take away my authority over them? Infuriated, I walk to Paolo and snatch the phone from his hand.
“I’m going out alone today, and I don’t care what you say!”My voice comes out low. I try to contain my anger, but all I want to do is shout at him.
“It’s not going to happen, Chiara!” Hearing Luca’s voice after two months makes my stomach turn in a way I can’t explain. I let out a loud laugh and feel completely enraged.
“Who do you think you are to make decisions for me?”
“Your fiancé!” He says it with a tone of irony that makes me want to crush him. I let out a dry laugh, and I feel the eyes of the two men in the room on me.
“Don’t use the engagement as an excuse, Luca. I thought you were better than that! It’s just business, isn’t it? We don’t know each other, we’re not friends, we don’t talk to each other. You have no right to give any kind of order.”
“You’re my fiancée, you’re under my protection, you’re not going out alone!”
I want to cry with frustration and anger; this man doesn’t give a damn about me; he doesn’t talk to me, he doesn’t reply to my messages, andhe only seems to remember that he has a fiancée when it comes to controlling my life.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what, they are not going to follow me. First thing tomorrow, Paolo and Francesco will board the plane back to Italy. I’m fed up, Luca, with all this. Us together, it’s a joke. The engagement is off. I had the right to call it off anyway, so I’m doing it… Good luck with your next fiancée. I hope you’ll be happy!”
Before he had time to answer, I disconnected the call and handed the phone to Paolo. I looked at him and Francesco, and they both looked shocked. They both look at me, probably not knowing what to say. “So that’s it, let’s say goodbye here. It’s been a pleasure having you as my protectors and maybe even friends; thank you for your service!” I feel my eyes fill with water and I don’t know if it’s because of the farewell, or because of the end of the engagement, contrary to what I thought, when Ifinished it I didn’t feel the relief I thought I would feel, instead I felt a heaviness in my stomach and heart, a discomfort, a kind of pain that I can’t explain. I look at them standing in front of me and saying nothing without really thinking about what I’m doing. I approach them and hug them both at the same time; they still look petrified but quickly regain their senses and hug me back. “Thank you for everything!”
As soon as I close the door to my apartment, I let out a sob that seems to have been stuck in my throat for a long time. Tears come out, and I don’t understand why I’m crying. Quick footsteps come toward me.
“What happened?” Leticia asks, trying to wipe away the tears that are streaming down my face.
“The engagement is over; I’ve broken it off.” My speech is interrupted by sobs that insist on coming out, along with the tears. They both stay silent for a while, and I don’t know what to think.
“Why?”
“I’m tired of them controlling my life. It’s always been like this, but before, at least those who did it felt more than contempt for me.”
I feel Aurora hug me; Leticia holds my hand and squeezes it lightly. “Maybe that’s for the best; maybe you’ll find love!” Without knowing why, Aurora’s words make me cry even more.
“I don’t know why I’m like this; it’s ridiculous…”
“You like him, Chiara!” I look at Leticia, trying to process her words. I don’t know when it happened or why. I don’t know how you didn’t realize it, but that cry, that pain on your face, shows that you’re in love with him!
I feel Aurora’s embrace tighten, I feel tears on my head, and I know she’s crying for me. Letícia looks at me with her eyes full of water and hugs me from the other side. We sat hugging on the living room floor for what seemed like hours.
Aurora releases me from her arms and kneels in front of me. “You’re going to take a shower, we’re going to prepare your clothes, and You’ll look wonderful for your date with Henry; you’re going to give yourself a chance, and if when you arrive, you want to cry, our arms will be open for you. But for now, you need to at least try to move on.”
I still feel tears running; when I get in the shower, my tears come down with the water, and I want to scream for feeling something for someone I hardly know, for someone who clearly doesn’t reciprocate the feeling.
