Roxana

I am waiting for shit to happen. I can smell it in the air after the performance from yesterday.

When I told Damien and the guys that I met the big boss and embarrassed myself in front of him again he made fun of me the whole day.

When Christian called me around ten I could barely bring myself to answer out of sheer anxiety. He wasn't angry, and neither did he have anything to say except to ask me about how things were going and let me know that they still hadn't found a replacement for Peter, meaning I had to stay in Italy for a few days, maybe weeks, more.

I told him about Tomaso, that we are getting along quite well and that relieved him.

"Ok, Rox. I just wanted to tell you that you are doing a great job. I am proud of you and I can't wait to see you," he says through the phone.

I swear I stopped breathing for a minute. What did my ears just hear?

"Christian I, I like ... working for you... and Walter... very much. It is an honor."

"Aww, I am happy to hear that. I rely on you. Just keep things on track. In two weeks I will come to Sicily to meet the client and after that, the two of us will have breakfast in town. What do you say?"

That I am dead and reached Nirvana.

"No. You don't have to."

"Come on. I know I don't 'have' to, I just want to get to know you a bit. You have been working for me for how many years now? Two? And we never had a meal together. Prepare yourself, it's going to be fun. Later, Rox!" he says, hanging up.

Christian taking me out for breakfast, and Bogdan apologizes after five years; is Mercury retrograde or something? Now only Ivan has to call to tell me the rest of my debt is forgiven.

The rest of the week goes by peacefully. I don't see the Italian hunk nor the roof coffee lover though on Wednesday I climb the scaffolding at five thirty before working hours on purpose to see if he is going to be there, but he isn't. 

I must admit this guy intrigues me. As far as I could gasp it, Tomaso is like an adviser, he has authority over the staff and it looked like coffee guy is in charge of the security of the boss. So Tomaso should be his boss too. In addition, there are several maids and gardeners on the domain. These people speak only Italian and we don't interact much.

Me and Tomaso get along pretty well so far. He is a practical guy and has a good sense of humor. It appears like we are meeting every two days for a little status update. Today he brings me a fifty-page-long NDA to read and sign till the end of the day. I will have a blast reading it.

Dani also texts me, telling me that Dad didn't come home last night... again. This is not so unusual. Our father has a drinking problem and he sometimes gets wasted and falls asleep somewhere, gets into a fight, or you name it. There are no AA meetings in my country and Dad was very reluctant to go to therapy, not that we can afford it, so here we are, not knowing if he will be coming home every evening.

I feel so sad for Dani and his destroyed innocence. I try to protect him as much as possible but he is a smart kid and knows what's going on most of the time.

A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts. It must be Tomaso who came for the documents. Shit. I forgot to read them. There is no way I can do that in a few seconds so I just hastily sign the last page. It is what it is. I have no penny on my name and my soul is not worth anything either so there is nothing to take.

I grin and hand Tomaso the files.

"No objections, signorina?"

"None. And we agreed you can call me Roxana, remember?"

"Va bene, Roxana. I will be on my way now. The guests will arrive in two hours and there are still things to prepare. Be sure to leave till then. Ok?"

"Will do, don't worry."

I am a tiny bit happy about this forced time off. It means I will finally have time to visit Taormina.

Damian will let me sleep on a mattress in his room so no money spent, yay. They rent a house in town and share the costs. I will just be sharing my space with twenty guys but whatever. We spend so much time together daily anyway that I feel like having an honorary d*.

If you walk twenty minutes on foot from the villa, apparently you find a bus station. The boys left early today so I will have to find and take that bus.

Wait a minute. What time is it? My jaw drops open when I see five-thirty. I should have been gone half an hour ago. Okay, fine Roxi, just grab your things and exit quietly without being observed.

Yeah hopefully, because to exit I have to cross the gardens, go along the main house, and through the main gate. Maybe the guests didn't arrive yet. Yeah, they are Italian, not Swiss, and they are probably going to be late.

I grab my backpack, dress in dark jeans and a black hoodie to not stand out, and go outside carefully. The sun is setting and there aren't any noises so far. Everything stays this way until I reach the corner of the house and throw a look into the main yard.

Three mate black cars are driving in from the alley and stopping in front of the house. Bad timing, Roxi, really bad timing.

Stefano exits the building followed by five maids carrying appetizers, champagne, and a tray with white powder. Oh boy, they brought out snow white and the party did not even start. I am well aware that rich people do drugs at parties but I have never seen it up close. Effects of being a good girl and having grown up poor. 

The first car stops and one of the bodyguards, who are lined up on both sides of those stairs, opens the door. A stern man in his fifties exits the limousine. His hair is gray and cropped short. He is thin and his straight mouth with no visible lips is pressed into a line under his mustache.

Stefano shakes his hand and the man proceeds to kiss him on both cheeks.

It's too far away for me to hear what they are saying but I suppose it is better this way.

The older man sniffs a line of, probably, cocaine, graces Stefano with a half smile, and shakes again his hand seeming satisfied.

The door of the second car opens and a short and bulky man jumps out followed by two girls. He is dressed in a colorful silk shirt, one of those made by big labels like Versace or Gucci that are, despite that, terribly tacky. A gold chain dangles around his neck and he wears shiny pilot sunglasses. Probably around forty he still has full hair and nice teeth that, however, are brought together in a weird, pervy smile when he looks at his two female companions.

The third car is hosting a Middle Eastern man, judging by his complexion and the ethnic clothes some of his companions are wearing. He is probably around thirty,  pleasantly looking, and seems refined and elegant. His dark hair is gelled back and he is wearing a western suit. Unlike the other two, he does not sniff any cocaine.

Now, this is a merry bunch we have here.

They prepare to enter the house and I prepare to exhale relieved and be on my way when I feel a hand on my elbow pulling me back.

In seconds I am pushed against the wall and a hand is pressed over my mouth.
Dark, intense,  eyes are burning into my gaze like hot coals. I can't help shivering but I also can't break the eye contact, feeling something between paralyzed with fear and hypnotized.

In the back of my mind, I desire to have a better look at him, but this context surpasses my expectations, and not in a good way. His body is pressed against mine, his hand still over my lips. It's almost too tight. Almost. His cologne reaches my nostrils. It's an unusual scent, something like bergamot and other dark notes I cannot decipher, undoubtedly memorable, like his intense eyes, with such dark irises you can barely distinguish the pupil.
He presses the index finger of his other hand to his lips. I nod, signaling that I understand I have to be silent.

In the meantime, the guests seem to have entered, as I cannot hear any noises anymore.

Not saying a word, he grabs my wrist and leads me back to the garden. Well, shit. Again. I have clearly fucked up and need to find an excuse. An excuse in Italian, though this guy is fairly young and seems educated; he might speak some English.

We walk for some minutes in silence when out of the blue he presses me against a tree. What the fuck, dude? But then I notice that two bodyguards are walking in our proximity. Apparently, he does not want other staff members to see me. This is strange; I thought he is the boss of the security guys. Maybe he isn't after all. This time his body is even closer to mine; I can feel his heartbeat under my accidentally strategically placed hand and the smell of his cologne even stronger. As an instinctual response, my heart begins to also beat faster.

We march far into the English-style gardens, as far as I had never walked. A trademark of these gardens is that nature is wilder, often only trees and bushes, that harbor quite some places to hide. Now that I am thinking off... Am I stupid? I am walking with a strange guy into some pseudo-woods. I should be screaming and running away. What if he wants to murder me or well rape, though I doubt that. My hair looks like a bird's nest and I am dressed like a hobo with my coffee-stained hoodie. I doubt there is anything remotely appealing about me right now.

"Where are we going?" I finally say.

He doesn't care to answer.

"Seriously sir, where are we going?"

Nothing. He just presses his finger to his lips again. A second time it's not fun anymore.

"Sir, respectfully, what the fuck?"

Then I notice a little gate behind some weeds. He points to it. Ok, he does not seem to speak English after all.

Oh, great. This is settled but how do I find the bus station now?

"Signor. Dove e bus station?" I ask before he turns to walk away and take my phone out to search for the missing word.

"Just walk along the fence but don't get too close to it or the men will be tempted to shoot you. Were you not told to be gone? Did you not read the damn contract?" he finally says in crystal clear English with a British accent.

"Why could I not have exited through the front gate? I would have apologized and nobody would have cared."

"That is so far from the truth you don't even imagine, girl."

So dramatic.

"OK, sir, sorry. I'll be on my way."

"Do not talk to anyone about what you saw here. If you care about your... job."

Here we go again, it's not even a month.

"Relax, sir. I have worked for the rich and famous before. I swear no journalist will know where the bedroom of the boss is. Cheers," I say, bowing my head slightly sarcastically and walking away.

It's dark outside and I am in the middle of fucking nowhere. After thirty minutes of waking, I am indeed reaching the bus stop and after another hour I reach Taormina.

"Was hast du so lange gebraucht?/ Why did it take you so long?" asks Damian when I finally lay down on the mattress in his room so we can sleep.

"Willst du nicht wissen. War etwas spät dran und habe einen Anschiss von Security bekommen. Der Typ da hat äußerst ungewöhnliche Gäste gehabt. Hat nach einer riesen Party ausgeschaut./ You don't want to know. I needed a bit longer and the security guy got pissed and gave me a sermon. The boss had quite peculiar guests. It looked like a wild party."

The weekend passes fast and is pleasant even if it gives me mixed feelings. I love visiting the city and going to the beach even if it's too cold for swimming but I often have to use work as a pretext to not go out to a bar or eat at the restaurant and sometimes the boys mind a bit.

After I am done with Ivan, I will give them an explanation and a round of drinks.

The next week I expect someone, like Tomaso or the guy from that ominous evening, to come and make me feel bad about what happened. But nobody comes, neither do I see the guy, and Tomaso seems to not be aware of what happened.

Everything is awesome till one precious Thursday morning when I think again it is a good idea to have coffee viewing the sunrise. I go up, look around and there is nobody. Just great.

On this particular day, the horizon seems aflame; it appears more vivid and spectacular than usual. Once again I smile thinking life is good despite all mishaps. I like sunrises. That is probably quite obvious.

Out of the blue, I feel the wood of the scaffolding move and crack slightly and turn around startled.

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Any questions? Curiosities? :)