Chapter 3 Schismatic

3. Schismatic...

The boys were so amazed to see David Nichols standing there, in the flesh, in front of them, that they let go of Nina's hand immediately.

David thanked them, then turned to Nina, his hand extended in an inviting gesture.

- I think you'll be safer with your friends upstairs," he said.

Nina stood still, looking at this man surrounded by security guards. The old schism rang in her mind like a car alarm. However, no matter how much she hesitated, she could not remain at the table with Giosi and his cronies.

David, who was still holding out his hand to Nina, began to be squeezed by his security guards as a large number of people crowded around him. Nina didn't hold David's arm, but he pulled her into his circle of security guards and the two of them began to be escorted upstairs, leaving a crowd of curious fans and Giosi and his cronies behind.

Arriving upstairs, Nina saw from afar Lyon and Kara sitting around a fancy table in front of flowers, snacks, and many kinds of drinks. They were really enjoying the evening. She had never seen them so happy!

Nina hurried over to them and asked if everything was all right.

- More than fine," answered Lyon.

- More like a dream! - agreed Kara.

- Don't you think this is all very strange? - Nina said - Like... too good to be true? These things don't happen.

Lyon and Kara rolled their eyes.

- Guys, don't look at me like that, this is all surreal! - exclaimed Nina.

David was already on another part of the floor. The co-workers around him were trying to understand what the commotion was all about. But David could not take his eyes off Nina. He was intrigued that she was not looking at him; just standing there with her friends, with her back to him.

David was curious about Nina. He had even polled his security guards about who she was. He wanted to know if she was someone important, some Paris Hilton he didn't know, perhaps? The security guards talked about how they had never heard of Nina Dahl, neither in artistic circles nor in society.

Maybe it was because of that woman's indifference to a famous Hollywood actor, but Nina had caught David's attention (he was used to men and women throwing themselves at his feet). He wanted to get away from the people around him, even though they were very important for his artistic career, and go to her, but he could not.

David had the same qualities as a Taurus, who, according to the Internet: "They don't get carried away with daydreaming. So, forget it!

But...

He wished he could go to Nina's table and find out more about her, just out of curiosity.

"When they set out to do something, they do it very well."

As the evening wore on, the three friends were clearly inebriated. They were being treated as well as possible in the private area, with snacks and drinks being brought to their table all the time. Still, Nina wanted to leave.

- Girlfriend, soon we'll be back in our Cinderella castle again," Kara said, her eyes heavy. - And then everything will turn into a pumpkin.

Nina got up and told her friends that she was going to the bathroom.

The bathroom in the private area, more luxurious than a hotel room, was decorated with a round white leather sofa, which surrounded a statue in the center of the room. Nina went in, did what she had to do, and when she came out of the box she froze to see David Nichols standing by the statue.

Nina looked away, went to the sink to wash her hands, dried them, and in an attempt to maintain a sober woman's posture, she stumbled as she turned to leave, luckily she held on to the sink. David acted quickly and tried to help her. Nina, inebriated and dull, looked at him and said:

- High heels and blue drinks don't go together!

David sketched a slight smile at the corner of his mouth as he heard the phrase. Then he sat her down on the white leather sofa and tried to help her with her sandal. Nina was definitely not sober. It had been a long time since she had had a drink; in Norway, she just worked.

David had noticed that she was not acting normal. She was suspicious, a little dull, and very defensive. Her schismatic behavior intrigued him. He then asked her if everything was all right. She said yes:

- Drunk, on a sofa more luxurious than my bed, talking to a "Tom Cruise" of the movies. - Nina strangely looked at him and asked: - Did I drink so much that I'm hallucinating or something?

- No... - replied David - I'm standing here in front of you, very much alive.

- And what is a very much alive man from the TVs doing sitting in a bathroom with some nurse? - He smiled again at the way she expressed herself, and at her Latin accent when speaking English.

- Well, I'm trying to say hello to you, stranger. That's all.

Nina still didn't understand that he called her a stranger because of her messages on the dating app. That was her username.

- Hi, stranger!

And she replied with a smile:

- Hi... famous stranger.

And Nina suddenly remembered the dating page. She remembered that the faceless man, "Only Richard" had written that way, and it was then that she panicked... Everything seemed to confabulate with her fantasy brain. A thousand questions were forming in her mind at that moment, and she certainly didn't want to pay to see what made sense or not.

- Now can I go?

- Yes, of course. - replied David, frowning. - If that's what you want, you can go.

- And thanks for everything, thanks for the drinks, the table, the bouncers. All surreal! Now I really have to go. Goodbye and have a good day!

They looked into each other's eyes for a moment and Nina ran back to her friends.

When David came out of the bathroom, he saw that the trio was no longer in the private area. The table where Nina and her friends were drinking was empty. The security guard informed him that his honored guests had left the place almost at a runaway pace.

Why did they run away? The whole situation made David very suspicious. So he also left the party and went back to his hotel.

Lyon and Kara could not believe that Nina made them leave the club like that. They had been cursing at her all the way back to the hotel. Nina explained that David Nichols had called her a stranger, just as the man with the profile picture on the app had done.

- Besides its almost morning," she added. - We are very drunk.

Every time Nina said these things the two friends rolled their eyes

David was going through a kind of post-stress treatment. He had just arrived there on the same day as Nina. Both of them were on vacation, although both were totally different. He was being monitored by specialists who had diagnosed him with physical and mental exhaustion. She, on the other hand, was there to blow off steam and make the most of her stay with her best friends. So back in their respective hotel rooms, they fell asleep intrigued with each other.

The next day David had already researched everything he could about Nina Dahl's life. No social pages. No Facebook, no Instagram, let alone Twitter or Snapchat. He couldn't find her even on LinkedIn with a business page.

This made him even more uneasy. "She was like a ghost," he thought. If not for the security guard's radio, he wouldn't even know her first name. "How is that possible? All the other people in the world would have reacted differently, she wasn't even dazzled or grateful," he continued, lost in his thoughts, trying to untie the knots that that weird "creature" had put in his mind. "She just wanted to get out of there..." he concluded.

Throughout the day David confirmed that Nina would be for two weeks on vacation in Rome and that yesterday had been her first day in the city. This was all because Kara (David had found out the name of Nina's friend as well) had talked a little more than she should have to the bouncer who escorted them upstairs to the nightclub. No telling how, no telling when, but even his phone number she had gotten over the course of the night.

David Googled "Nina Dahl, Norway, nurse." Finally, a few links appeared for the college she had attended, as well as those for a charitable organization for foreign women, in which Nina was part of a dance group.

David called this organization from his hotel room in an attempt to get her phone number. He could not say who it was, of course, nor why he was looking for her, so he pretended to be someone who wanted to hire her to dance in a project. The person who answered the phone did not want to give out this information, saying that Nina did not participate in this kind of private contract for performances, that she was only a volunteer in the organization, that her classes were only for women from this place, etc. But after David said that he wanted to help the institution financially, the woman on the other end of the line almost immediately agreed to tell him Nina's phone number.

David had any woman he wanted at any time he wanted. But as he himself had already publicly stated a few years ago: "'It's always safer to get back with an ex-girlfriend than to try to pick up a new romance. These days a simple flirt can be misinterpreted, and bad people can accuse a famous artist of harassment, just to get fame and money.

This was one of the most controversial statements of his career. They made a mess of misinterpretations because of that comment. They distorted what he said and a flood of criticism on his Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts was made in unnecessary comments by extremist and intolerant people.

He knew, of course, that when you are a public person, people have the right to give their opinions on any subject on the internet. "Freedom of speech." So he was very careful about his private life, especially concerning women.

But Nina was Nina. That anonymous woman, whom nobody knew and, as she said, just any tourist, rejecting him like that... This was a real shock to the Taurus.

David called Nina a dozen times, but no one answered. And it was killing him inside.

Although David was on vacation, he had unpostponable appointments with a physiotherapist, a psychologist, and a medical team waiting for him at a super professional and luxurious spa. He was scheduled to start his treatment there. So he moved from the hotel where he was staying to this rest clinic. His security team made sure that nothing leaked to the press.

David had already spent three days resting, and Nina had not returned any of his calls. He was already thinking of giving up. His days were reduced to saunas, massages, therapeutic talks, and contact with nature. He was doing a mental and physical detox. However, despite being in the midst of so much calm in a harmonious and refined environment, there was one thought that did not leave him in peace: "What could it be that the stranger is doing now?

David tried to let it go, but his celebrity instincts would not let him ignore it. After all, he was rich, handsome, and famous. Why did Nina treat him with such insignificance? This question would not shut up in his thoughts.

David thought and rethought about the risks. He thought about using the phone of the clinic, or one of his most loyal security guards, but gave up. He thought it was better to use his own phone, for privacy reasons.

- Hello, stranger. It's me, the famous stranger. I hope your stay in Italy is being as safe and pleasant as mine is. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask me for help. It was a pleasure chatting with you in the bathroom" - David ended the message with a smiling emoji.

Nina got out of bed, got ready, looked at her phone, and saw a dozen missed calls. Kara insisted that she return the calls, but the hotel reception couldn't tell her who had called.

The third day of vacation had come as quickly as the trio's hangover had passed. And there they were again, going from restaurant to restaurant, tasting wines and typical dishes of the region, visiting the most famous places in town, "sightseeing", as Kara put it.

At the end of the night, when Nina arrived back at the hotel, she saw that there was a message on her phone, among the many others that her telephone company in Norway sent, informing her about 4G and so on.

Nina opened the message from that unknown number full of pluses and zeros and was surprised to see that it was from David. She read and reread it.

Nina was very thoughtful about how he had found out her number. Maybe some of his security guards were scouts for the Italian Mafia or the taxi driver who had brought her and her friends from the nightclub to the hotel that night. Maybe David already knew where she was staying. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Nina was freaking out! The truth was that she didn't believe it was him.

Her friends read the message too and were in shock.

- Girlfriend, the most desirable and handsome man in the world is contacting you, and you're standing there acting like a fool, girlfriend?! Come on! - thundered Kara.

And the three musketeers spent hours discussing Nina's attitudes. When everyone was already in bed to sleep, Nina decided to answer David's message:

- Hello, stranger. What's really strange is that you know my phone number. I confess that I am terrified!

Nina didn't get an answer that night, because when she sent the message to David, he was already asleep.

The next day Kara had already prepared a tour route for them. If they did everything right, they would have the rest of their vacation free to drink and relax.

They woke up early, had breakfast, and went out. Nina kept checking her phone inside the tour bus. Kara, always attentive, nudged Lyon, showing Nina's interest in the phone, a sign that her friend was giving in. Around two o'clock in the afternoon David answered her:

- Wow. Scared? Don't be. It's not that hard to find people on Google these days. I just wanted to say hello and ask if everything is okay. You disappeared from the club all of a sudden... I hope the sandals are ok 😊.

- Yes, they are fine. Anyway, thank you for caring. Very kind of you. Have a nice day.

David stared at that answer on his cell phone screen and did not give up.

- What are you doing now?

- I'm on a tour bus with my friends. - Nina wrote while Kara shouted: "What about you? Hey, friend! - So Nina wrote before sending it.

- I am bored. What do you say we talk about? - sent David.

- But we are talking...!

And his friends beside him rolled their eyes at this answer.

- Yes we are," David sent. - But don't you prefer a face-to-face conversation, with no strings attached? A cup of coffee? Over dinner?

- With you? I honestly don't see why. I'm sorry.

Nina's friends were perplexed. Literally slack-jawed. Even David was stunned by this answer.

It confused him. He hated arrogance, and he sensed a tinge of it in that answer.

- Yes, with me," answered David. - What's so great about that? Isn't that how normal people know each other?

- Yes, normal people," Nina agreed.

- Are you saying that you are not normal?

Nina smiled with that answer.

- No, that's not what I mean. I am normal, a mere mortal. I don't know why someone like you would want to have dinner with someone like me. To be quite honest...

Lyon and Kara were about to take the phone from Nina's hands before she ruined everything. She explained to them both that she didn't believe that this was really David Nichols. She would have sworn it was someone impersonating him. Lyon and Kara were going crazy with her suspicions. Then another message appeared on Nina's phone screen as the three of them were arguing.

- Define a person like me and a person like you...

- Oh, you know. Strangely, a superstar like you is so insistent on having contact with an anonymous person like me. This is a prank, to say the least. A sick joke.

- So come and meet me. You can draw your own conclusions.

The more he wrote, the more Nina found the whole thing improbable. A super famous person wouldn't write such things to just anyone. Unless it's not from his phone.

Lyon and Kara no longer paid any attention to the subject. They already knew Nina very well and knew that she was very capable of really sabotaging that meeting. So they left her talking to herself.

- Of course! If there's a problem he'll say it's all fake and that's it. Clever! That makes sense," Nina said to herself.

- Now she's talking to herself. Look, Lyon, the state of our friend... - said, Kara.

Nina ignored them and decided to type back.

- I don't believe it is really David Nichols," she wrote. - Send me a real picture, taken at this very moment.

David spent some time thinking. Then he decided to send a picture of himself with the following caption:

- Yes, that's me.

- This doesn't prove anything. Anyone can take a picture on the internet and send it... don't get me wrong, please, I'm sorry.

- Can I call you?

- I prefer messages, in case you are a mafioso posing as David. That way at least the police will have a way to trace these conversations, in case I disappear.

David laughed.

- You'll have to trust me and come to where I am," he wrote. - I can't appear in public.

- What if you are a murderer? There is everything on the Internet. People only believe it when they see it in the newspapers. How can you prove to me that you are you?

- We talked in the bathroom. You almost fell, I helped you. We talked on the couch. You were a little exhausted from the night. Then you left.

- The nightclub bouncers may have seen these tapes and may have gotten my contact information from my name and phone number on the party list.

- You're joking, aren't you?

- Of course not," answered Nina. - In what world do you live? In the real world thousands of things like this happen every day, you know. I have worked with this before, in a support center for abused women. I'm the one who doesn't take risks for anything or anyone!

Suddenly Nina's phone started ringing. David Nichols was calling...