◆ Did You Miss Me, Friend? ◆
◇ KEL ◇
After another busy day at the hospital, I went straight home after my shift. I didn't want to hang around especially after pissing off our new consultant—on his very first day of training us.
Sheesh. I blamed the mind-numbing daze after that awful phone call with Miles. I went through my day feeling like a zombie on weed.
Not that I liked to smoke weed. I tried it once with him and Paul, his best friend. Trippy night with lots of nausea and forgotten banters. Never tried it again.
I checked my phone. Ugh. No new notifications. I told my best friend about my last conversation with Miles. I tried calling her but Gaia wouldn't answer. Probably too busy with another case.
She sent a short text an hour ago, though:
1 message
from: Gaia
"Good riddance! It's his loss. You're better off without his toxic bullshit."
Today 18:24
I sighed. Well, I wouldn't argue her opinion. She's always the wiser one when it came to these things. I should've listened to her advice. Then I would've saved myself from all this heartache and constant anxiety.
Stupid. I was the naïve idealist. The pushover. Emotionally ill-equipped to deal with life's often harsh realities.
Then again I was kind of a masochist. Only sometimes. Miles helped me realize that just recently.
Ugh. It might take me ages before discovering the secret to resetting my brain post-heartbreak. I didn't want to just delete him from my memories, though. Just keep the painfully memorable thoughts of him at bay for most of the day.
Was it really too much to ask?
◇
I should be sleeping. My co-trainees were expecting me to show up early tomorrow. Plus we had another important assessment coming up.
But of course my brain was stuck in hyper mode. I had to talk to someone—vent and maybe cry it out for a few minutes. Unfortunately Gaia's incredibly busy with another case.
Mommy, Jill and Meesha were on vacation with Jill's husband and in-laws. Basically, they left me alone here in New York. No family or close friends to run to for post-breakup advice.
But maybe Enzo's still up? And he'd been through the same thing just recently. He should have some eye-opening advice for me. I also had other unrelated questions he should be able to answer.
He wasn't a night owl like me but hopefully he's still up. I grabbed my phone and rang his old number.
It's past 1AM in Florence, but he picked up after two rings. "Hi."
"Hi."
"You alright?"
"Yeah." I took a deep breath. Something in my chest jumped at the sound of his voice.
It's manly but also soothing. Calming but straightforward. Odd mix. He didn't sound like he'd just woken up. "Good."
"Am I disturbing?" I held my breath, my hand fidgeting beside my phone.
"No. I was in a meeting. I'm in the car now."
A meeting that lasted past midnight? "Oh. Sorry." I sat on the edge of my bed. "A-Are you driving?"
"No. Berto's driving."
"I see."
Did he have time to chat about something else besides work? I wasn't skilled at small talk—much less segueing into a more serious conversation. But no chickening out. And it seemed he's done avoiding me so he could "move on".
Whatever that actually meant. "How's your, um... Everything back to normal now? No more pain in your ribs or chest?"
"Yeah. All good. I joined the triathlon with Rafa last weekend."
"Wow. Nice." Was he serious? His last post on social media showed him getting out of the hospital just last week. And now he's doing extreme sports again? "That's great actually. You heal up so fast."
"Yeah. Thanks to you, too."
"Me?" I cleared my throat, feeling parched all of a sudden. "Could you— Can we switch to video?"
"Why?"
"Nothing. I just..." I closed my eyes, cringing at myself, palms turning a little sweaty now. Should I explain? Did he even want to video-chat with me? "I just wanna see you."
"Alright," he muttered after an awkward silence. "But I'm in the backseat, bellezza. It's dark."
"It's fine."
"Alright." Enzo paused. He made me wait for another few seconds. "Switching to video now."
Holding back a smile, I accepted the video call request. I sat still on my bed and waited.
We hadn't talked or seen each other since the last time we were in the Falcos' estate. Only a few weeks ago. But I kind of missed him already. As I sat in silence in my dim bedroom, my screen went dark and grainy.
Then his tan face appeared. Enzo smiled faintly.
It was almost forced, but at least he looked somewhat glad to see me again. I could almost hear my heartbeat when his shadowed eyes stared at me. "You held a meeting? This late?"
"Yeah," he sighed, scratching his dark scruff. "Had dinner with Rafa and our team. In Rome. Went over some management issues. On my way home now."
"Okay."
It sounded like a serious meeting. Maybe he had urgent matters to discuss with Raffaele and their team about their new stores in the southern parts of Italy.
"How's Rafa doing?"
"Not great."
"Oh." I bit on my finger. I hadn't met his best friend yet, but I knew Rafa also came from a wealthy Italian clan.
The only things I knew about the guy:
1) he and Enzo have been best friends since high school
2) also a full-blooded Italian
3) he's Enzo's first ever business partner and started the pharmacy chain with him
4) and Rafa's kind of hiding from Leandro because of Alodia
"But he's fine." Enzo scratched the tip of his dark brow, one of his tells when he's anxious or bothered about something. "He's just... Alodia's still staying with him."
"Oh."
Leandro must be cross still if he'd found out his girlfriend had happily moved on—and with his brother's best friend. Yikes.
"Yeah. Bloody mess." Enzo looked away and raked his fingers through his wavy hair. It looked inches shorter, showing off his angular jaw. "You don't wanna know the rest."
"Nope. Not really." I feigned a chuckle when he smirked. "You sleepy now?"
"No. Why'd you call? I thought you're in trouble or something."
"No. I'm fine. Just..." Oh jeez. Here goes...
Enzo scowled after looking away from the camera. "Sorry, love. Gimme a sec." He pinched the bridge of his pointed nose before saying something to his bodyguard. Enzo sounded a bit annoyed and distracted while they conversed in Italian. Then his phone's flashlight turned on. He squinted at the camera. "You alright? Could you turn on your flash? Can't see your face."
"Yeah. Sorry." I rushed to the other side of the bed to turn on the bedside lamp while fighting off a smile. Not because I could see him clearly now, but because his question denoted genuine concern.
Still thoughtful. Still caring. Still sweet.
Before I found out he'd already proposed to Libby, it baffled me how he's still a bachelor at 34. Calling him "eligible" would be insultingly understating his appeal. Or maybe romantic relationships didn't interest him anymore.
Thinking of what his ex did to him still left a bad taste in my mouth. What was she even thinking? Cheating on him after years of his loyalty and just humiliating him in the worst way? It's none of my beeswax, but that woman really didn't deserve him.
"Are you in bed?" Enzo asked, snapping me back to reality. His phone's closer to his face now.
I could almost see the blue flecks in his deep-set eyes. "Yeah. Just finished my shift."
"Surgery ward, still?"
"Yeah. Quite a busy month." I put on a smile.
"But you're enjoying it?"
"Definitely not a breeze. We're learning a lot every day, though. It's more challenging than lab work."
"Great." He grinned, showing his nice teeth and deep dimples.
The dark, baggy skin under his eyes and his hoarse voice told me I should leave him alone now. But I didn't want to say goodbye yet. Far from the truth.
"Your graduation's in May. Right?"
"Yeah." I smiled again. Although he's only being polite by sounding interested, I still appreciated that he remembered. "You'll be there? At the party? Mommy told me to remind you."
"Erm... What day is it?" Enzo reclined in the backseat and muffled a yawn with his fist.
"May 28th. Friday."
"Ah." He nodded faintly. "I'll check my calendar."
"When are you coming back? Here in New York."
"Soon. Gonna meet with new investors. Why?"
"Nothing. I, uh, just need you to sign something."
"Sign what?" He made a face.
"Just some paperwork."
It's the payment contract Gaia emailed to him multiple times. I already asked him to sign it weeks ago. But I wouldn't mention specifics now; he might decline my invitation.
"And Mom wants me to invite you to Meesha's christening. Next week."
"Right. Tsk. Almost forgot," Enzo muttered. "Thanks for reminding."
"I mean, only if you'll be here in New York that weekend, and you're not too busy. Just drop by around lunchtime. I'll send Jill and David's address."
"Sure. I'll try. I'll set a reminder on my phone."
"Thanks. Mom's gonna cook your favorites, she said." Actually my mom already liked him just minutes after I introduced him to her months ago. But she still had no idea I only met Enzo because of that ambush back in Umbria. She might overreact and call the cops if I told her everything.
"I'll try." Enzo chuckled and itched his stubble. "I'm not promising I'd be there. But I'll have my assistant send a gift for Meesha in advance."
"Okay. Thanks. I'll tell Mom and Jill you're busy if you can't come."
"I got invited to a pharma con in Milano. But the schedule might change."
"Fingers crossed." I faked another smile. At least it wasn't an outright no. "She wants you and Miles there, at the party. But, he's busy. And I really need you to sign the paperwork."
"What paperwork?"
"The payment terms," I murmured after hesitating, well aware that he'd rather talk about sports than my existing debts to him. "And Gaia's been emailing you. She said you're still ignoring her."
"Right. Gaia." Enzo massaged his forehead. "Sorry. We got busy. Rafa and our team. I'll email her later."
"Okay. You should read the terms. Just tell her whether you agree or disagree with the clauses. Or if there's something in the contract you wanna change. Then you could sign it next time you're here. But if you prefer signing it online instead..."
"No. Like I said, it's a personal loan. No interest." He sighed louder and frowned. Like he couldn't be bothered to keep talking about it.
"Enzo..."
He rolled his eyes. "Alright."
"Alright what?" I muttered while trying not to giggle.
Was he finally conceding? "I never told you to pay me back soon. Like I said, I don't need the money. But since you keep insisting," he droned on with wrinkled brows, "I need you for something. Maybe next month. Before the launch."
"Launch?"
"For Zione."
Oh...his new company. "Sure. Sure. What d'you need me to do?"
"We hired a marketing consultant. He said we're gonna need models for a photo shoot. Not sure if there's gonna be a commercial shoot the same day. We haven't discussed the particulars yet. But, yeah. Nothing over the top."
"Okay. I'll do it. What kind of photo shoot? Indoors? And where?"
"Indoors. Clinical lab setting. No final date or venue yet. But it's definitely gonna be in New York."
"Okay." I smiled at him, quite thrilled. I didn't expect he'd ask me to do this kind of favor for him, but modeling for his new company actually excited me.
"See you soon. We'll talk about it."
"No— Wait. Don't hang up yet."
"Alright. Why?"
"Do you know if..." I gripped my phone and wiped some sweat off my nape. Darn it. The nerves and thinking of Miles sped up my heartbeat again. I wasn't going to stalk him online; I just needed some answers. "Have you seen Miles around?"
"No. Why?" Enzo squinted, his tone both somewhat leery and curious.
My chest now felt like I should start some breathing exercises, or I might pass out from lack of oxygen later. I smothered a sigh with my sweaty palm. Great... Anxiety attack on another study night.
Seconds of silence ticked by while I debated with my own brain. "You think he's seeing someone new?"
"Erm..." Enzo grinned. "I have no idea. But he texted me a few hours ago."
"Oh. He wants to meet up with you?"
"Yeah. At his parents'. He didn't say why, or if it's urgent. I'll drop by in the morning."
"I see."
Miles wanted to talk to him in person again? Did it have something to do with Stefano? And Enzo's brother?
"Don't tell him I asked. Okay?"
"Alright." Enzo kept staring at me and covered another grin with his fist. "As you wish."
◇
