𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐃 | 𝟏𝟖+

twenty-nine; guilt

A U R O R A

"Call out my name when I kiss you so gently. I want you to stay even though you don't want me."

. . .

The next day, I arrive at the same time as the others and we all take the elevator up. All I did yesterday was replay the events, and realize how quickly I lost the fragile grip I had on Riccardo.

I wandered around the loft and called with my friends, ending up ordering some food. I had imagined I'd spend the night with Riccardo, and the disappointment is weighing me down.

Instead of going to Riccardo's office – which I have no idea of where it is – we go to a conference room where they'll be more room for all of us to sit down and work on this case.

The grip on my bag tightens when I see Carla getting up from Riccardo's lap once we get in.

"I was just leaving," she chuckles as we enter. She gets her purse and looks up, her eyes meeting mine.

"Oh, hey Aurora! I'm so glad to see you here," she smiles and walks over to me, hugging me. "It's good that I caught you before I left. I'm heading to another show in Milan, and am leaving tonight," she grins.

"That's good to hear!" I grin. Truly.

"It was nice to see you," I add.

She presses another kiss on Riccardo's lips and exits the room, closing the door behind her. Thank God she left.

Riccardo goes on to explain the case to us, keeping formal and his distance at all times.

He avoids eye contact with me, and I can tell seeing Carla has made him feel guilty and conflicted.

My mind goes to the thought of what they could've done last night. I feel all the blood draining away from my face as the image of them together in bed enters my mind.

Of him doing things to her – the same things he did to me.

Anna glances at me and frowns. "Aurora! Are you okay? You seem so pale!" she says, attracting the attention of the others.

She quickly walks over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asks. I nod and send her a weak smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I smile. "Why don't you take her to the restroom so she can freshen herself up?" Alex asks with a frown.

"Sure," Anna says and leads me out of the room. I don't put up a protest since I'm just disheartened and getting nauseous at the thought of Riccardo with someone else.

How pathetic can one be?

I enter the restroom with Anna, who leads me inside. I splash some cold water in my face and exhale, supporting myself on the sink for a second before turning around and taking a seat on top of it.

Anna is rummaging through her bag and pulls out a bottle of water and some pills.

"Here, that'll help," she says and hands me a painkiller along with the bottle of water.

"Thank you," I say, genuinely thankful for her help. "It's okay," she smiles, "I hope you'll start to feel better."

"I think that if I keep talking about it, I'll grow more nauseous," I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

"Okay, then I'll talk about something else! Have you seen Riccardo's girlfriend? God, she's way more intimidating in real life," Anna chuckles, trying to change the subject.

Nope, that makes me nauseous as well.

"Yeah," I bring out weakly. "And she seems super sweet as well," Anna continues.