Crash and Burn

Chapter Thirty Four

Tuesday 13th September

Her fingers tap impatiently on the steering wheel. She left early this morning to avoid the city's traffic, yet she now finds herself going bumper-to-bumper on the narrow roads skirting the edge of Lake Como. Milan's outskirts have long since disappeared in the rearview mirror, grey stone industrial buildings make way for lush green fields and open spaces.

She turns the AC up a notch, battling against today's sweltering temperatures, and looks out the window. Every summer, tourists descend in mass to Como to enjoy the lake, attracted by the azure water and the colorful villages along the shore. With the Alps as a gorgeous background, she fell in love with the town the very first time she came here, and, years later, it still fills her with a profound sense of peace and serenity.

Something she's in need of, more than ever.

Emily isn't foolish enough to check her socials, but she can easily imagine what people have been saying about her since the article's publication in the tabloids. When he got back from the track, the tense lines on his face had given her a clear idea of what awaited her.

She had spent the day focusing on what she could control, namely work and making sure everything was in order before she was set to meet with Mark Johnson. She's read the contract so many times she can recite it by heart, and she's ironed out any detail her mind could conjure up. All there is left to do now is to meet him in Lugano, where he resides, and put both of their signatures on the document.

Charles offered to drive her to Switzerland, but she declined since he had to be in Maranello today. This morning, when he kissed her cheek before leaving, she'd kept her eyes shut and her breathing even. Pretending to be asleep was the easy way out, but it was better than witnessing the worry look on his face and telling him she was fine.

With only her thoughts for company, she revels in the beautiful scenery and the road weaving along the lake as she drives. Normally, the music would be blaring loud enough to burst her eardrums and shatter the windows, which Charles pretends to find annoying. Yet, he's the one buying her CDs of all her favorite artists to listen to in the car. If it were 2003, he would have made her a "it made me think of you" mixtape.

Just as she prefers the smell of paper and the weight of a book, she likes to go through the whole experience when listening to music - taking the CD out of its case, flipping through the booklet, examining the lyrics and appreciating the artwork. When she was fifteen, she'd begged her parents for a room with shelves reaching to the ceiling, each one filled to the brim with CDs and neatly arranged books, just like she'd seen in her favorite TV show. Their modest house in Normandy couldn't accommodate such a dream, though. She'd come home one day to a wall fitted with custom-made bookshelves, decorated with fairy lights, that her dad and Pierre had secretly been working on for weeks.

Now, living in Monaco, she crams her ever-growing collection into a single bookshelf in the living room, almost drowned out by the exhibition of racing helmets and trophies. If they ever find a bigger place, perhaps one with a couple more bedrooms, Charles promised her he'd turn one into her personal haven.

When the silence is abruptly cut by her annoying ringtone, Emily's only fifteen minutes away from the Swiss border. Despite the traffic jam she hit in Como, she finds herself with ample time before her scheduled meeting. Glancing at the dashboard, she smiles as she reads Mark's name on the screen.

She suggested meeting up in his hometown, and he made a lunch reservation in a small café he frequents for inspiration as he writes his next novel. It's been years since she's been to Lugano, so she looks forward to strolling along the lakeshore or wandering the cobblestone streets in the town center if she arrives early, or if Mark is running late.