Love's Inferno

Chapter 13- Surprises Come in Fours

Lou

I was in a mood. 

A foul mood. 

As much as I wish I could pretend otherwise, yesterday had turned my life inside out. And not even a call with Mandi seemed to be able to fix some of the mess that littered the corners of my mind. I don't speak about my family or what happened to us because it doesn't inspire me to live, to continue to persevere in their absence. Speaking about my family makes me feel as if I'm in a seance simply waiting for ghosts to arrive at an ill-timed summoning. I don't talk about my family because it hurts too much; the process of unravelling the past and attempting to tidy it before an unsuspecting, ever-curious audience. I don't speak about my family because it's dreadful, awkward and completely unfair; the way life has continually forced my hand to confront the startling abandonment which lives in excess in their absence. 

I don't speak about my family because I no longer have any. 

I don't have any to speak of. 

Being confronted with that reality is my least favourite activity that and finding a new nail tech on short notice. Looking at my now chipped, plaster-covered nails I realised I had no other option. Dante hadn't pushed, as he silently reached onto the roof and retrieved my bag, walked me to my door and watched it close wordlessly in his face. Dante hadn't forced Anna to blurt it out, which was a far more egregious transgression, but I was angry at him nonetheless. Angrier than usual, but I didn't have time for my anger, I didn't have time for my nails either but I would have to make some somewhere in my chock-a-block schedule to do them. My phone hadn't ceased its incessant ringing all morning. According to Anna's unusuallly concise email I was now running point on the remainder of Tony's press tour. And I would be happy for the distraction if it weren't for the need to spend all my time in comms with Derrick in preparation for the premiere tomorrow night. Derrick had agreed, easily, to my amendments to Tony's movements at the premiere which was one less thing to worry over. 

The next thing would be Uncle Sal. 

I had been up since 5AM, organizing everything I could think of and I was tired. I hadn't slept well knowing that Narnia existed on the other side of a bookcase only a few meters away but what unsettled me more was the knowledge that I didn't know if Dante was the lion, the witch or the wardrobe itself. That unsettled me almost as much as knowing that Carrey had been in the building, meters away from my home. I had made Sal breakfast and was just readying myself to take it to him when I heard a knock on the door. 

I looked through the peephole and found a completely foreign face on the other side. 

"Hello?" 

I had never seen the woman that stood in front of me before. I know this because she was the kind of beauty you don't ever forget. 

"Hello, Miss September." British. A British supermodel was on my doorstep. 

"Can I help you?" I needed to know why. 

"I'm Laureli Angelucci." Great, another Italian. "But you can call me Lauren if you so wish. I'm here to personally oversee the transportation and delivery of your order. I work for Mr. Sanseverino. Where would you like your packages placed?" I looked around her shoulder, on my toes, and noticed an incredibly expensively dressed delivery man holding onto an enormous mobile trolley car. The car had two large containers and the third was secured onto his back, like a backpack.