by Sophie Love
She ran, on and on, until her chest ached. Then she collapsed against a wall, sunk to her knees, and wept.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
As she wept in the shadows, Keira felt like everyone was looking at her and whispering. In desperate need of support, she grabbed her phone from her soggy purse—realizing as she did so that she’d abandoned her suitcase in the gondola with Cristiano. Luckily, her phone wasn’t damaged. But her notebook was. She pulled it out in a soggy clump of pulped pages. The sight made her tears fall even more.
Keira managed to pull her bedraggled body back up to standing as she deliberated over whom to call. She saw Cristiano’s name flash up on the screen. He was calling her, but she didn’t want to speak to him, she didn’t want to fall victim to any more of his lies.
It was then she saw a missed call from Maxine. She hit redial quickly.
When Maxine answered, Keira immediately heard the sound of a street party behind her. Of course, she would be out celebrating Halloween. She remembered their conversation in Bryn’s kitchen when they’d discussed Keira missing Halloween; everyone had been so jealous of her and the fact she’d be spending it in Italy. The memory made Keira feel even more glum. How different the reality had turned out to be.
“Keira!” Maxine cried with a drunken giggle. “I miss you!”
“I miss you too,” Keira replied, her heart aching to be reunited with someone who cared for her, someone who wouldn’t hurt her.
“How is Italy? Is it amazing? Are you having the best time?”
Maxine fired a barrage of excited questions at Keira. Her enthusiasm elicited a small smile from Keira.
“Italy is phenomenal,” Keira replied, truly meaning it. “It’s like a whole other world. I’m still expecting to wake up on Bryn’s couch and for this to all have been a dream.”
As she said it, she realized, bitterly, that she also wished she would.
“I’m so jealous of you,” Maxine cried, her voice slurring slightly.
“Well, don’t be,” Keira replied. “It sounds like you’re having plenty of fun where you are!” Just talking about normal things was starting to make her feel a little better, and she had stopped crying now at least.
“I’m at a street party,” Maxine said. “I’ve met a very sexy Frankenstein. In a couple of cocktails’ time, I’m going to kiss him.”
Keira laughed. As terrible as she felt for herself, she was happy to know Maxine was having a good time.
She wrung out her dress, trying to get some of the canal water out of it. It was still very wet and weighing her down. She wanted very much to speak to Maxine about her embarrassing experience and how foolish she’d been by falling for an Italian stallion, but now clearly wasn’t the time. Maxine’s advice skills weren’t going to be particularly sharp at the moment thanks to all the alcohol in her system. She realized that Bryn would be in much the same state.
“Is Shelby at the party with you?” Keira asked, hoping that at least one of her confidantes would be available and sober.
“What?” Maxine replied, shouting over the thumping bass music in the background.
Keira raised her voice. “Shelby? Is she there too?”
“Oh right. Yeah. She and David have come dressed as rum and Coke.”
Now it was Keira’s turn to not understand. “How?”
“He’s dressed as a pirate and she’s dressed as a bottle of cola.”
“That’s so cheesy,” Keira replied, rolling her eyes and laughing. But she secretly wished she had someone to wear a silly costume with this evening. Instead, she had a soggy masquerade mask in her purse and she’d left the person with the matching costume floating in a gondola.
Knowing Shelby would likely be in the same inebriated state as Maxine, Keira decided it was best to leave them to their party.
“Enjoy your evening,” she shouted down the phone.
She heard a garbled reply from Maxine, the sound of hollering and laughter, a booming drum beat, then the call cut out.
As soon as the call to Maxine ended, her phone began flashing again with another incoming call from Cristiano. She hit the red button and then turned her phone off. The last thing she wanted right now was a stream of endless calls from him.
Keira sighed sadly, wondering what to do next. Cristiano had all the details of the hotel and the directions to get there. She could call Heather to ask for the information or to book a new room but she was too embarrassed. She didn’t want to reveal what had transpired between her and Cristiano.
So instead, she wandered away from the busy Venetian streets, heading toward the darker, quieter part of the city. The first hotel she came across that didn’t look like a glamorous castle torn from the pages of a fairy story, she went inside.
It was a backpackers hostel, filled with foreign students playing cards.
“Do you have any spare rooms?” she asked the person at the desk. He had a baby face, looking like he’d barely gotten out of high school. “For tonight.”
“Nothing private,” he told her, “But there’s space in the dorm.”
Keira chewed her lip. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and her clothes were still wet. At least here she’d be able to shower, and put her clothes on a radiator to dry, since she’d be wearing them again tomorrow.
“Okay,” she said finally. “I’ll take it. Thanks.”
She handed him a soggy bill and some euros from her purse, then went into the dormitory, selecting the bunk bed right in the corner for maximum privacy. There was no one else in the room at that point, as they were clearly all out enjoying an American-style Halloween and everything the city had to offer. Keira was glad for the moment’s solitude.
She washed in the shower, which was weak but hot, and wrapped herself in a towel. Then she began the painstaking task of removing each of her wet items from her purse and spreading them out on the radiator. There was no way of salvaging her notebook and she lamented all the lost pages. But that was nothing compared to the fact her laptop was in her case, which she’d accidentally left in Cristiano’s possession. How was she supposed to work now? She felt like even more of a fool than ever before.
Keira took her phone out of her purse and decided it was safe to turn back on now. As it updated, she noticed amongst the missed calls and voicemails left by Cristiano, there was a text message. To Keira’s great surprise, the message was from Shane.
Why now? Keira thought desperately.
She read the message.
I remembered that today is your favorite holiday. Happy Halloween! I hope you’re having the best time whatever it is you’re doing.
Keira read it over and over, hearing Shane’s musical Irish accent in her head, comforted by his contact. In a moment of weakness, she messaged him back.
I’m in a hostel in Venice. Long story. How’s Calum?
Shane’s response came almost immediately.
Venice! That sounds interesting. Dad’s back on his feet and working on the farm again, thanks for asking. You were right about him recovering quickly. But then again, you’re usually right.
Keira frowned as she read the cryptic message. What did he mean by that? You’re usually right seemed to be implying something, referring to something specific. He didn’t mean about them not breaking up, did he? Surely not!
Keira composed her next simple message and hit send.
What else have I been right about?
There was a long pause. Then, finally, her phone buzzed again with Shane’s response.
You were right about us. I made the wrong decision. I should have been patient instead of ending things the way I did. I think I was in shock. I made a dumb mistake.
Keira stared at the words on her screen, her heart pounding. If she’d received this text message October 22nd she’d have been overjoyed. But now, just as October was preparing to move over for November to dawn, her feelings were conflicted.
She needed someone at this point in time, she knew that much. And she loved
Shane, always had, even as she was falling for Cristiano. It had been Vanni who made her realize the possibility of loving more than one person at one time; one of the many lessons on romance she’d learned since arriving here.
But if she replied to Shane at this point in time, when she was at her lowest, how would she know she was behaving in accordance with her heart rather than as a way of alleviating her pain and loneliness?
She read the message again and again. In the end, she decided not to reply. Her mind was a mess right now, her heart in turmoil. It would be reckless to carry on this conversation with Shane while she was feeling so vulnerable.
There was one thing becoming more clear in Keira’s mind now, though, and that was the fact that she’d blown her assignment. No laptop to work on anymore and her extensive handwritten notes had been destroyed.
Finally, she realized she had no choice but to call Heather.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been pickpocketed again,” Heather said as she answered.
“No,” Keira said. “It’s worse.”
She listened to the sound of Heather drawing a breath. When she spoke her tone was practically a wince. “What’s happened?”
“It’s my laptop,” Keira said. “It’s gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“There was an incident with a gondola,” Keira replied. Half truths were easier to say than lies.
She heard Heather exhale sharply. “Did you drown your laptop?”
“Sort of.”
“I wish you were pranking me right now, but you’re not, are you?”
“No,” Keira said, glumly. “I’m sorry, Heather. My laptop’s gone and all my notes are ruined. I’ve blown it.”
“Well, now you’re just being overdramatic. We can figure this out.”
Keira clutched her phone, her mind thinking of Cristiano. “I don’t think we can,” she said.
Heather paused. “Keira, what are you telling me?”
“That I want to come home,” Keira said, and she suddenly began to sob again.
The other end of the line was silent. If Keira hadn’t already had the most embarrassing experience of her life, this probably would have been a contender. Sadly, she seemed to be collecting terrible events now.
“If I fly you home, you won’t be able to claim it back on expenses,” Heather said. “The company isn’t in a position to waste money like that.”
Keira chewed her lip. That hadn’t occurred to her, and it confused her too to think that Viatorum wouldn’t pay. Were they in financial difficulties?
She put those worries out of her mind. She couldn’t focus on everything at once. The important thing for her to work out right now was whether she could afford to pay for herself to fly home.
Suddenly her $400 sandals seemed liked a terrible waste of money. But, much like her sister’s missing $400 bespoke sandals, it was something she would have to pay for later.
“I understand,” she said, finally. “I’ll foot the bill myself.”
“You also know it would be a violation of your contract,” Heather added. “There’d be no payment for the incomplete work.”
“I get it, I get it,” Keira huffed. It felt like Heather was kicking her while she was already down!
“Fine. Leave it with me. But there won’t be any flights tomorrow. It’s a national holiday in Italy. Everything is booked up.”
Keira felt herself deflating. Of course, All Saints’ Day was tomorrow. Cristiano had told her the holiday used to be more important than Christmas, and in many more rural parts of Italy it still was. How typical that she’d pick the one day that she couldn’t leave to have a breakdown and demand to leave!
“Okay, Heather, let’s leave it for tonight. If I’m stuck here for a day I may as well try and write something, salvage something from this mess.”
“That makes me feel a lot better,” Heather replied. “I’m really not looking forward to relaying this to Elliot.”
“Then don’t!” Keira cried. That was the last thing she needed right now.
“I have to. He’s the boss. Sorry, Keira. I’ll speak to you later.”
The call went dead. Keira chewed her lip, suddenly filled with dread knowing that Heather most certainly would speak to Elliot about what had transpired in their conversation.
It didn’t take long for her cell screen to illuminate and show her Elliot’s name.
Keira found herself trembling as she took the call.
“Keira, I’m not going to talk you into staying,” Elliot began, in his usual abrupt tone. “What I am going to say is that laptops can be replaced but writers can’t. You’re the right person for this job. I don’t know what crisis you’re going through that’s making you want to give up—and I don’t want to—but if it’s anything to do with insecurity then just know that you’re a very talented writer and that’s why we’ve put this kind of faith in you.”
Keira was shocked. It was not what she’d been expecting to hear at all.
“What about the magazine?” Keira said. “If I give up, won’t it be bad for Viatorum?”
There was a pause. Elliot sighed. “Keira I’m going to tell you something in the strictest of confidence.”
Keira was even more surprised to hear this. She’d been expecting Elliot to chew her ear off, but instead he’d paid her the highest compliment she’d ever received in relation to her work and now he was letting her in on some kind of secret.
“Lance isn’t your boss. Well, he is, strictly speaking, but it’s more complicated than that.” He breathed deeply. “Lance is my boss. He bought out the magazine.”
“What?” Keira exclaimed. “But why is he in the office doing Josh’s role? Is it like some kind of covert operation? Is he spying on us in order to work out who to sack?”
“It’s not like that,” Elliot replied. “Well, not completely. Lance has a unique approach to takeovers. You might have noticed that. He’s trying to get a feel for the magazine before he draws up his plan.”
Keira was panicking now. “What plan? What does that involve?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. It could be downsizing, upsizing, rebranding, relocating, firing, hiring. Hell, if he wants, he could change the direction of the magazine entirely. We could be writing about fashion or music instead of travel if that’s what he so desires.”
It was all starting to fall into place in Keira’s mind.
“That’s why you wanted me to do this piece,” she said. “If I can prove to him that Viatorum is heading in the right direction he’ll just let us carry on as we were.”
“Precisely,” Elliot replied. “Keira, I don’t want to heap all the pressure on your shoulders. That’s the way Josh behaved and it’s the way I was treated when I started out in this business all those years ago. It’s not fair to you to put my fate in your hands. So do what you think is best. I’ll respect whatever decision you make.”
He hung up and Keira stared at her cell phone. Things had done a complete three-sixty, again. Why was life always turning her upside down? She never knew if she was coming or going or what to do for the best.
The only thing that was irrefutable right now was that she was stuck in Italy whether she wanted to leave or not. There was nothing to be done now, so she may as well sleep on it and see what the morning brought.
Knowing her luck, Keira thought sadly, it would be another knock back, another blow, another twist of the knife that seemed permanently wedged in her heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Keira slept poorly, thanks to the people filing into the dormitory at all hours of the night. The bed was uncomfortable too, which didn’t help matters. So as soon as it was daylight outside, she decided to get up.
Her clothes felt stiff from the unclean canal water, and they didn’t exactly smell that great either.
As Keira stashed her items back in her purse, she saw a stream of missed calls from Cristiano, and, just to complicate her mind even further, another text message from Sha
ne. It just said, simply:
Keira?
She felt terrible about ignoring him, but she just couldn’t handle Shane on top of everything else right now. She deleted the message, put her phone in her purse, and left the hostel.
Out on the streets, Keira was still unsure what to do with herself. She and Cristiano had planned to attend the street festival celebration for All Saints’ Day, the costume ball. She wondered whether he would go in case she turned up, with her luggage in tow. She didn’t want to risk seeing him again. She was so embarrassed and hurt by what had happened back on the gondola.
From her purse, she heard her phone start to ring. Expecting it to be Cristiano again, she took it out, but saw with surprise that it was her mom calling. She quickly calculated in her head that in New York it was midnight. It was very unlike her mom to call her so late.
“Is everything okay?” Keira asked when she answered the call.
“Yes, I stayed up late so I could call you. It’s not too early there, is it? I didn’t wake you?”
Keira felt her heart swell at the sweet gesture of her mom. But that still didn’t explain why she’d gone out of her way to stay up in order to call Keira.
“You didn’t wake me, no,” Keira confirmed. “But why did you want to talk in the first place?”
“I just thought you might need some support.”
Keira’s mom was terrible at lying.
“Someone’s spoken to you,” Keira said. “Who?”
If there was one thing her mom was worse at than lying it was holding her ground.
“Elliot, from work. He said you were thinking of quitting.”
Keira was shocked to hear that Elliot had been in touch with her mom of all people. It seemed like he was really going out of his way to help her, even though he had no idea the true extent of what was going on.
“I am,” Keira replied. “I’ve had some bad luck here. Bad omens.”
“This is a once in a lifetime experience, Keira,” her mom replied. “What could possibly be so bad that you’d want to leave?”