He Said It Was A Prank

At seven the next morning, I stood by the window and watched the two of them downstairs in front of my building. They were ready to depart for the trip.

Enzo called me.

I hung up.

He called again.

I hung up again.

Finally, his voice carried up from the street below, loud enough to reach me through two floors.

“Amelia, do you have to be so unreasonable? Fine. If this is how you want to play it, you can forget about ever going anywhere with me for the rest of your life!”

After that shout, he revved the engine and drove off with Lucrezia.

All weekend, my social media feed was flooded with their hunting photos.

[Taking my beautiful assistant out to practice her shooting today.]

[The girl complained about hunting the rabbits, saying they were too cute.]

[Lucrezia was so delicate. She was struggling to keep up, so I had no choice but to carry her the entire time.]

Under each post were likes and pointed comments from family members.

[Oh? Why are you going with Lucrezia this time? Where is Amelia?]

[Looks like the fiancee’s spot might be changing hands.]

[She is young and pretty after all. You’re a lucky guy, Enzo.]

[Enzo, go easy on the little lady, or you’ll have to calm her down when she cries later.]

Layla was so angry that she threw her phone in front of me.

“That jerk did it on purpose! He’s just trying to get under your skin!”

Get under my skin?

When I looked at the photos, my mind was as calm as a frozen lake in winter. I even found it slightly amusing.

I flew to Bellarosa as scheduled.

When I walked out of the airport, the warm wind of Bellarosa hit me.

It carried the scent of olive trees and the sea, completely unlike the cold, diesel-laden air of New Avalon.

Early in the morning, I was sipping coffee and adjusting to the overly bright sunlight on the balcony, when my mother, Ivanka Ross, called.

“Amelia, Don Vitelli showed up at the house first thing this morning. He kept saying you were still mad at him and wouldn’t see him. What’s going on with you two?”

My stomach dropped.

Oh, no.

I had planned to gently break the news of our breakup to my family. I never expected Enzo to show up at their door first.

My mother sounded puzzled. “I told him you left yesterday, but he wouldn’t believe it. He insisted on coming upstairs to find you.”

In the background, the line was noisy. I could hear Enzo shouting in a frantic and impatient tone.

“Stop covering for her, Ivanka. Can you tell her to stop this already? Doesn’t she know we had plans today? We promised to try on the wedding attire today! Even if she’s angry, she can’t delay this!”

My mother tried to explain. “Enzo, Amelia really left. I took her to the airport yesterday.”

“Yesterday? The airport?”

Enzo’s voice cut off abruptly, as if someone had grabbed his throat. “Why would she go to the airport?”

“Hasn’t she been transferred to Bellarosa?” my mother said, even more confused. “Didn’t you know about her job transfer?”

A dead silence fell over the line.

All that could be heard was Enzo’s heavy, disbelieving breaths.

I stopped listening and calmly hung up the phone.