“This is your home!” His eyes are about to bulge from their sockets.
“No, Giuliano.” I get into the elevator. “You’ve made it quite clear where we stand. I won’t darken your door anymore. Don’t worry, I won’t interrupt you ever again. Fuck whoever you want.” I hit the elevator button. “Just stay the hell away from me.”
“Where are you going?” he yells.
“Paris…. Where I belong.”
Seven days. Seven nights. A million broken dreams.
I’m in a fetal position on the couch, under my blanket, my trusty laptop and phone by my side.
How can only one week in Milan with him feel like it’s ended my world?
Seven days…and look at me, I’m a mess.
A knock sounds at the door and I frown, that’s weird, nobody can get up to my floor.
I get up and it knocks again, harder this time, more urgent.
I peek through the peephole and see two men, who are they?
Shit.
“Francesca, open the door,” a familiar voice calls.
Huh?
I’m trying to see who exactly is out there through the tiny peephole, why don’t they make these fucking things bigger?
“It’s me, Dr. Miracash.”
“Oh.” What? It’s my family doctor from home. “What’s going on?” I call through the door.
“Open the door and I’ll explain.”
I think for a moment and then shrug, if I can’t trust my family doctor, who can I trust? I tentatively open the door. “Hello.” I frown.
He smiles warmly. “Hello.” He gestures to the other man, “This is Dr. Ormond.”
My eyes flick between the two of them. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve been sent here to do some testing.”
“What kind of testing?”
“A paternity test, Mr. Ferrara sent us.”
16
Francesca
“Oh,” I say, although I can’t say I’m surprised, Giuliano will never believe a word my mother says and after thinking on it for a few days, I have to admit it, there are holes in her story. Enough for me to cast doubt too, after all she’s lied to me about so many things up until now in regard to my father, what makes this any different. My mother hasn’t contacted me once since I went to her…which is odd.
Does she have a guilty conscience? I do wonder.
Truth be told, I am relieved that he hasn’t given up on us.
I step back and hold my arm out. “Please, do come in.” They walk in and Dr. Miracash puts his bag onto the table, I watch on as he takes out a swab and a test tube. “This isn’t an invasive test, you just need to rub this swab around on the inside of your cheek and we will send it off for analysis.”
“That’s it?” I frown.
“Yes, this will give us enough DNA to see if further testing is required.”
“Have you….” My voice trails off, I don’t want to say it out loud.
“Mr. Ferrara has already done his test.”
“Oh.” I fake a smile, there’s my answer. “Sure.”
I watch on as he takes the swab out and passes it to me and I swipe it around the inside of my cheek and then the other side. I dig it in until I swear I nearly draw blood.
I want answers too.
I pass it back over to him and then he puts it into the test tube and bags it up.
Dr. Ormond then takes out another swab and passes it over, I frown in question.
“Mr. Ferrara wants two tests carried and sent to separate labs to be sure.”
Of course he does, I roll my lips to hide my smile and take the test from him and repeat the process.
“I’ll need you to fill this paperwork out,” Dr. Ormond asks as he passes me a clipboard with a permission slip attached. I do as I’m asked, fill it out and pass it back.
“How long until the results are back?” I ask.
“Mr. Ferrara has expressed the urgency of this matter, so hopefully within a few days.”
My heart swells, he wants to see me urgently. That makes two of us, this last week without him has felt like an eternity in hell.
“Okay,” I smile as we walk toward the door. “Are you flying home now?”
“Yes, we came on the Ferrara jet, returning tonight.”
A thought comes to my mind. I’ve only ever seen Dr. Miracash when he came to our home. “Do you have your own practice in Milan?” I ask, it’s never even crossed my mind to ask this before.
“No, I’m a general practitioner, also a surgeon. I work full time for Ferrara industries,” Dr. Miracash replies.
“Oh….” I stare at him as I wonder how many of the Ferrara men he has put back together over the years. “I see.” A surgeon…wow, that would be so they could go untraced by the hospital system. “Well, thank you for coming.” I open the door. “So you will call me?” I ask.
“Mr. Ferrara has requested that the test results go to him first, he will instruct us from there.”
“Okay.” I nod in understanding. That’s code for, if it’s good news Giuliano wants to tell me himself, if it’s bad news, which I think it is, the doctor will call me. “Goodbye.”
I watch the two men walk down the hall and get into the elevator, the doors close and they disappear out of sight.
I stare at the closed doors for a moment, I never thought that my future life would depend on the results of a stick covered in saliva. I exhale heavily and close the door, don’t get your hopes up.
The rain pours down as I push out through the heavy glass doors at my office. I worked on-site today and just as my boss predicted, I was interrupted almost every ten minutes and achieved next to nothing. I definitely will be working from home for the next few weeks, there’s no way I’m going to make all my deadlines with today’s productivity.
As I walk out I see my black Mercedes and another man standing with the door open, he’s in the customary black suit and is holding an umbrella over his head. I haven’t seen him before, who is he?
Shit.
I dart back into the building and check my messages. There’s one from Lorenzo that came through an hour ago, I haven’t seen it yet.
Hi Cheska,
You have a new driver today.
His name is Davidoff.
Lorenzo
Xox
What?
I instantly dial Lorenzo’s number and he answers first ring as if expecting my call. “Hello, darling.”
“Hi.” I force myself to use my manners. “Where’s Antonio?”
“He’s been moved back to Italy,” Lorenzo replies calmly.
“Why?” I snap, although I already know the answer, it’s because he told Giuliano that I’m back with Marcel.
“Giuliano wants him in Rome for the time being.”
“Rome?” My eyes bulge from their sockets. “It’s not safe in Rome, why would he send him to Rome?”
Lorenzo lets out a deep exhale. “It is not for us to decide where Giuliano stations his staff, Francesca, Davidoff will now be looking after you.”