No Strings Attached

Part 9 : No Strings Attached

**********************************************************************************************************

Riccardo sat at his desk in his home office, mulling over his paperwork. He'd been rooted to the same spot for at least the last three hours, and definitely reading the same sentence over and over again. 

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his mind off the most important thing in his life.

Kimberley.

She had him questioning his very own sanity. He thought he was crazy. He'd never been this obsessed with a woman before, not even Sofia. He realised that he would do anything to make her smile, to make her happy.

And she hated him.

So if time apart from one another was what made her happy, he would just have to learn to live with that.

He hadn't got much sleep in days...in the two weeks since he'd kissed her. He would wake up in a sweat from... wet dreams about her. Her lying in his bed, calling his name, her in a bikini on his yacht.... and those were the tame ones.

So as he sat at the desk, he plotted ways to persuade Kimberley to love him, as much as he loved her.

His vibrating phone snapped him out of his thoughts and sent him spiralling back down to reality. He picked up his phone in irritation. If this wasn't Kimberley, then he wasn't interested.

"Alonso."

"Is that Riccardo Alonso speaking? It is, isn't it? I'm really speaking to Riccardo Alonso."

"May I ask who's speaking please?"

"Oh sorry, I'm a bit ditzy when it comes to celebrities. I get all tongue tied. Actually, I do that when I'm nervous too, you see, it's almost like verbal diarrhea. I just can't stop talking, I talk about everything, favourite colours, favourite movie, my best friend, my parents, my sex life, my old pets that died years and years ago. I'm really talkative anyway you see, but when it comes to other people, I'm just like whoa! I think it's a confidence thing, I just--"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I didn't catch your name?"

She laughed nervously, "Oh of course, silly me, I told you I was a bit ditzy when it comes to celebrities... I'm September, September Wood. Yeah, I'm named after the month you see, my parents are a bit crazy, I was born in September, so instead of calling me something like Selene, Jane or something sensible... here I am! September!"

Now, why the hell did that name set alarm bells ringing in his head?

"Who exactly are you and why are you ringing my private mobile phone? Are you a client? I bet it's Linda, that girl is always making mistakes. I need to consult her about this right away."

"Oh no, no, Rick, if I may call you that? I'm September Wood, Kimberley Scott's best friend!"

Riccardo took a sharp intake of breath, hearing her name again, "Go on..."

"Kimberley is handing in her notice. Unofficially, I guess, but I thought it'd make sense to let you know, because I know she won't. She's leaving for California in an hour - her flight takes off then, at least. She said something about life being meaningless and how she was going to live with her folks, on a permanent basis. She left for JFK about 45 minutes ago."

The words were like a sucker punch to his gut, and he grasped the table, reeling, "What do you mean?"

September laughed, and he could hear the disbelief in her voice, "She's left for JFK, her flight leaves in an hour. Do I have to spell it out any further?"

"Thank you, Miss Wood. Goodbye." Riccardo pressed the End Call button and ran out of his front door grabbing his jacket and keys on the way.

 **************************************************************************************************************

September put the phone down, leaning back and grinning wildly. Her plan was put into action excellently. Everyone thought she was stupid, but now, she had managed to get her best friend together with the guy of her dreams. She was a beautiful girl, September's best friend, and September knew she deserved happiness. If only September could find herself the very same happiness. She'd been seeing Alex for a while, but he'd failed to make a move and September wondered whether he ever would. She decided not to dwell on the fact, instead picturing the Alonso-Scott family that was surely soon to come.

She smiled once again, picking up her glass and taking a long, cool draught of wine.

************************************************************************************************

The Black Jaguar was parked outside the door. A large dent was in the right side, next to the mirror.

Riccardo cursed loudly instead in English instead of under his breath in Spanish as he usually did. But there was no time for thought, no time to be angry. Only time to get to JFK, to get to Kimberley and tell her what a huge mistake she was making. 

As he sped down the freeway, his grip tightened on the steering wheel as memories of Kimberley popped into his head. How she hadn't resisted his kiss, how his lips were stained red from her lipstick, how he loved her.

Lights flashed in front of him and he screeched on the brakes. Traffic was not what he needed right now, but it was almost inevitable heading to the airport. 

Riccardo used every curse under the sun to express his rage.  Banging on the steering wheel in frustration, Riccardo seemed to lose all hope, until his door swung open. The hinges had been broken from the attempted break-in. Using his last ounce of strength, Riccardo swung out of the car and did the first thing that came to his mind.

In his $4,600 Gucci designer suit and $700 Louis Vuitton loafers, Riccardo Carlosito Alonso ran faster than he had ever run before, adrenalin pumping through his veins, but suddenly he was not full of exhaustion, he was full of desire. 

He needed to find her, he needed to see her. But most of all, he needed to get there before he lost her forever...

***********************************************************************************************