Meet Me In Monaco - Flora Ferrari Page 0,36

door to a room being wrenched open, and then Nico’s voice. “She’s gone,” he says, sounding worried and angry. “You’ve pushed her away!”

“Me?”

I only hear my Dad’s retort before the door closes again, muffling their voices. I hold my breath, straining to hear – and soon I do. They must both be shouting at the tops of their lungs to be heard through the heavy doors, and though I can’t make out every single word, I can understand the gist of it.

They’re arguing again – this time, about who it was that upset me and pushed me to leave. I hear both of them accusing each other, both shouting and yelling. I can't quite make out the exact insults that they're throwing at each other, but they can’t be very nice. It sounds like it didn't work. Rather than making them come after me and resolve their differences, I've only managed to make them argue yet further.

Just as I'm thinking about coming out of my hiding place and confronting them again, I hear the door open. I freeze, waiting to see and hear what will happen. I hear my dad's voice, calling Nico names and accusing him of running away from the problem. But when Nico replies, he says something about not remaining where he isn't wanted.

I press my eye to the crack in the door, just in time to see Nico striding down the hall. A moment later, the door to the room slams shut hard, almost rattling the whole wall. They seemed to have finished their argument, but not by resolving it. Instead, they are even further apart than before.

I should have known this wasn't going to work. What was I expecting? That just because Nico was able to charm me, he would do the same with my dad? That just because I can see that he is the right one for me, everyone would be able to?

Well, it would be nice if the world worked like that. But it seems like it doesn't. And right now, the man of my dreams is walking away. Which means I can't stay in this closet, hiding, forever.

I open the door and peek out, checking first that my dad isn’t actually standing outside of the room. As I suspected, the corridor is empty, and I quickly dashed towards the elevator. I call it, but when the doors don't open immediately, I realize that it must be on the ground floor still. After all, Nico just rode it all the way to the bottom. That means it will take some time to return, and if I want to catch up with him, I can't wait.

I head for the stairs, taking them two at a time as I rush down like crazy. I almost feel like I’m going to trip several times, but somehow by a miracle, I manage to keep my balance. Then I’m in the lobby, bursting out in front of the startled receptionist, but Nico is nowhere to be seen.

I dash up to the reception desk quickly, leaning on it to get her attention. “Excuse me, the man I came in with,” I say.

“Yes, he just walked out the front doors,” she says, blinking at me.

“Did you see which way he went afterward?”

“I think he went towards the parking lot.”

Of course. He drove us here. Damn – and he must have gone after his car. I have to catch up with him, before…

And I’m just rushing outside the doors when I see his car pulling out of the parking lot and speeding away, out of my reach.

No.

I’m not going to let him get away.

There is a row of taxis parked outside the hotel, waiting for tourists who need to be taken around. I jump into the first one, pointing to the road ahead. “Follow that car,” I tell him, only to be met with a puzzled look in the rearview mirror.

“Lady, this isn’t a movie,” the driver tells me, in an unfamiliar accent. “I can’t just go after someone. I need to know where we are headed.”

I bite my lip fiercely, thinking. “Okay,” I tell him. “To the Monaco marina. We can catch up with him there.”

I’m sure that’s where he will be. He told me that he goes to his boat whenever he feels stressed or tired or just wants to get away from the rest of the world. Right now, in this situation, there is nowhere more natural for him to be.

I just hope that I know him