"No, I believe there was a mistake!", Lavinia's mother defended herself, exasperated. "We were just talking, after all, she lost sight of my daughter!""There are other methods of getting an employee's attention without denigrating them." John stated and I gently touched Val's shoulders in an act of comfort as I noticed the concern evident in her gaze.The nanny looked at me in dismay and I flashed her a friendly smile in mute affirmation that things were under control. I felt bad imagining that she probably needed her job badly, a situation that closely resembled mine and my mother's. "I don't know what happened, however, her behavior could get her a lawsuit for moral damages." The little girl's mother, who was playing near where we were meeting, was stunned and visibly nervous. She became irritated and I once again held her gaze. "Okay. Just ask that young lady to stay out of your business, she's nothing here!" she grunted affectedly. John's expression became stern and I rolled m

"It depends... Do you want it with emotion or without emotion?" he inquired playfully and I looked at him annoyed trying to hold in my laughter. He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay... "I'll leave the emotions for later," he spoke in my ear and I shivered. I looked at him with an arched eyebrow and took his hand, finally getting on the bike. Vicenzo also climbed on, putting on his helmet, and before I could put on mine, I saw John's black Maserati leaving the condo. Our gazes met for a few seconds until he quickly swerved, looking at the street in front of him, and then disappeared from my field of vision. I put on my helmet and grabbed Vicenzo's waist like those little pencil grabbers, soon hearing his laugh. "It's hard to ride a motorcycle when you're short of breath, Lena," he said amid laughter, and I followed, not laughing. "Sorry.""I'm kidding. You can grab all you want.", I didn't have time to sketch a reaction, because after saying that, he took off with the bike. I

The place had filled up with people from one hour to the next, all I did was talk to the occasional nice person "and stoned" enough to stop beside me and philosophize about the shape of the smoke coming out of his mouth. I wasn't even drinking. Vicenzo wandered around the house in his energetic way, giving attention to each of his guests, making jokes, singing and everything else. I was shaking my head subtly to the rhythm of Nirvana's My Girl (Where Did You Sleep Last Night), which was blaring through the speaker. Vicenzo was really lucky that the building was practically uninhabited, otherwise his parties would certainly have been forbidden by angry neighbors. The figure of my colleague appeared in front of me, he smiled and stroked my waist, leaning me against the wall. "Something tells me you're looking for company," he spoke into my ear, causing me to shiver slightly. 

"Your speech is based on domination and consequently on exploitation, so don't expect me to shut up. "John is the defender of the weak and oppressed, he thinks he can change the world by doing volunteer advocacy work out there. I always tell him that's irrelevant. "Cassie spoke in a tone of pure debauchery that made my blood rise as the others present laughed. I frowned in her direction noticeably angry at her stupid joke. I had a clear rule of living together and it was extremely important: Never, under any circumstances, make fun of something that is important to me. And with that shitty comment, Cassie had crossed every line. She intertwined her arm with mine, but I didn't show any reaction. Everyone was already immersed in another subject while I remained silent watching the concentration of people in the hall. "What's wrong with you?" Cassie whispered beside me, looking at me without understanding. I smiled sarcastically and stared at her. Before I could answer her, I heard

After so much time with someone, realizing that you are alone gives you a strange feeling of emptiness. Cassie's words echoed wildly in my mind, and as much as they hurt, knowing that there was truth in what I had been told was uncomfortable. I had done the right thing, but the slight relief on my shoulders was no greater than the weight of the great emotional burden of our discussion. I started the car in the direction of my house feeling like a nervous wreck.  However, I also felt that a part of me was relieved.Helena's POV Too much lighting.Too little comfort. I closed my eyes in the brightness and felt a weight