Chapter 3 She used me

Dylan arrived in Florence two hours late. There was so much traffic that he ended up being delayed and had to catch another flight. On top of that, just before leaving, he almost did something stupid. He called his friend, and as soon as his friend answered, he asked where he was.

“I’m at the offices, and where are you?” his friend replied.

“I just got into a taxi, they’re taking me to the hotel. Do you know if Gina is at home?” Dylan asked.

“No, she went to see Alina and her other friend,” his friend responded.

“What a pity, I wanted to see the kids, well, I’ll do it later,” Dylan said.

“Alright, come to the company, I need to consult you about something, and then we can go to my house,” his friend suggested.

“Excellent. I’ll leave my suitcases and head over there. Goodbye,” Dylan said, hanging up the phone and giving the address to the driver.

***

Once he entered, he checked in and went to his room. After freshening up a bit, he went out again. First, he went to the car rental, and after choosing a Maserati, he headed to the company. When he arrived, he went to Ryan’s office and greeted him.

“How’s the new dad?” Dylan asked.

“Happier than ever, I think. How’s everything in Chicago?” Ryan responded.

“Good, well, normal. Lots of work, clients keep coming, and we need to keep looking for suppliers. But all is great,” Dylan replied.

“Well, we’re also growing here. I can barely keep up,” Ryan said.

“That much, huh? But that’s great. Anyway, when you get married, you’ll let me take over here, and you’ll go on a honeymoon somewhere, right? Because I tied up everything there in Chicago,” Dylan joked.

“Well, actually, Gina prefers to stay here. Spend time with the kids, her family, and friends. I do too, actually. But if you stay here, I’ll tell her we should go to Paris for at least a few weeks,” Ryan said.

“Of course, you should. You deserve it. And the kids can stay with me. My parents will come for the wedding and stay a few days,” Dylan offered.

“I appreciate your offer, but neither she nor I want to be away from our kids. They’re too young,” Ryan explained.

“I understand,” Dylan replied.

“Well, I need to ask you a question that might surprise you, since I’ve never directly asked you this, but… are you dating anyone?” Ryan asked.

“No,” Dylan replied without hesitation. “I’m too busy to meet or have sex with a woman,” he explained. “In fact, days ago, I almost fell into Elizabeth’s game. She follows me everywhere, saying she wants to win me back. Make herself noticed that she’s the one for me,” he mocked. “She knows I’m not with anyone, so she thinks it’s because of her. Even when I got off the plane and turned on my phone, I got a lot of messages from her saying we’d see each other soon, that she would come here so we can make up for lost time,” he finished, annoyed.

“Hmm… how does she know where you are?” he asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know,” he grimaced.

“So, if you’re not dating anyone and it’s only Elizabeth who’s around you… do you know a girl named Nicki?” Dylan looked at him, jaw clenched. The dreaded day had come; it was obvious that Nicki had searched for him until she found him. Now, she was bothering his family, and he regretted leaving everything in her hands. He scolded himself; he was always predictable and anticipated any problem.

“Damn it! How did she find you? What did she tell them?”

“So you know her… you’re married to her,” he affirmed.

Dylan got up from the chair and started pacing, cursing under his breath.

“Why didn’t you tell us anything? Your sister asked Nicki, and she didn’t say anything either.”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean Gina asked her? Does she know her?” he asked, confused.

“Of course, she does. Nicki is Niccola, your sister’s best friend. She always talks about her.”

“But… it can’t be,” Dylan sat back down, frustrated.

“What happened? You’re married, but you’re separated. I don’t understand.”

“Well,” he sighed, “we met in Las Vegas; I had gone to close the deal for our company, remember? Everything went well, and then I went back to the hotel where I was staying. She approached me, we talked… she charmed me, I don’t know… her innocence, her silly jokes… I went along when she said we should get married. Pure attraction. I was stupid,” he lamented. “What did she tell you guys?”

“She didn’t say anything. Gina asked her subtly, and she didn’t take the bait. Anyway, why aren’t you together? Neither of you wears rings.”

“We were more or less drunk. She more than me, actually.”

“Did you take advantage of her?” Ryan looked at him.

“What? Of course not! I left her asleep in her room the next day. She wasn’t honest with me; she blatantly flirted with me, but…” he trailed off.

“But?” his friend encouraged him to continue.

“But when she was waking up, she murmured longingly the name of a man. The day before, I asked her clearly if she was with someone or if she was in a relationship, and she said no.”

“And did you talk to her about it?”

“Obviously not. I took off the cheap ring and left. I was irresponsible not to request an annulment immediately, but I imagined she would take care of it. Well, another man was eagerly waiting for her, so she would need to be free anyway.”

“And now? What will you do?” Ryan looked at him expectantly.

“I need to talk to her, sort out our affairs,” he suddenly fell silent.

“What’s wrong? What are you thinking?”

“Is she seeing someone? As Ryan stared at him, he continued, “Nicki… is she still seeing whoever she was dreaming about months ago?”

“I don’t think so. She’s alone. Why?”

“Because, just as she used me, I can do the same. I can use her as a screen, so Elizabeth stops pestering me. If she sees me with someone… she’ll give up. Do you understand?”

“I think so… but it doesn’t seem like the best idea. I doubt Nicki would agree.”

“She will. I can convince her.”

“I don’t think it will be that easy,” he fell silent for a moment, and seeing the determination in his friend’s eyes, he sighed, “Just don’t hurt her. In the time I’ve known her, I’ve come to truly appreciate her.”

“I won’t. It’ll be convenient for both of us, I assure you. But what I ask is that you don’t tell Nicki about my plan. I want to catch her off guard, unprepared.”

“Alright,” he agreed, quite reluctantly.