"how many shops were the emerald piece delivered to?" Lorenzo Sforza asked Jay, his distribution manager as he went through papers.

"Forty three sir," 

"in Norway?" he asked, to confirm the location

"no sir, we made sure to deliver in Illinois first" replied Jay

"you haven't distributed pieces at Norway yet?" 

"not yet, Sir. we are still making preparations" 

"go now," Lorenzo ordered "see to it that the pieces get delivered before nightfall"

"I'll get right to it sir" said Jay then scurried off. 

Lorenzo flipped through the last pages of the papers concerning work and kept it aside. 

work life today was tiring since he decided to work a nine to five.

his schedule was always tight and sometimes he wondered when he would have time for a vacation, maybe at his hometown. he hadn't seen his parents for over six years since he traveled out to start his business. they'd only face timed. well, he doubted if they really missed him like they said because his smitten parents had eachother. he decided to fix a date to go back to his hometown because he'd figured out a way to control his business from any part of the world, even his hometown. putting his idea into action contributed to his busy schedule. 

the rays of sunlight shone on a gemstone that was on his table which made him see his reflection for a minute. he took the gemstone and rubbed it's surface. he kept it with him because it was beautiful and it was freshly imported from Italy. 

It reminded him of home and someone.... Bianca, the lady he'd been chatting with online for years. the gemstone made him think of her because they both came from the same place. it felt good to know she was from the same place as him.

he quickly picked up his phone and started typing a message to her.

'sorry it took this long to reply. I'm at work and right now, I see this gemstone and all I can think about is you'

Was the message too forward? he thought as he sent it. he didn't want her to get a wrong idea from a message. he'd only typed what he felt.

he typed a second message to her.

'its crazy how a gemstone makes me think about you, don't you think?'

he smiled as he sent it. Bianca, the mystery lady he'd formed a connection with, online had been friends with him for four years now, and he had to admit, it felt good to share good and bad stuff with someone he hadn't met. Bianca was more like his emotional support and so was he. Workload and tight schedules prevented him from meeting her, he thought sadly.

"Sir" a voice interrupted his thoughts. it was his female secretary calling him. "you have a visitor, Mrs Veronica is here to see you"

Vero, he thought. the lady he'd been hooking up with since the event he attended three months ago where he met her. he wondered what she wanted as she came to his office.

"send her in" he told his secretary.

"sure" she said and walked out.

"Baby!" Vero called as she neared the entrance of his office. "I've missed you so bad I could not breathe" she rushed over to him and kissed him. her red short gown didn't do bad in doing justice to her curves.

"I was going to call you as soon as I got off work" 

"that won't be necessary since I'm here now" she winked at him

"okay?" he said, promoting her to tell him why she suddenly visited. there was a moment of silence between them and then she said

"Enzo you have no idea how sexy you look in that tux" she made her way to him and grabbed his cheek

"uh.... what are you trying to do?" a confused Lorenzo asked

"I won't let this moment pass me by" she said then brought her lips down on his.

he was dazed by the sudden kiss. even if he felt fatigued from so much work and wanted something to cool his head, he didn't feel in the mood to make out.

"Vero" he muttered and gently detached from her. "this is the wrong place, love" 

"Enzo, that's not a problem. your office is guarded by so many doors. no one will dare enter"

"but---" he protested

"take me on this table " she started to unzip her gown

"I'm totally in the mood"

"But I'm not!" said Lorenzo

her hands froze on the zipper.

"why?" she wailed "we haven't had sex for days now. are you pledging celibacy for some kind of reason?"

"no Vero, I've just been busy with work" he stood up and helped her with her zipper. they stared at each other up close, as he zipped her clothe.

"I've missed you, Lorenzo"

"I know" he stroked her hair "I'll make out time for you when my workload is less"

"I came here to see you and I get nothing in return " she grumbled

"you don't even have time for me anymore...." she kept talking but he wasn't hearing her because a message came in through his phone.

it was from Bianca. he smiled when he saw it 

'focus on what you're doing at work. don't let me distract you'

he replied

'its too late for that. thoughts of you fill my head. I really can't wait to meet you'

then he sent it.

he didn't care if it was too forward, he only typed what he felt.

"what's making you smile?" said Veronica, then she snatched his phone from him

"what the flying fuck!" she exclaimed when she saw the message

"don't be so juvenile" he chided, taking his phone back from her.

"did you just say juvenile?" she yelled. "so this is the reason why you didn't want to have sex with me "

"don't you get it? I said I wasn't in the mood "

"but you're in the mood for cybersex you cheating freak" she lashed out at him

"I never cheated on you, we were never an item to start with "

she cringed when he said that.

"you mean I'm just your toy?" she asked in indignation "someone who you could just have sex with whenever you liked and dump?"

Lorenzo laughed

"How ironic! you're the one who barged into my office not to long ago and threw yourself at me"

"and I deeply regret that!" she yelled " I thought you loved for me, Lorenzo or even cared for me ...." she trailed off when her voice broke

"I do care "

"Liar!" she bit out "you're a heartless cheat! you're a casanova, Lorenzo. I can't believe I wasted my time with you. I can't believe I was just your casual hook-up" 

"Vero--"

"it's Veronica! it's Veronica not Vero!" she yelled, spared him a final glower, grabbed her purse and stormed off.

Lorenzo sighed deeply. he'd totally forgotten about the drama associated with women. he didn't know how to feel about Vero's departure. did he feel sadness or relief? he couldn't believe she called him a casanova. he wasn't a casanova. even as gorgeous as he was, he didn't have an active love life because he failed to fully understand women and he didn't want to die trying. he checked his phone. Bianca hadn't replied his message. maybe she was busy. he released a sigh again. it was 6pm now. he'd better start heading home.

His phone began to ring, he picked it after seeing that the caller was his mom

"Madre!" he called excitedly.

"I was just thinking about you"

"Lorenzo" his mother sobbed his name "you ne-- need to come back home -- come back first flight tomorrow morning" 

"why Ma? do you miss me that much?" admist the worry he felt, he smirked. he didn't know his mother missed him to the point of tears

"Ma calm down" he said to his sobbing mother. " I'll be back soon, you don't need to--"

"you have to come back tomorrow" she yelled across the phone

"tell me why, Madre"

"your dad...." she sobbed

"what's wrong? did he hit you? did you both argue?"

"your dad is dead"

that single statement made him speechless and took his breath away at the same time. he didn't know when his phone slipped from his hand and fell on the tiled floor.

"Lorenzo, Lorenzo...." shouts from his mom at the other end of the line became distant as he stared into nothingness. 

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

it was a house party. the crowd wasn't that much and Bianca knew, as she stepped in with her friends, that whoever threw this party did a great job. From the sitting room to the kitchen, to the stairs, everywhere looked extra large. the sitting room was large enough to contain a dance floor and people filled the dance floor and the kitchen. 

Matt spotted her from the kitchen

"hey", he called her

"hi" she waved at him "I'll see you guys" she said to Kim and Allegra, then she headed towards Matt.

Matt came to her and kissed her. "there's a poker game going on there, wanna watch with me?" said Matt

"absolutely" she said. Now she knew why people crowded the kitchen area. this party was really impressive.

She and Matt stood and watched for over forty minutes and she was starting to get bored. 

"I'll go meet Allegra and Kim on the dance floor" she said to Matt

"Sure" he said and she left

she met Allegra dancing with a guy, who's hands were all over her while Kim danced alone. 

"how was the game?" Kim asked her

"it was boring. I stayed because Matt seemed to like it"

"this is fun!" Allegra screamed

"yeah! I feel we should take pictures" Kim suggested

"cool" said Bianca and then she figured she wasn't with her phone. her dress didn't have a pocket and she didn't come with a purse.

"did I give any of you guys my phone?" she asked them

"nope" they both said

"you must have left it at the poker table" said Kim

"right! I'll go check" just as she turned, she saw Matt.

"looking for this?" he had her phone all along

"oh thanks, Matt. I almost had a heart attack" she exhaled in relief as she took her phone from him.

"who owns that message I saw on your phone?" Matt suddenly asked, his icy voice matching his expression.

she checked her phone. it was a message from Lorenzo and it said;

'its too late for that. thoughts of you fill my head. I really can't wait to meet you'

she didn't know how she managed to stifle a smile when she read it. maybe it was because Matt had seen it before her and probably misunderstood.

"who's that?" He asked again 

"um... he's Lorenzo, um... this guy I met online ---"

"tell me the truth, Bianca!" 

"what makes you think I'm telling lies?" he was back to not believing her again which made her pissed.

"so you admit to being a cheat" Matt accused

"what?" this was all new to her. she'd never seen this side of Matt before. she guessed that saying 'bad things bring out the worst in people' came to play in this situation.

"you cheat and lie to me when all I've done is love you?" 

"I didn't.... Lorenzo and I are online friends" she moved closer to Matt and whispered

"I would never do that to you"

Matt wasn't convinced 

"explain to me why a guy texts you and tells you he's been thinking about you. didn't you tell him you had a boyfriend?" 

"it's a lot more complicated than you think " that was all she could say.

there was a moment of tension filled silence between them, before Matt spoke

"now I know why you never told me you loved me. why you never reciprocated my feelings towards you "

"Matt..."

"I never knew you were a fuck girl" he raged. "you deceived me into thinking you actually felt something for me but now it's game over for you, isn't it?"

"I won't let you talk to her like that" Allegra stepped in "she's known Lorenzo longer than she's known you, so you have no right to get jealous"

"what are you?" Matt scoffed "her fellow bitch?"

Allegra gasped

"how--" she started but Bianca cut her off

"wait, Allegra" she turned to Matt

"Look, this is a misunderstanding, Lorenzo and I are friends. I haven't even met him before"

"you expect me to believe that?"

"I'm sorry if whatever you saw hurt you, but why do you always see me as a dishonest person?" she knew she was at fault but she couldn't help getting pissed at Matt's constant distrust.

"I don't know, Bianca" said Matt "maybe because you are?"

"or maybe because you don't trust me " 

"you know what, Bianca" he said "let's end this here. whatever this is, let's end it here" 

At that moment, Bianca fell silent. she didn't know what to say.

"we're done! you can go be with Lorenzo" said Matt, then he left.

Bianca just stood there and stared. she didn't know if she should go after Matt as he left the party or she should leave him.

"Bianca...." Kim began

"don't you dare say, "I told you so'." Bianca said to them and went after Matt.

when she got out of the house, she didn't see him at all. 

"Matt" she called with a loud voice but it was futile. no body answered. she was about to go farther in search for him, when her phone rang.

it was a call from her mom

"Madre" she said, after picking up

"you need to come home, a flight will be booked by morning and you'll come back home tomorrow morning" her mother's voice shook as she spoke.

"I can't travel back just like that" she protested

"you have to" her mom insisted. for some reason, the situation scared her.

"why do I have to?"

"it's your father" said her mom "he's dead"