Her Fire

03 ~ Suspicious

Gasping in disbelief and outrage, Deirdre almost plastered herself against the glass window trying to get a better look, just to be sure, but the man had already disappeared from her line of vision, entering a coffee shop.

SON OF A SNAKE!!!

Isn't one lifetime of heartbreak and betrayal more than enough!? Can’t a girl catch a blo0dy break!? Really, what is the point of giving them another shot if she’s going to end up with that a$$hole anyway!? Not that she will, mind you! She’d rather just die again than end up with him for the second time!

Deirdre almost punches the glass window in her fury. Sh¡ts and farts, it's a good thing she refused the potion of oblivion! She shudders to think of what could happen if she has no memory of his past crimes. Deirdre feels sick just thinking about it!

And as if mocking her for her stubbornness, further down the street, on the opposite side of the building, her now ex, Mark, is standing like a creep with a bunch of roses that must have cost him a pretty penny.

She rolls her eyes. He must be thinking of it as an investment, believing in his simple mind that he'd be able to win her back with his usual charm. In fact, there he is, being all charming, complete with puppy eyes and a contrite expression, ready to gain sympathy from anyone who will listen to his sob story and looking all prepped up to get her back. She’d bet her millions he’s even wearing the perfume she absolutely loves but doesn’t even use anymore.

Bah, Jane must have kicked his spoiled and lazy ass out, now that he’s as useless as a toilet paper tube devoid of paper after one has just finished sh*tting.

Well, he better hope to find another rich fool who'd buy his crap because it's never going to happen with Deirdre anymore, not even if he gets c*strated voluntarily to prove his loyalty. As that saying goes… ‘Fool me once, shame on you’. However, Deirdre is not interested in finding out what comes after ‘fool me twice’.

All her hackles rising, she straightens her spine, turns away from the window, and presses the intercom, asking Christine to come inside immediately.

"Close the door. I know this morning I don’t have anything but I need you to cancel and push back all my future meetings starting this afternoon. Assign video conferences for the more important ones that I can’t miss and delegate someone else for the rest. And uh… please book me a flight before noon. One-way ticket." She orders as soon as Christine is inside her office.

"Ma'am?"

She goes to the wine cabinet and starts rummaging for something to calm her nerves. "A flight anywhere, I don't even care. Oh, but not in the U.S.. It’s still too close. Somewhere distant—overseas—maybe Europe or even Asia. You choose the first flight available. Just… have my laptop sent here ASAP so I can bring it with me, as well as a couple of clothes and comfortable shoes… that's all. I'll take care of the rest when I get there. Send the car at the back, at the uh, emergency exit? Tell no one else I've left until I tell you so."

Always efficient, Christine just nods and turns to go back to her office to do everything.

"Oh, and Christine?" She calls again.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"If anyone asks… you don't know when I'll be back." She pours herself a little bit of brandy and quickly downs it in one go.

Christine blinks, confused. "But… I don’t really know when you’ll be back. When are you planning to come back?"

Deirdre glances back at the stormy sky.

Be warned, Fire goddess. There is no avoiding destiny’s plans.

She raises her chin. "When Destiny gives up and leaves me alone." She mutters to herself.

"I-I'm sorry?"

She shakes her head. "Not for a little while. I'll let you know." She says dismissively before sitting on her chair again.

"Ma'am?"

She looks up at the sound of Christine's worried voice.

"Are… are you going to be alright? Should I call for an appointment with Dr. Austin?" Her secretary asks, referring to their company shrink.

Deirdre's expression softens. "No… No, I'll be fine. I just need a break, don’t worry."

Christine is quiet for a few seconds before nodding. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

She sighs as she pours some more liquor into her glass. "Yes. Please book me a flight somewhere nice."

***

Deirdre closes her eyes as the plane starts to ascend, wishing she could sleep, but even in her comfortable seat, she feels restless. She probably won’t feel relief until she has left the continent, and maybe not even then, not for a few days, at least.

As soon as the plane has settled and the seatbelt lights are off, Deirdre calls the flight attendant, asking for brandy. It’s going to be a long flight anyway, she hopes to sleep it off later before the stopover in Frankfurt. It would be ten long hours from Seattle to Frankfurt and then another couple of hours from Frankfurt to Florence, Italy.

Christine didn’t disappoint, she chose a lovely city that is relatively small but brimming with so much art and history to busy herself with. The Tuscan region is beautiful, judging from the brochures online, and Deirdre will have many lovely places to visit without needing to travel too far from the city. Perhaps she can even rent a vineyard to stay in and just get drunk all the time until she forgets about how Destiny seems determined on messing her up.

Deirdre looks forward to seeing the famous sculpture of David by Michelangelo in the Accademia Delle Belle Arti, and to losing herself in the Uffizi gallery where The Birth of Venus, Botticelli’s painting, is housed. She wants to tire herself out by scaling Brunelleschi’s Dome which is supposedly a breathtaking experience, not only because of the astonishing view on top but because of the four hundred and sixty three steps one must take to get to the top.

Yes, Christine definitely chose well.

The flights went smoothly and before she knew it, she was in Florence.

Wanting the full experience, Deirdre takes the tram from the airport to the city center instead of getting a taxi. Night has fallen but it’s early still, barely even seven p.m. and she has enough time to find herself a nice hotel somewhere, eat something, and collapse in bed for a couple of days to get over her jetlag.

She probably should have let Christine book the hotel as well but she wanted to look around herself so she told her she’d take care of it. Bad idea, Deirdre feels the exhaustion seeping in and is now sorely regretting her choice, after almost sixteen hours of travel time. She must be getting older.

The tram fills in quickly at each stop and she sighs in relief that she already has her seat. A constant chatter in different unfamiliar languages fills the whole vehicle. So many people of so many different colors, shapes, and sizes. She can hear some other languages aside from Italian. Christine did tell her it’s a very multicultural city.

Deirdre loves it.

A group of loud teenagers gets in and Deirdre grimaces, internally groaning as well. She’s too tired to appreciate their joie de vivre right now and can actually feel a headache building.

“Hello.”

Deirdre looks to her side and sees a bright-eyed little Asian boy staring at her smiling. He must be around five or six years old, looking cute with a full smile despite missing his top front teeth.

“Oh, hi!” She says, smiling. It’s hard not to, he’s just so charming.

“I’m Daui. I like your pretty red hair. You’re beautiful.”

Taken aback, she laughs. Little flirt starting up quite young. “Why thank you! My name is Deirdre.”

“Dearest?”

“No, Deirdre.” She repeats slowly, amused.

“Yes, Dearest.”

The woman sitting next to the boy, probably his mother, is trying very hard not to laugh and looks at her apologetically. “Sorry, he likes talking to other passengers. Always been like that since he could talk. I apologize if—.”

Deirdre shakes her head. “Oh, no, he’s not bothering me. He’s so cute! How old is he?”

“Almost six.”

She grins at the little boy. “Well, you’re a charmer, aren’t you?”

Daui smiles back. “Your hair is like fire. Is it hot?”

“Daui, hush!”

Deirdre chuckles. “You’re quite right… I am a fire lady. Do you like fire?”

The little boy giggles. “I like firefighters.”

Deirdre can’t help but laugh. “Oh well, I do too.” She turns to his mother again. “You both speak English very well, are you tourists too?” Maybe she can help Deirdre find a hotel to stay in for the night.

“Oh, no, we’re long-term residents. I’ve been here for more than twenty years… and he was born here. I just made sure English is his mother tongue, you know, in case we need to transfer to another country.”

Locals who speak her language. Even better!

She nods. “I understand. Um, I’m wondering if you know a good hotel here in the city? I didn’t realize I was going to arrive too late and was not able to book one prior.”

The woman looks at her thoughtfully. “Are you staying for long? Hotels will cost you more, you know. How about a residence? You pay so much less and just buy your food at local stores… cook them the way you want to… or dine outside, there are good restaurants where you can eat well without spending too much… that way you get to save more money…”

Money isn’t really an issue for Deirdre but a residence sounds nice since she’d be staying for a while and will be doing a lot of exploring.

“Sure, that’d be great. Do you know any?”

“The building where we live might have an opening. I know there’s an apartment that is not being used for the moment and it’s just right for one person. I can call my landlord if you’re interested and see if it’s available.”

“Is it close enough to the tourist spots?” She asks, already thinking about renting a car.

“Oh, yes! Right in the historic center. It’s a five-minute walk to the Accademia, a ten-minute walk, maybe less to the Duomo, and from the Duomo, it’s a five minute walk to the Uffizi, maybe three if you walk really fast.”

Deirdre stares at the woman. This is weird. And getting weirder by the second. It is getting too good to be true, too perfect. It almost sounds like someone is making sure she finds everything to her liking, every little detail just as she wants it! It’s as if… every single thing is going according to plan... Sliding smoothly, easily...because it's meant to be...

Just as if it's...

She narrows her eyes. “Destiny?”