Meet me halfway

Chapter 6 - DODGING THE BULLET

Enzo's POV

"Siempre me traiciona la razón y me domina el corazón, no sé luchar contra el amor." Vivir así es morir de amor, Naty Peluso.

Saturday night, 15 January 2022

It was already half past ten. We were supposed to meet the Spanish girl and their friends in half an hour and Michele was still getting out of the shower. As I knew I will have to wait for him, I reached a beer from the fridge and went to the terrace to enjoy the view. I loved my Monaco apartment, but it was nothing compared to my new house in hometown LA. We've just came back two days ago. I've been there with my friends and family for twenty days. I loved coming back home. I missed them so much. I wished I could live in the States all year round, but it was easier for me to have my main residence in Europe since most of the races were in Europe and the Red Bull headquarters are in England. If they needed me there, I just had to take a two-hour flight from Nice to London.

It was very cold. I missed the mild temperatures of my home town. For me it was summer or nothing. I pulled down the sleeves of my sweater to try to protect me from the freezing wind. I sipped my beer and I watched the lights of Monaco. I was so lucky and I always made sure to keep that in mind. I didn't want to take all of I had for granted. It was the fruit of many years of work and sacrifice. I enjoyed my life, full of luxury and absolutely hectic, but I never forgot where I came from. My parents had sacrificed their lives for me to be where I was right now and I never forgot that. I made sure I repaid them when I got my first pay check. I had cancelled all their mortgage payments and bought them a Mercedes Class A, which was my mother's dream. My parents and my sister, and of course my little nephew, were the first in my list. I smiled remembering them. I texted on the WhatsApp group we had, sending a picture of my views and telling them I loved them.

As I entered WhatsApp, I saw a message from Kayla. Another one. "Let me know when you go out. And when you get home. Don't get drunk. Love, K." Damn. She was so commanding. She needed to know where I was, what I was doing, every minute of every day... Thank god she stayed at LA. I needed a break. I loved her, or so I believed, but I got tired of her all the time. When we were together it was ok. She was absolutely stunning, blonde hair, angel face, hot body. She was a 25-year-old model. I met her in a race. She was a friend of Latifi's girlfriend. We've been together for three years already. Time had flown.

I texted her I was still at home and I will let her know when I came back. It was still 2pm at LA, I hoped she will be occupied for the day and she will let me alone for a while. I wanted to get wasted and have fun without taking care of her. Just be free.

When I had finished my beer, Michele finally exited the bathroom and was ready to go. We made our way to the pub where we had agreed to meet the girls and his uptight friend. Piero hadn't made a good impression to me, he seemed so serious and boring. I wished he stayed at home. I was sure the girls would be a good addition to our night out. They seemed funny and careless. That was what I needed right now. Just to have fun. Not that I had in mind cheating on Kayla, do not misunderstand me. But I needed to be carefree for just one night. And I fancied Elena. She had something in her eyes. In her laugh. She brought me joy.

When we arrived to the pub, we found it full of people. We talked to the waiter, who was our friend and he showed us a booth he had kept free for us. We ordered our drinks, beer of course, and we waited for our guests to arrive.

My phone kept on ringing. WhatsApp's from Kayla kept on arriving. When would she stop? I took my phone out of my pocket and started answering her texts.

After a while, I saw from the corner of my eyes that the two girls were approaching us but I kept texting on my phone. Kayla was really demanding and I wanted to make sure she didn't throw a tantrum tonight. I'd had enough stress already. Suddenly I heard a sweet voice, talking to me with a funny accent: "May I? If I'm not interrupting anything too important..."