I had to go into the office and leave Kimi at home. I walked into the Ferrari headquarters, my high heals clicked on the marble floors. I had put my hair in a high pony tail and I was wearing a tight black pencil skirt and a red ruffled button up shirt with small white polka-dots. I walked through the lobby nodding at the receptionist as I made my way back to my office. I had a meeting today giving some high-end clients a tour. I sat down at my desk and continued to sift through paperwork until my phone rang.
“Miss Felisa.” The receptionist voice came over the phone.
“Yes, Rose?” I say.
“You clients have arrived.” she informed me.
“I’ll be right out.” I stood up and straightened my skirt then began the walk back to front lobby.
When I got there I saw two men who looked to be in the early to mid thirties. They were very sharply dressed in suits. You could tell they had money, lots of money. This was the type of cliental I worked with though. I could tell a real Armani suit from a fake one, I knew exactly what the wealthy elite dressed like, looked like, acted like. It was part of my job.
“Hello gentlemen!” I greeted. They turned to face me. One of the men in particular looked me up and down making no attempt to hide the fact that he was checking me out. “I’m thrilled to show you around here at Ferrari today.”
“And I thought we would only get to see beautiful cars.” the one man said. He made me sick. This was the type of man I was used to being with and getting attention from. He was the type of man that made me hate myself. I pretended to laugh graciously though.
“Follow me.” I waved for them to follow me into towards the factory where the Ferraris are assembled. I showed them around every step of the process. We have one of the top of the line factories in the world. Almost everything is handcrafted and assembled by skilled workers right here in Italy.
“If you look down here, you can see the lower portion of the factory where the cars are painted. Of course we can’t go there for safety reasons, but you can see through this glass.” I leaned over the railing and pointed down the glass observation window below that allowed us to see the cars being painted. I could feel the one man beside me. I had found his name was Ricky Domingo, he is a wealthy man from Ibiza who has made his money trading gold. I felt his hand slide onto my bum. I quickly jerked away and gave him a look of disapproval. He looked appalled that I had pulled away, like there was something wrong with me.
“What?” he hissed.
“I don’t think that’s very appropriate.” I crossed my arms and took another step back.
“Isn’t that what you’re here for? A fine little thing like you gives us a tour and shows us all the ‘benefits’ of Ferrari?” This man was a pig. “I mean its cute you talking to us about cars and all but, I know why they have you doing this and not someone who is really knowledgeable.”
“Excuse me?” I scoffed “I am Heidi Felisa! I am the granddaughter of the CEO of Ferrari! And I’ll have you know I know more about how a Ferrari or any car for that matter runs than you ever will.”
“Relax.” he man held up his hands. I was done with him though.
“NO, you can go. I will escort you out.” I showed them back out to the front lobby. We didn’t need business that bad. The nerve of some people. The man muttered to his friend the whole way. He has probably never been rejected by a woman before. I was thoroughly disgusted.
It was a relief when it was finally time to leave. I said goodbye to my grandfather was leave straight from work to a business trip and then I let the receptionist know I was leaving for the day. I let out a sigh of relief as I leave the building. I loved my job, but since I had gotten a taste of traveling with formula 1 I missed it. Sitting and an office all day gets old fast. I get halfway to my car when someone grabs me and clamps their hand over my mouth. I let out a scream, but it doesn’t make more than a muffled sound. I try to kick and thrash and get away, but my assailant is far stronger than I am. I can’t see who it is. They drag me out into the woods that border the building. Tears stream down my face for fear of what is about to happen to me. The person slams my back hard into a tree and I can now see who it is. Ricky. The man from earlier that tried to feel me up. His face was filled with rage like I had never seen before. I tried to scream now that his hand was not longer covering my mouth. No one would hear my from here though.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I said through my sobs.
“You embarrassed me. You stupid woman. No one denies me!” The veins look like they are about to pop out of his neck. I continue to cry.
“Please don’t hurt me.” I begged. He slapped me across the face. It stung like nothing I have ever felt. I whimpered in pain.
“I’ll do what I want. I always get what I want.” he spat. He ran a finger along my jaw line. I was quivering in fear as his fingers played across the buttons on my blouse. I tried make a break for it but he slammed me back up against the tree. I screamed in vain one more time and he brought his hands around my neck.
“Be quiet you stupid whore.” he growled. He kept squeezing tighter and tighter. I began to feel light headed and then everything went black.
I was cold and uncomfortable. I rolled over and something poked me in the side. I opened my eyes and saw the object stabbing me was a stick. I looked around and saw I was laying on the ground in the woods. The morning dew covered me and I felt like I had gone ten rounds with a wrestler. Memories of Ricky flooded back into my head. I sat up and looked around and saw that he was gone. It must be the next day. I slowly, painfully got up. My keys and phone lay on the ground. I picked them up and walked back to the parking lot. My car was the only one there. I looked at my phone. 6:40 AM. I had dozens of missed calls. I got into my car and began the drive back home.
When I walked through the front door. I was surprised to see Kimi standing in the foyer pacing. His head shot up when I closed the door. He looked relieved, then angry.
“Where were you?” he yelled. He was furious. I wasn’t in the mood. I just wanted a hot shower and to be left alone. I didn’t want to think about what had happened. “I’ve been up all night calling you and trying to figure out where you were. I drove to the office last night and saw your car, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“I don’t feel like talking Kimi.” I pushed past him. I could feel him walking behind me. He grabbed my arm and turned me around. He looked me up and down and after getting a better look he looked shocked.
“What happened to you?” he touched my cheek. It felt tender from where I had been slapped.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I repeated, becoming more frustrated.
“Heidi, you need to.” his eyes softened. I shook my head. Tears brimmed in my eyes. I couldn’t look at him. He pulled me into his chest. His smell was comforting, familiar. I began to sob. When he pulled away he led me to the front room and sat me down on the sofa.
“No tell me what happened.” He said as I began to stop crying.
“Yesterday, I gave two wealthy business men a tour of the factory. One of them, kept getting handsy. He grabbed my bum and I told him he had to leave.” I could see Kimi begin to scowl as I told them this. “well he left and I didn’t think anything about it. I’ve had things like that happen before. No big deal, but when I left for the day he had been waiting for me. He grabbed me in the parking lot and dragged me off into the woods. He was angry because I had embarrassed him, no woman had ever denied him before.” I scoffed. “Anyway. I tried to get away and he slapped me. And shoved me into a tree. I tried to scream when he started to undo my blouse and that’s when he put his hands around my neck and squeezed until I blacked out. The next thing I know, I wake up lying on ground in the woods.”
“Did he…” Kimi started to ask a question that I didn’t even want to think about.
“I don’t know.” I interjected trying to fight back more tears from coming.
“Well you have to go to the hospital. You have to get checked out, and file a report with the police. I’m going to kill this man.” Kimi’s fist were in tight balls and he was pacing again.
“Kimi, I just want to go shower, be alone and forget all about this.” I placed my face in my hands.
“Please, for me. Go to the hospital.” Kimi knelt down and looked me in the eyes. “You can’t let this man get away with this.”
