Her Sicilian Arrangement (2 page)

She
let out an exasperated breath and pulled out another bill. “Here…I
had no idea. I hardly watch any TV.” The driver handed her two
quarters in change, muttered a polite ‘Thank You’ and then drove
off. She stood in that position for a few more moments and then
turned on her heel to towards the pavement ascending to the
building. She walked slowly, buying some time, because she knew
that Ryan would arrive there soon just as he had promised. She was
about to pushed the large rotating doors open when she heard the
familiar rumble of a Porsche, followed by a call.

“
Meagan!!” she heard him say as he jogged up to her, dressed in
a gorgeous tailored suit with a Burberry scarf flung around his
neck. He then came to a halt right next to her. “I’ve missed
you.”

She
smiled and then ushered him through the doors, waved at the doorman
and then entered an elevator. “So…what have you been up to,
Ryan?”

“
A
little of this and that,” he admitted, looking up at the
floor-meter as it changed from two to three, and three to four. “I
am putting on my fourth show in two weeks and you would not believe
where…”

“Sounds exciting.” she exclaimed as the elevator doors slid
open gracefully and they stepped out unto glistening marble floors.
“Where?”

“
Just guess,” he said in a voice that would bring anyone out of
a state of sadness.

“
Let
me see…” She pulled out her keys and unlocked her door. They both
entered immediately and she placed her bag on a table where she
kept a small basket to hold her keys. “Paris?”

“
Close…,” he muttered, his blue eyes lighting up the room as if
they were generating electricity. “Try again.”

“
Rome?”

“
Closer.”

“
Oh,
just tell me already!” she giggled as they moved into the kitchen.
“Uh…Milan?”

“
Yes! Awesome, right? This is what I have been working my ass
off for…Ralph Lauren is interested in my spring and summer
collection. They want me to work for them!”

“I’m
very happy for you, Ryan, you have no idea!”

“I
know. You are my best friend,” he said sweetly, pulled her in a
tight hug and then released her. “Hey, maybe I can visit you while
you’re in Sicily sometime.”

“
I
was just thinking about the same thing,” she lied and opened a
bottle of champagne that she had just taken from the refridgerator.
“Let’s drink to your success…and to mine in Sicily.”

Ryan
winked at her and took a couple glasses from the cupboard. After
watching the smooth pink beverage getting poured into the glasses,
Ryan took up his and hit it against hers gently. They then both
took large gulps of the drink.

“
Well, I wonder who I’m going to meet while I’m there,” he
said, staring at the glass blankly.

“
Lots of important people, I have no doubt.”

“
Yeah!” he uttered in that voice again that had the same
intensity of joy as a four year old child who had just discovered a
cookie jar. “Can’t wait to get my hands on some
Latinas!”

Meagan almost choked on her drink as she grabbed a napkin
immediately to wipe her mouth. She then blinked rapidly and stared
at him as if she had seen a ghost. “Latinas?”

“
Yeah, Latinas,” he smiled and shook his hips playfully.
“Italian women! What?”

“
Oh…,” she murmured and then giggled. “I thought…never
mind.”

“
You
thought what?” he asked, looking at her narrowly.

She
felt as if she was stuck in a maze that she could not find her way
out of. “Nothing important.” And she attempted to turn away from
him, hoping that he would forget about the issue.

“Come on, Meg,” he said and chuckled. Meg? No one called her
‘Meg’. “We’re friends. You can tell me anything…
anything
!”

She
sighed loudly and then faced him again, placing the glass down on
the counter. “I—I kind of thought that…you were…gay?” she said,
turning her statement into a question, trying to lessen the
possible effect of her words. To her surprise, he raised an eyebrow
at her and shook his head, laughing as if he had just heard a
hilarious joke.

“
Are
you serious? I mean, look at me,” he laughed, spinning a whole 360
degrees before her. “How the hell could I be gay?”

A
chuckle escaped her lips and she covered her mouth quickly. “I’m
sorry—I didn’t know. It’s just that—how you dress and you always
look so…perfectly coordinated. And I’ve never heard you speak of a
woman.”

“
Perfectly coordinated?” he laughed. “I would have preferred
‘fashionably inclined’. I’m a designer, Meg. I have to look the
part. Anyways, enough about me. What time are you
leaving?”

“
Five o’clock…I have to leave on the earliest flight so that I
can get enough rest to not fall asleep at that conference the
following day.”

“
Hmmm,” he muttered and nodded. “I remember when you were going
crazy about this case and now you finally got it. Marco Mussolini
is always a fashionably attired man—I’ve seen him in a couple
magazines—maybe you can yell out a few, you know, tips about
me!”

Meagan could not help but succumb to his amusing personality
and she smiled. “That’s if I even get close enough to
him.”

“
Are
you kidding?” he smirked at her. “Look at you…if Marco Mussolini
doesn’t fall dead in his track when he sees you, there’d be only
one explanation for that.”

“
What?”

Ryan
turned both ways, dramatically, as if he was in a crowded scene and
put one hand beside his mouth. He then whispered to her in a
childish voice, “
Gay.
”

“
Oh,
for God’s sake!” she chuckled and put the remaining bottle of
champagne back in the fridge. “You are something else.”

“
Well, am I lying?” he questioned, prolonging the conversation
on purpose.

“
About what?” she said, moving into the living room and then
took off her heels, grabbing them up in her hands at the same time.
Ryan trotted behind her slowly.

“
About you having a kick-ass body…”

“
I’d
rather not talk about that right now, Ryan…” And she moved into a
hallway leading to her bedroom and then stepped inside. She then
stopped at the door and held both hands up to block his entry. “Now
that I’ve found out that you aren’t gay…I certainly don’t want to
talk to you about stuff like that.”

“Wussy
!” he
flung at her, teasingly.

“
What did you call me?” she snapped as if she was an angry cop
interrogating a stubborn criminal.

“You
heard me. I called you a wussy,” he said, with an annoyingly
mocking expression on her face. He then taunted her repeatedly.
“Wussy…wussy…wussy…
wus—ssy
!”

She
then rolled her eyes at him. “Ha ha…funny!” And she closed the door
to his face as she heard the cackling of his laughter descending
back into the living room, followed by the clicking on of the
television. She had climbed into the shower only a few minutes
later, giving herself a cold shower, and with every intention of
packing her luggage as soon as she was finished. Was she overly
excited to go to Sicily? Yes! Was she a workaholic? Yes! But did
she deserve it?
Hell, yes!
“I
more than deserve it…,” she murmured as she squeezed some shampoo
into her palm and then massaged it into her dark brown brunette
hair.

She
just hoped that everything happened according to plan and that
nothing went wrong. She could not afford any mishaps…and she
wouldn’t. All she wanted was to go there, do her job and return
feeling fulfilled and satisfied with herself. And if everything
went just like that…what else could she ask for? A successful
career…that was her main priority at that point and it was all she
needed to keep going.

CHAPTER 2

“Benvenutos a Palermo, Sicily
!”

Meagan moved through the crowded airport as she pushed her
luggage in a trolley searching desperately for the airport’s car
rental facility for the car that the firm had arranged for her. She
sighed, feeling completely jet lagged and then continued moving
through the foreign mob as she spotted a large green and red sign
marked: ‘Macchina Noleggio’. From her quite small knowledge of the
Italian language, she could decipher that the words meant ‘Car
Rental’. She walked eagerly up to the counter, as several person
bumped into her harshly, and sighed loud enough to draw the man at
the desk’s attention.

“Buongiorno
!”
he greeted her after straightening his red beret.
“
Come posso aiutare
te
?”

“
Uh…,” she murmured, feeling clueless and frustrated. “I—I
don’t speak Italian.”

“
Ahh….You are American, yes?” he slurred in his deep
accent.

“
Yes,” she smiled and looked to the Heavens that she was
finally getting through with something. “Um, I’m Meagan Summers. I
was to pick up a rental car here.”

He
looked at his computer monitor and then averted his eyes to her.
“
Sí! One second,
Signora
!”

Meagan watched him as he unlocked a glass cupboard and then
retrieved a gold key from a hook. He then signaled her through a
door and down a short hall until they entered a lot filled with
cars of almost every kind. Impressive! She thought and looked
around at the vehicles. She could not believe that they the Chief
had gotten her such an expensive rental…of all the cars there
parking before her, she honestly could not have chosen if that were
the case.

“
Which one is it…?” she asked, steadying the trolley at her
feet.

“The
silver convertible is yours, Signora, for a month if I have
my
informazione
correct.” Her eyes flew wide open as he walked over to the car
and smiled. She pushed her trolley closer and shook her head in
disbelief. He then handed her the keys and said, cheerfully, “I do
hope you enjoy your stay here in sweet beautiful
Sicily!”

“Grazie
!” she
returned, her mood instantly switching from restlessness to
excitement. The man walked out of the lot and she placed her
luggage in the trunk and they few extra bags on the bag seat. After
releasing a brief breath, she slid into the car with care and then
drove through the opening with the huge
Uscita
-Exit sign above it. She then slowed along a curb and
pulled out her map of the island from her handbag. From it, she saw
that the hotel she had reservations at was just a couple blocks
away. Hotel Trinacria…that was what it was called. From her
research, it was the best hotel in the entire city. It had been
destroyed along with majority of the city more than a century ago
and was rebuilt to its current state.

Sicily had been began as the most beautiful island in the
Mediterranean but as the countless volcanic eruptions and
earthquake activities took parts of their landscapes away, the
natives had and continued to work hard to renew their home to what
it had been before. It thrived on his many agricultural produces,
minerals, sulphur, and the petrochemical industry. Agriculture was
the main occupation of Sicilians, as she could see several men
driving their pick-ups loaded with countless crops stacked neatly
inside. However, many others sought the professions of
manufacturing wine, citric acid or orange juice among others.
Tourism also contributed to their economy as many people came from
far especially to visit the Palermo Cathedral as well as the Greek
ruins scattered over specific cities.

All
of that intrigued her a lot more than she had expected and for a
moment, she wished that she had enough time to slow down and take a
look at the sites before her time was due there. She could tell why
Marco Mussolini had made millions from his occupation. Since most
of Italy’s vessels set sail from Sicily, his businesses generated
income successfully from tourists and locals that eyes caught his
expensive yet first-class style of resources. To her opinion, he
was a smart man. But was he smart enough? He was accused of
smuggling drugs across the Mediterranean to areas of Tunisia and
Libya. That would have been an easy task for him to accomplish, if
everything was true, since he owned vessels that could travel there
to back and fro without many curious eyes.

Meagan shook her head and sighed. She could not continue
thinking about that any further. All she wanted at that point was
to get something to eat and sleep. She swore that she didn’t see
the hotel in five seconds; she would have fallen asleep at the
wheel.

“
Oh…thank you God!” she let out as she looked up and saw the
large beautiful size with the hotel next to it and only a meter
away was the large European style building that looked just as
exquisite as those she had always admired from idly skipping
through a few journals. She then pulled into the drive way and slid
out the car. Only moments later, a valet stepped up to her politely
and nodded.

“Ciao
!” he
said and she smiled at him. A bell-hop then trotted up and started
to stack her luggage on a two-shelved trolley. As soon as he was
finished, the valet drove away the vehicle to park and the bell-hop
entered through large stainless glass doors, which she followed
through, that opened automatically to their presence. She was
impressed already and moved up quickly to the receptionist’s desk.
The beautiful black-haired woman, dressed in a gold and black
jacket suit acknowledged her politely with the same greeting she
had been hearing for the past twenty minutes.