A Good Friend

**Sarah**

After talking to Kael, I went to work with a peaceful heart, confident that we were on the same page, working to adjust our lives so that the relationship would work comfortably for both of us without either of us losing out. The fact that Kael wanted a relationship was very positive, and I believed we had everything to make it work now.

However, two days later, my confidence began to waver as I had no contact with Kael during this period. I understood that his life as the CEO of a major company was hectic, and he sometimes came home late. But I couldn't justify the fact that he hadn't taken a few minutes to talk to me, even by message, in over forty-eight hours.

Today, the team was going to travel to the next stage of the Formula One world circuit in Spielberg, Austria. I was selected to support the team boss during the trip. My destination was a hotel in Spielberg where everyone from the team was staying.

Hillary had also been in Spielberg since the day before but in another hotel with the Cecati team. I sent her a message to let her know about my arrival and to arrange to have lunch together. I needed to talk and confide in someone because I felt sad and indecisive, in need of an honest opinion about what to do now as I was truly lost in this story.

I didn't think it was right for me to reach out to Kael, considering everything that had already happened between us. On the other hand, I didn't want to be unfair and proud to the point of causing my unhappiness.

However, Hillary quickly responded to my message, saying that she had already made plans to have lunch with Lorenzo but that we could meet at her hotel's restaurant in the evening. I didn't want to feel betrayed by my friend when she was just having lunch with her best friend. Of course, it's not easy to think that way, especially considering that this colleague happened to be Lorenzo, taking into account our recent "involvement," everything felt very strange.

I remember it was through Lorenzo that Rachel and I met Hillary. They are very close, having worked together for a few years at Cecati, but I've been feeling a slight suspicion that things between them seem different since the night Lorenzo came to our apartment to talk about his feelings for me, and they ended up going out for dinner.

I looked around the hotel room and felt not only loneliness but also a deep sense of isolation. The certainty that I was alone, without anyone by my side, without friends, family, or a supportive partner, weighed on me. Although Hillary had been wonderful in welcoming me, I couldn't control how I felt about things. The anguish was overwhelming, and before I knew it, I was huddled in bed, shivering.

Unaware, I ended up falling asleep, not realizing the time when I was supposed to meet some colleagues to go to the racetrack together. I was abruptly awakened by the insistent sound of knocking on the door, accompanied by someone shouting my name, almost about to knock it down.

Dazed by the sudden awakening, I got up quickly and opened the door.

"What's the rush, Enrico!?" I complained, realizing it was the driver.

"I've been calling you for a few minutes, and you didn't respond. I got worried," he explained, entering the room and closing the door.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked, sitting on the bed and trying to orient myself. "I could have just left."

Enrico sat beside me and stared at me analytically, making me uncomfortable.

"The other girl, who is also a secretary, was here, and since you didn't answer, she left," he said. "So, before coming here, I checked with the hotel staff, and they assured me you hadn't left."

"Eva was here?" I asked, confused.

"Yes. You were sound asleep," he remarked.

I had to agree with Enrico because I hadn't heard Eva calling, and it seemed like it took me a while to hear him calling as well.

"I haven't been sleeping well in the past few days," I confessed.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why would you want to help me?" I questioned, feeling so alone that this sudden offer from Enrico seemed quite strange to me.

"You helped me with Rachel, remember?" he countered, surprising me. "I owe you a big favor."

"I don't know how I could have helped," I said, feeling down.

"Hey!" he called, lifting my face, which I had been keeping low, looking at my lap. "You helped a lot! If it weren't for you agreeing to pretend to be in a relationship with me, it would have been much harder for me to get close to your sister."

"If you believe that, I won't convince you otherwise," I said with a humorless smile. "Are you guys okay? Did you manage to work things out?"

"I wish the answer to your question were 'yes.' Unfortunately, the answer is 'I don't know'."

Now it was Enrico's turn to look sad, and I admired how he didn't hide what he felt for Rachel, even when she didn't seem to reciprocate the feeling.

"Where is she now?" I asked, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I haven't been able to reach her."

"I think we should save that conversation for another time because I believe you're running late, aren't you?"

Enrico glanced at the clock, and I did the same, realizing he was right. I was very late, and I was shocked by my carelessness.

"Oh my God! I need to hurry," I said, jumping up and rushing to the bathroom.

I left the door ajar, just to take a look at my appearance, fix my hair, and wash my face, trying to improve my sleep-deprived look.

"Hurry up; I'll give you a ride," Enrico said, walking to the door. "I'll wait for you in the lobby."

"Alright," I agreed.

A few minutes later, I found Enrico in the hotel lobby, and together we got into the rental car he was using.

"What time is your practice today?" I asked, remembering that he should also be at the racetrack.

"The practice got postponed due to bad weather, so none of us are running late," he explained, attentive to the route.

"Why did you come looking for me? Wouldn't it have been simpler to just send someone in your place?"

"You forget that for everyone else, you're my girlfriend," Enrico clarified, and I lightly tapped my forehead because I had indeed forgotten about this important detail.

"True. But now that you and Rachel have worked things out, I think it's better to let everyone know at once," I suggested.

"It will be a field day for the gossip magazines, this musical chairs game," Enrico said quite cynically.

"What do you mean by that?" I wondered, feeling a bit groggy because I had no idea what Enrico was talking about.

"I'm talking about Lorenzo jumping from Rachel's bed to Hillary's, just like everyone will believe I jumped from yours to your sister's," he explained.

"Hillary and Lorenzo?" I asked in astonishment.

My suspicion about Hillary and Lorenzo isn't isolated. Other people seem to have the same suspicions as me.

"They are very close, according to the newspapers," Enrico said. "My image consultant mentioned it."

"Still, that's not exactly what happened," I said. "You've never been in my bed."

"Nor in Rachel's," he said with a big laugh. "There were some photos of Rachel leaving the club with me, but everyone believes it was you. So, we're all good."

"Maybe not now, but you were with Rachel before," I reminded him of their encounter in Seattle.

"Not in the way you're suggesting," he confused me again, and when he noticed I didn't understand what he said, he spoke more clearly. "Rachel and I didn't have sex on the night we woke up together. There was no possibility of us having sex when we were both completely drugged."

"Drugged?" I asked in horror.

I could never imagine that my sister was using drugs, just as I wouldn't think that of Enrico, but apparently, I was wrong again.

"Not in the way you're imagining!" Enrico said, raising his hand. "I'm sure someone spiked our drinks with the sole purpose of getting us together that night."

"But who would want you two to spend the night together?" Hearing the question I asked myself, a slight suspicion settled in my head, leaving me stunned.

I remembered that it was precisely because Rachel woke up in bed with a stranger that she believed she had slept with him and, consequently, lost her virginity. It was for this reason that I went in her place and gave my virginity to Kael.

The night on the yacht came back to my memory with all the details and nuances: the words were spoken, Kael's arrogant attitude, and even the fact that he believed I was playing a role, as if he didn't believe in my "innocence" at all.

I tried to connect the dots and come to some conclusion about who might ultimately benefit from Rachel sleeping with Enrico or any other man and losing her virginity. But at that moment, Enrico's car entered the racetrack parking lot.

"Shall we?" Enrico called, parking the car in one of the available spaces and checking the time on the car's stereo display.