The Circle

August 7th, 2025 LA, USA. At the top of Hollywood hills I come to this place often, it makes me calmer that it now has a soft spot in my heart in a way. The dark.. the stars, and the smell of the cold breeze accompanied with the smell of the hill is different than any other place in the city. Enhale. Exhale. Life is never easy.. This is what everyone says. But for me life was a battle I was willing to take in order to win and only... Win. If only he was here with me... I took a deep breath again to calm myself with no success. I was never one to reveal weakness. Otherwise what I had built in years, would be lost in a heart beat. And I cannot allow that! But this f*cking breeze... this f*cking weather... and this f*cking night makes me.... feel weak. As if I'm a fragile leaf hanging on its last breath against a wicked hurricane. I miss him! I have almost everything now... Except for him... **** Flashback July, 1999 *A Lauren's parents house* Alessio on the phone: "Lascia perdere! Non tornerò mai più. Ora ho una famiglia!" Translation: Forget it! I'm never coming back. I have a family now! 'Daddy!' *Ends the call quickly* Alessio: 'Hey cuore mio' Translation: Hey my heart. 'What are you up to?' 'I want to play outside. Can you come and play with me?' 'Of course cuore mio. Go ahead, I'll be right behind you.' 'Yayy! Don't take so long though!' . . . . 'Fott*re!' Trabslation: F*ck! Grace enters the room and notices that her husband has a frown on his face and is deep in thoughts. 'Honey what's wrong? You seem worried!' 'Everything is fine amore, just thinking about work.' 'If you say so. Just know that I'm always here for you whenever you feel down. For better, for worse.. remember?' She says that with a sweet giggle escaping her mouth A little smile that was too eager to show on the side of his lip took over and turned into a full smile 'Sai che ti amo, giusto?' he said softly Translation: you know I love you right? 'Lo so, e ti amo anche marito' she replied Translation: I know, and I love you too husband. Present time Standing in the middle of a roses garden in a ruby dress that hugged her curves perfectly, red lipstick on and her long black hair laying on her back carefully started moving lightly by a soft breeze hitting her sweet figure. 'Where am I?' 'What is this place!' 'Why does it look so familiar.. this fountain and this huge breathtaking garden full of roses.' She was focused on checking her surroundings when a masculine deep voice took her by surprise. For some unknown reason his voice sent shivers down her spine A voice that held a strong force on her and made her eager to turn around as fast as humanly possible to find out its source.. not out of fear but out of temptation. Yup, she was tempted by his voice in a way she can't even dare to deny it. And she did turn around. When she turned around her breath got caught in her throat She was faced with a masked man in a velvet black suit. Even with his eye mask on and considering the good distance between them, she was able to notice his perfect sculpted face from far away. As cliché as it might sound but his jaw was as sharp as a knife. His fit and sculpted body could never get unnoticed despite the velvet suit he had on. Lauren’s POV: 'I was staring like an i***t for a while now for sure' And now he started walking towards me. As he was coming towards me, the light cold breeze that hit me earlier came back stronger than before rushing before him and making his musky scent race to reach me as a red carpet laying before his prestigious figure. Oh boy he was out of this earth.. and when I say that believe me because I'm a picky one for sure. He is now few inches away from me I had to glance up on him to study his face more carefully. Our eyes met and I can swear he is God's perfect creature Guess God really does have his favorites. His ocean blue eyes captivated me in an instant, they are dark and very captivating. This darkness screams danger, mystery and a secret demanding to be revealed... Challenging me to discover it His deep blue eyes are burning a hole through my soul And I can't seem to look away The mistake has already been made and there's no going back As if all this isn't enough, his musky perfume mixed with his masculine odor are making me shiver... in pleasure rather than in fear. Everything about him is mesmerising He is breathtakingly handsome and I can't see his whole face yet His deep voice pulled me out of my pathetic thoughts and probably from me drooling over him as a fool How embarrassing! Get a grip Laura 'Would you do me the honor of accepting this dance?' There he is again knocking me off my feet and I have just met him Yeah.. sounds like I really need to get laid The truth is I have never felt this way about anyone before and it is slightly scaring me But I don't know why exactly? Definitely not because he's a complete stranger.. of course not duh! Before I could even process what he had just proposed I found myself speaking ~Author: Here we go! Let's hope she doesn't embarrass herself 'Yes' ~A: Oh, now that was a first! 'Great, I have just agreed to dancing with a complete stranger and all I could know he could be a serial killer that has an obsession with blondes and comes after them, and is about to stab me in the back right in the middle of the dance just like in horror movies. Oh lord I'm getting "Friday 13th" vibes Huh good thing I'm not blonde! Phew Now let's hope he does not have an obsession with brunette girls with hazel eyes or I would be dead any minute now Is it too late to back out? He reached his hand to me and I hesitantly took it thanks to my creative mind. 'You are very beautiful Laura' Oh.. Serial killer idea. Off the list. 'Thank you, you look good as well. I can tell even with the eye mask on But coming to think about it, I don't know what is your name!' He stared silently at me for a few seconds and his stare made a shiver run down my spine I moved my gaze to his lips waiting for his answer and he finally opened his mouth to speak.. 'I will leave that unanswered in the hope that there will be a next time for us.' 'Mhm I get it..' Not really.. I'm too curios 'Then can you at least take your mask off so I can recognize you in our next time' 'Go ahead and do it yourself' Just when the tips of my fingers brushed against his velvet mysterious mask and were about to untie it to get to see the full masterpiece more clearly, with no distractions in between... A huge noise disturbed us and everything suddenly went black. I woke up... in my room... on my bed Fml of course the alarm had to go off in this exact moment I was about to meet myprincecharming *inner cry* Oh I'm so going to kill rose for this! This is what I'm going to get if she's talking about men 24/7. I pulled myself outside of the bed, I need to get these things out of my mind I have a lot to do today As any other day 'On with a new successful day' I entered the shower in order to get all the unnecessary thoughts outside of my head The water flowing over my head made me zone out instead and the moment I closed my eyes his masked face was the first thing to appear So much of taking unnecessary thoughts out of my mind Enterting the walk in closet to pick something to wear for today I'm feeling something white today.. ..... 7:30 AM Heading to the office with Dario as our usual routine every morning Dario has been close to me for a long time, is my secret keeper, and my right hand... he's reasonable and I love that about him.. he listens when I need him to... advises me when I'm in need for it and I really take what he has to say into consideration, he was never one to talk nonsense. On the contrary, whenever he opened his mouth to talk, I really appreciate it. Entering the office, I was greeted by the workers, I nodded back and went to the elevator, Dario on my right side keeping his emotionless face as usual Dario is. Reaching the 27th floor the doors for the elevator opened and I started moving forward towards my office, followed by Dario. The echoes of my heels were the only sound that can be heard in the room and it made everyone in it stop what they were doing and look towards me. At the corner of my eye I see my secretary Ann running towards me. "Good morning, Ms. Volonte" "Good morning Ann" "I'll start with your meetings schedule for today" I keep walking towards my office, my heels' knocks accompanied with Ann's voice now as she's trying to tell me everything in her notes before I reach my chair.. I never understood why she over stresses herself. The sun was so bright when Dario opened the office door for me. Stepping inside I sensed an unfamiliar aroma that made the memory of my first day working here hit me when my father made sure I deserved my place in the company and I had to work day and night to get this office that faces my father's. I almost accomplished my dream Only few steps left.... The first thing that catches my eye when I sit on my desk is an envelope that has my name on it.. 𝓜𝓼. 𝓥𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮.. What's inside that envelope was not the least interesting if not for its source.. Mr. Claudio Conti My father's best friend.... There was a picture inside the envelope of him and my dad when they first built their companies together I couldn't stop admiring my dad's face.. I miss him. When I turned the picture around there was a sentence written down on it... "The beginning..." Oh, God's hidden messages are my favorite.. only God knows that it’s only the beginning and no one... would ever be ready for it! ..... End of chapter.