LOVESTRUCK

Matteo Lorenzo was a man feared and respected by all. Not only was he a successful business man, he was also the ideal partner. Everyone adored him. Everyone wanted what he had, but there could never be another Matteo Lorenzo. He ran away from his country of birth, Italy, at the age of nine, when his step-father placed a bounty on his head. After illegally migrating to the US, he settled in New York, and began to do menial jobs. It didn take time before the little boy was noticed by big shots. He was a natural born worker. There was absolutely nothing too small for him to do. He put his hands in any and everything. He covered every inch of soil he could find, from the shabbiest part of the bronx, to the deadly streets of Chinatown. There was nothing too demeaning in the eyes of young Matteo. In less than a decade of living from hand to mouth, fifteen year old Matteo saw his future. He rightly guessed where the world was headed and dived into the moving train of tech. He began another long, righteous and dedicated study. He finally perfected his digital skills. He became a tech wizard. Matteo was not only a genius, he also had the looks to back it up. His growth into a fine young man, was expected. Everytime he walked into a room, his dominating presence was always felt. He had the aura of a god, and the brains of a demon. Matteo finally was comfortable in life, but he didn feel satisfied. It felt like a huge part of himself was still missing and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn find it.

It was a cold day in December, the pieces of his life finally began to make sense. On this fateful day, he met Natalia Banks, the infamous blonde beauty. He had been forced to attend a party organized by the echelons of the Upper East Side, despite his resistance. When he arrived the venue, as usual, all eyes were on him. They all wanted to speak to him. The scholars wanted to pick his brain. The women threw themselves at him with little discretion to retain their lady status, but also perfectly combined with little lewdness to show their obvious intent. It pleased him regardless of how it was done. Women were such lovely creatures in his eyes. The fact they found him worthy of appreciation was not something he took for granted. Everyone kept on rallying around him except for one person. One very lovely woman who didn even notice the ruckus his entrance had caused. She was staring at a painting of an unknown artistes interpretation of the trinity. She was so engrossed in her world, every other thing was dead to her. He couldn help his sudden interest in her. Not only was she breathtaking even turned away from him as she was, but there was also something peaceful about her. She immediately had him entrapped. Suddenly an idea came to him. It was at the very moment when her attention drifted from the painting to the odd man who was staring directly at her

and smiled, that he formed the idea of what launched him into the richest man in the whole continent.

Their attraction was instant. Chemistry, undeniable. It took them less than four months to tie the knot, both sure they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Thus, the beginning of love struck.

Present day:

Matteo casually strolled to the window of his office. He looked down the skyscraper, a lot on his mind. He was fifty already and should have been thinking about retiring from the company and handing it over to his son, Antonio. Afterall, it was how he planned his life. However, the recent developments had put a halt to his plans.

There was so much controversy surrounding Love Struck these days and he was confused on how to go about tackling them. The recent and most upsetting news, was his son being accused of sexual assault. It was a very sensitive matter and he wasn the type of man to victim blame. Hell if there was even the slightest proof that his son actually did it, he would take the young man himself to jail. Now while he was very much aware of his sons charm, he had gotten it from him anyways, he was also very confident that he and his wife had raised a good man. His son would never **** anyone. The media didn care about facts though. All they ever cared about was putting out click baits, so that the reactionary people of the world could eat it up. And oh boy, did they eat it up. Everyone was coming for his family. They all questioned his morality. It was only a matter of time before they dug into his past and begin to uproot a life he had left behind a long time ago.

He was still in his head, when a knock on the door brougt him back to reality.

”Come in ” he instructed not leaving the window. However, he turned to see his lawyer and special adviser for the past twenty years, George Fisher, come in.

”You look terrible ” George immediately said, and walked directly to a drawer where they hid their secret stash of liquor. He and Matteo did not only have a professional relationship, but had been best friends for years.

”What is it now? ” He asked pouring a glass of liquor for Matteo, and downing his in one gulp.

”Really? What exactly do you mean by that question? Don you read the news? ” Matteo sarcastically asked rolling his eyes, before carefully sipping his drink. George watched his friend and felt pity.

”Of course, I saw it, but the case is not plausible. She does not have any concrete evidence, therefore our boy is safe ” George shrugged with a special bravado that came from years and years of being a big shot lawyer.

”For a lawyer, you can be really dense ” Matteo said walking back to his seat.

”We are not just fighting against one woman ” he continued angsty ”We
e fighting the media. Someone is out to get us, and they won stop until they see us fall ”

”You hurt my pride my friend. Twenty good years, and you still think this way? ” He said taking his own seat. ”Ive told you not to worry, but since you
e so heavy-hearted, Ive come to tell you that I have a plan ”

Matteo quickly readjusted as he sensed a hint of determination in his friends voice. Although he had been irritated by Georges earlier indifference, he never for once doubted his friends capability for solving complex problems.

”Spill ” Matteo said hastily.

George took another gulp of his drink, cleared his throat, and looked intensely into his friends eyes. ”I think, instead of letting the media control the narrative, we could do that ourselves ” Matteo nodded as an indication for George to go on.

”Theres this amazing writer I only recently heard about. Shes young, ambitious, very outspoken and super talented. We could pour money into her media platform, and in return, shell help us drown out the voice of those bastards ” he said with a smile on his face.

”Hmmm, not bad actually. Book an appointment with her agency immediately, Ill love to interview her myself. ” Matteo said already feeling a bit relieved. He would be so grateful, if they were really able to do everything in their favour.

”Now thats more like the man I know. ” George smiled brightly at his friend, resolving in his heart that no matter what happens, he would always have his back.

”Lets make a toast then shall we? ” He continued determined to completely lift his friend out of his sour mood.

”What the hell, its not like I can tell you no ” he teased and George laughed heartily.

”You are one interesting man my friend ” he said refilling their glasses.

”So what exactly are we raising a toast to? ”

”To defeating our enemies ” George replied.

”And reclaiming our name ” Matteo added.

”To us ” they said in sync and clinked their glasses.

”I have to leave now ” George said after emptying his glass.

”So soon? ” Matteo asked wondering why he was in such a haste.

”Missing me already? ” He teased.

”We
e too old George ” he said shaking his head at the childish games George always loved to indulge in.

”We
e never too old to tease each other. I wonder who told me that ” he placed a finger on his cheeks and raised his head up, imitating the position of someone in deep thought.

”Get out of my office George ” Matteo said and burst into a feat of laughter. He did remember giving George that silly advise. He should have known better.

”My work here is done now ” George said and turned to leave. Matteo turned his attention back to the emails he needed to sort out. For the first time in a long time, he didn feel gloomy at all. There was hope for LOVE STRUCK.