LOVE STRUCK

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. 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't take time before the little boy was noticed by big shots. He was a natural born worker, and had the brains of a million machines.There was absolutely nothing too small, or dirty, or even lowly 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.

It came to him as a vision . Not the supernatural kind. It was in a conversation with a highly learned man, he had the opportunity to meet.

"I watch the way you work. You put in your all to it. It is quite refreshing to see, especially for one as young as you." The old man who owned the construction site, Matteo worked said.

"Does that men I get an increase?" He raised his brow, a smile plastered across his young face.

"Now don't push it." The old man let out a throaty laugh, which soon turned into a cough.

"Don't laugh too hard, if you want to live long, old man." Matteo chided, handing him a bottle of water.

"Don't be rude to your employer young man," he wiped his mouth after chugging down the wayer. "Who raised the children of these days?" He shook his head, then his expression softened, as he stared at the boy he knew was going to do well in life.

"How did you become rich?" Matteo suddenly asked, with a serious expression on his face.

"Ha! The decade old question, every young man wants to know."

"I'm serious. I don't want to be a construction worker for the rest of my life. I mean it is an honest job, but surely there's something else out there for me." He robbed his temple, his eyes fixated faraway.

"I can't answer that. There's no recipe for it. But there's something I'll tell you." He paused, and cleared his throat. Matteo leaned in, intent to get every bit of wisdom, he could. "You are by far wiser than any man, or boy, I've seen. There's something in you that sets you apart. Think of the thing you believe in the next ten to twenty years will be the necessity of the world, and invest in it."

It was right there, Matteo read in between the lines. He saw it very clearly that day.

Although the old man who had been his mentor right from the day he got the job to work with him, died the next day, his words forever remained in his heart.

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't feel satisfied. It felt like a huge part of himself was still missing and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't 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. Everyone, but one. One very lovely woman who didn't, look at him even once.

She stood basking in the euphoria of the 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't 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, he knew.

The inspiration came to him. Because in that moment, he was love struck.

Present day:

Matteo casually strolled to the window of his office. He looked down the skyscraper, and saw the crowd of reporters were still crawling around, trying to get information from any, and everyone. There was a lot on his mind. He was fifty already, and ideally, should be 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't 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 son's 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 rape anyone. The media didn't 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 called, not taking his eyes off the window.

He sighed when he felt the aura of the presence behind him. There was only one man, who's good nature naturally filled every room he entered. He turned around out of respect for his lawyer, and special adviser, for the past twenty years.

"You look terrible." George 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?" Matteo rolled his eyes, and moved from the window. He sank into the sofa in his office, and sighed. "What exactly do you mean, Georgie? Have you seen the news?" Hell, just take a look outside, and see for yourself." He poured himself another glass, and took another gulp.

George watched his friend silently. He took over the empty space next to Matteo, and said, "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.

"Let's not pretend man. This is not just something we can brush over, the whole town, I dare say world, are having a go at us," His pressed a finger down his nose and lip, then inhaled swiftly. "We are not just fighting against one woman. We're fighting the media. Someone is out to get us, and they won't stop until they see us fall."

"You hurt my pride my friend. Twenty good years, and you still think this way?" He drew closer to him. "I've told you not to worry, but since you're so heavy-hearted, I've come to tell you that I have a plan."

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

"Spill!" Matteo said.

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.

"There's this amazing writer I only recently heard about. She's young, ambitious, very outspoken and super talented. We could pour money into her media platform, and in return, she'll help us drown out the voice of those bastards." A mischievous grin spread across his face.

"Hmmm," Matteo tapped his left foot in quick succession, and did a slight drum on his tighs. "Not a bad idea ctually. Book an appointment with her agency immediately, I'll love to interview her myself."

His face relaxed a bit, and thin wrinkled line across his forehead faded. The fire in his eyes returned, and you could see the resurgence of his will to fight.

"Now that's more like the man I know." George smiled brightly at his friend, resolving in his heart that no matter what happened, he would always have his back.

"Let's make a toast then shall we?" He continued determined to completely lift his friend out of his sour mood.

"What the hell, it's not like I can tell you no." he teased and George laughed heartily.

"You are one interesting man my friend." he refilled their glasses.

"So what exactly are we raising a toast to?" Matteo laughed, completely out of his foul mood now. Good friendship, and even better wine had a way of doing that.

"To defeating our enemies." George replied.

"And reclaiming our name, our staus, prestige, and making everyone know Love struck is here to stay." 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're too old George." He said shook his head, but smiled.

"We're never too old to tease each other. I wonder who told me that?" he placed a finger on his chin, and raised a brow.

"Get out of my office George." Matteo said, bursting into a feat of laughter. He did remember giving George that silly advise. He should have known it would come back to bite him in the ass.

"My work here is done now." George waved, and walked out.

Matteo shook his head, and turned his attention back to the emails he needed to sort out. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel gloomy at all. There was hope for LOVE STRUCK.