Champagne Deception Read Free

college girl, Coretta had been bubbly and made friends easily.  One of her closest friends at the university in Milan had been Lorenzo Fiatti , whom she met in a pottery class.  She had always been secretly attracted to the tall, wavy-haired Italian with the mega-watt smile.  Over the years, they had lost touch, but Coretta found herself suddenly wondering what had become of the green-eyed cutie.  With vivid clarity, she could still recall the day they met back in fall semester of her senior year…
    “What are you making?” A rich male voice inquired curiously.
    Hands saturated in clay, Coretta looked up and replied, “I wanted to make a vase, but Dr. Fiore says I should make an ashtray like everyone else.”
    The tall, lean boy looked at her with sympathetic amusement.  “I know.  This isn’t very creative for an art class!  What’s your name?”
    “Coretta Nicholas.  I’m from Connecticut.  Doing my semester abroad here.” A flutter of nervousness assaulted her as she gazed into green eyes magical enough to cast a warlock’s spell.
    “I’m Lorenzo Fiatti.  Welcome to my country! I would shake your hand, but…”
    “But it’s covered in clay,” she replied wryly.  “Have you ever studied abroad?”
    “No, but I’d love to study in London.  My minor is English literature, and I’d really like to go to Stratford-upon-Avon and see where Shakespeare lived.” The young man’s eyes lit up even more as he spoke of his dream.
    “Do you actually enjoy reading Shakespeare?” She asked, making a sour face.
    Lorenzo laughed heartily.  “I know, everyone thinks his plays are so hard.  But once you understand the difference between ‘thou’ and ‘thine,’ you’re all set.” He winked as she blushed.  Chemistry vibrated between their young bodies, and Coretta felt an unfamiliar wave of exhilaration as they conversed.
    “I think it’s a little more complicated than that, but you’re funny,” she giggled.
    From the glazing station, an attractive girl with long, honey brown hair sauntered over.  She lay a possessive hand on Lorenzo’s shoulder and asked with narrowed eyes, “Who’s this?”
    The introduction that followed had instantly shattered any ideas Coretta might have had about dating Lorenzo.  The honey-haired art student was Barbara, Lorenzo’s steady girlfriend.  Should she even bother to look him up now?  What if Barbara the Girlfriend was now Barbara the Wife?  There was only one way to find out.
    Switching on her computer, she conducted a quick internet search and was shocked to find Lorenzo’s handsome face smiling back at her as he stood next to a cherry red Vespa in the heart of Milan’s fashion district.  Long and lanky as a college kid, Lorenzo had gained about thirty pounds of pure muscle.  Other than for the weight gain, he looked exactly as he had in college: friendly, open, and unassumingly sexy.  She clicked on the photo and was redirected to his professional website titled Fiatti Clay Designs.
    “He became a sculptor!” Coretta exclaimed, surfing through photos of impressive, life-size art installations in bronze.  He had come a long way since their pottery class where the biggest project of the semester was a glazed ashtray.
    Coretta scrolled down to the bottom of the page where his contact information stared at her enticingly.  Jonathan didn’t like her to have male friends, and she wasn’t sure if she should open the flood gates of communication between her and Lorenzo.  Even in college, Lorenzo had possessed a deeply philosophical soul, engaging in animated discussions about love and art---the two most important elements of life according to Coretta.  If she contacted him, even from a platonic perspective, she would be inviting a man into her life whom she had pined over every night of her semester in Milan.  But Lorenzo was probably married now anyway, and he hadn’t even flirted when he had a girlfriend, so he certainly wouldn’t flirt if