Page 33 of Falling for the Bosshole

Ana decided the latter was the better option. Calling Jonathan would lead to questions that she wasn’t prepared to answer yet. A text would be a clean break. Let him know she was not some missing person, but simply decided to leave.

Ana pressed the “Send” button. The deed was done. Nothing could stop her now as she leaned back for the rest of the ride.

The cabbie was right. Traffic was bad everywhere. Even Belt Parkway leading to JFK Expressway was bumper to bumper. She heaved a sigh a relief as the JFK airport terminal came into view.

The taxi dropped her off at the entrance, and she made her way to the rows of ticket windows. Thankfully, there was a flight leaving for Barcelona in a few hours. Ana thanked her lucky stars as she searched for a seat in the crowded lounge. Her stomach grumbled heartily. She realized she had had nothing to eat since the morning. She noticed some fast food counters a few meters away. Grabbing her bag, she headed to the nearest one and ordered a bowl of noodles. It tasted flat and soggy. But she needed to satisfy her hunger. After a while, she pushed it aside and headed back to the lounge.

The lounge was even more crowded now as she searched for a place to rest. She spotted a seat facing a huge TV monitor. Ana took it fully intending to distract herself, watching whatever was on TV. It was a piece of local news with the stock market results constantly flashing across the screen.

It was better than having her thoughts play across her mind, she decided. Her life’s drama had taken a sudden turn for the worse, and she wasn’t about to dwell on it. Her tears were just there in the periphery of her eyes. Any provocation and she would start bawling once more. She wondered how she could feel so alone with so many people around her.

“Stop thinking about it, Ana,” she scolded herself, concentrating on the TV monitor as a substitute for her wayward thoughts. The constant flashing was hypnotic for her weary body, and she wasn’t even doing a good job trying not thinking of Lash because even the broadcaster on TV appeared to be saying his name.

It was one of those “Breaking News” stories. Ana had gotten used to it by now. It was mostly about a significant catastrophe in another part of the world – an earthquake in Peru, a tsunami in Asia, or some newscast that tugged at the heart only to be forgotten a few seconds later.

This one seemed different, familiar even, as it showed an aerial view of a stretch of highway that was filled with cars. Ana bolted upright as she heard Lash’s name mentioned again.

…billionaire and Philanthropist Lash Mancini was involved in a highway accident a few minutes ago along the stretch of JFK Expressway. Mancini was aboard his luxury Ducati motorcycle when a delivery truck broke through the highway barrier and hit Mancini from behind. According to some witnesses at the scene, the driver of the truck must have fallen asleep on the wheel and didn’t realize that he had jumped the barrier until it was too late. Mancini, a known bike enthusiast, had just come from an after-party after a successful opening night. There has been no word about his current condition, although it is believed he suffered some serious head trauma. Mancini was brought to Mt. Sinai General Hospital by responding to Medical personnel.”

Ana was frozen to the spot. Her mind was chaotic. Lash was dying or probably dead. Head trauma? What did that mean? How serious was it? And what was he doing riding a motorcycle? She didn’t even know he owned one. Then again, it seemed like there were a lot of things she didn’t know about him. JFK Expressway? That was the stretch of highway leading to the airport, wasn’t it?

The thoughts that whirled came to a sudden stop that hurt her brain. Ana sagged. Lash was coming after her. That had to be the only possible explanation. After she sent Jonathan the text message, Lash was the only person Jonathan would tell. Because traffic was bad everywhere, Lash probably thought he had a better chance of getting to her in the motorcycle instead of the Bentley.

“Oh god,” Ana moaned.

She had no idea that her decision to leave would lead to something like this. Lash was hurt…or probably dead.

“No…no…no,” she cried silently.

What was she to do? She was confused, panicked, afraid, and helpless all at the same time.

An announcement was heard through the airport PA system.

“Calling the attention of all passengers bound for Barcelona, Spain. Please proceed to Gate 5 for boarding. Calling the attention of passengers….”

“That my flight,” she thought through the fog in her brain.

Numbed with shock, Ana rose from her seat to proceed to the gate. Then she stopped suddenly.

“What am I doing? Lash needs me.”

She whirled around, fighting her way against the tide of passengers on their way to gate 5. When she broke free from the surge of bodies all around, Ana sprinted to the exit doors. Only one prayer ran through her mind.

“Dear God, please don’t let me be too late.”