Labbia

As soon as Laura heard the captain get on the intercom and announce that they would soon be arriving Amerigo Vespucci Airport in Florence, she grabbed her bag and marched straight to the lavatory.

Once inside, she stripped off her baggy pants to reveal the tight shorts she had been wearing underneath. She spent the next ten minutes putting on make-up, including a bright red shade of lipstick, and then she unbuttoned the top few buttons of her shirt. She then let down her long, wavy hair until it cascaded fetchingly over her shoulders.

Satisfied with her new look, she packed up her bag and returned to her seat, smiling when the man’s eyes next to her went wide once he caught a glimpse of her. Throughout the flight, he had mostly ignored her, but now he was definitely interested, which pleased Laura immensely. Unfortunately, she already knew from overhearing him talk to the woman in the window seat that he was continuing on to Rome. Otherwise, he might’ve been useful.

Nonetheless, Laura wasn’t worried. Italy was full of good-looking, successful men that she could take advantage of. Sure enough, the guy in the booth at passport control had a lovely head of hair and gorgeous olive-colored eyes, and she flirted with him just long enough to be sure that he was into her before giving him a casual wave goodbye and sauntering off toward baggage claim.

Back in the United States, Laura’s mother had argued with her for hours, trying to convince her to bring a suitcase, but Laura knew it was best to travel light. Lugging around a big, clunky piece of baggage just wasn’t going to work, not for what she had in mind anyway. In the end, though, Laura’s mother had insisted, saying that she at least needed a few changes of clothes.

As such, Laura had regretfully ceded to her mother’s demands, at least superficially. Instead of bringing anything she cared about though, Laura had simply dumped in some old rags she’d found in the garage as well as a few other odds and ends like some dusty books from the attic so that her suitcase wouldn’t feel completely empty.

Therefore, while all the other sheep on her flight jostled their way to get a spot in the crowded baggage claim area, Laura went right ahead and made her way toward the exit, a big smile on her face when she emerged into the bright sunshine outside.

Now that she was officially in the country, she removed her blouse completely to reveal a form-hugging crop top. She then slipped her sunglasses down from her head and began looking around for a viable target.

The tourists were immediately obvious as they queued up at the taxi stand. What Laura needed, however, was a local who could give her a ride. The uniformed airport employees were out of the question as they were on duty, and she immediately ruled out the hustlers and scammers who were eyeballing the exiting foreigners like prey.

Laura got plenty of appreciative looks as she wandered up and down the terminal exterior, but she was starting to get frustrated. Just as she was about to give up and spend some of her limited stash of cash to hire a driver, she looked over and saw a group of guys getting out of a car in the long-term parking lot and start walking toward the airport. Jackpot!

With her shoulders straight to make her chest more prominent, Laura began wandering around the long-term parking lot, trying to walk purposefully so she wouldn’t draw attention from security. Because this was Europe, many of the makes and models of the vehicles were unfamiliar to her, but it was still pretty easy to tell which ones were expensive and which ones weren’t.

Laura waited until she saw a car driven by a man in his 40s start heading her way, the vehicle curiously small, definitely a bit of an older model, but also well-maintained. She then stepped out in front of it at the right moment, smiling when the driver had to step on the brakes to keep from hitting her.

“Oh, scuzi, scuzi,” said Laura using her limited Italian vocabulary.

The man replied by saying something she couldn’t understand, but that didn’t matter because he was smiling at her in a way she instantly recognized.

“You, um, give me a ride?” said Laura, praying that he knew a little English.

The man, however, kept on jabbering away in Italian, throwing in a few hand gestures here and there for good measure. Nonetheless, she could tell by the way his eyes were roaming up and down her body that she had a live one on the hook.

“I’m going to a town called Senzaregole di Aruzza,” said Laura, speaking slowly and enunciating as best she could. “Can you take me there?”

“Senzaregole di Aruzza?” said the man, followed by more Italian but also some affirmative nods, which was all Laura needed.

“Grazie. Thanks,” said Laura, taking off her pack and getting into the passenger seat.

The man’s eyes went a bit wide with surprise at that, but he made no move to kick her out. Indeed, he seemed quite pleased to have gotten her as a passenger, a big smile on his face as he put the vehicle in gear.

They stopped once at the exit to the parking lot so that the driver could hand over some colored bills, but after that, they were well on their way. After a few stoplights and some city traffic, they left Florence behind and were on a rural highway. Laura grinned as the wind blew through her hair, and she kicked off her shoes, happy to finally be executing her mission.

For years, she had dreamed of the moment where she could get to Italy and enact revenge on the man who had ruined her mother’s life. It hadn’t been easy keeping that secret as she knew her mother wouldn’t approve, and getting the money together to afford such a trip had taken longer than she had expected. But all the planning and strategizing was coming together as the village where that bastard lived was only about a hundred kilometers away.

Laura’s mother had been quite surprised when she told her that she wanted to do an art internship in Florence, which had been the cover story she’d come up with.

There really was an art internship program for English-speaking students in Florence, it’s just that Laura wasn’t about to fork over 5,000 dollars to sit around and dabble with water colors, not when she had a much more important job to complete.