Betrayed by Love in Egypt

I had a chance encounter with a young gentleman on Tinder in the Middle East. He was from Canada and claimed to be a descendent of Leonardo Da Vinci. Well he did say that his great-great-grandfather was a second cousin or something like that. I told him that I was also descended from Da Vinci, but through my mother’s side, where my Grandmother was an illegitimate daughter of Da Vinci. My Mama Soprano always used to say “You can take away the name, but you can never take away the blood”.

Well, here I am in Venice, living history, and all this talk of the Golden Age brought back memories of my adventure with Leonardo. But I digress…

Leonardo came from Canada to Egypt to study the pyramids and other ancient structures. He made some waves at first, being an outsider and all, but soon enough he was accepted by the community as one of their own. As we spent more and more time together studying ancient hieroglyphs and deciphering cryptic writings, our friendship grew deeper until he revealed to me that he had fallen in love with me. We were both so wrapped up in each other that we completely lost track of time. One day when I woke up after we had dined late into the night on pasta, chocolate cake and red wine at The Blue Door restaurant near the Nile River, I found that Leonardo had disappeared without a trace!

A few days later I received an email from Leonardo telling me he was leaving for various reasons (which apparently included feelings for another woman) and that it was best if we parted ways for now. He said he would keep in touch via email but I never heard from him again after that day. It broke my heart into pieces. I have never felt so alone in my life. And then one day out of nowhere, a man who went by the name of Dimitri appeared at my door with letters in hand written by none other than Leonardo himself!

Well it turns out that Dimitri wasn't just any ordinary person who knew Leonardo; they were actually partners turned enemies! He explained how they had traversed Italy together learning about art and architecture during the Renaissance period. They were inseparable until one day when Dimitri sold out Leonardo and his secret plans to build flying machines to the Pope! Apparently there is a long standing feud between them over this betrayal since then. I guess you could say that Dimitri has been sticking pins into Leonardo's voodoo doll ever since then (I didn't ask what exactly happened to get them into such a mess).

So here we are now...in Venice...where it all started for us...and for Da Vinci too! This is truly a magical place filled with art and beauty which is why I chose to settle down here once again after my return from Egypt. When I met Dimitri again here in Venice he told me about his plot against Leonardo...with me being unknowingly involved as part of it! He showed me letters which quite clearly proved that not only did Leonardo leave Egypt without telling me anything about why he was leaving or giving any indication as to whether he would ever return, but also that it was Dimitri who came up with this plan in order to bring Leonardo back to Italy because the Pope wanted him there!

I can't believe what I've been through! Now everything makes sense! That's why he left without saying goodbye...he didn't want me getting caught up in his dispute with Dimitri! But wait...what if everything isn't what it seems? Why would Dimitri tell me all this now? What's his motive? Is this just another one of his tricks? Have I been played yet again like some pawn on a chessboard? Am I just another victim? What do you think folks? Should I give up on love or should I give it another go?