“I do. What happened?” She asked, but not sure she really wanted to know.
“Just before he was about to get his ass beat, his friend showed up and dragged his sorry ass out of there.”
“Which friend?”
“I forget. I think his name was Justin or something,” Mary-Lou said.
“Jordan?”
“Yeah that’s it. God that man is gorgeous. I wouldn’t have minded him hanging around longer. But he was probably as pissed off at Marvin as I was. Too bad you weren’t here to see it.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t. I told you, Marvin is history,” she said firmly.
“But you’re not even curious as to why he was here?” Mary-Lou asked.
Of course she was. It didn’t make any sense for him to show up there. He wasn’t from Queens and as far as she knew, he didn’t know anyone there except for her. God, please tell me he’s not looking for me. She said it was all in the past, but the truth was, the hurt really never left. He was supposed to have been a friend and friends don’t treat friends like the way he did her.
“No. I’m not interested one bit,” she replied.
“Well I guess that’s a good thing, because I haven’t got a clue anyway. I poured the beer before asking,” she laughed.
Gianna chuckled. “You’re crazy, do you know that?”
“Yup. But at least I still know how to laugh. When was the last time you just relaxed and had a good time?”
She couldn’t recall. There was always one more thing she needed to do before taking a breather. Tonight was a prime example of that. “I’m busy right now, but I promise next time I’m in Queens, we are going to party it up.”
“Ha. You can’t drink. One glass and you’re half asleep,” Mary-Lou teased. “I wouldn’t consider that a wild party.”
“I didn’t say wild,” she corrected. Gianna never was the wild one. And if anything, the last twelve years only slowed her down even more. It seemed like all she did now was work. There were worse things in the world to be doing. At least this was productive. There was a knock on the door and she added, “I have to go. But I’ll call you soon. And please, no more pouring beer on peoples’ heads.”
“Gianna, you’ve been in the city too long. You’re no fun anymore,” she teased.
She ended the call and put her phone on the kitchen counter and went to answer the door. The timing was perfect, pizza and Bobbi arriving at the same time. She tipped the deliveryman, and then invited Bobbi inside.
“What do you want to do? Eat first or would you rather look at the clothes?”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m able to multi-task,” Bobbi said.
“Glad to hear it because you’re going to need that skill tomorrow at Grayson Corp.” Gianna laughed and put the pizza down and got them some plates so they could get going. Although she enjoyed having company, she needed this to go quickly. The last thing she wanted was for Bobbi to be out late and be dragging at work in the morning. She was trying to set the girl up for success, not failure.
You’ve got to rock this for both of us, Bobbi. I might not like it, but I need this client.
Jordan could barely control his temper. “What the hell were you thinking going there? You know damn well they are Gianna’s friends.”
“I know. I wanted to see her. She moved and her number changed. I figured someone there might know how to find her,” Marvin said.
“You’ve lost your fucking mind if you think any of them would’ve given you any information.” He shook his head in disgust. “If I didn’t show up, you were about to get what you deserved.”
Part of him wouldn’t have minded seeing that. He’d told Marvin to leave Gianna the fuck alone. As far as he knew, Marvin had. So what changed? Why was he looking for her now?
“They weren’t going to do anything,” Marvin said smugly.
“Do you really think they’ve forgot what you did to Gianna?”
“It was a long time ago,” he replied.
Jordan said, “If it was my friend, I’d never forget.”
Marvin cocked a brow. “Seems like you haven’t and you’re supposed to be my friend.”
“Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I agree with how you handled things. You fucking sent me to do your dirty work,” he snapped. “You know damn well that you should’ve been the one to tell Gianna you were bailing on her.”
“I thought you said I shouldn’t marry her? Why are you all protective of her feelings now?” Marvin asked.
“I’m not. But what you did was wrong and you know it,” he snarled. “And going to that bar was asking for trouble. I don’t know why you even called me to meet you there.”
“Because I thought we could have a drink together.” Marvin tipped his head down, smelling his jacket. “That woman should be fired. Can you believe she actually poured my beer on me?”
“Yup. Mary-Lou isn’t one to fuck with.” When he’d met her for coffee to discuss Gianna, Mary-Lou laid into him with several threats. There was only one thing that had stuck with him. She’d requested Jordan to leave Queens and to leave Gianna alone because all Jordan would be was a reminder of the worst day of her life.
“You know Mary-Lou too? Damn, it looks like you’ve been making your rounds,” Marvin laughed. “Not sure Gianna would like hearing that.”
“What are you talking about?” Jordan asked.
“Have to admit, that surprised me. You didn’t put up too much of a fight when I sent you to check on Gianna that night. You didn’t even like her, but yet you went. At first I thought you did it because you’re my friend. The more I thought about it, I realized, you were just out to score. I get it. She was vulnerable and needed someone to cry on. I give you credit. I thought you were too absorbed in work to even notice.”
Jordan clenched the steering wheel so tightly he thought he’d break it. Marvin was turning into a bigger ass than he’d been before. That sucked, because at one time, they had been really good friends. Now, he wasn’t sure he even knew Marvin anymore. And with the direction Marvin was heading, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. “You’re not turning this onto me.” His personal life was just that, personal. The last time he’d spoken to Marvin about a woman, they were in high school. Maybe that was because he knew what type of guy Marvin was. If he for a second thought Jordan liked a girl, Marvin would’ve dropped everything and pursued her just for fun.
“I haven’t been back there since you walked out on Gianna. But what would your wife say if she knew you were seeking out another woman?” Jordan asked.
“Alice and I are separated,” Marvin declared.
Jordan took his eyes off the road for a second to confirm Marvin wasn’t joking. “Set a new record. You’ve been married for only six months.”
“Five. And it’s her fault. She nags. Every time I go out, she wants to know where I’m going. It’s like she doesn’t…”
“Trust you? Go figure,” Jordan laughed. “You’ve run around on every one of your wives.” The only reason why Jordan knew this to be true was because Marvin liked to brag. He still couldn’t believe how lucky Gianna was by Marvin backing out.