by Joyce Jordan
Ana looked up to find herself in Manuel arms. She smiled at him and relaxed.
“What happened with my brother Ana?”
“Which one? You have three. You mean your good for nothing brother?”
He chuckled and agreed.
“Well, he is a piece of shit. And I’d rather not waste oxygen talking about him.”
“I understand, but if you ever need to talk, I’m here,” Manuel said then twirled her twice then brought her back to his chest.
“Wow! You are a good dancer.” Ana laughed trying to catch her breath.
“Believe it or not, my mom actually enrolled us in some after school programme that taught dancing. The good thing is that it was just for a month, because it’s not one of the coolest things to see a teenager enrolling in dance classes unless you want to be a professional dancer, that is.”
“Well, it did payoff. That was a wise investment. She is a good woman, your mum. Unfortunately one of her son’s is a piece of shit. You should probably check his DNA. He may have been switched at birth,” Ana said heatedly.
Manuel threw his head back and laughed drawing attention to them. “Oh Ana. I really do love you. If only I were straight. I would marry you tomorrow.”
“I’m glad because that would make your brother my brother-in-law. Arg!” Ana shivered showing her distate. “I’d rather kill myself than attend the get togethers. But I’m okay with you going for Stefano instead of me.” Ana looked into his eyes as she said the last sentence. Yup. She wasn’t mistaken at all. Manuel as interested in her friend. “I could hook you up, if you are interested, that is.”
“Ana.”
“You aren’t currently attached to someone special are you?” she overrode whatever he wanted to say.
“No, not at the moment. But that doesn’t mean I’m looking for a relationship. Long distance for that matter.”
“Ah! You know Stefano is not from the US.” Ana realized Gabe had probably put two and two together and realized Stefano was the same friend from Hawaii. No wonder he had joined their group looking all contrite and apologetic. Still a piece of shit. “Don’t worry about. He has an interview on Monday, and we are hoping he will relocate. So keep your fingers crossed, and call me for the scoop.”
Manuel kissed her cheek and handed her over to Nate.
“I hope you are not here to ask about your brother. Because I’ll tell you what I just told Manuel.”
“What’s that Ana?” Nate asked as he pulled her into his arms and moved around the dance floor.
“That he is a piece of shit. Or should I say scum. Never mind, you get my drift. Anyway, I never want to see him again.”
“You won’t hear me arguing with you on that Ana. I’m not interested in his mistakes right now. I’m sure you will work it out. Right now I just want all the men to envy me dancing with the most beautiful girl in the room.”
“You are such a flatterer. But thank you.” They danced silently after that and when the song ended, Rafe took over.
“Hey beautiful.” Rafe said as he took over from his brother.
“Why do I have the feeling that Gabe sent you all to dance with me so I wouldn’t get to dance with other men?”
Rafe laughed sheepishly. “Not exactly. We just figured if we danced with you he won’t cause a scene like he almost did earlier. You need to talk to him.”
“Forget it. I’m not the one who just jumped to conclusions and started throwing accusations.”
“I’m not saying he isn’t wrong. You know us men, we can be dumb sometimes, especially when the best thing comes your way. He loves you.”
Ana snorted. “Yeah right.”
“I know that for a fact. And besides he doesn’t get drunk, but today he got wasted. I gather after he left you in the morning. He spent the afternoon sleeping it off.”
“Well, he made me cry. And I don’t cry over men. So I guess we are even. Nothing good lasts forever. Besides, I would rather talk about something else.”
“What’s that?”
“Rather someone else.”
“Uhh Okay.”
“Kelly.” Ana felt Rafe tense, but he continued as if nothing had happened.
“What about her?”
“Are you interested in her?”
Before Rafe could respond, Ana heard Gabe saying, “My turn,” and the next thing she had been passed over into his arms. One hand went to the small of her back and the other to her shoulder as he pulled her to his body. Ana tried to step away, but she was in a vice.
“Let me go Gabe,” she hissed through her teeth.
“Please, I just need to apologize.”
Ana arched her eyebrow as she said, “Save it, because I don’t want to hear it.”
“Touché.”
“Please let me go,” she implored. It was both heaven and torture being in his arms. His hands at her back were caressing her skin and Ana could feel the fire lighting her skin. It was already sizzling and she was afraid she would surrender and one thing would lead to another. Her breasts were aching for his touch and she was wet, her pussy aching for his cock. She just wanted to place her head on his chest and let him hold her, so that she could forget about this morning, hoping it was some kind of horror dream. But this was no dream. The ache in her heart was too much to be anything other than real. Ana lifted her foot and stepped onto Gabe with the heel of her sandals. It was long and thin and must have hurt. But for now, Ana did not feel guilty.
“Fuck.” Gabe loosened his hold on her and Ana took advantage to step away. “What was that for?”
“For making me cry.” Ana turned to leave, then looked over her shoulder, “Have a nice life,” she added as a parting shot. She went to find her friends. She needed to leave, but if they wanted to stay she was okay with them staying.
“Does my brother need a stretcher?” Manuel asked her as she joined them at the bar. The way they were all looking at her, Ana was convinced that everybody had witnessed her stepping on his foot with the heel of her sandals.
“He probably needs an x-ray,” Ana answered as she looked at the dance floor and saw him weaving his way over. “Kels, I’m leaving. You can stay with Stefano.”
“No, we’ll come with you,” Kelly answered as she took her purse and came over to her.
“You don’t have to do that. I’m okay. It’s not like I am going to kill myself, especially over that piece of trash.”
“Glad to hear it love. Let’s go.” Stefano took her hand and turned her around as Gabe finally made it on his limping foot. “Bye everyone,” they all said to Nate, Rafe and Manuel.
Evelyn was making her hostess rounds. They would have to catch her on the phone tomorrow.
Rafe caught up to them as they were trying to hail a taxi. His limo drew up and he ushered them inside. He refused to take no for an answer.
Thirteen
Sunday turned to be a nice and warm day. Clearly the weather from the last couple of days was holding on. Kelly went to work in the morning, and Ana took Stefano on a tour, and showed him a few places of interest with the promise of showing him more once he moved to New York. By late afternoon they were back and tired from the walk. They chose to walk most of the time rather than take a taxi. At times they used the subway. Coupled with the events from the day before, their feet were hurting.
They found a flower delivery guy hovering around. Apparently he had missed them in the morning, so had been showing up every couple of hours. Ana refused them and told him to take them back. Stefano disagreed and said they were a piece of beauty, then he accepted them before Ana could say anything further. The ding of the elevator alerted them they had arrived. Ana was so tired, she opened the door and just threw herself onto a couch. Stefano strutted in and arranged the vase on the coffee table.
Two hours later Kelly came in looking bushed as well. Since no one was in the mood to cook, they ordered dinner. Kelly told them how Gabe had still sent his car to pick her up to and from work today. But being the loyal friend
she was, she told the driver his services were no longer needed, but the guy had still shown up tonight anyway, saying Mr Boyd had told him that he was still assigned to be her driver.
Ana had spent the day ignoring Gabe’s calls and text messages. He had left a few messages wanting to talk. The next day was the same thing, he bombarded her cell phone with calls and she never took any of them. And the next several days followed the same pattern.
On Thursday, Stefano was called in for a second interview where he was offered the job at the end and he called Ana with the good news. He would be starting in a month, so they needed to move fast and see if they could get him an apartment, but she assured him that he could stay with them until they found something good and closer to them so they could always be close.
That evening Ana made dinner arrangements to celebrate Stefano’s job offer. As soon as Kelly came in she screamed and hugged Stefano. They got ready and left for their dinner celebration. Sadly Kelly had to leave early due to work the next day. Ana and Stefano hailed a cab and went in search of some fun. She had found out which club Manuel frequented and took Stefano there. Stefano had indicated that he was attracted to Manuel and wouldn’t mind seeing where things took them, despite the piece of shit brother. He was staying for a another week before heading back to pack and put in his notice.
They found Manuel in the office and he was pleasantly surprised to see them. He congratulated Stefano and said drinks were on him that night. Ana left them for a while and went to sit by the bar. A few guys who came over to flirt suddenly lost interest after a few minutes. After the third guy, Ana realized there was some huge guy at the end of the bar a few feet away from her who gave some signal to all the guys that came her way. She didn’t remember seeing him when she had first sat down. Clearly this was Manuel’s work. She went upstairs and called him on it and he didn’t even have the decency to deny it.
“You do know that I am no longer with your brother?” she asked him.
“You guys haven’t finalised anything yet. Words were exchanged in anger, but you need to sit down and settle this thing between you. Until then, you are still my brother’s girlfriend.” And then he smiled at her. Seriously? Smiled at her? Who does that?
“Fuck you and you brother.” Ana walked out and went to the dance floor. She found it ridiculous that the huge guy even followed her there. This is crazy Ana thought and decided to sit by the bar instead. She nursed her drink until Stefano came to take her home. As expected, Manuel had someone drive them home. The huge guy no less.
Stefano and Ana had decided to do some apartment hunting the next day. Ana had cleared her day and after they had a late breakfast they decided to check some newspaper ads and craigslist. Depending on the rental price, they were looking at both options of a one bedroomed apartment or sharing with one roommate. They wanted to avoid having two or more roommates. So they started digging and then Ana’s phone rang. Thinking it was Gabe, she almost didn’t answer.
“Stefano, how would you like to go to Vegas?”
“When? I’m only here for a week remember?” Stefano continued with his list.
“Today, right now?” she answered holding the phone to her chest.
“Are you serious?” he asked with excitement.
“Yep. Everything fully paid.”
“Where do I sign?” he got up and came to sit next to her.
“Go pack. Someone is picking us up in thirty minutes.” Ana laughed as Stefano shot out of the living room. She concluded her call with Massimo who had called asking for her help. He had a plane that was dropping off someone in Atlantic City and if Ana was available needed her to catch that jet back rather than use commercial. When she asked if she could bring a friend, he had agreed. Massimo was her first big client who had been impressed by her as she was just starting college and had referred her to other big clients in Vegas and Atlantic City. He also had been the one to comp their Hawaii suite.
He had taken Ana under his wing and taught her a few things about investing wisely, locally and offshore. In turn, Ana usually dropped everything when Massimo came calling. When he taught her poker and all the different card games he had been so impressed on how quickly she had mastered the games and even challenged her to play with some of his best clients using hotel money. At first she had been afraid to lose the money, but he had explained that part of the business was losing money, and if they lost it in such a way that they knew how, it didn’t worry them as much as when people stole or counted cards. Ana had started small, but had soon gained confidence and played with some big sharks.
Now she was going to Vegas with Stefano and she hoped they would get some time to play. Maybe Stefano would, but she would be working. She took a few pairs of jeans and some t-shirts then two dressy dresses just in case they had time to do some fun.
Within thirty minutes their driver had arrived to pick them up. They were whisked away to New Jersey where they were catching their flight. Ana called Kelly to let her know she was going to Vegas with Stefano. She wished them fun and whished she could have been able to join them. Unfortunately being an intern, and first year intern at that didn’t allow much free time to make such kind of trips what with being on call on some days that you thought you were free. Ana laughed and told her to look at the big picture, once she was a successful doctor running her own practice she could afford the time. They laughed and hung up. It was a running joke between them.
Stefano was impressed with the jet, and she thought, a pity he hadn’t seen Gabe’s jet. It was more impressive. Massimo met them when they arrived and showed them to the suite he had allocated to them. He assured Ana he would have someone take good care of Stefano while she was working.
Ana hardly saw Stefano that night and the next day. However, on Saturday night she managed to break away for a while and they went to dinner then joined some of the high rollers. She didn’t stay long before she went back to work and left Stefano to his own company. Not that he was alone for long. He seemed to have met some girls who were all ga-ga over him. Soon they would be seeing him on billboards and US magazines and they would screech thinking back to the day they saw him in Las Vegas. Ana laughed at the thought.
Ana was done that Sunday afternoon, but Massimo asked them to stay the night and relax and he would fly them out the next morning with his accountant that was going to Atlantic City. They always had people flying back and forth between Vegas and Atlantic City because they owned hotels and cassino’s in both cities.
Stefano agreed to watch the Chippendales show. They had an early dinner and Massimo had a limo take them to the Rio for the their show at eight. By the time they made it outside after the show it was almost ten. The place had been packed to the bream. The atmosphere had been something else with women screaming. The limo took them back to the hotel and they spent the rest of the night playing slots for a while, then they moved to roulette where they spent hours. It was four in the morning before they realized it. They laughed as they went back to their suite to shower and get changed then came down for breakfast. Their flight was leaving at seven and a limo was supposed to pick them up at six for the airport. Ana and Stefano thanked Massimo for his hospitality as they got into the limo that was taking them to the airport.
A car was waiting to drive them to New York when they arrived. It was early evening before they arrived back at the apartment. They saw Kelly who was just arriving too as they took their bags from the driver and waited for her so they could ride the elevator together.
“Your boyfriend has been hounding me since you went to Vegas,” Kelly said by way of greeting. “I think for a moment there he thought you may have gone for a drive by wedding,” she added and laughed hilariously.
“Serves him right,” Ana replied. “You know he hasn’t stopped calling me. Or texting for that matter. I almost feel sorry for him, but he hurt me. Really deeply and I’m not ready to give him the time of day.”
“I haven’t known the guy for long, but even I could see how much h
e loves you the other night at that benefit we went to. You need to talk to him, love. Get it off your chest. Don’t let it fester,” Stefano told her. “Besides, if I am going to be dating his brother, it wouldn’t do for the two of you to be like that.”
“You are dating Manuel? Since when Stefano?” Kelly asked as she opened the door to their apartment.
“Since the other night we went celebrating my job offer. Ana took me to one of his club’s and we talked. So we will give it a try when I come back. But he is taking me for dinner tomorrow evening. I hope you ladies don’t mind? Hmmm.”
“Why would we mind? Go have fun, just make sure you text if you are sleeping over,” Ana replied.
“And use protection,” Kelly added.
“Gosh you girls are worse than my sister,” Stefano mocked.
Kelly laughed before she asked, “What’s for dinner?”
“How about we order chinese?” When everyone agreed, Ana placed the order and in thirty minutes their food was delivered.
∞∞
The next day, Ana spent the morning working while Stefano was browsing the classifieds section. Ana joined him in the afternoon and they went to see a few of the apartments that were available. They were not impressed, so decided to continue the next day. His flight was soon and they were hoping to find something by then. Ana promised she would continue looking if they didn’t find anything.
Manuel came to pick up Stefano that evening and told them not to wait up. The girls laughed and told them to have a good time. Stefano didn’t make it back that night but Ana wasn’t worried because she knew he was in good hands. Manuel was a nice guy. As nice as his brother Gabe. She had tried to put him out of her mind, but it had been impossible. Being with Stefano during the days had helped, but at night things were different. She went to bed thinking about him, dreamt about him and he was the first thing in her mind when she woke up. Some of the dreams were filled with so much passion that she woke up sweating and wet. She would need to talk to him soon, this was wearing her down. Kelly was worried about her and told her it wasn’t healthy. She had lost a few pounds would soon wither away if she didn’t get this issue resolved with Gabe.