Gio sat in his deli and wondered where Betty had been for the past few months. As much as she annoyed the hell out of him, he took satisfaction in annoying her back. He ran his hand through his hair when an idea suddenly struck him.
"I think it's time to get a haircut." Gio said to himself. He had an ulterior motive behind getting a haircut as he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. He stopped in front of the all too familiar house and grinned. "This should be interesting." He laughed to himself as he knocked on the door.
"Hi, Gio." Ignacio opened the door and let him in. Gio looked around, trying to see if Betty was around, but his face fell when he saw her nowhere.
"Betty's not here right now. She's out with Henry right now." Ignacio said, although he didn't seem too happy about who she was with.
"Ah, she's getting her taste of Egg Salag." Gio joked and chuckled to himself. Surprisingly, Ignacio laughed too.
"Is that Gio I hear?" Hilda entered the room followed by Justin. Justin plopped himself in front of the TV and immediately turned on one of the soaps.
"Hey, Hilda. Listen, could you do me a favor?" Gio half smiled as he looked over at her.
"Ay, Gio…I'm not going on anymore dates with you. Sorry, but I'm just not that into you." Hilda laughed and then got a little closer to Gio. "Looks like the reason you're here isn't here at the moment."
"What are you talking about, Hilda? I'm here for a haircut. Ma's been bugging me to get all of this cut off and what better place to come to then here." Gio said as he grabbed his hair in his hands and made Hilda blush.
"Oh stop it Gio. Anyway, I'll see what I can do." She grabbed Gio's sleeve and led him to the back where her salon was. "Sit….un momento." She left for a second and came back. "Gio, she's not here. I know the real reason you came. She's out with Henry."
"Yeah, Ignacio told me. Look Hilda, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about how I feel for your sister. I just…" Gio began to express how he felt, but Hilda cut him off.
"…She promised him she wouldn't see you again." Hilda ignored what Gio was saying as she sprayed his hair with water and began to snip bits of his hair away.
"She what?" Gio looked taken aback and slightly defeated.
"You do know what that means, don't you?" Hilda asked as she continued to snip away.
"That she has an overly possessive boyfriend who hates anyone who will stand in his way of being with Betty?" Gio looked at Hilda through the mirror. "I just wish that Betty would realize that Henry isn't good for her. He lied to her about the whole Charlie thing. He's made her go in a completely different direction." Gio commented.
"How do you know so much about this?" Hilda asked as she stepped back and admired her work of art.
"I listen. Plus, I've been talking with Daniel a lot. He sure orders a lot of sandwiches." Gio informed Hilda as he ran his hand through what hair he had left. "Looks good Hilda, thanks." Gio got up and pulled out his wallet to pay her, but she stopped him.
"Stop, Gio. Don't worry about paying me. Look, don't you realize what all of this means? Why do you really think that Henry made Betty promise that she'd never see you again?" Hilda frowned and Gio shook his head. "Ay Gio! It's because he's losing his grip on her. Whenever she's around you, she lights up. Everytime she spends time with Henry she loses herself and what she stands for. She's so worried about when he has to leave that she hasn't realized that Henry has sucked out all of what Betty used to be." Hilda sighed and waited for Gio to respond.
"So what am I supposed to do? I really don't think there's anything I can do at this point. Well, maybe I can go to Tucson and persuade Charlie to go into labor early." Gio chuckled, which made Hilda smile.
"You're in. You need to fight now. Betty fought for Henry really hard, even though he was seeing Charlie and she was sort of with Walter." Hilda informed him.
"Who's Walter?" Gio asked with a raised brow.
"That's not important…You're just as good as Henry…if not better. If Henry has forbidden her to see you…you need to make sure that Henry knows that you'll be there for Betty. I hate to sound vindictive and all that…but really, I know my sister pretty well. I made the mistake a year ago telling her to go after Henry. Now that you're here…it's time for you to go after her." Hilda smiled. "My sister is not the type to go after you, you have to go after her. She likes people who take notice of her, because she was never the type that a lot of people notice. She's too amazing to be noticed." Hilda put her hand on Gio's shoulder. "So go. Well not now, but think about it."
"Thanks Hilda. I need to sleep on it." Gio sighed and left the Suarez house. As he drove down the street 'Un-Break My Heart' came on the air and he immediately thought of Betty. It was at that moment that he decided what had to be done. Tomorrow would be the day that Henry would be put in his place.
Gio woke up with a grin on his face. He knew exactly how to start squeezing his way in between Betty and Henry. His grin didn't leave his face as he drove to the familiar building and entered the elevator.
"I knew I smelled tomatoes somewhere. I would hate to smell like vegetables all day." Amanda rolled her eyes as she looked at Gio.
"Good morning to you too, Amanda. By the way, tomatoes are a fruit." He continued to smile as they rode in silence for a second.
"Looks like someone's in a good mood. You must have gotten some last night. Is it someone I know?" Amanda inched closer, curiosity was twinkling in her eyes.
"As a matter of fact it is…" Gio smiled.
"You don't mean...?" a look of shock was on Amanda's face. "I thought she was with that nerdy accounting guy…Harry Potter…whatever his name is with the glasses."
"Save the gossip Amanda. I have business to take care of on the accounting floor." Gio smirked as the elevator stopped on the accounting floor. "Have a good one, Amanda." Gio said as he left the elevator. Amanda immediately began texting as rapidly as possible.
"Yo fo sizzle, what are you doing here Mafia bo-hizzle?" Kenny greeted Gio.
"Lay off the crappy gangster talk. I'm looking for Egg….I mean…Henry." Gio looked around.
"Cubicle number 12, yo." Kenny looked at Gio in fear. Gio smiled as he saw Kenny slowly follow him. Gio slowly approached cubicle 12 and knocked.
"Knock, knock Egg Salad." Gio grinned as Henry turned around and gawked at him.
"What are you doing here?" Henry asked bitterly.
"I've come to profess my undying love for you." Gio didn't smile. "However, Betty has forbidden me from seeing you. Sound all too familiar?" Gio smirked and then looked at the walls surrounding them. There were a few pictures up with Henry and Betty.
"How did you know about that? Anyway, like I care. She was the one who suggested it. Suits me just fine though. She hasn't broken her promise." Henry got up and fiddled with his glasses.
"Oh…very intimidating Egg Salad. Plus, she hasn't broken her promise…yet…"Gio looked around at the crowd that was gathering. "You must really be worried about Betty when she's with me to make her promise not to see me. Don't you trust me?"
"No, as a matter of fact I don't." Henry said quickly.
"Ah, so you're starting to realize that you're losing your grip on her. Here I was thinking that perhaps Betty didn't see me because she was busy. Then I learn that she made a promise to you. Well…promises are meant to be broken." Gio smiled and wandered around the cubicle.
"Had to get here as fast as I could Mandy. What's the scoop?" Marc asked as he stood next to Amanda.
"Gio's sleeping with Betty." She smirked and began taking pictures with her camera phone.
"You're what?" Henry looked at Gio, flabbergasted.
"Well she thought if you could sleep with more than one person, she figured she would too." Gio got within an inch of Henry and smiled. "If I'm not mistaken, I'm not the one that got a girl knocked up." Gio stepped back.
"What's that got to do with Betty." Henry shot back at Gio.
"Woa Egg Salad, you don't want to go rotten there, do you? I'm just saying that if it comes down to who's the better guy…well maybe we should evaluate the whole situation." Gio smirked and looked around.
"My money's on the sandwich guy." Amanda leaned over and said to Marc who nodded.
"So, Eggy…tell me…what more are you going to make Betty promise you? So far you've only made the situation worse. She does see me…trust me. It might not be in reality, but she sees me. You may have banned her from seeing me, but in her dreams she sees me…and it's a whole lot hotter than in reality." Gio smirked and began to walk away.
"Oh, Egg Salad…you just got served." Kenny cut in and did a little dance.
"Shut up Kenny!" Henry placed his hand on Gio's shoulder and turned him around violently. "This isn't over Meat Loaf!" Henry growled.
"Meat Loaf is all you can call me? Well if you'll excuse me, I have to rescue the fair maiden from the top of the tower from Humpty Dumpty." Gio grinned and headed for the elevator.
"Oh no you don't…I have forbidden her from seeing you!" Henry exclaimed hotly.
"I almost forgot what country I was in Eggy…oh right…America….which means you don't own her. She's much better than property. Too bad you can't see it." Gio paused and continued. "Anyway, you may have forbidden her to see me, but you haven't forbidden me from seeing her. I want to see you try and stop me." Gio got into the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. When he reached the desired floor, he immediately went to Betty's desk. He was happy to find her sitting there typing on her computer.
"I knew you were up here spending time away from me. I guess I'm just that worth the wait." Gio smiled and sat on the edge of Betty's desk.
"What are you doing here?" Betty asked with a sense of edge to her voice.
"Look, I know the real reason you haven't seen me in a few months. Betty, I think we both know why he wants me to stay away from you. He can't stand the fact that I hang around you."
"Well that's obvious." Betty rolled her eyes.
"What he doesn't know is that I'm a fighter. I fight for what I want and if dating your sister to make you jealous…proving the Phil Roth theory is correct…and scaring the hell out of Egg Salad is what it takes, then I'm not going anywhere. That's my promise to you Betty." Gio inched closer to Betty and Betty immediately got up.
"I have to go…I promised Henry…." Betty began to leave, but Gio stopped her.
"Henry may be leaving once Charlie's baby is born, but I'm not. I fight for what I want Betty." Gio grinned as he saw Betty relax and take in his words.
"What is he doing up here?" Henry announced his presence angrily. Gio quickly slipped a piece of paper into Betty's hands and started to leave. He got on a confrontational level with Henry.
"This isn't over Eggy. Unfortunately for you, I've never lost something I have fought for…never. This may get ugly, but I'm ok with that. Like I said, I've never lost out on something that it worth fighting for. I'm not going to back down… See you Betty." Gio glared at Henry and smiled at Betty and left.
Betty stared down at the piece of crumbled up paper. It was a flyer for Gio's deli. She noticed that something else was written on the paper: Whatever you plan to do, never forget that the fire escape is always an option-Gio. Betty couldn't help but smile. It was a feeling that she just developed for Gio. Her fire was beginning to extinguish for Henry, but at least she had a fire escape to run to.
The End.