Chapter Two – Rebound Guy

"Something in your eyes keeps haunting me,
I'm trying to escape you,
And I know there ain't no way to,
To chase you from my mind"

~Painted On My Heart – The Cult~

Betty Suarez stood in front of her neighbour's door and took a deep breath. After catching Jesse kissing Amanda six weeks earlier, her infatuation with him had completely disintegrated, leaving her crushed.

A week after that, he'd knocked at her door and they'd talked. He hadn't realised her feelings and apologised for hurting her, albeit unknowingly. She'd embarrassingly brushed it off and ironically, after that, they'd actually starting seeing each other.

It wasn't anything heavy and at first, it'd been fun. When he wasn't talking about himself or the band, Jesse was a nice guy. Without her rose tinted glasses on though, she soon realised that what had attracted her so intensely to him in the first place was the fact that he had qualities that were very similar to both Henry…and Gio.

In theory, he was the perfect guy. On the one hand, he was nice and easy going and on the other, he encouraged her in her work. Unfortunately, in reality, he was just a pale imitation of something better she'd already had…and thrown away.

Gio's face suddenly popped into her mind causing her to let out a frustrated groan and close her eyes as she determinedly pushed the image away. She just couldn't seem to forget the look of anguish he'd had when he'd told her she'd broken his heart. The young Italian had been cropping up in her thoughts more and more often over the past few weeks and usually at the most inopportune moments; the worst being the night before when she'd kissed Jesse.

How awful was it of her to be kissing one guy while thinking about another?

She shuffled her feet and looked down self-consciously. She knew exactly how awful it was and had known in that instant that Jesse and her could never work out. Instead of ending it then and there though, she'd made some lame excuse and left…which was why she was standing in front of his door now.

Anxiously, she adjusted her glasses then raised her hand and knocked lightly, almost hoping that he wouldn't hear so that she could put it off until later.

She wasn't that lucky.

The door opened. "Hey," her boyfriend greeted with a smile. "I thought…"

"Jesse, I'm sorry, but I don't think we should see each other anymore," Betty interrupted in a rush.

The musician blinked, his brain slowly processing what she'd said. "I think that's going to be impossible seeing as we're neighbours," he finally told her with a small smile.

"What?" she replied, surprised at his response. With a frown, she shook her head. "No, no, I meant that…"

"I know what you meant, Betty," he cut in. "And it's cool." He shrugged. "After last night I kinda guessed something was up."

"Yeah, I know, I should've spoken to you then but I just couldn't," she admitted in a regretful tone. "It was wrong and I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't keep apologising," he told her dismissively. "We had some fun but we both knew it wasn't anything serious."

She nodded in agreement, feeling relieved that everything was all right between them. She liked him and hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings but it wasn't fair continuing the relationship if her heart wasn't in it. Betty gave him another apologetic smile then took a step backwards. "I've got to go," she said, gesturing towards her door.

He nodded. "Ok, I'll see you around."

She gave him a wave and turned to go.

"Hey, Betty?" Jesse called out, causing her to look back at him. "I know it's none of my business, but, uh, I think you should just go for it."

She looked puzzled. "Go for what?"

He gave her a knowing smile. "The guy," he said simply before shutting the door.

Betty stood and stared at the closed door for a minute before turning away and walking quickly back to her own apartment. Jesse's choice of words had conjured up a wealth of memories and feelings she had resolutely tried to suppress ever since Gio had returned from Rome. After all, what was the use of dwelling on the past? It was obvious the deli owner had moved on, she hadn't heard from him nor seen him in ages.

When she'd told him that he should ban her from his life if that's what he needed, she hadn't honestly thought it'd be forever. Every day for the first couple of weeks she'd expected to see his smiling face again but it had never happened. As time went on, she'd slowly resigned herself to the fact that unless she went to the deli, she wasn't going to see him again. Naturally, because of what she'd said, she couldn't do that and he knew it.

The gap Gio had left in her life was larger than she'd ever imagined it would be and the need to replace him, more so. In hindsight, she knew that was a major part of the reason she'd started to like Jesse in the first place. He was Gio-lite.

Needing some time to think, she entered her apartment only to be met by the sight of her recently acquired roommate, Amanda, rummaging through the refrigerator.

"You know, for someone your size, I'd expect there to be more to eat," the blonde commented archly as she straightened up to look at Betty.

"There's plenty of food in there, Amanda," her roommate snapped as she went over and moved the other girl out of the way. "You just have to learn how to cook it!"

"Oooo, cranky," Amanda goaded before adding in a mock sympathetic voice, "Did your break up with the Dark Sexless Adventurer not go too well?"

Betty's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know that I broke up with Jesse?"

"Oh please, like it wasn't completely obvious," the blonde dismissed with an eye roll before sitting down at the kitchen table and pulling out a nail file from somewhere on her person.

As she worked on her nails, she continued, "I mean, for a rebound guy, he was ok, but like I told you weeks ago…so not worth it." Still intent on her grooming, she gave a shrug of her shoulders before adding, "Anyway, we all know you're still drooling over Salami Boy and his cheese balls. God knows you shout his name often enough when you're asleep."

"I do not!" Betty refuted vehemently even though she felt a finger of doubt creep slowly up her spine.

"Trust me, you do," Amanda asserted wryly. "I don't know how I still look this good considering that half the night I'm awake listening to you saying, 'Oh Gio, please, just let me taste your sausage one more time'." Amanda said the last in a mocking, breathy voice before giving Betty a malicious smile and adding, "I even recorded it on my phone…listen."

Before Betty could react, Amanda had pulled out her cell and pushed a couple of buttons. The sound of Betty's voice filled the air causing the dark-haired girl to blush in mortification. "Gio, oh, Gio," she heard herself groan.

"That's my new text alert," the blonde informed her perkily. "And here, this is Marc's favourite."

Betty's embarrassment reached further heights as more groaning could be heard along with a few giggles. "Oh, God," she mumbled, aghast. "Turn it off, Amanda."

"Why? I have loads more," the young woman told her as she prepared to find another one.

Betty turned away then grabbed her coat and bag and headed for the door. "I'm going out."

"What? Wait! Aren't you going to make something to eat before you go?" Amanda asked, oblivious to the other girl's distress. The door slamming shut was her only reply. "Some people are so self involved," she muttered to herself as she picked up her file and began tending to her nails once more.

Betty left her apartment building and hurried down the street. She could still feel her face flaming at what she'd just witnessed. It was bad enough that Gio kept invading her thoughts when she was awake, to know he was there with her at night as well was…perturbing.

She really needed to speak to her sister, Hilda.

Hailing a cab, she got in and made the journey in silence. Her thoughts and feelings were so jumbled she was beginning to be afraid that she'd never think straight again.

She arrived at her family home and got out. After paying the driver, she walked up to the front door and let herself in.

"Hilda?" she called out as she put her bag down and took off her coat. "Papi? Justin?"

"I'm in here, Betty," her sister called out from the back room of the house.

Betty walked through to the room Hilda used as her beauty salon and saw that her sister was refilling the shelves with various beauty products. "You need some help?" she offered.

Hilda looked over her shoulder and shook her head. "Nah, I've got it. Thanks."

The younger sister wandered over to one of the chairs and sat down with a sigh. "Where's Papi and Justin?" she asked.

"They're both out," she replied glancing over at Betty. "So what's up?"

"What makes you think anything's wrong?" she evaded nonchalantly.

"Betty, please, I'm your sister! I can see when you've got something troubling you," Hilda told her wryly. "What is it? Jesse? Work?"

Betty shook her head. "No. Work's the same as always and I broke up with Jesse earlier today."

Hilda stopped what she was doing and turned to look at her sister consideringly. "Well, I would say I'm sorry but you don't seem that bothered about the break-up."

"I'm not," Betty admitted with a shrug. "I realised quite early on that I liked the idea of Jesse more than the reality." She paused then added quietly, "Besides, my heart wasn't really in it."

Hilda nodded. "Yeah, well, that's what rebound guy's are for, right? To help us move on."

Betty grimaced slightly. She really didn't like to label Jesse in that way but, if she were honest, he had been exactly that. A Rebound Guy. And not for Henry as she would've once imagined, but for the man she rejected so that she could find herself.

But what did that mean? When had her feelings towards Gio changed? Or had they always been there and she just hadn't recognised them? And what was she going to do now that he wanted nothing whatsoever to do with her?

She'd been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realised Hilda was still talking.

"…it'll take time, but you'll get over Henry eventually," she finished consolingly before turning back to the shelf.

"What? No, Hilda, this has nothing to do with Henry," said Betty with a frown. "I mean, I loved him and he'll always have a special place in my heart but I know it's over. I haven't thought about him like that in a long time."

Her older sister looked at back at her in confusion. "Well then, who…?" Her mouth suddenly dropped open and her eyes widened in surprise as realisation dawned. "Is it, Gio?"

Betty nodded mutely.

"Ay, Betty!" Hilda exclaimed in frustration. "You kept telling me you didn't like him like that?"

"I know!" Betty stood up and began to pace in agitation. "But I…I've been having these feelings lately and I think I've made a really stupid mistake in just letting him walk away like that," she confessed miserably. "And now it's like he's just dropped out of my life and I don't know what to do. He's even got one of his cousins to bring the sandwich trolley round at work." She stopped and looked at her sister with tears in her eyes. "I mean, really, does he hate me that much?"

"No, of course he doesn't," Hilda reassured her as she hurried over and placed a comforting arm around Betty. "He's just trying to deal with the situation the best way he can, you know that."

Betty nodded and gathered her composure. "Maybe I should go down to the deli and…"

"No," Hilda interrupted her decisively. "I think you should just leave Gio alone."

"What? Why?" her sister asked in bewilderment.

"Because, Betty, you need to go home, calm down and sort out exactly what it is you're feeling about him," Hilda advised firmly. "At the moment it seems to me that you just want something you can't have."

"That's not true," Betty refuted crossly, hardly believing what Hilda had said. "I do miss him but I also think that I…"

"No, Betty!" Hilda cut in sharply as she took her arm from her sister's shoulders and stood in front of her. "Look, just thinking that you might care about him isn't enough. I mean, a few weeks ago when you had your little crush on Jesse, you completely dismissed both Gio and Henry as if they weren't important." She paused and looked intently into the younger girl's eyes before adding seriously, "You can't play with people's feelings, Betty. Gio's loved you a long time and after getting his hopes up, you broke his heart…I can't just stand by and let you wade back in and mess up his life again. You have to be sure of your feelings this time, OK?"

Betty let out a heavy sigh and nodded slowly. She knew her sister made sense but one thing that she'd said that kept replaying itself over and over in her mind. "What do you mean, Gio's loved me for a long time?" she asked curiously.

Hilda smiled and shook her head at her sister's obliviousness. "I saw how much he liked you that night we had our date. I called him on it and he didn't deny it. That's why nothing more ever happened between us."

Betty was stunned at the revelation. It put a whole new perspective on everything that had gone on during the weeks before and after Henry had left, leaving her feelings more chaotic than ever.

"Look, I know it's going to be hard, but try and forget about it for a while and help me restock the shelves, huh?" Hilda proposed cajolingly. "Papi and Justin will be home soon and we'll have dinner."

Betty mentally pulled herself together and nodded her head in agreement. The sisters worked side by side talking about anything other than a certain Italian deli owner.

Ignacio and Justin returned home a quarter of an hour after they'd finished and Betty spent the rest of the evening laughing and chatting with her family. When it was time to go, she hugged her father and nephew warmly before turning to her sister.

"Thanks, Hilda," she said embracing her with a smile. "I'll give you call in a few days, OK?"

Her sister nodded and Betty gave everyone a wave before walking out of the door.

Five days later, Betty took a deep breath and dialled a familiar. The phone picked up on the other end and a voice said, "Hello."

"Hilda?" Betty said with a grin. "I'm sure."

END CHAPTER TWO