After the conversation we had earlier we fucked one more time, but honestly, after I declined his invitation, he was acting a bit standoffish. "I'm sorry, I have to go, I have a meeting early morning. I'm not a boss like you," he teases. "I'll call you in the afternoon and we can do dinner."
"Sounds good," I reply. I stood up from the bed and threw on my robe. I walked him out of my apartment.
"I'll see you later, mignon."
"As in filet mignon?" I raise a brow at him.
He lets out a boisterous laugh, "Yes, but it also means cute."
"Hmm, cute filet… You French are weird."
He kisses my forehead and finishes getting dressed, "I will see you later."
"Goodnight."
I felt a bit relieved; we were spending a lot of time together and I don't think I'm ready for such a commitment like Christmas together. Maybe I'm just taking it too seriously?
"So, what are you doing tonight?" Kate asks.
"Not much, probably just go back home. I kind of made it awkward between Gerard and me last night."
"Oohhh you and the Frenchman, what happened?"
"He asked me to go to his friend's orphan Christmas, but I declined. He said it was okay, but it was a little weird between us after.
"Well, Ana, you don't have any plans, why don't you want to go?" her voice takes on a serious tone. "You're in a semi-serious relationship with this guy, he probably thinks you don't want to see him."
"In all honesty, I thought having a boyfriend would somehow change my life or I guess perspective, but it didn't… "
"What do you mean?"
"Well… I guess I thought that being in a relationship would change the way I felt about things, but it didn't… I still feel the same. I don't feel like socializing with anyone. It's hard to explain…"
"Oh honey, you are happy though?"
"Yes, I am, probably for the first time in a long time. I feel somewhat normal."
"Well, we should celebrate come out with Elliot and me, and ask Gerard to come with."
"I will, I'll call him later and ask. Speaking of boyfriends, how are you and Elliot going?"
"I think he's the one."
"He's a really good guy."
"I know I'm so lucky."
"He's lucky too, Kate."
"I'm glad that you two get along."
"He's like the brother I never wanted," I giggle.
She snorts, "Oh he feels the same way."
"Rose," Paula knocks on my door.
"Sorry, Kate, got to go."
"Okay, text me about tonight."
"For sure, talk to you later," I answer and hang up. "Yes, Paula?"
"This just arrived for you and your one o'clock is here."
She brings in a beautiful bouquet of red and white roses from Gerard, and places them on my desk; Ray Adams a prospective client then follows her in. Our meeting was quick and short, and he wanted to hire our firm for a six-month trial basis before signing a multi-year contract. I was perfectly fine with that.
In the afternoon I finally receive a call from Gerard and he, unfortunately, could not come out with us but promised to make it up to me shortly. I tried to apologize for declining his invitation to his friends' Christmas dinner, but he blew past it. I didn't want to dwell on it, if he didn't want to accept my apology then that's fine with me.
The afternoon went by quickly and I was already out the door to meet Kate and Elliot.
"You made it!" Kate squeals and gives me a hug.
"I missed you Ana banana, too bad you couldn't bring your boy toy," Elliot exclaims and gives me bone-crushing hug.
"He had to work late," I explain.
"Next time?" he asks
"I promise," I laugh. "So, this place is new."
"Just opened up two weeks ago, usually it's busier but Tuesday is their slowest night," Kate answers.
"This is slow?" I look around and every table was full.
As the night wore on we chatted and laughed, but when Elliot's eyes narrowed behind me I had to turn around.
"What is it?"
"Is that Gerard?"
"Oh, isn't that sweet, he came to surprise you!" Kate exclaims.
I sat still, "I… never told him where we were going."
Both Elliot and Kate went silent and paled, I finally turn around and I see a tall supermodel redhead on Gerard's arm, god she even had him beat by a few inches.
"It's probably just his work meeting," Kate says after a minute of complete silence.
"Yeah, he's working late," I mumble, "it's probably part of his-"
"Job?" Kate adds in. Though she and Gerard work together yet she seems rather unsure.
"Yes, of course. He has to take clients out."
"That's not part of his job requirement," Kate whispers.
"Do you want me to talk to him?" Elliot interjects.
"NO!" both Kate and I yell.
"Sorry," he holds his hands out.
"Just text him," Kate suggests.
"No, I'm not going to play games, I'll go up there."
The pain and the doubt were already seeping in.
"Ana, you can't jump to conclusions, okay? This could be innocent and they're not even sitting close together."
"Of course," I answer, "I'll be right back."
I stand up on shaky legs and inhale deeply, both of them giving me reassuring smiles as I turn to face the music… truth or disappointment. The whole time there my fingers were fidgety.
"Hey, Gerard," I greet him.
"Ana?" his eyes widen, like deer in the headlights. "What are you doing here?"
"Drinks with Elliot and Kate."
"Oh, of course, this is Lauren Rollins from the office."
"Oh?" I reply stupidly. I know my eyes betray me, the disappointment and hurt I felt were definitely showing through. He quickly gets up and wraps his arm around my shoulders, kisses my temple.
"Merde, I'm so rude," he shakes his head. "Lauren this is my girlfriend, Ana."
"Pleased to meet you," she smirks at me. I've seen that smug look before, challenge accepted.
"Nice to meet you," I smile; giving her a sickly-sweet smile.
"Ana, ma cherie, Lauren just transferred here from our branch in New York, and my boss wanted me to show her around."
Why didn't they ask Kate? Something doesn't feel right, but then again, I'm probably second-guessing something I shouldn't be. He did introduce me as his girlfriend, that's enough for now. Rationalizing this, I stow my talons.
"Well, if you want to join us, we're right there," I point to the table my friends occupied.
"Sounds good," Gerard grins and ushers me that way while Lauren trails behind us. "I'm sorry for not letting you know, this caught me at a terrible time," he whispers in my ear. "You know that I wanted to spend tonight with you."
"I know," I kiss his cheek, "thank you for being honest with me."
"Of course, I never want to hurt you."
"It's weird that his boss wants him to take her out," Kate claims, as we look ourselves over in the restrooms. "Also, something's off about Gerard and Lauren."
"What do you mean?" I look at her through the mirror.
"I don't know, there's something off about Lauren," she shrugs. "She looks at you like she wants to claw your eyes out and when Gerard is touching you, she looks like she's about to have an aneurism."
"I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt," I murmur. "I don't want to jump to conclusions anymore and now that I'm trying this whole relationship thing I have to try and leave my reservations at the door."
"I know," she wraps her arm around my shoulders. "I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks," I give her a dry laugh. "We'll see what happens, I don't want to be taken for a fool, but I need to put my trust into something."
"I don't think anything has happened," she replies, trying to reassure me. "But I know that bitch wants to."
"Yeah, I definitely don't like her."
"I can't wait for you to claw her eyes out if she steps out of line," she gives me a silly smile.
"… She's here… yeah…. No…." an annoying nasally voice breaks our giggles.
"Speak of the devil and he doth appear," I whisper to Kate.
"I gotta go," she says to the phone and places it into her purse. She sneers at us and I notice Kate try to maneuver herself in between us.
"Ahh nice to see you too," I cock my brow at her.
"Listen… I've had my eye on Gerard for years now and now that I've finally been able to transfer to the same city, he's mine."
"That's funny, I hope your delusions warm your bed tonight because Gerard is going to be in mine," I give her a patronizing smile.
"We'll see," she smirks, but before I could reply Kate has ushered us out.
"What a piece of work," I giggle out once we were out of earshot.
She laughs, "I know, I definitely did not want to have to bail you out tonight."
"I'm not that threatened by Lauren because I know that he hasn't done anything, but I'm also aware that I have no control over what he will do in the future. "
"You are so different; I really like it… but I really want you to lay that bitch out."
I howl out in laughter as we walk her towards the table.
After some time, Lauren came back to the table, but she was gone for some time that we decide to start tucking into the tapas we ordered. I was careful to nurse my second drink because my third round will be my last.
"We should order a round of shots!" exclaimed Lauren as she sits back down.
"I think I'm still good with my drink," Kate replied.
"Yeah, I have work tomorrow," I agreed. "But, feel free to go ahead."
Only Gerard and Lauren opted for a few rounds of shots, and by that time Lauren was acting pretty sloppy.
"Do you think I should take her home?" Gerard whispered in my ear.
"Yup," I replied. I don't really know what he expected me to say. She clearly couldn't take herself home in this state and he did come to the bar with her.
"Thanks for understanding," he nuzzles my neck. He was pretty tipsy and I didn't enjoy this version of him. The alcohol made his lips looser and say some pretty inappropriate things about our sex life. I've had to swat at him, and it made me uncomfortable that he would mention such things in front of Elliot and Lauren. In regard to Elliot, it felt like he was divulging our personal life to a family member, so it felt intrusive, but with Lauren, I didn't want her to have this type of information about me. She reminded me of someone who would be all too happy to weaponize anything and everything they could against me. She felt like a dangerous person to keep around me, so I'm hoping that after tonight this would be the last, I will ever see of her.
And I didn't forget that she wanted to be with Gerard, but honestly, I can't even be bothered. I didn't feel territorial at all, which should worry me, but I don't really have the energy to put towards protecting my relationship. If it's that easy to get Gerard to stray, then we were never meant to be.
Gerard helped pick up a drunk Lauren who was hanging onto him for dear life.
"What a sloppy bitch," Kate replied. "I don't think she was drunk."
"Yeah, tipsy at best," I laugh.
"Then, why were you so cool with him taking her home?"
"Honestly, if it was that easy to persuade him to cheat then I'd rather know now."
Gerard sent me a goodnight text a few hours later when I was tucked into bed watching a Christmas movie. Honestly, I was a sucker for picture-perfect family dynamic and picturesque small-town Americana. They were my guilty pleasure and something I do only when I'm completely alone.
I didn't overthink the fact that Gerard texted me at 11:30 pm even if he had left dinner at 8:00 pm. I sent him a quick goodnight and tucked myself deeper into bed.