MARINO ITALIAN RESTAURANT

"Miranda?"

"Yeah sweetie?"asked Miranda as she looked up from her menu to see Lizzie sitting across the table from her looking worried.

"Are you positive Gordo going to come?" Lizzie asked in a soft and hesitant voice.

"Yes, sweetie Gordo told me he'd be here." said Miranda rolling her eyes.Lizzie had only asked her that same question about a million times already.

"He promised you he'd be here right?" asked Lizzie.

"Yes, sweetie he promised me," sighed Miranda "And Gordo has always kept his promises to me so he'll be here."

"Well than where is he, Miranda? Why isn't he here yet?" asked Lizzie as she quickly turned in her chair and looked back toward the front door of the restaurant, when the sound of it opening reached them.

Miranda smirk at the way Lizzie continued to stay turned around in her seat, still staring at the front door of the restaurant. Miranda couldn't help but notice that every time the restaurants front door would open Lizzie would turn around in her seat and look to see who it was coming in. And since Marino was very popular and always very crowded, Lizzie had done a lot of turning to see who was coming in the door. And every time the person coming in turned out to not be Gordo, Lizzie would turn back forward in her seat to say the same thing over and over again. And once again when she turned back around in her seat Lizzie said the exact same thing as before.

"He's not coming Miranda." Lizzie said in a sad voice as she turned back to look at her friend.

"Lizzie damn girl would you please just relax and listen to me! When your old pal Miranda says Gordo will be here, you should believe her!" laughed Miranda as she smiled at her friend and than took another sip of her white wine "If I tell you Gordo will be here, he'll be here."

"Than why is he not here yet?" asked Lizzie in a pleading and sad voice as she looked down first at her lap and than back up at Miranda with a disappointed look in her eyes.

"The reason he probably isn't here yet is because he still has oh..." Miranda took a second to look at watch ".....about two more minutes before he is suppose to be here."

But unwilling to admitted it to the already upset Lizzie,Miranda herself was getting a tad nervous over the fact that Gordo wasn't here yet. Once or twice the thought that Gordo might have said "oh the hell with it" and headed back home to Vegas had crossed Miranda mind. She would never mention this to Lizzie but the thought was there. So Miranda just took another sip of her white wine and was silently thinking basicly the same thought Lizzie was.

'Gordo where the hell are you?!'

But as soon as that thought went through her head Miranda looked up at the entrance of the restaurant and smiled at what or more like who she saw there.

"What? What is it Miranda?" asked Lizzie confused after seeing the smile start to spread across Miranda face.

"Gordo is here that's what." was all Miranda said pointing toward the front door.

"Where!" Lizzie said in a nervous and excited voice as she turned to look, her heart beating a hundred beats per second.

"He's up at the front door." said Miranda.

Lizzie looked at the entrance but she couldn't find Gordo anywhere.The only people she could see up front was some good looking guy with short hair talking to the hostess. The only man at the front that Lizzie could see might not have been Gordo but he was something nice to look at.He was wearing a long black leather duster, a very expensive looking green sweater and he had on a pair of skin tight blue jeans that hugged his body in all the right places. Lizzie turned back to look at Miranda with a puzzled look on her face. "Where do you see him Miranda?"

"At the front door like I told you." Miranda said laughing pointing her finger back in the direction of Gordo.

"But Miranda," said Lizzie in confusion as she turned to look at the direction of the front door again and than back to Miranda"the only person at the front door is the hostess and that young buffed up hottie she's talking to."

"Uh Lizzie," said Miranda trying to hold back the laughter but failing "that young buffed up hottie as you so nicely put it IS Gordo."

This time Miranda did totally lose it when Lizzie turned back to look at where Gordo was standing up front and than back to Miranda with a shocked look on her face.Miranda still laughing stood up and waved at Gordo to get his attention. While sitting back down Miranda watched as Gordo and the hostess turned to look in their direction.After the hostess had smiled and nodded at him Gordo started heading toward their table.

But before Gordo got there Miranda turned to Lizzie with a huge smile on her face "Lizzie my dear you might want to pick your jaw up off the floor before Gordo gets here. He might trip over it if you don't." Miranda laughed again when Lizzie shot her a dirty look and clamped her jaw shut so fast that Miranda was sure Lizzie must have broke some teeth.

"Hey Miranda." said David as he reached the table.

"Hi Gordo" said Miranda "Drag up a chair and join us would you." Miranda smile got bigger when she realized that Gordo had noticed the way she had managed to fix it so no matter where he sat at the table he would be sitting close to Lizzie.Miranda held her breath a little as she watched Gordo take a deep breath and than turn toward Lizzie.

"Hello Lizzie."

David watched as Lizzie first looked him in the eyes but she soon lost the courage and looked back down at her lap. A second later her gaze raised back up and settled somewhere along his chest.

"Hello Gordo how are you?"

"I'm doing ok." said David giving Lizzie a smile that shocked both her and Miranda when they saw it"I'm still a little sleepy from the drive here but ok nonetheless."

"You know I'm sure you two kids have a lot of catching up to do.So why don't I just run over there to the bar and grab me another glass of wine." said Miranda as she stood up from the table "Now you kids just talk amongst yourselves peaceably until I get back."

David watched Miranda until she reached the bar area of the restaurant and was out of sight. "Subtle isn't she?" said David as he turned back around to face Lizzie only to find her now staring at him.

"What?" asked David as he watched as Lizzie began to turn a nice shade of red.

"Ohhh I'm sorry Gordo." stammered Lizzie "I don't mean to stare but it's just uhhhh well you've changed. What I mean is you look so much different than the last time I saw you."

"It's the hair right?" said David as he ran his hand over his shaved head and letting the fact that she called him Gordo instead of David go by "Everybody seems to want to talk about my new hairstyle."

"Well, that's part of it." said Lizzie now smiling. She was so happy that not only was Gordo here with her but he was joking around with her just like the old days when they were kids."You've also buffed up a whole lot." Lizzie started blushing red again after saying that."And your running around wearing leather!" said Lizzie looking at the coat he was wearing.

"Yeah I've changed a little since the last time we've seen one another." said David.

"Gordo about that." said Lizzie as she fought hard to holdback the tears of guilt that were about to spill over "About what I said to you that night at the party.I am so sorry and you must know I never meant any........."

"Look Lizzie" said David suddenly interrupting her "I've been sitting in my car out in the parking lot for the last thirty minutes thinking about what happened to us all those years ago."

"You have?" Lizzie asked feeling even more nervous now.

"Yes, I have." said David nodding "and I've come to a conclusion that it would be stupid for us to sit around here holding grudges and dwelling on the bad stuff that happened between us in the past."

Lizzie was totally speechless at what she heard and could only look at Gordo in complete shock.She was having a hard time believing it but it looked to her like Gordo was about to offer her a clean slate on their relationship?

"So what do you say Lizzie?" asked Gordo looking her in the eye and placing his hands on the table. "Shall we try to put all that bad stuff from our past behind us and move on so we can help you get through this rough shit your going through now. We might not ever get back what we had as kids but whatever comes of this has to be a hell of a lot better than what we have going between us now."

"Yes, Gordo." said Lizzie softly with the tears now slowly rolling from her eyes as she reached across the table andplaced her hand over Gordo's "I'd very much like for us to do that."

And Miranda watching from where she was standing in the bar let a big smile spread across her face.She couldn't hear what was being said but when she saw Lizzie place her hand on top of Gordo's and when she noticed the smiles Lizzie and Gordo were giving one another from across the table,Miranda wanted to jump for joy.