"Oh Emiliana, I'm glad you could make it!" a smooth voice cut in and they sprang apart. "Jerome," Emmie acknowledged, not taking her eyes off of Deidara. The tattoos on his neck peeking out from under his suit was insanely attractive, giving her something welcome to focus on. Jerome took her by the arm and led her to a quieter place on the balcony. Looking her up and down, he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek but Deidara drew her back to his side. Ignoring him completely, Jerome spoke only to Emmie, "You look incredible. Why don't you go with me home for after party drinks." He slipped a key card into her hands. "No, Jerome. You're engaged and I have a boyfriend, what we had between us is gone for good. Ask my brother." Emmie put a delicate hand on Deidara's chest.
Jerome reached for her hand again, "I just spoke to your brother, he doesn't hold anything against me. Forget this nobody, let's have some fun, just like old times." Emmie jerked her hand out of his, "So Antonio's cool with you for cheating on me and then dumping me? I don't believe you for a second." Jerome flashed dazzling white teeth at her, "Ask him yourself, I just spoke to him. He wants to invest in my microchip company, it's just good business. Come with me, let's catch up." Tossing her magnificent hair, Emmie stared down her dainty nose at him while Deidara used his superior height to loom over Jerome. "I haven't been able to contact him so tell me since you're besties now." Jerome hesitated and then noticing Deidara tracing his fingertips over Emmie's bared hip, gritted his teeth, "He's on a private retreat in India, no tech so he can think. He didn't want people to know because they'd hound him for updates about his game."
Jerome pulled her to him and had the audacity to drop a kiss onto her cheek. Furious, Dridara grabbed Jerome by the lapels and got into his face, "Look here man, Emmie doesn't belong to you, she never did. She doesn't want you back, get that in your thick skull. So get your fucking hands off my girl."
Emmie opened her mouth to respond when a younger woman bounced up to them. "Oh, who's this?" she chirped in an annoying nasally voice, eying Deidara like a snack. The young woman was ash blonde with big brown eyes and an extremely curvaceous body. Her assets seemed ready to spill out of her too tight mini-dress. Jerome smiled tightly, "My fiancé, Tammy." Tammy immediately went to Deidara, grabbing his hand and pressing it to her ample bosom. "Oh, why are you hanging with this old bore. Come party with me! She's too old for fun!" she squealed. Deidara blurted out, "You chose this bimbo over Emmie? Damn, lucky for me, you're an idiot."
"Fine, since you prefer old bags over young, tight girls." Tammy huffed, stung at Deidara's rejection. He shrugged insolently, "Eh, I prefer a little experience in the bed. Those women are a little more exotic than kids you know," he winked at Jerome. Tammy turned the unattractive color of an overripe strawberry and stomped away screeching and throwing things within reach onto the ground. "At least when she gets mad I don't deal with tantrums. Plus, hate sex is amazing," Deidara called to their hastily retreating backs.
Emmie leaned over the railing wheezing with laughter. "Oh my god, her face! Oh I needed that." Deidara fumbled in his pockets for a cig and a lighter, his blood still up and boiling. "I can't believe he tried to take you back, after what you said, then shoved his fiancée in your face like that." Emmie lit his cigarette and Deidara took a calming breath, the nicotine soothing his ire. "He just treated you like a side ho that would just run back to him." Emmie leaned into her arms looking over the brightly lit city in the distance, "Yeah well, one of his many lovely and charming qualities. He wasn't always like that, well not at first. He was fun, charming, intelligent, cultured. We went on tons of adventures and I thought it was going to be just me and him. I didn't factor in his wandering eye."
Emmie cleared her throat, trying to alleviate the tightness that came with reliving painful memories. She led Deidara down the stairs and went into the maze. She didn't reprimand him when he flicked his cigarette butt into the hedges. Sitting down on the edge of a fountain, Emmie took her heels off and stuck her feet in the cool water.
"Come on, tell me what happened." Deidara said lighting another cigarette. Emmie debated telling him. She never told anyone her problems. But could it hurt telling him? In 5 days, he would probably disappear from her life forever. "Tammy is my step sister. She's always hated me, always wanted my things. You saw the way she came onto you when she saw us together. Anyway, she came onto him and he dumped me for her. I don't know exactly why, because she's 10 years younger than me? Maybe because she was willing to sleep with him. But she did it. She took the one thing I cared about the most." Deidara tilted his head back, exhaling a plume of smoke. "Why didn't you sleep with him? I thought you loved him."
Emmie kicked at a penny, "I wasn't sure I really loved him, we were only engaged for a month and I didn't know him before. It seemed like everything was happening too fast. I did care about him a lot. I don't know, I only have sex when I really feel something, a connection, you know? I don't do hookups, sex is way more intimate for me. It has to mean something, otherwise, you're kind of like an escort. It doesn't mean anything besides an exchange. My orgasm for yours. God why am I telling you this?" she groaned, splashing the water. "Champagne and gin." Deidara said sagely. "Well I wasn't always a gangster. I went to college and got my PHD in chem," he admitted. Emmie looked at him in disbelief, "No. What happened?" Deidara took another drag of his cigarette. "Sister got ALS. We're orphans and she did her best to raise me. Like your brother, she got me through college. Things were doing well but then she got diagnosed and there's treatment but.."
"It got expensive, you got into debt and turned to making complex bombs with your knowledge of chemistry," Emmie finished. Deidara nodded and threw the cigarette into the fountain. They sat in an awkward silence with only the gentle splashes of the fountain filling the air.
"Well our lives suck. Let's trash your sister's place," Deidara said abruptly. Emmie whipped her head at him, "What?" Deidara put an arm around her. "Come on baby, let's get lost, take back life, throw in a little mayhem. She did take your man, how 'bout some goddamn payback?"