Betty's First Trip to Rome The Prequel - Chapter 3 – What's in the Cookie Jar?
Betty was deeply moved by the problems that Henry was having. His beautiful baby that he loved so much was afflicted by a terrible disease. She was very sad for him and she wanted to think about it, but before she could Gio was seated beside her.
Gio put his arm around Betty and nuzzled in to kiss her neck. Betty didn't notice him much because she was preoccupied. She put her arm around Gio comfortably. She was happy to have her friend beside her. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated on her thoughts. She struggled to figure out what she would say to Gio.
Her misgivings about the trip to Rome weighed heavily on her mind. She liked Gio and she liked the idea of them being together. But she thought of it as something for the future, not something for right now. She felt too emotionally drained by her recent experiences to enter into something new.
As she quietly thought of what she would say to Gio he touched her and stroked her hair. He hugged her and smelled her. His mind was on everything that he had dreamed of doing for so long. He didn't need to talk. He didn't want to talk. Betty didn't respond to him too much other than to stroke his back absentmindedly. She was trying to figure out what she felt. What was going on between her and Gio was not nearly as clear cut as for Henry. And that had been much more difficult to handle than she had anticipated.
What she needed to say to Gio was more complex. She wasn't sure what it was she wanted to say. She realized she didn't have any idea of what she would say. She needed some time to think but she didn't have any time. Gio didn't notice that Betty's mind was elsewhere. She was lost in thought while Gio forged ahead unaware that he was about to overstep her boundaries.
Betty's eyes popped open the moment she felt Gio's hand where it shouldn't be.
"Gio, I need to talk to you." Betty said quietly. She tapped his back to indicate that she wanted him to stop what he was doing. Gio murmured but he did not stop. "Gio" breathed Betty into his ear. She wanted him to stop but Gio didn't stop. Everyone else had left so it didn't matter what they said or did or how loud they were. "Gio, stop it!" Betty finally said more forcefully. Gio straightened up so he could look at Betty. He studied her face but he didn't have any idea what she was thinking.
What Betty was thinking was that Gio was smothering her. She thought it was exactly the same thing as what Henry had been doing. Gio was all over her and she was not ready for that. Gio still held Betty tightly in his arms.
"Get off of me!" she shouted angrily while pushing Gio away from her.
Gio was confused. He didn't understand what was going on. "What do you mean?" he asked. It was the first thing he had said since he sat down.
"I think it is perfectly clear what I mean" said Betty icily. She stood up. But it wasn't clear to Gio. He had no idea what was going on inside Betty's mind. He stood up too. The two of them stood silently looking at each other face to face. Betty was angry and confused and Gio was confused and alarmed.
"I can't go to Rome with you next week." said Betty "I want to go, but I can't go." Betty's voice rose as she was filled with a sense of panic trying to explain to him what she barely understood herself "I can't go. I'm sorry."
"You have to go!" replied Gio in a tone he thought was light and teasing. All of the wonderful visions of the elaborately planned trip were filling his head. He was sure he could change her mind. He supposed she was a little nervous and he thought he could put her at ease by joking. He smiled and purred "You have to go because I have some activities planned that I can't do without you."
Betty was disgusted by what Gio was implying. She considered him to be way out of line. She was still very emotional after her talk with Henry and she could not think straight.
"I want to go to Rome, but not next week. Maybe in a couple of months. I don't know when. Sometime later … sometime maybe." She thought she was proposing a perfectly reasonable compromise. It was supposed to be a perfectly reasonable compromise.
"No. It can't be delayed. That's impossible. I have to go." replied Gio. And before he had a chance to explain why Betty became enraged. Gio begged to her "You have to go with me. You have to go with me next week."
"No way. Forget it. Get out of here! Go away!" Betty desperately needed some time alone but she was way past the point of knowing how to ask for it appropriately.
By this time Gio had finally figured out that something was seriously wrong with Betty.
"What? What are you doing? Are you breaking up with me?" Gio was trying to figure out what was going on. He was mystified by Betty's words.
He thought everything would be easy once Henry was gone but something was wrong. Seriously wrong. And he had no idea what it was.
Betty and Gio were standing and glaring at each other. Both of them were breathing heavily, flooded with a mixture of emotions and pumped up with adrenaline.
Betty searched her mind. She was convinced that she was not ready for a relationship with Gio yet. She was sure that she was not ready to travel to Rome with him next week. It was clear to her it was impossible.
She was sure that they were over. She thought Gio had reacted very badly. She was angry at him. This was nothing like what she had expected. She had thought that Gio, her Gio, would do anything she asked. He always did before. He was always willing to wait. He was there for her whenever she needed him, never the other way around. The Gio that was standing in front of her wouldn't stop touching her. He wouldn't change the trip. It was unexpected. It was intolerable. She couldn't stand it any longer.
She was angry at Henry for disturbing her life. She was angry at Gio for asking her to go on such a tempting trip. A trip that he should have known she could never agree to. And she was angry at herself. Why had it all come to this? Why was this happening to her?
Betty thought of the meanest, cruelest thing she could say to Gio. She wanted to win this fight and show him who was in control. She was not going to be pushed around by Henry. And she wasn't going to be pushed around by Gio.
"We can't break up if we were never together, Gio! And we never were!" Betty screamed at him.
Gio was severely wounded. He couldn't believe she felt that way. They weren't together? What did she mean by that? He was shocked and angry and confused and everything in between. He'd been on the brink of complete happiness a few moments ago and now he didn't know where the hell he was.
He said the first thing that came into his mind. "Fine, I'm done. I'm done waiting for you Betty Suarez!" He turned on his heel and strode as quickly as he could across the field. His shoulders were slumped. He was angry, hurt, confused and disappointed. He was intensely disappointed.
"And leave me alone! Leave me alone!" Betty screamed at his back as he walked away.
Gio walked to the van which was parked in a remote corner of the parking lot. He got in and started the engine. Then he turned it off. He didn't know where he was going. There was no place that he wanted to go.
He thought over what had just happened. He needed time to figure it out. He wasn't sure that he'd ever be able to figure it out. When he finally started up the van again and drove to the entrance of the parking lot he remembered to look around for Betty.
He wondered if she needed a ride. He had been planning to give her a ride. But he didn't see her anywhere. He parked the van and he searched for her but she wasn't there.
Betty was gone.