Chapter 12: Ante up
Over the next several days, Enzo found that he wasn't able to keep his mind off of the photo shoot that he had earlier in the month. It was now Valentine's Day when he sat on the edge of his bed flipping through various television stations when Mandy entered into the room.
"You keep laying down like that Zo and you'll end up fat" she said as she fluffed up her blonde hair in front of the mirror. "Amanda, shut up" Enzo said. "It's my day off and I can do whatever I want." "You mean it's our day off" said Mandy. "And besides it's the most romantic day of the year. Aren't you gonna take me out or something?" "I made reservations at Castellano's" Enzo said flatly. "Aren't you gonna get dressed?" Mandy asked.
"Mandy, it's only 7PM. There are 24 hours in a day" said Enzo. "Do that math." "Ugh you lazy shit" Mandy said as she slammed her fist onto the dresser, causing its contents to shake.
"What the fuck is your problem girl!?" Enzo yelled. "My problem is you" said Mandy. "You know what Mandy-" Enzo said as his phone rang.
"Oh what is it now?" Mandy complained. "Yeah bro?" Enzo said. After a few moments, a huge smile formed across his face. "OH MAN YOU DID BRO!? CONGRATULATIONS MY GUY! I'm so happy for you!" Mandy clacked her heels together as she folded her arms in annoyance. "What a loser" she grumbled. Enzo got off the phone and stood up.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Mandy asked. "Will and Leah got engaged" said Enzo. "And?" Mandy scoffed. "You act like that doesn't happen every day." Enzo rolled his eyes. Luckily, Mandy didn't notice him doing so.
"You know what?" Enzo said. "I think I'll cancel that reservation of mine." "EXCUSE ME!?" Mandy sniped. "It's Valentine's Day." "Yeah well I gotta headache" Enzo said as he walked into the bathroom. "You're kidding me right?" Mandy asked. "No Amanda for once I'm not" Enzo said as he turned on the faucet.
"You can't do this to me" Mandy seethed. "I think I just did" Enzo said as began to test the water. "Ok" Mandy said calmly. Enzo glanced at the side of his eyes as he watched his girlfriend quietly leave. After all, he had every reason in the world to be extra wary of her. "What a psychopath" he muttered as he dipped his face into his water filled palms.
After a few moments, he turned off the faucet and stripped out of his clothes, leaving him completely naked. He walked over towards the shower and as he did, he looked up into the glass and saw Mandy's reflection, causing his pale blue eyes to widen in horror.
"What the-" As he spun around, he found that an 8 inch knife was suddenly pressed up against his neck. "Amanda what the fuck are you doing!?" Enzo panicked. "Nothing" Mandy said. "Just reminding you who you're dealing with." "Amanda get this knife away from my neck RIGHT NOW!" Enzo hissed.
Mandy chuckled as she continued to press the knife further into Enzo's neck. "Now why should I?" The two exchanged intense stares before Enzo took his free hand and slapped Mandy's hand as hard as he could, causing the knife to fall out of her hand. He snatched it up from the tiled floor as fast as he could. She let out a pained yelp as she grabbed her hands in an attempt to soothe them.
"What the fuck is wrong with you bitch!?" he hissed. "What kind of a nut job are ya!?" Mandy smirked as she continued rubbing her hands. "Oh come on Zo-zo you know that I was just kidding around. Just like the last time."
June 19th, 2016
Enzo was in the kitchen cooking one of his favorite post-workout meals. "Amanda!" he called out. "Dinner's almost ready!" As he went to turn the oven off, he heard a thud nearby. "What the fuck?" he said to himself and as he looked up, he saw that there was a knife stuck in the wall above him.
"MANDY WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" he hissed. "Oh it was nothing" Mandy nonchalantly said as she calmly filed her nails. "What do ya mean it was nothin' girl?" Enzo said. "There's a fucking knife stuck in the wall."
"I was practicing my darting skills" said Mandy. "It can get pretty boring around here watching you take all day to cook and everything." "Excuse me are ya tellin' me that ya threw a knife at me!?" Enzo hissed. "You're so sensitive" said Mandy. "Ya just threw a fuckin' knife at me" Enzo said. "Are ya outta your mind!?"
"Chill out" Mandy said. "Now ya listen to me" Enzo said sternly. "If ya ever do this shit again, it's gonna be ova for us, UNDERSTAND!?" Mandy rolled her eyes as she got off of the bar stool, Enzo never took his eyes off of her for a moment as she walked away. He was fuming with anger and perhaps even a sense of fear. It was the first time in their relationship of only 3 months did Mandy ever acted in such way and it was leaving him in a world of confusion as a result.
Present day,
February 14th, 2017.
Despite Mandy's attempt at relaying Enzo ensuring words, he was no longer having any of it.
"Now you listen to me here" he said intensely. "Ya try the shit again and it's over for you. GOT IT!?" Mandy rolled her eyes as he grabbed her arms and began to shake her. "I MEAN IT!" he yelled. "DON'T YOU EVER THREATEN ME AGAIN OR I'M CALLIN' THE COPS ON YA!" His eyes were filled with so much anger, it nearly caught Mandy off guard…not that she would let onto it of course.
"Eric you don't scare me" said Mandy. "No one does." "Get out" Enzo warned. "Happy Valentine's Day" Mandy said as she left the bathroom. Enzo turned to the mirror and as he did, he noticed that he had a small nick on his neck that was bleeding. He shook off his shaken nerves. He realized that he was going to leave Mandy rather sooner than later but problem was, that wasn't going to be easy as he thought…
Meanwhile, Sasha and Finn were spending time together in a park somewhere in Orlando. It was no doubt that she was experiencing a far better day than Enzo. "
I'm still so very sorry again for having to reschedule this so many times Fergal" she said. "It's just that I was very busy on the first of this month and coming to the trail with you…"
"Mercedes it's alright" said Finn. "We have all the time in the world. Besides its 2 degrees warmer today so it'll make the trail a bit more enjoyable." "I love how you always look at the bright side" said Sasha. "I try" said Finn. "The freshness of the air is truly breathtaking" Sasha said as she deeply inhaled. "Breathtaking isn't it?" Finn asked. Sasha exhaled before answering. "Sure is."
Finn looked up and noticed an ice cream truck nearby at the end of the trail. "Want some?" he asked. "Definitely" said Sasha. "Lead the way." As the two began walking towards the truck, Sasha couldn't help but find herself thinking of the real and obvious reason why she had chosen to skip out on meeting with Finn earlier: Enzo.
"Good afternoon" said the vendor. "What would you like?" "I'd like to have two vanillas" said Finn. At this words, Sasha snapped out of her favorable daze. "Uh actually Fergal, I like Strawberry" she said. "Strawberry everything." "Oops sorry" said the vendor. "But my truck only carries the standard Chocolate, Vanilla and Rocky Road."
"What kind of truck doesn't have Strawberry as a flavor?" Sasha questioned. "Isn't that a standard flavor too?" "Sorry lady I don't make the rules, the company does" said the vendor. "Complain to them."
"It's alright" said Finn. "Would you prefer any of the other flavors?" "Sure" said Sasha. "Chocolate is fine." "Great" said the Vendor. "That'll be $6 dollars."
"Orlando sure is expensive" said Sasha. "True" said Finn. "$3 for a cone? I usually pay no more than $2.50." "Actually they're cups" said Finn. "Sturdy ones and the prices are pretty much the norm." While Sasha began to indulge her frozen treat, Finn waved off the vender.
"Excited that it's practically Mania season?" he asked. "Of course" Sasha said. "However I'm still quite unaware of what my involvement will be." "Perhaps it'll be something with Charlotte" said Finn. "Yeah" said Sasha. "Perhaps." "I have a little surprise for you" said Finn. "Really?" Sasha asked. "Yeah. Really" Finn said as he leaned in to kiss her. Stunned, Sasha dropped her cone onto the ground as a result. "Whoa…" Sasha trailed off as she broke from Finn. "Where'd that come from? I mean I know where it came from but still…"
"Oh you know?" Finn said. "I just wanted to see how good of a kisser you were." "Hmm" Sasha pondered. "I guess now you know." "Yeah I guess I do know" Finn said softly. "Happy Valentine's Day." Sasha remained quiet. After all, she didn't know what to say. Sure she could have reciprocated, but even she knew that in her heart, she just didn't feel the same way as Finn. "Perhaps if I give myself some more time, I will" she thought. "Hopefully…"
A/N: Thanks for all of your reviews.
~Emerald loves Sapphire~