CHAPTER 13: Living single

Another several weeks had passed and it was now March 29th where Enzo had once again found himself leaving Stephanie's office after having his latest social media antics questioned. Sighing, he made his way back to his rental car where his friends Cass, Mojo Rawley and Carmella were awaiting him.

He was just beyond exhausted between work and having to find ways of dodging Mandy and it was beginning to cause his stress levels to reach an all-time high. After all, it was completely understandable. He had been dealing with Mandy's ways for almost a year now and he was now slowly finding himself reaching a breaking point…one he never wanted to get to ever again. He opened the driver side door and threw himself inside, slamming the door shut behind him and for a while he sat in silence, starring hard at the steering wheel of his rental.

Cass was the first to finally break the long and uncomfortable silence. "What'd she say now?" he asked. "I'm to not use social media until Mania day" Enzo said as he buckled up his seat belt. "Not that I'm really in the mood to give a fuck about it."

"Hey let's go to that diner off of Layfette" Carmella said. "It's late at night so we shouldn't really draw a crowd to us." "I don't care" Enzo said. "We really need to discuss Amanda" said Carmella.

"Fuck Amanda" Enzo heatedly said. "I hate her." "Man when are you gonna leave her?" Cass asked. "I mean…man don't you ever get tired of sleeping with one eye opened?" "It's complicated" said Enzo. "And let's please just leave it at that."

"We will not" said Cass. "You're my best friend and I only want the best for you because I love you." "I know" Enzo said sadly. "And when I tell you this I mean it" said Cass. "So when I say you need to let her go because I fear for your life then you should do it." "Let's just be thankful that he went to spend the night over at his brother Brandon's house after the incident" said Carmella.

"Leave Mandy?" Mojo asked. "Why on Earth would he want to leave her?" "When the time is right I will" said Enzo. "Can't ever leave one job for another without the other." "You're priorities are seriously skewed bro" Cass said. "If some broad ever put a knife to my throat it'll be beyondddd over."

"Wait what?" Mojo asked. "I'm a bit confused." "I rather focus on the really dope ass pool party that I'm about to throw at our hotel on Friday." "What I need you to focus on is dumping that psycho bitch outta your life bro" Cass sternly said. "I mean it."

"Am I the only one in this car who doesn't have a clue as to what's going on?" Mojo asked. "You didn't tell him?" Carmella asked. Enzo let out a huge sigh. "I'm not in love with Amanda anymore….I've fallen in love with Mercedes." "WHAT!?" Mojo said. "ARE YOU SERIOUS BRO?"

"As serious as he's ever been" Cass said. "Dude where have I been!?" Mojo asked. "Chasing the ladies a bit too much" said Carmella. "I'm still a bit lost on the whole Mandy situation" said Mojo. Enzo face palmed himself as Cass turned to face Mojo. "She's…been abusing him" he said. "And to put it bluntly…it's domestic violence."

"And it doesn't just happen to women" said Carmella. "It can happen to anyone." "Oh man bro I'm so sorry" said Mojo. "You should press charges against her and definitely break up with her."

"She pulled a knife on me man, ya think it's gonna be that easy to get away from her?" Enzo asked. "If she already did that man, then she's capable of killing you" said Mojo. "And I'd hate to see that happen." "I…I really fear for your life too" Carmella worriedly said. "It sounds like her madness is just escalating." "Hey now let's not get crazy here" said Enzo. "Ain't nobody gonna die. I've got everything under control."

"That's good to know" said Cass. "Now handle it." "Onto much lighter things ahead" said Carmella. "I look forward to your party Eric. Did you invite Mercedes?" "Hell yeah" said Enzo. "I texted her the other day and she said she's gonna stop by."

"Will she be bringing Fergal?" Carmella asked. "Don't know. Don't care" said Enzo. "I'm only checking for Mercedes, not Devitt." "I'm still so very confused" Mojo said. "We'll catch you up later" said Enzo as he started the engine. "Besides I have a feelin' that Mania's gonna be a bit extra special for me." "How so?" Carmella asked. "Because" said Enzo. "I'm finally gonna tell Mercedes how I feel about her."

Meanwhile, Sasha was spending the day relaxing in her hotel room. She had already arrived in Orlando for the big day. As she continued unpacking her suitcase, she received a knock at the door. It was Alexa and Bayley.

"Hey girlies" Sasha said as the trio embraced each other with hugs. "Come on in." "I'm glad we got the double suite thing" said Bayley. "Is Fergal on his way?" Alexa. "Yeah" said Sasha. "He's driving over in about an hour or so."

"So…where are the details?" Alexa asked. "I wanna hear how everything's going between you?" "Alexis…" Bayley trailed off. "What I'm just curious" said Alexa. "Things are going well" Sasha said. "So well that you're lounging around in Pink sweats and a matching sports bra?" Alexa said.

"Well I knew that I was still expecting you two" said Sasha. "There was no time to throw on something sexy." "Speaking of sexy..." Alexa teased. "Have you two…?"

"ALEXIS!" Sasha and Bayley said. "Girls you act like I'm playing detective or something?" "I feel like you are" said Sasha. "And for your information…we've haven't had sex yet."

"You haven't?" Alexa asked. "Lexie we're not even official yet" said Sasha. "It's only been like 3 months since we started talking, not to mention we've only been out on a few dates and I'm just trying to be extremely careful to avoid what happened to me the last time….I can't afford to go through that ever again."

"I understand" said Alexa. "And I'm sorry." Sasha nodded as she took a seat back on her bed. "Planning on going to the beach or something?" Bayley asked. "No" said Sasha. "To the pool." "Cool but I didn't pack any swimsuits. I guess I was just too nervous."

"We can go shopping tomorrow for one if you'd like" said Sasha. "Sure" said Bayley. "If you're going then so I am" said Alexa. "Um I think you'll wanna sit this one out" said Sasha. "Why?" asked Alexa. "Because it's Eric's party" said Sasha. "Wait he invited you to a party?" Bayley. "A pool one?"

"Yeah" said Sasha. "A few days ago." "Yep you're definitely right about that one" said Alexa. "Ima pass on that one." "But isn't Taylor going?" asked Sasha. "I mean I saw the guest list." "There's a guest list?" Bayley asked. "Wait. You're telling me that Taylor. MY Taylor got invited to that trash?" Alexa.

"Yes" said Sasha. "In fact, Enzo tweeted out what he called an "exclusive guest list." "Lemme see that" Alexa said. Sasha handed her the phone in which Alexa saw for herself who was going. "He even invited the Bellas."

"Yeah but I heard they turned it down" said Sasha. "You know since Nikki's away at the hospital somewhere getting help and her family's there to support her." "Jeez" said Alexa. "What I don't see here is Mandy."

"Maybe she got an automatic invite because she's his girlfriend?" Sasha said. "But William and Leah are on the list" said Alexa. "That makes no sense." "Maybe they're having a hard time" said Bayley. "If they are, then he deserves it" said Alexa.

"That's a bit harsh there Alexis" said Sasha. "Ask me if I care" Alexa yawned. She handed Sasha back her phone. "Ima go text Taylor and ask him to not go. I can't believe he didn't even tell me."

"Maybe he's not even going" said Sasha. "He better not" said Alexa. "Not unless he wants his relationship status to change." "You sure you wanna skip out?" Sasha asked. "I don't wanna leave you here alone while the three of us head out." "Trust me I'm giving this a hard pass" said Alexa. "I'd rather die."

"Chill" said Bayley. "It's not that serious." "Says you" said Alexa. "But I can't stand that rat ass looking motherfucker. Just thinking about him is making me wanna vomit." "He's not a rat" Sasha said. "Or at least…he doesn't look like one." She suddenly paused as Bayley and Alexa both starred at her with puzzled looks on their faces. "Nice save there" Sasha thought. "Real smooth."

"As I was saying" Alexa continued. "A rat is a rat is a rat is a rat." Bayley let out a chuckled. "It's not like he ever snitched on anyone" she said. "Pamela I never said he was a snitch" said Alexa. "I just said that he looked like a rat." "But you dated that "rat looking motherfucker" before" said Sasha. "And you both know how much of a train wreck that became and the way it ended" said Alexa.

"Trust me, we'll never forget" said Sasha. "Damn him" Alexa said. "Damn him straight to hell for what he did to me." Sasha sighed as she laid back down on her bed and she began to reread through her and Enzo's texts and smiled.

"Got a cute text from Fergal I see?" Bayley teased. "Yeah…" Sasha lied. "I'll leave you alone to enjoy it" Bayley said as she walked away, leaving Sasha alone. She couldn't wait to attend Enzo's party on Friday and even though it was only 2 days away, she felt like it was an eternity.