CHAPTER 48
HOW TO LOSE A (GREAT) GUY IN THREE DAYS
Dianna gave Davis her phone, for her to take a look. And she did, attentively. She knew technological stuff a lot better than Dianna, so she could help. She typed stuff on it, then grabbed her own phone, and typed more stuff on it.
Dianna was impatient, hovering over Davis, waiting. "Well?"
Davis sighed, and put both phones down on the kitchen island. She looked at Dianna, stern, hating to be the one to give her those bad news.
"Yes. You're right. She blocked you on Insta".
Dianna swallowed, nodding, and hating that she was always right. She inhaled, trying to calm herself down. "Ok. You're sure, right?" she was still hopeful.
Davis nodded. "Yes. I can see her profile, and everything. You can't. She's not following you anymore. And she only posted on her stories pictures without you, I remember that when I saw it on Sunday morning, I found it odd, because she told you she'd tag you and everything". Davis was feeling awful, because Dianna kept walking around the kitchen, nervous. And she should be.
"Ok" Dianna gestured to calm herself. "Maybe I did something idiot, right? Some confusion. I blurt things without thinking sometimes".
Davis shook her head. "I still think that Natalie said something about you, some lie or shit like that".
Dianna agreed, but she didn't want to be the one to blame it on Jason's ex. She was a feminist. But obviously there were exceptions that allowed her to hate another woman.
"Sure. Of course. Natalie lied or something. But you see" Dianna walked closer to Davis, anxious, "What if she didn't? What if Emma just doesn't like me? I mean, maybe she just doesn't approve me and her dad, you know? And if that's the case, and not because of what Natalie said, Jason can't know that I know".
Davis looked at her confused. Dianna's mind was too fast for her, sometimes. "Why? I mean, you should talk to him and ask him if he knows why Emma doesn't like you. Then you'll figure it out together. Emma is a grown up, she'll just have to shut up and accept you".
Dianna sighed, with a sad demeanor. "No. I couldn't do this to him. Or her, Davis. Please, believe me, I could never be happy with Jason if Emma was against us. Can you imagine how his life would be? Weekends, holidays, caught in the middle. He's the only parent she has, Davis, he can't lose touch with her" she said, sincere, and Davis got her point. "I need to know why she doesn't like me, to see if it's something that Natalie said, and if not, I need to know if it's something that I can work on, you know?"
Davis nodded, accepting her idea. "What are you going to do?"
"Actually, you'll do, Davis" she stated, to Davis' surprise, "I need you to find out with Jason, or Ray, whatever, what Emma told him. And then you'll tell me. Without him knowing".
Davis' chin dropped to the floor, and she refused to be a part of that absurd scheme. But as she knew deep down, Dianna had it all already thought through, and of course, Davis would help her friend. Even if it broke Dianna's heart in the end. She had to know.
Jason left Ray's place, and Sonny and him made their way to Davis' house, where Dianna was since that morning. The guys would have an indoor training that afternoon, so they'd meet the girls at Davis' and have lunch there.
They typed the password and got into the house. Dianna and Davis were talking, focused, in the kitchen, and Jason made his way there to greet them. Dianna gave a quick kiss on his cheek and took some things to the dining room, where Sonny was already sitting down.
"Hey, Jason" Davis whispered to him, stern. He turned and she came closer, with a concerned look. "Did you know that Emma blocked Dianna on Instagram?"
Jason swallowed, thinking about some lie to tell, but Davis was quicker, and gestured for him to stop thinking about lies. "I told her it was just some Instagram bug. Dianna doesn't know, but I do. I know Emma is against you two. And I think you should tell me why. I want to help".
Jason was surprised by Davis' quick thinking, but he was also relieved to finally be able to open up to someone. He glanced to make sure Dianna was far from them, and sat on the kitchen stool, looking tired.
"You're right. I had a huge fight with Emma about it on Sunday morning. She is certain that Dianna and I where together when I was with Natalie. And also that I had an affair with Dianna when Alana was alive".
Davis made a confused face, but these were all good news to her. Because they were lies, so Dianna obviously could prove that to Emma somehow.
But Jason sighed, and continued. "I talked to Natalie on Sunday, I went there and tried to expose her, I was sure that she said something to Emma. And she denied it, saying that she only holds a grudge against me" he stated, tired, and Davis shook her head, but he added, "I actually think she's telling the truth, Davis".
"Oh, come on" Davis said, determined, "Of course she's lying. I never liked her, Jace".
Jason raised his hand, apparently he had worse news, and Davis sat on the other stool to listen.
"I called Emma last night, Davis. I begged her to believe me about me and Dianna, that we didn't know each other, and she asked me to swear, and I swore on everything that we didn't have an affair when Alana was alive, or when I was with Natalie. I told her I could prove it to her, if she wanted to" he stated, and he had tears in his eyes, "but she just said that even if that's true, she doesn't like her. She says she feels bad around her, that she doesn't trust her, and she begged me to break up with her. She said that she can't explain, but that she is certain that Dianna is playing me and that I shouldn't trust her".
Davis swallowed, hard. This was even worse than what Dianna imagined, probably. Because Emma truly hated her. "But… Emma said that? Are you sure? She's always so calm, and positive, and she liked Dianna at first, at least I thought so-"
"Yes, Davis, I know how she is" Jason interrupted, annoyed, and stood up, glancing at the dining room again and lowering his voice. "Emma always was a kind girl. She's a singer, an artist, for God sake. She never saw evil in anyone. Which makes me feel even worse, because I don't know what to tell her, now she keeps telling me that she doesn't want to be near Dianna, ever. She even texted me today, saying that again".
Davis had tears in her eyes, too. She knew it would break Dianna's heart, and what she'd have to do. So she needed to know what Jason thought about it, maybe he could make a better decision. "What will you do? Will you tell Dianna?"
Jason raised his shoulder, exhausted. "She'll find out eventually. Honestly, I'll say as little as possible about how much Emma dislikes her. Please, don't tell Dianna anything for now".
"Will you break up with her?" Davis ignored his plead and finally gathered the courage to ask.
Jason snorted, ironic. "I probably should, right? I mean, what's the future in this?" he was pensive, glancing at Dianna, who was laughing with Sonny, on the other side of the house, with her back to them. "I don't know. I don't think I can. I don't believe she's any of those things that Emma says she is".
Davis nodded, and while Jason had his back to her, she quickly dried a tear from her eye. Because she knew exactly what would happen from now on, and Jason would come out of it very hurt. And Dianna too. He'd probably hate Dianna as much as Emma already did, but Davis understood, and she would do exactly the same. But she couldn't help it, she had to say something nice about Dianna to him. It would probably be the last time he would agree with her.
"She's not, Jason. She's amazing, we both know that. And she'd do anything to make you guys happy. She would".
Dianna was taking a long bath in her bathtub. Her hair was in a bun, thanks to Davis, but she finally found out that she couldn't take a shower either. She just had the same result as when she walked out on the heavy rain. The start of a panic attack. She looked, bitter, at her beautiful rings over the vanity. One of those would be kept buried inside of her pretty jewelry box. She'd never throw it out, because it would be just mean to do that, and she was gathering her strength to be mean with Jason already. Mean and selfish, actually. Things he hated about other people. She couldn't be immoral or dishonored because he'd make her lose her job, but other than that, she'd try to do anything to make him dislike her. Because if he didn't, she also wouldn't be strong enough to stay away from him; she would probably regret it and try to have him back.
She sniffed, trying to not make much sound, which was another problem when she couldn't shower. She wanted to shower so she could disguise her sobbing, and it was hard to do that when you're bathing in silence.
"Hey" Jason softly knocked, and tried to open the bathroom door, but it was locked. "Are you okay? Need help? Or a hand" he added, naughty, and Dianna smiled. She'd miss him, a lot. She stopped herself from crying again, and was about to tell him, softly, that she'd be right out, but she changed her mind and kept quiet.
Dianna thought about having one last night of passion and tender moments with Jason, but she knew that it would make everything worse for her. She'd probably cry while having sex with him, so it wouldn't work. She had to start in that moment, she decided.
"Dianna?" Jason knocked again, louder, now worried because she didn't answer him.
"What" Dianna forced herself to answer, harsh, glad that he couldn't see her lips trembling. "I just need a moment, Jason. Alone. Jesus".
Jason heard her harsh response from the other side, and stared at the door. He was trying to calculate if Dianna was close to her period or something like that, because that mood swing obviously wasn't normal of her. "Ok, calm down. I'll leave you alone" he answered, stepping away from the door as if it was contaminated.
He walked to the kitchen and got some of the ice tea Dianna usually drank at night, and put her glass on the bedside table, with her 'heavy' meds next to it. He sat on the bed, looking at his phone, and she took another half an hour, almost, to come out of the bath, and she came already dry and with a robe on. She looked grumpy, and aggressively threw her rings in the jewelry box, opening the closet door next.
"Just a moment of peace. God" she grumbled, taking some black pajamas out of the closet and aggressively throwing it on the bed. Her mood was dark too, Jason thought.
"Need help putting them on?" Jason asked while sitting on the bed, with his back against the headboard.
"No. I can put them on myself. I'm a big girl ok" she mocked, with an annoying voice.
He kept quiet, holding himself to not talk about PMS and periods, because he knew women hated that.
"So, tomorrow we don't have any training" he tried to start a new subject, "so maybe I thought about us going to the beach or something. It's supposed to be sunny and hot, we could walk there-"
"Jason" Dianna cut him off, harsh, "Just because I'm wounded it doesn't mean that I don't have to work for the CIA. I still have to do stuff from home, read a lot of intel, send them back my insights" she said, harsh, while closing her shirt with one hand. She aggressively shut the closet door and walked around the bed, to her side. "There are people in the world who depend on more than their body and muscles to do stuff, people with brains" she said, annoyed, and Jason's face twitched, "you know, we actually work hard, a lot. We don't get vacations at the beach in the middle of the week" she finished, pulling the blanket aggressively over her body.
"What are you saying?" Jason turned to her, dangerous, with a low voice, "That I don't use my brain? That my job is easy?"
Dianna turned to her side, and kept quiet for a few seconds. She sniffed, then she had a shaky voice, but her words were definitely harsh. "I don't know, Jason, whatever I say, you'll always play the victim, right?"
Jason was too indignant to say anything, but he had to shut her up. "I'm going to forget all that bullshit you're saying because it's obviously a side effect of the meds, or your PMS or whatever, but just in case, I'll sleep downstairs, ok?"
He took his pillow and grumbled all the way to the stairs, hearing Dianna grumbling from the bedroom, "You can sleep at your own place, too".
He stopped and turned when he heard that, but he shook his head, shivering. Definitely it were her meds talking. He gave her the space and aggressively threw the pillow on the sofa, aggressively pulled the heavy blanket that was there over his body, and aggressively tried to sleep.
Jason woke up with his alarm buzzing at 4AM, and grumpily stood up from the sofa, listening to Dianna's alarm buzz. He was starting to climb the stairs when he heard her yelling, annoyed, from the bedroom, "I'll take the meds, Jason. Stop hovering over me".
He breathed in, tired and sleepy, he'd have a long talk with Dianna in the morning. The doctor would have to check on her brain, definitely she had a concussion. He went back to sleep, because it took him a long time to fall asleep before.
He woke up in the morning with aggressive sounds of Dianna opening and closing the fridge, and the kitchen cabinet doors.
"Are you okay?" he stood up from the sofa, quickly, worried that she dropped something, and walked, half asleep, to the kitchen. "Why are you doing this? I'll do this, you can't" he mumbled to her, when he saw her trying to break eggs for an omelet.
Dianna looked at him for a few seconds, surprised, then she shook her head. "No, I'm good" she murmured, cracking the eggs. She sighed, sounding impatient. "Are you going to the beach later?"
Jason stared at her, while sitting on the kitchen stool. "I don't know. Maybe. If the guys are in a mood for it".
"Because I was thinking about going out shopping with Davis this afternoon. You know, after working this morning, from home" she said, and he kept quiet, grumpy. She waited, then continued, "I got my paycheck yesterday, so I'd like to spend a lot of it buying nice expensive clothes" she said, and waited, Jason was quiet, looking at the countertop, "nice shoes, you know, very expensive ones" she waited, and he still kept quiet, she thought maybe he wasn't listening, "I also thought about buying a new Cowboys' jersey".
"What" Jason turned to her, shocked, and she had to hold herself to not smile, "you mean, Eagles, right?"
"Oh" Dianna acted surprised, "Why Eagles? Come on, Jason, just because they're your team, it doesn't mean that I'd have to root for them too, right? I mean, I always loved the Cowboys" she said, and he stood up from the stool, "and I'm a little tired to pretend that I like the Eagles just because we're together".
Jason stopped, shocked, but suddenly he genuinely smiled, and Dianna watched, confused, as he came closer to her. "Is that why you're all grumpy since yesterday? I don't mind if you're a Cowboys fan. I mean, obviously you know nothing about football, but that's ok" he came even closer, to hold her, smiling affectionately.
Dianna was shocked that even after all that she said and did he still wanted to be close to her, so she knew she had to be more blunt. "No, Jason" she disentangled from his hug, "it's not just that. I feel" she walked around, anxious, "I feel like I'm losing my identity. I mean, you're glued to me 24/7, and at first it was nice, but I'm sorry, I think I need some time apart from you", she said, with tears in her eyes.
Jason was shocked, and kept quiet, obviously hurt. He suddenly nodded. "Ok. I know. I am really glued to you now, but it's because you need assistance these days. You can't be alone, Dianna, and I know that you're independent and that can be annoying" he came closer, to her surprise again, "but if you think I'm like suffocating you or something, that's ok, I'll talk to Davis, or maybe if you have some other friend you could stay at their place, for the next few days, so you don't feel like that anymore".
She honestly had no words, because she was sure he'd be hurt or angry at her ingratitude, so she just nodded. "Ok. I'll talk to Davis then" she said, and thought that maybe it was better that way. She'd be able to make him dislike her more easily if she could see him less, and if he wasn't so helpful and attentive all the time.
"Ok" Jason said, clapping his hands together, "so I'll shower, get changed and you talk to Davis. I'll take you there, then I'll go hang at my place, see if the guys want to go to the beach with me, or something".
Jason quickly walked up the stairs, trying to disguise the fact that he was really surprised by Dianna's complaint. He wanted to show her that he wasn't being a clingy guy, and in fact he wasn't, but she still needed someone to help her. So he would give her the space she needed. Maybe her mood would improve, too.
"Maybe there's another way" Davis whispered to Dianna, worried. "He'll never forgive you, Dianna" she stated, stern, looking into her eyes, and she needed her to understand, so she grabbed her arm. "Ever".
Dianna shrugged, exhausted from playing her part. "It's the only way, Davis. Since the day before yesterday I've been trying to push him away, and he just keeps acting all kind and forgiving" she looked to the side, to see if Sonny was hearing them, "I mean, I even told him I'd buy a Cowboys' jersey, and he didn't mind that".
Davis smiled. "Of course he wouldn't mind. It's you. If it was any of the guys, he'd kill them".
"I thought that coming here would be easier, but now I don't have the time to be as annoying as I was being with him around. And every time I see Jason is harder for me to be mean to him" she stood up from the sofa, "but I can't move back with him, because honestly I won't be able to keep doing this. I almost cried once or twice when I was being harsh with him, and last time I saw him, I almost kissed him".
Davis understood how hard it could be, but she still thought there was another way. "But Dianna, seriously. If you do this, he'll think that everything you had was a lie. That you really are all those things that Emma says you are" Davis assured her. She didn't actually tell everything that Emma said about her to Jason, but Dianna had an idea.
"No, I don't care. You said that Jason told you today that Emma hasn't changed her mind at all yet, so that's it. I've decided. And you'll help me find some dumb guy out there. Someone young and tall. But he has to be young" Dianna stated, stern.
"Someone who doesn't know who Jason Hayes is, right? Because no one that knew that, in their sane conscience, would steal their hero's woman".
Dianna thought for a second. "No. It's better if it's someone who knows who he is, but doesn't know I'm with him" she said, and Davis stared, confused. "Just in case", Dianna added, with a knowing look.
Jason was anxiously walking through the front door of The Bonfire, expecting to see Dianna with Davis somewhere. Davis called him asking him to pick up Dianna from the bar, because Davis wasn't feeling well, some stomach issue, and she didn't want to leave Dianna alone at the bar, because she was refusing to leave and kept saying she 'was just having too much fun'.
"Davis" Jason found her at a table near the entrance of the bar, sitting and looking nauseated. "Are you ok? Do you need me take you to the hospital or something?"
Davis thought for a second, then glanced at the outdoor patio. "No. I'm unwell, but I think we should find Dianna first" she stopped, and glanced again at the outdoor patio. "I think I saw her near the bonfire".
"Ok, stay seated here, I'll go find her". Jason quickly said, gesturing, and walking outside.
He found her in ten seconds. She was next to the bonfire, wearing her slutty burgundy dress that she wore in Serbia, and dancing with a tall blonde young guy. She wasn't wearing her sling, but she didn't need to, because she had the support of the tall young fella for her. She was dancing really close to him, and just when Jason stopped to think for a second to see if it really was Dianna there, she gave him a kiss, surprising even the guy. She quickly moved her hand through his hair, disheveling it. Just like she did with Jason.
Jason was in complete disbelief, but he had hope that maybe she mixed alcohol with her meds, so he put his pride aside and walked to her, taking her arm to make her stop their kiss, feeling like a foolish, but he wasn't thinking straight.
"Dianna, what the hell" he yelled, louder than the music that was playing, "Did you drink?"
Dianna looked at him, surprised, but not too surprised. "What? No I didn't, of course not. What are you doing here?" she said without conviction.
Jason stared at her, and she looked embarrassed but she didn't let go of the guy for a second, and just cleaned her lips with her fingers, like she does when she drinks tequila. He thought he wasn't seeing straight, but then Dianna said, annoyed, "I told you I needed my space".
Jason finally registered the scene in his brain, and his heart disappeared in his chest. He felt a huge lump in his throat, and his eyes were filling with tears.
Dianna kept looking at him, annoyed, but then she turned and looked at the young guy in front of her, and the guy finally took a good look at Jason.
"Hey, Hayes, my hero! Do you remember me? Jared. From The Bulkhead" he joyfully said, and he sounded very drunk.
Davis stood next to Jason, and after a second looking at the scene, she said, loudly, "Oh Jace, I'm sorry. That's humiliating".
Dianna waited until Jason walked away from the outdoor patio, and Davis was walking with him. Jason didn't storm off, he just turned and walked away, with Davis beside him. She, on the other hand, glanced back at Dianna, with a stern face. And as soon as Jason disappear inside the bar, Dianna felt her lips trembling and pushed Jared away from her, making her way to an outdoor bench. There, she cried until Davis got back there, alone, and drove her to her house. Where she cried all night long.
"Jackpot" Davis told Dianna, in the morning, when she opened her bedroom door. She knew Dianna didn't sleep all night, she could hear her sobbing from her room, that was next to hers. "You broke his heart" she added, showing Dianna her house key that Jason gave back to her the night before. Davis sat on the bed and kept Dianna company until she stopped sobbing.
.
