Romancing Tommy Gabrini (19 page)

Grace
breathed again.
 
She could hardly believe
it.
 
What did she just witness?
 
And how, she wondered, could he be so
apathetic?
 
It was as if, in his mind,
their night together never happened.

Then
she realized who she was dealing with.
 
Mister Open Relationship.
 
He
probably bedded so many females that he couldn’t keep up from one to the next.
 
And it had, after all, been two months
ago.
 
She exhaled and looked at
Jillian.
 
At least, she thought, she
wasn’t the only one reeling.

Jillian
gathered up her report and her briefcase.
 
“What an ass,” she said as she did.

“What
do you mean you can’t go?” Jamie asked Grace as he stood in front of her
desk.
 
He had driven over, from his art
gallery three blocks over, to take her to lunch.

“I
can’t get away,” Grace replied, flustered.
 
Her desk was loaded with paperwork.
 
“I called your cell phone.
 
It’s
turned off.”

“That’s
because I don’t want nobody bothering me on my lunch break, honey.
 
I know how to handle my business.
 
That’s why I don’t understand what you mean
you can’t go.
 
This is your time of the
work day.”

“I
know, but Jilly’s got me reviewing this plan of action she has to present by
close-of-business today, and it is not ready for prime time or no other time
right now.”

“But
you have to eat,” Jamie said, unwrapping the shawl around his neck.
 
“Bump Jillian.
 
Let’s get something to eat.”

“I
can’t,” Grace said firmly.
 
“For real.”

Jamie
plopped down in the chair in front of Grace’s desk.
 
“Sometimes you’re absolutely no fun at all,
do you know that?”

“Look
at all of this work, J, and I’m not even half finished.”

“Jillian
should be handling this.”

“She
is handling it.
 
All of the managers are
handling it.
 
It’s just a lot still needs
to be done.”
 
Then she hesitated as Tommy
flashed across her mind.

“What?”
Jamie asked, noticing her contemplation.

Grace
looked at her good friend.
 
“I saw Tommy
this morning.”

Jamie’s
mouth flew open.
 
“Shut up!” he
said.
 
“Really?
 
What, was he in the building and decided to
stop by your office?”

“No,
no.
 
Jillian made me go with her to his
office this morning.”

“Wow,”
Jamie said.
 
He knew how disappointed
Grace was the days following her birthday when lover boy didn’t bother to phone
her.
 
She understood that there was no
agreement to stay in touch, but still.
 
Grace had been hopeful.

“So
how did it go?” he asked Grace.

“How
did what go?”

“Your
meeting with Tommy Gabrini.
 
How did it
go?”

Grace
hunched her shoulders.
 
“It went fine.”

“Come
on, Grace. Tell mama all about it.”

Grace
smiled.
 
“There’s nothing to tell, Jamie,
all right?”

“So
you didn’t sleep with him?”

Grace
looked at him.
 
“Sleep with him?
 
I told you I saw him in a meeting, and the
meeting wasn’t in his bedroom.
 
Geez,
Jay-Jay.”

“But
did he say anything?”

“He
spoke.”

“And
that was it?”

“That
was it.”

“Damn.”

“Yup.
 
So I kept it professional too.”

“But
it still hurt a little?”

“Of
course not,” Grace said firmly.
 
“He
didn’t promise me anything, and he delivered on that promise.”

“And
you’re better for it too,” Jamie said firmly.
 
“He’s a womanizer, at least that’s what Nayla claims.
 
I don’t
 
know, but that’s what she’s claiming.
 
Why would you want a guy like that anyway?”

Grace
was asking herself that very question.
 
“What about your date last night?
 
Did you get lucky, or is this conversation only about my business?”

Jamie
smiled.
 
“Yes, I got lucky, and yes, this
particular conversation is only about your business, honey.
 
You had hopes, though, for Tommy, didn’t
you?”

Grace
stopped working and leaned back.
 
“I
guess I did,” she admitted.
 
“I shouldn’t
have, but seeing him again today made me realize how disappointed I was in
him.”

“Because
he didn’t phone you again?”

“Right.
 
He never promised to phone me, and it’s my
fault that I’m disappointed, but it is what it is.”

“I
tried to warn you.”

“I
know.”

“But
he didn’t say anything to you at that meeting?
 
About y’all I mean?
 

“No,
nothing.
 
I kind of saw a different side
of him actually.”

“And
what side was that?
 
He was hitting on
Jillian?”

“No!
 
The man has some taste.”
 

Jamie
laughed.
 

Grace
continued.
 
“But he just. . . I don’t
know.
 
Like I said, he barely
acknowledged me.”

“B
that’s how guys are.
 
Take it from me,
okay?
 
They give you their undivided
attention until they get your sex.
 
Then
they don’t know your name.
 
Forget
him.
 
Great looking guys like him are too
much trouble, anyway.
 
Remember Cam?
 
Hello?
 
But anyway, check this out.”
 
Jamie leaned over the desk and handed Grace his cell phone.
 
The picture of a handsome young black male
was shown.

“Who’s
this?”

“He’s
a cutie, isn’t he?”

“Yes,
but who is he?”

“Teron,”
Jamie said.
 
“And he has a brother, girl,
a straight brother, who looks just as good.”

“So,
what about them?”

“We,
as in me and you, are having a double date with them tonight, eight o clock, at
Moors.”

This
was news to Grace.
 
“We are?”

“Yes,
we are.”

“Why,
Jamie?
 
Because they’re cute?”

“Because
they’re cute and because they’re looking for long-term relationships, not just
sleepovers.”

“Yeah,
right,” Grace said with some bitterness.
 
“That’s what every guy claims until he gets into your panties.”

“I’ll
bet Tommy Gabrini didn’t claim that when he got into yours,” Jamie declared,
“so don’t even trick that.
 
Because from
what I’ve heard about that man, he never has to claim anything and you ladies
still let him in.
 
So just say you’re
come tonight.
 
Please.”

Grace
hesitated.
 
Maybe she did need to go on
with her life.
 
“What time did you say?”
she asked.

Jamie
smiled.
 
“They’re gonna meet us at Moors
tonight at eight.
 
And I’ll drive.”

“You’ll
drive?
 
Twice in one day?
 
Let me alert the media!”

“Just
be ready,” Jamie said, standing to his feet.
 
“You made me come all this way to pick you up for a lunch you can’t
have, don’t make me make a blank trip tonight.
 
I’ll get you at eight.”

“Eight?
I thought you said we were meeting up with them at eight?”

“They
can wait for us.
 
It’ll show we’re not
desperate and that we’re worth the wait.”

Grace
shook her head.
 
She hated games and
Jamie knew it.
 
Then her phone buzzed.

“Yes?”

“Mr.
Gabrini on line one.”

This
stunned Grace.
 
She looked at Jamie.
 
Jamie motioned for her to accept the
call.
 
“Okay, thanks,” Grace said into
the intercom.

“Put
it on Speaker,” Jamie said, pressing the Speaker button to the on position and
sitting back down.

Grace
pressed the Speaker button back off and picked up the phone.
 
“Hello?”

“Hey.
 
How are you?”

Grace
decided to be cautious.
 
“Fine.
 
You?”

“I’m
okay.
 
I apologize for leaving so
abruptly this morning, but I had to meet with a group of Japanese
businessmen.
 
They want me to invest in
their company.
 
The meeting just wrapped
up.”

“Are
you going to invest?”

“No
way.
 
They don’t have their shit together
yet.
 
Now I’m late for another meeting,
but I wanted to phone and let you know how pleased I was to see you this
morning.”

Grace
didn’t respond.
 
He didn’t seem pleased
to her.

“And
I was hoping,” he continued, “that you could have dinner with me tonight.
  
At my place.”

Grace
was frankly surprised by the offer.
 
“At
your place?” she asked.
 
“At your
restaurant?”

“At
my house.
 
I want to cook you dinner.”

It
sounded lovely.
 
But why was he
bothering?
 
He was cold toward her this morning,
but now he was hot again?
 
He was off
with her for two months, but now he was on again?
 
Grace couldn’t deal with those kinds of ups
and downs.
 
She wasn’t going down any
dead end roads with him.
 

“Can’t
tonight,” she said.

There
was a pause on his end of the line.
 
“Why
not?” he asked her, clearly not pleased anymore.

“I
have a date actually,” Grace decided to be blunt.

“You
have a date?”

“That’s
right.”

“A
date?”

Grace
hesitated.
 
He sounded surprised.
“Yes.
 
A date.”

“Who?”

“Some
hunky guy Jamie knows.
  
We’re meeting
over at Moors.
 
It’s really a blind
date.”
 
Then Grace couldn’t help
herself.
 
She smiled.
 
“I thought I’d try those open relationships
you spoke so highly of.”
 

She
looked at Jamie.
 
Jamie was grinning and
nodding his head.
 
“Exactly what he
deserves,” he mouthed to Grace.

“I
thought I’d give it a try,” she said additionally to Tommy.

There
was another pause on Tommy’s end of the line.
 
A long pause.
 
And then a big
exhale.
 
“I’d better get going.
 
I just mainly wanted to say how good it was
to see you again, and I’m glad to know that you’re doing okay.”

“Thanks.
 
I’m glad you’re doing well, too.”

“Goodbye,
Grace.”

“Bye,
Tommy,” she said, and he immediately hung up.

Grace
stared at her phone, and then hung up too.
 
She hated that she had gone there, but what could she do?
 
He wasn’t interested in any relationship with
her, unless she was willing to be one of many, and she wasn’t having that.

“Don’t
look so down, girl,” Jamie said, tossing his shawl around his neck.
 
“You didn’t cave and you kept your
self-respect.
 
That’s what they call a
victory for you.”

“A
victory?” Grace asked.

“That’s
right,” Jamie affirmed.
 
“A victory.”

 
But why did her victory, Grace wondered, feel
so hollow?