An Unexpected Romance

chapter 12

Chapter 12

Lana had insisted Gema come over to her house and have lunch with her, and Gema finally accepted the invitation. Vistos had been gone when she woke up the next day, and Claire had called to inform her that he would be out of the city for at least a week. With nothing to do and a heavy heart, Gema had accepted when Lana had called. The comfy, lived in home that was Lana and Christof’s was decidedly opposite of Vistos’ cold villa. Lana chattered on about the kids and how she and Christof had met, and Gema listened with distinct interest. 

“Do you want children?” Lana asked her and Gema nodded over her tea cup. 

“One day, hopefully. Though, I sometimes think I’m not quite the mothering type”

“Oh no, you are” Lana nodded, studying Gema. “You have a rather warm sense to you” 

Gema blushed faintly, muttering a thank you, and Lana put down her cup as she spoke next. “I was surprised you even answered the phone today, I had expected you to have gone out of town with Vistos” 

Gema shook her head, remembering his harsh words. “It wouldn’t have been appropriate for me to go, not the right setting for our relationship I suppose” Gema muttered the last part and Lana waved her away. 

“Don’t be silly! It’s perfectly fine for you to be there, despite how it may make Julia feel” Lana’s nose wrinkled when she said the other woman’s name and Gema frowned. Who was Julia? What did she have to do with Vistos? Was she his regular mistress? A girl he called when he got lonely in the city? Gema suddenly felt sick to her stomach. 

“Julia?” 

“Yes, of course she would have been there, trying to sink her nails back into Vistos. The hussy. She tried to milk him for all he was worth in the divorce, but he had plenty of evidence stating she cheated on him.” 

“Vis…Vistos was married?” Gema asked, shocked, and Lana frowned at her faintly. 

“Oh he hasn’t told you? Well, you may as well hear it from me, it’s common knowledge in Rome and if I don’t tell you someone cruel will.” Lana sighed and took a sip of her tea before starting, throwing her black hair over one shoulder and leaning forward.

“Vistos met Julia before Borden Enterprises was Borden & Stakolopous, before his Greek father left his mother for that American tramp with the spoilt brat of a son” Gema’s cheeks colored lightly at the mention of Doug and she looked away briefly. “They had money then, always had, but the size of Vistos’ wealth now was never imagined. It was love immediately for Vistos, he was crazy over Julia, but then his parents divorced” Lana looked out the dining room window at her kids that played in the backyard. “I have always been close to Vistos’ family, he is like a brother to me and his sister is like my sister. When his parent's divorce happened, it was very messy. And to make matters worse, Julia was threatening to leave Vistos if he did not spend more time with her and less at work. To show her he cared, Vistos proposed and she accepted, demanding they get married right away.” 

Lana shook her head and looked back at Gema, hurt and anger in her eyes. “His father begged Vistos not to marry her, told him that Julia was simply using him, but Vistos did not want to hear it from the man who had abandoned his family, so he rushed the marriage with Julia. They were together for three years before Vistos started to see just how ruthless and money hungry she was. His father suffered a heart attack, and begged Vistos to come and be with him, to reconcile. Vistos agreed, but Julia didn’t want it to happen. She told Vistos she was pregnant and threatened she would leave him and never let him see his child if he left to America to be with his father.” Lana sighed and shook her head again, reliving old memories as Gema watched, her heart twisting in pain for Vistos. “I pleaded with Vistos to go to his father and he finally agreed, much to Julia’s discomfort. When he returned, after two weeks with his father, he caught Julia with her lover. The next day, he filed for divorce”