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"The entrance seems to hold great interest for you tonight," Allison whispered to Gia. "What could be so special about the doors into the office Christmas party?"
Gia glanced over at Brian chatting with Stephen before opening her mouth, "I just... I-". She froze as Nick entered with a woman on his arm. The woman looked familiar. Madison. Nick's widowed neighbor. Allison squeezed her arm and gave her a sympathetic smile. Did Allison know that Gia still harbored feelings for Nick? Gia had been working hard to put those thoughts out of her mind. Dating Brian helped... sometimes. But seeing him with someone made all those feelings rush back to the forefront of her mind. Allison squeezed her arm again and Gia looked up to see Nick and Madison approach them.
"Allison, Gia. You remember Madison, don't you Gia?" His eyes fell to Gia and she nodded and greeted the woman. Nick continued to introduce Madison to Stephen and Brian. The men were all smiles with Madison, but Allison, sensing Gia's discomfort, was more reticent.
Madison was an enthusiastic talker, and immediately launched into a tale about her week, and how Nick had most recently saved her from a loose shelf attached to the wall. To hear her tell it, she would have died from an attack of falling books if he had not corrected the situation.
Gia plastered on a smile and tried to seem interested.
Throwing a hand over her chest, Madison went on, "I must say, though, the saying that 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach' seems to be entirely true for me and Nick." Her hand reached down to his. "These past couple of years, whenever he's fixed things at my apartment, I've cooked or baked for him, and now, finally, he's asked me out." She wrapped an arm around his and batted her lashes up at him.
He looked down and smiled enigmatically, leaving Gia at a loss as to how he felt about Madison's comments.
Madison was a beautiful dark haired woman, who upon their first meeting seemed so sweet and innocent. Now it appeared that maybe she was more calculating than one would assume. Or maybe that's just the feeling Gia got, because Madison was successful at drawing in the very man who she kept running off. How many times had he reminded Gia he didn't do relationships?
Gia watched Nick for a reaction to Madison's story of their love born through gastronomy, but his face was unreadable. Did he feel the same way Madison did? Why did her heart sink at Madison's words. They shouldn't bother her; she had Brian. But still, it hurt. Somewhere down deep, it had made her feel better, that even though she couldn't be with Nick, no one else held his heart either. The thought that she hadn't been enough to make him rethink relationships, but Madison could, left her feeling lost and questioning why she was with Brian if Nick still evoked such strong emotions from her.
"I don't actually know if my girl can cook." Brian gave Gia a squeeze pulling her from her thoughts. "I tend to spoil her by taking her out. In fact we just celebrated our one month anniversary earlier this week, and I think I caught her by surprise with our dinner at Le Bernardin. But maybe she'll surprise me for our two month anniversary by cooking or baking, I'm not picky." He winked at Gia.
Cue the eye roll. Gia forced a smile. It really shouldn't be so hard to admire the man you're dating, but she felt anything but admiration for Brian at the moment. There were just too many other things battling inside, none of them relating to Brian.
When the guys turned away to talk with a mutual friend, Madison leaned in and said, "You know, Gia, ironically the first time I met you I was jealous of you."
"Yeah?" Gia raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going. Meanwhile her insides clenched in dread.
"Yeah, I thought you were Nick's date. I'd been hoping he'd ask me out. But good things come to those who wait," she proclaimed and her face lit up.
"Yep," Gia spoke through gritted teeth. "Brian, I'm going to go grab a plate of food. Coming?"
"No, I'm good. I might have a nibble off your plate, though." He grinned.
Gia walked away grumbling to herself., "Nibble off my plate!" This relationship clearly wasn't going to be long term if he intended to eat her food, not to mention the whole point of going for food was to get away from Nick and Madison. Now she felt like she had to hurry back to feed him. She looked for a familiar face near the food table; someone who could conveniently distract her so she wouldn't feel the need to go back. If he was really hungry, he knew where the food was. Up ahead Gia saw Mrs. Ivanov filling a plate. Perfect.
"Mrs. Ivanov, love the dress. I haven't seen you in a while. How are you doing?"
"Call me Jennifer. I'm doing fine, it's nice to get an evening out. I love my two munchkins, but sometimes Saturday night mac-n-cheese gets old."
Gia chuckled. "I imagine so. And you can call me Gia."
"So, since I haven't seen you in a while, I'm guessing things are going fine with Nick still?"
Gia's eyes floated over to Nick. Was he watching her? He turned his head so quickly, it was hard to be sure. "Um, yeah. Everything's good at work." If you don't count being attracted to and rejected by your mentor.
Jennifer raised an eyebrow, seeming to pick up that something else was bothering Gia, but Gia wasn't about to go there. She couldn't read minds could she?
Finally Jennifer nodded. "I'd like you to meet my husband." She turned and pulled forward a man who looked slightly older than herself with his receding hairline, and graying temples. It was easy to see that he had once been quite handsome. "Peter meet Gia. She's interning this year, and working with Nick."
"Wonderful! So you're the one that Jen mentioned she finally got Nick to take an intern. He's a great guy once you break past the initial ice."
Nodding, Gia realized that seemed to be the general consensus regarding Nick. "Yes, and thanks to your wife, no less. I don't know if she mentioned, but the person I was initially interning under was abusing his position, and with me being new, I had no idea. At least it all worked out though."
Peter and Jennifer made quite the couple, and Gia saw a different side of Jennifer. She was a lot of fun outside of work. The duo kept her entertained until she felt an arm slide around her waist. The familiar fear crept in, but when she heard Brian's voice the fear subsided and a different tension set in. After being introduced to Jennifer and Peter, Brian began filling a plate while complaining that Gia forgot about him. She stuffed a bacon wrapped scallop into her mouth and made a face. What she intended to convey, not even she knew.
Once having his fill of hors d'oeuvres, Brian coaxed Gia to the dance floor. "I know you can dance, darling. The gala, remember. I think that's when I knew I had to ask you out."
Somehow, Nick and Madison ended up dancing right beside them, much to Gia's dismay. She tried to avoid looking, but her eyes were continually drawn to them, watching where Nick placed his hands, and how closely they were dancing. When Nick leaned down to whisper in Madison's ear, he caught Gia looking. She closed her eyes and bit her cheek. How embarrassing! She was startled by someone clearing their throat, and her eyes flew open to find Nick looking at Brian.
"Brian, if you'd oblige, I'd like to dance with my intern. I'm sure Madison would appreciate the chance to get to know you better as well. She mentioned wanting to have time with my friends." He smiled down at Madison and she dreamily smiled back.
"I suppose I can part with her for a dance, in order to please your girl. Though I hate to part with my own." Brian looked down at Gia and gave her a squeeze before releasing her to Nick.
One, two three. One, two, three. She tried to keep count to the waltz to distract herself from the man who was currently holding her, and making her want to swoon. She needed to get herself under control, but every place he touched felt electric.
No longer able to bear his quiet demeanor, Gia spoke to the very man she was wanting to ignore. "So you decided to give it a go with Madison?" She had to know if what Madison insinuated was true.
Nick's eyes darkened as he looked down at Gia. "Like you said, I need to move past the things that are holding me back with having a relationship. I deserve to have happiness."
Ouch. It's true, he deserved happiness, but why did it hurt so much now that he was looking elsewhere for it.
His eyes held hers, as if challenging her to refuse him his happiness. "And you... you seem to be working past your previous intimacy issues... with Brian."
"I... uh... we...". The right answer should have been yes since he was her boyfriend, but it didn't come close to the truth. Brian hadn't kissed her, and staring into Nick's eyes, it became blatantly clear that she never wanted him to. But what could she say? "I'm getting there."
His eyes narrowed and he nodded.
Time seemed to still as their eyes locked, and Gia basked in the presence of the one man she felt like she could have truly moved past her issues with, the one man she wanted to move forward with. She wondered, had she waited longer and not dated Brian, if anything would have happened between them. Is it possible that Nick had similar thoughts, or had he been able to shut off all his feelings for her so quickly?
Feeling the awkward silence, Gia tried to think of a topic they could discuss that wouldn't bring up unwanted feelings.
"Have you been-," she said at the same time he mumbled the words, "How's Evie?"
"Oh, um, go ahead." Gia looked up at Nick.
He shook his head. "Ladies first."
"I was just wondering if you've been working on any cars lately?"
He pressed his lips together and looked like he was trying to find his words. "Yeah, Rodney's connected me with a couple of people who wanted some work done. I'm finishing up a mustang, then I have an old corvette lined up."
Gia tilted her head. "How do you have the time or energy for that?"
"It's relaxing for me, and sometimes it helps me deal with... other things by keeping busy."
"I can relate to that." Gia nodded. She knew all too well the need to stay busy. For her it helped keep her mind off the past.
"I'd like my date back." Brian, Madison in hand, tapped Nick's shoulder.
Nick smirked and clutched Gia's hands more tightly. "Payback for the Gala."
"Your man thinks he's funny." Brian looked at Madison, but held his hand out to Gia.
When Nick released her and pulled Madison into his arms, it somehow felt symbolic. Regardless, she'd made up her mind. She had to end things with Brian. She'd given herself time, but it didn't feel right; for her part, this relationship was going nowhere. As she looked up into Brian's eyes and saw how much he cared for her, she knew she couldn't keep dragging this out. It wasn't fair to him.
"I'm looking forward to showing you around the Guggenheim tomorrow." Brian smiled down at Gia.
Her mind was swirling, but she forced a smile and nodded. The inward battle finally settled as she decided when she met him at the Guggenheim she'd break things off before they entered. Tonight didn't seem right, but tomorrow they would be on neutral ground. Perhaps with it being earlier in the day, she wouldn't be so tired and would have her wits about her so she could handle it decently. He was a good man, and she hoped they could still be friends, especially since they worked together. The decision both calmed her and left her feeling anxious. She hated pretending that everything was fine, knowing her decision had been made. It would be hard to end things, as she despised the thought of hurting his feelings, but he deserved more. He deserved someone who could be fully his, not someone constantly entertaining thoughts of another man. Even if those thoughts weren't returned.
Again her eyes moved to Nick, where Madison held him in a tight embrace as they danced. Nick smiled down at Madison. Regardless of the pain it caused, Nick also deserved happiness. Maybe, one day, she would find that happiness and release of her past too.