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”
“That’s awful” Gema whispered, her eyes misty with unshed tears.
“Vistos has not let himself become close to a woman since, and that was five years ago” Lana studied Gema then, and smiled faintly. “You are the first woman that has lived with him since Julia, the first in his villa”
Gema snorted, speaking before she thought. “Somehow I doubt I am the only woman to sleep in that villa”
Lana shook her head, insisting. “You are the only one, Vistos did not bring his former lovers to his villa, but to his apartment in the city. Most other women he’s been with would not have been content in the country” Lana said pointedly, and Gema just looked down.
“I still don’t see why he did not take you with him to his mother’s this week” Lana mused, and Gema’s head snapped up, eyes wide.
“His mother’s?”
Lana looked surprised. “Why yes, where did you think he went? His mother lives in Palerme. He did not tell you?”
Gema shook her head faintly and forced a smile. “Perhaps I did not hear him”
“Yes, it is his sister’s wedding soon and Vistos has gone ahead to see to all the arrangements now”
Gema nodded but remained silent, caught in her thoughts. Of course he wouldn’t bring his mistress to his mother’s house, why would he? She would have been an unwelcome intrusion, and difficult to explain. When she thought about it, Vistos had never introduced her as anything other than just “Gema Dodge”. He never spoke of her as his girlfriend or anything else, simply stated her name, and everyone had smiled or nodded and kissed her on both cheeks because they had already known, they all knew she was nothing more than arm candy and would be gone as soon as she had arrived. Gema couldn’t halt the tear that rolled down her cheek, and Lana’s soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
“You have fallen in love with Vistos, no?” She asked gently and Gema realized with horror and great regret that she had. Gema could only nod, afraid her voice would betray the turmoil swirling inside. “You were engaged to his stepbrother, yes?” Gema looked at Lana in horror, realizing she knew everything, and Lana smiled kindly at her, sadly, and patted her hand. “I read the tabloids, I had seen you somewhere before that first party we met at, and Vistos’ continued hushing of me when I brought it up confirmed it. You two are in a fight.” She stated and Gema shrugged.
“No, yes, I don’t even really know. I know he is upset with me, and I am upset with him, but I doubt that he cares”
“No, if he did not care he would not have bothered to exclude you from his family.” Lana nodded and then stood, determined. “You will not wallow over him, when he returns you must look as though you have been terribly busy without him. Nothing bothers Vistos more than knowing that he is not needed”
Gema smiled faintly and stood too, and Lana embraced her. “Thank you”
“Bene, you are practically family. Soon enough, perhaps” Lana winked at her and Gema rolled her eyes but laughed.
Two and a half weeks and no word from Vistos. Gema had reached her wits end. She swam a million laps a day, went for endless bicycle rides before sunset, and found her painting to be unsatisfying and awful in her opinion. She missed him so much she could hardly believe it. She felt as though she had been living with him her whole life and not just the past two months. When she looked in the mirror, she saw a different girl than the one who had come to Rome a shaken, broken and abused girl. Her skin glowed from the sun, her eyes sparkled again, and she had more confidence than ever before. But Gema couldn’t seem to pull herself from laying on the chase lounge in his office and breathing in his smell, weeping most of the night, and Rosa had to drag Gema up to eat every morning.
Gema lounged on the back porch, eyes closed, imagining it was Vistos’ shadow that blocked her sun.
“Dio, you need to get up” Gema cracked an eye open and Lana stood sternly in front of her, frowning at her. “What have you been doing with yourself? Rosa says you barely get up. What is Vistos going to think when he returns and you are as wrinkled and dried up as a lizard from baking in the sun?”
“Vistos is not coming back” Gema whispered, closing her eyes again. “It’s been two and a half weeks, he hasn’t even emailed”
Lana was silent for a moment and Gema wondered if she had gone before Lana grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet, marching her through the house and out to her car. “Where are we going?” Gema demanded.
“You need to get out of this house, and you look awful, your hygiene sucks” She stated pointedly.
“I shower!” Gema retorted with a frown and Lana shook her head.
“You need a haircut, a manicure, pedicure, and deep mud bath before you will be moderately presentable for Vistos”
“But-”
Lana smiled wearily. “We are going to him, you will come with Christof and I to the festivities for the week before the wedding, and I will warn Christof to keep his mouth shut”
“I can’t even think of what to say to you” Gema whispered and Lana smiled.
“I like you, and I like you for Vistos. It is about time I meddled in his life”