Acquiring Hearts Read online

  She’d been in a relationship for five years that began when she was in high school. During her second year in college she found out that her boyfriend, Jesse, had been cheating on her for about a year. She was furious. She blamed herself because she’d been so focused on school. After they broke up she vowed that she wouldn’t date anyone until she was established. She needed to move on and forget about Jesse. That was so long ago.

  She thought about the gorgeous guy, Brad, that she met today, her sister’s boss. She wasn’t sure why her thoughts kept going back to him throughout the day, but she still felt this connection with him that she’d never felt before. She needed to forget about him because she was out of his league and Gia didn’t want to get hurt. She was sure that because he was a CEO, he had a reputation. They always did. He probably went to fancy balls and had butlers. She was just a simple woman who worked her ass off for a living. Plus, when would she even see him again?

  The knock on the door brought her back to reality. “Well, here goes nothing.” She hesitated, then, opened the door to reveal Tom’s weird cheerful face.

  “Hi, Gia”, He exclaimed, clearly over-excited for the date.

  Why’s he so eager? He’s not getting anything in return for this date.

  “Hi Tom, How are you? We better get going because we have to pick up Maria and Carson before we go to the club.” Gia ushered him out the door before he got any ideas about coming into her house and trying something while they were alone. Tom agreed and they walked to his car.

  Ok, so he drove a Mercedes and opened the door for her. That didn’t mean anything. You needed attraction too and she just didn’t have it for him. She decided that she would try to have a good time anyway.

  There was nothing but silence in the car on the way to pick up Maria and Carson and then Tom spoke. “I’m so happy that you finally agreed to go on a date with me. I really like you and hope that you find this evening enjoyable.”

  Gia responded as honestly as she could. “Yeah, we’ll see how it goes.”

  More silence.

  The drive was weird and awkward, as Tom kept giving Gia sideways glances at every stoplight. Gia rolled her eyes. Finally, they arrived at Maria and Carson’s house and they jumped in the back of the car. They headed to Casio, a new downtown club. As they all piled out of the car, they were mesmerized by the amounts of people waiting to get into the place. The line was wrapped around the corner. You could literally hear the club’s music system pump out the bass from the sidewalk. That’s how bumping this place was. Thankfully, Tom’s cousin was the bouncer and he let them right in.

  Gia was thinking that she probably wouldn’t have waited because it was so frigging hot outside. She had on a black strapless dress that came to the middle of her thigh and black open toe heels on and she was still hot. It was still ninety degrees out… at night.

  They entered the club and Gia had to admit that it was amazing. There were circular bars in four different locations. Even the VIP section had its own circular bar. Purple and black lights outlined the entire club ceiling.

  The club was packed wall to wall with people. Tom asked Gia what she wanted to drink as they made their way to the closest bar. She wondered what she could get in a place like this, and settled on a White Zinfandel wine. She wanted to make sure she didn’t get drunk. Two gentlemen gave up their seats to Gia and Maria at the bar, so they sat and talked a little bit while enjoying their drinks. Since they all worked together, of course Maria wanted details.

  “So, do you like Tom?” she whispered.

  “Not really. He’s so not my type, but I’m having a good time.”

  Maria just wanted Gia to be happy because she was tired of seeing her alone and working so hard. “Yeah, looks it. Why don’t we go dance?”

  “That sounds good to me.”

  The dance floor was packed like sardines, not to mention, there were a bunch of creepy guys dressed in open Hawaiian shirts and gold chains. If that wasn’t bad enough their fake tanner was sweating off from their erratic dance moves. They couldn’t take their eyes off of Gia. She didn’t care and didn’t have any problems telling a guy where he could go, if it came down to that.

  From afar, she could see Tom and Carson standing at the bar deep in conversation, probably talking about law stuff. Looking at him, she knew at that moment, this would be the last date that she would have with him and she had to find a way to tell him. She felt really bad because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings but she also didn’t want to lead him on.

  Gia and Maria danced well into the night. They didn’t even realize that it was almost one in the morning. A couple of their friends from high school happened to be there also, so they were having the time of their lives. Carson and Tom occasionally came out onto the dance floor but then retreated back to the bar.

  After another half hour passed, Maria started to get tired

  “I’m heading to the bar to sit with Carson for a few minutes.”

  “Ok, I’ll meet you back there. I’m just going to run to the bathroom real quick,” Gia called out to her. The line to the bathroom in their section of the club was ridiculously long so she decided to go use the other bathroom in the back of the club near the VIP section.

  She was hoping she didn’t get lost because the place was gigantic and crowded. When she finally made it to the other bathroom, she still had to wait in line but it was not as long as the first bathroom.

  What the Frig, I’m going to pee myself. This chick in front of me doesn’t look like she has to go that bad. I should ask her if I can cut in front of her. Nah, She’ll think I’m nuts. I’ll just wait it out.

  “There’s another bathroom that you can use in the back, which is more private.”

  Gia recognized the deep sexy voice behind her but thought her imagination was taking over. She turned around to answer the person who was speaking to her. She stood there in astonishment. She tried to get something out, but the only word she could muster was “OK”, because she couldn’t believe that Brad was here at the club. He was standing in front of her looking like something off the cover of GQ magazine. She followed him to the back of the club with a million different thoughts and questions going through her head at once.

  “Are we allowed back here?” she asked nervously.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know the owner?”

  “I am the owner.” Brad winked.

  “I would’ve never thought that. You don’t seem like the kind of person who would own a nightclub.”

  “It was an investment, but I like to come here to make sure everything is running smoothly from time to time. The bathroom’s on the left.”

  “Ok, I’ll be a few minutes. Thanks.”

  As Gia entered the bathroom she couldn’t breathe. Brad was the last person that she expected to see tonight at this club. Her heart was racing from just being in his presence.

  She was trying to rationalize with herself. She tried to convince herself that he was only showing her to the bathroom because he knew her sister. She didn’t want to make too much out of it.

  Just go to the bathroom, touch up your makeup, calm down and go back outside. You can handle this.

  When Gia exited the bathroom, Brad was standing in the hallway waiting for her. He had this gorgeous smile on his face that made her heart flutter. He reached down to grab her hand and led her back down the hallway to a small private table in the VIP lounge. “Maybe we can sit down for a few minutes and talk.”

  I’ll go anywhere with a man like that.

  “Sure, that sounds great,” said Gia, trying to keep a cool demeanor.

  Gia felt like this was all a dream. First, she was on a date with Tom. Then she was in the VIP lounge with Mr. GQ CEO.

  Oh Shit, Tom. I hope this doesn’t ruin my chances with Brad.

  “Brad, I have a couple of friends waiting for me over at the front bar, by the dance floor.”

  He looked at her with his sexy eyes and said in a sly sexy voice, “I
know. I saw you come in with them. When I saw that you were finally alone, I figured that was my chance to come and talk to you. Is that guy your boyfriend?”

  “No, I don’t have a boyfriend, I’m single.”

  Did he just mumble ‘not for long’ or was that a figment of my imagination?

  “That’s Tom. He’s my co-worker at my firm.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes just staring at each other and smiling. Gia knew she had to get back to Maria. She was obviously having an anxiety attack because her phone wouldn’t stop beeping. She put the phone on silent.

  “I better head back, my friend Maria is blowing up my phone. She’s probably worried about me.”

  As Bradley stood to help her out of the chair, he offered to send a bottle of champagne over for Gia and her friends. She kindly declined and told him that she was going to head home because she’d had a long day. Bradley reached out and touched her arm and turned her toward him.

  “Gia, I don’t want to see you leave with that guy, even though he’s a friend; but it’s the right thing to do. I wish you could stay and talk some more. I want to get to know you better.”

  “I need to get back. I’m really sorry.”

  “I understand. Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night?”

  Gia was flabbergasted. Brad wanted to go on a date with her. Her body started tingling all over. She paused for a minute; she didn’t want to sound desperate. “Sure that would be nice.”

  She gave Brad her phone number. He said he’d call or text her in the afternoon with all the details. She gave him a quick hug goodbye, because if it lasted more than two seconds she’d probably do things to him that should not be done in public. She felt him staring at her as she headed back to her friends, so she added an extra sexy step in her walk for fun.

  “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you and not getting any response. I was getting nervous. We were about to get a bouncer to come look for you,” Maria exclaimed.

  “I’m Ok. Let’s just go home. I’ll tell you about it in the morning. Meet me at Rach’s at 9 am. This calls for coffee talk in person.”

  Maria looked confused and concerned. “I don’t think I can wait until then. Coffee at Rachel’s in the morning sounds serious.”

  She doesn’t know she’s going to be there more for backup when I tell Rachel this story.

  “I don’t want to get into it right now especially with Tom still around. Speaking of which how do I let him down easy?”

  Maria rolled her eyes at Gia as if to say get over yourself.

  “Don’t do it tonight. Wait until tomorrow and call him.”

  “I can’t, I’ll be busy tomorrow night.”

  Maria raised her eyebrow. “Now that sounds interesting.”

  Chapter Three

  As Tom’s car stopped in front of Gia’s house, she started thinking about what she was going to say to Tom without hurting his feelings. She felt it was best to just be honest with him. She started to open the car door and Tom said that he would get it. She had to let him open the door she couldn’t be that rude.

  “Thanks for tonight, Tom. I had a great time. I’ll see you Monday at work.” He just stood there staring at her as if he was waiting for her to make a move, which she refused to do. “Well I better get inside. I have to be at my sister’s house early tomorrow.”

  He looked as if he wanted to say something. “Can I kiss you?”

  Ewww Gross!!

  “Listen, Tom. I think I need to be honest with you. I’m really flattered but I only want to be friends with you. I’m really sorry.”

  Tom looked like he wanted to cry, like his whole world had been shattered. “Ok. If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.” With that being said he ran to his car and left.

  Why can’t everything be that easy?

  Gia just wanted to go to bed but she couldn’t get Brad out of her mind. She went straight upstairs to the bedroom, stripped off her clothes and heels, then laid down on the bed. She had to wear high heels daily for work and was use to them but it still felt great to get them off of her feet.

  She noticed the red light blinking on her phone and remembered that she had shut the ringer off when Maria kept texting her. The text message was from a number she didn’t recognize. She opened the message. It was sent just twenty minutes ago.

  The text said: “Hi... It’s Brad. I just wanted to make sure you arrived home safely. I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

  Wow!

  She couldn’t believe he texted her already. He was such a sweet guy.

  “So am I.”

  “Did that guy kiss you good night?”

  “He tried, but I turned him down nicely.”

  “Well, that’s great news.”

  “LOL”

  “Sweet dreams, baby.”

  “Good night”

  She plugged her phone in and put it on the night table. She drifted off into a deep sleep thinking about how excited she was for her date tomorrow night, well technically tonight, with Brad.

  I need to call and set up an appointment to have a manicure and pedicure done. Oh and I need to get spray tanned.

  Go to bed already!!

  * * * * *

  Gia’s alarm on her phone blared to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” It was 8 A.M. and she needed to get washed, brush her teeth and take some Advil. She was just going to throw on her pink and grey “Pink” sweat suit and Nike’s real quick. By the time she finished it was 8:30 A.M. and she needed to make a pit stop at Delicious Donuts.

  She ordered a box of coffee and two dozen donuts at the donut shop. Her nephews were twelve and getting them hyped up on sugar was her specialty. It would piss her sister off and she loved to piss her off.

  Gia weaved in and out of traffic and finally arrived at Rachel’s a half hour later. When she arrived, she pulled her car into the open spot and saw Maria’s car across the street. She knew they were wondering what in the world was going on with her. She needed to stall for a little to test the waters first. She didn’t know how Rachel was going to react to this.

  When Rachel answered the door she didn’t look so good. She looked like she had been crying all night. “Rach, what’s wrong? Where are the boys at? Why are you crying?”

  “Just come into the kitchen. They slept at Mommy and Daddy’s house last night. Maria is here waiting for you. I need to talk to you.”

  Gia had never seen her sister look or act like this ever before. Something serious must have happened for this to be occurring. “Is Vinnie sick?”

  “Fuck Him” she said in a calm manner.

  Yeah, I need to hear this.

  “Thank God I got a box of coffee. It looks like we might be here a while.” She walked over to Rachel and hugged her. ”What’s going on Rach? Please tell me. You’ve been acting weird and I want to help you.”

  “You can’t help me. There’s nothing you can do or I can do for that matter.”

  “Just fucking tell me what’s going on for God’s sake.” Meanwhile Maria was just sitting there looking at the both of them going back and forth.

  “Vinnie confessed that he’s been cheating on me for the past three months with his new assistant, Clara. She sounds like a fucking musical instrument. He claims he stopped seeing her, he regrets his decision and wants to work this out with me. I kicked his sorry ass out last night and told him to go to his whore. Then I called Mommy and Daddy to come over and pick up the boys. I sat here and cried all night. I suspected for the past month that something wasn’t right. Yesterday when I saw you, I was really thinking about what I should do. I decided I was going to confront him. When I asked him last night he confessed.”

  Gia sat there dumbfounded. She didn’t know what to say. Her sister had been with Vinnie forever, or that’s what it felt like. Then Gia spoke her sisterly words. “That fucking cheating dog, I’ll kill him. Why didn’t you tell me what you suspected yesterday?”

  “Be
cause I wasn’t sure and I didn’t want to burden you. You’re so busy at work.”

  “I’m never too busy for you.” Gia walked over to her and hugged her so hard and said, “I will support you no matter what you decide and I love you so much. If you want a hit out on him, I’ll arrange that too... Just kidding”

  Maria chose to change the subject. “Didn’t you have something to tell us? Isn’t that why I’m here at 9 A.M.?”

  Thanks for the reminder. Great timing, Maria.

  “Well, I think under the circumstances, it can wait for another time. Rachel needs our support right now.” They both looked at Gia as if to say, you’re not getting out of this.