Authors: Clementine Roux
“Old lady?” Alessandra didn't know what to say to get rid of him. “Is that a pet name? Looks like I dodged a bullet because I’d never let you or any man call me his old lady.”
Devon sighed, putting his hand on his forehead. “Okay, look, I never made you any promises. We shared a meal and, then, you show up at my door naked and, well, what did you expect me to say?”
She glared at him. “Unbelievable. Can I go now?”
Devon studied her for a moment, before moving aside, saying, “Go ahead. Have a nice vacation.”
Alessandra could feel the heat rise up in her body. She wanted to smack him for being a jerk, but she realized she was almost as much to blame as he was. After all, she was the one who had invited him to breakfast and she did show up at his room unannounced, but she still felt like he played a part in it too. He flirted with her just as much as she'd flirted with him.
*
“Ready? Got everything?” Sammi walked into Alessandra's hotel room, ready to leave for the airport. “The shuttle will be here in a few minutes.”
“I'm so ready. Let's go.” Alessandra hesitated a moment, looking at the room across the hall from her. She hadn't seen or heard Devon since the morning after the most embarrassing moment of her life.
“Jerk.” Sammi stuck her tongue out like a schoolgirl at Devon's door. “You missed out, asshat.”
“Samantha!” Alessandra nudged Sammi with her suitcase. “Let's go already.”
As the girls wrestled with their luggage, waiting for the elevator to come up to their floor, they joked and laughed about the events of the week. Neither of them noticed that Devon was walking toward them, dressed in jeans that fit just right, a black T-shirt and leather jacket covered with a grim reaper insignia and patches.
“Ladies.” He greeted them. Both women nearly toppled over at the sight of him.
Sammi moved to give Devon a piece of her mind, but the way Alessandra and Devon were looking at each other would have defeated the purpose. They were definitely into each other and, although they had a plane to catch, she thought it more important to let them mend fences than for her to read him the riot act. She'd waited a long time for Alessandra to look at a man that way. Ever since her breakup, she'd written off men, believing them to be manipulative and egotistical. She didn't want any part in anything that would only lead to heartache in her experience. But, now, she looked at Devon with stars in her eyes. She liked him and had been genuinely hurt by his rejection of her.
Alessandra answered him. “We have a plane to catch.”
Looking disappointed, Devon answered, “You're leaving now?”
“I have to get back to work.” Alessandra looked at her curiously. Sammi mouthed that she'd wait for her down the block.
“When can I see you again?” Devon sounded disappointed.
“I thought you never wanted to see me in the first place. Remember? You asked me to leave you alone?” She couldn't hide her own hurt feelings.
“I didn't ask you to leave. I just didn't understand where this horny bimbo thing came from all of a sudden.” He laughed, raking his hand through his hair.
Her eyes narrowed. "What did you just call me?" Heat rose in her body. No man had ever called her that and she was not about to let anyone call her that now. "You know what? I'm done talking to you. Get out of my way."
Alessandra grabbed her bags and walked as quickly as she could to catch up to Sammi, but Devon was hot on her heels, trying to stop her.
"Wait. Wait a minute. I was just messing with you. Stop!" He called out to her as he tried to grab her arm to stop her, but she sped up and his attempt failed.
Sammi turned to scowl at Devon just to show support for her friend, but she had no idea what the problem was. As she rushed to pick up her pace and carry her bags at the same time, she asked, "What is going on? Why are we running away from him? What did he now? I told you if that if he got out of pocket, we’d take care of that."
Alessandra was so angry she couldn't formulate words. She shot Sammi a warning look and marched on, not looking back at a visibly upset Devon, who remained on the block they'd just left, standing with his hands on his head and stomping his foot.
Sammi looked back again. "What did he do, Al?"
"I can't talk about it now. Let's just go. Where is a damn cab when you need one?" Alessandra asked in frustration.
"Well, if you hadn't decided to talk to the Mr. Delicious Devil, we could have jumped on the shuttle and already been at the airport," she reminded her, but Alessandra was in no mood for it. She glared back at Sammi.
After another block, Alessandra came to a sudden stop, nearly making Sammi trip over her feet. She sat down on her suitcase and put her head in her hands before angry tears erupted.
"Okay. You ready to talk to me now?" Sammi knelt down beside her to listen.
Alessandra scraped the tears from her reddened face and nodded. "He's such a jerk and I don't know why I'm so upset. It doesn't make any sense. It's not like we were in a relationship or anything. Oh! He just makes me so mad. What an ass! He acted like I was some kind of desperate tramp. I got my own. I don’t need his. He doesn’t know me."
Sammi tried to stifle a laugh, but listening to Alessandra rant about a man she really didn't know was comical to hear. Alessandra had always been very practical and did things in exactly the same way every single day of her life. Sammi thought it funny that a little nudge out of her comfort zone seemed to turn her into a whole other person, someone not very different from herself.
"You know who you remind me of?" Sammi asked laughing.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear it." Alessandra started to laugh too. She recognized who she'd become and didn't want to admit it just yet. Sighing, she asked, "Why did I let you talk me into this?"
"Because you love me and you needed to get out of that feeling-sorry-for-yourself mode. You are gorgeous." Looking at her tear stained face, she clarified, "Well, not now, but normally you're gorgeous."
Alessandra scoffed.
"What I'm saying is that you were in a rut - a really sad and boring rut - and you needed to snap out of it. So what if this one man is a jerk. They all are! Don't act like that's new information. And, the reason it bothers you so much is because you like him. I get it. He's hot and mysterious and hot. Did I say hot? But, honestly, you took it too far," Sammi explained.
"What? You talked me into this?" Alessandra protested, standing up.
Sammi put her hands up. "Whoa. I told you to seduce him, not to develop feelings for him. Feelings are bad. They will get you in trouble. Never let your feelings get the best of you. That’s a guaranteed ride to Disaster City."
Alessandra didn't want to admit it to herself, but Sammi was right. She had started to develop feelings for Devon and she didn't know why. Other than a nice breakfast together, they hadn't really spent any time together. She wondered if her vow to give up men made her forget how to read men and, more importantly, how to read her own feelings.
"Can we just go home?" Alessandra sighed, looking down the block for a cab.
"Let's do it. Forget Miami ever happened," Sammi agreed, walking out into the busy street to hail a cab.
*
"Hey, can you meet for lunch today? Do you have time?"
Alessandra looked at her schedule and answered, "Maybe. I have a client coming at one o'clock. I think I can squeeze in about forty-five minutes if you come to my side of town. Is everything okay?"
Sammi answered, "Things are fine. I just haven't seen you since we got back from that place that we agreed not to mention and I miss you."
"Aww, but it's only been a week. I'm just trying to catch up on work. Sorry that I haven't really had time to chat. How are things with you, girl?" Alessandra looked through swatches as she listened.
Sammi filled her in on all the details of her work life. "Okay, so how about that pizza place over on Broadway? Can we meet there at like eleven thirty or so?" Sammi asked, sounding anxious.
Alessandra agreed, feeling like something was wrong. Normally, Sammi would be all too eager to fill her in on all aspects of her personal life as well, but something seemed a little off. She checked her calendar to see if she missed some important date or event, but couldn't find any. Knowing her friend, the way she did, she assumed whatever was on her mind would be somehow connected to any one of the men that floated in and out of her life these days.
Sammi was a serial dater. She didn't like relationships because they cramped her style. She enjoyed the freedom to do exactly as she pleased whenever she pleased and, for her, relationships appeared to be too stifling, so she remained as far away from them as possible.
*
"Good. You're here early." Sammi stood up to hug Alessandra.
"Hi! Is everything okay?" Alessandra looked her friend up and down to find any clues as to what the emergency lunch was all about, but she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about her.
Sammi sat down and made small talk while they waited for the food she'd already ordered to arrive. Things appeared to be normal, but Alessandra got the sinking feeling that something was about to happen. She couldn't help worrying about what that might be. Every few seconds, she peered over her shoulder to see if the ex she hoped to never see again would just suddenly show up and, if he did, she had to be prepared to leave.
Finally, after several uncomfortable minutes of waiting for bad news to strike, Alessandra asked, "What's going on? Something is up and you need to tell me. I don't like surprises. You know that."
Sammi smiled, nervously touching her hand to her face. That's when Alessandra saw it. On her right ring finger was a princess cut diamond ring.
Grabbing her friend's hand, Alessandra squealed, "Is that an engagement ring?"
Others in the restaurant turned their attention to the two women. Sammi was grinning from ear to ear, tears brimming in her eyes.
"You're getting married?" Alessandra was stunned. "To who?"
Sammi laughed, her hands shaking. "You remember that guy Robert that I told you about?"
Alessandra shook her head. Over the last several months, Sammi had mentioned so many different men, she had trouble keeping up with who was who.
"No. Which one is he? The banker?" Alessandra couldn't think straight.