100 Days With Mr Romero

“No, I can’t, sorry.”

“Come on Emmalia, we’re just going to get our nails done and have a good time. I’m not asking you to run away with me to Mars.” It’s been two weeks since Emmalia ran into Judy, and they had been talking since then. They had become close friends, and with Lily away, Judy was becoming the closest thing Emmalia now had to a best friend. That afternoon, Judy decided to visit and wasn’t planning on leaving till she had successfully dragged Emmalia out of the house. “You could bring your son if you want, or you could just leave him with Estelle. You have to let little Rayn learn to live on his own. If you keep sticking to him like glue, what then will happen when he finally goes to school. He is going to be so used to being with you, it would be hard for him to cope with the new surrounding, you have to start now.”

“OK, I guess you’re right,” Emmalia said. “I’ll tell Estelle we are going out. Rayn is asleep at the moment, so everything should be fine.”

“Exactly… what of your husband, is he in?”

“No, Gideon left with his friends. Come on,” she grabbed hold of Judy’s wrist. “Let’s get these nails done, it’s been ages.”

~~~

“Things must be hard for you. I don’t think I want to get married anytime soon,” Judy said later at the salon. They were both resting on saloon chairs with a neck massager on their neck, while the salon girls tended to their nails. “I can’t handle a kid and a husband is the last thing on my mind. You are so strong, juggling both.”

“It isn’t that difficult,” Emmalia chuckled. “And things aren’t hard for me. It was a little too much at first, but you get the hang of it after the first few months. It is nice to be out, I haven’t had time to take care of myself in ages.”

“Sorry,” the lady who was painting their nails interrupted. “Which would you like?” She asked holding out color samples.

“Red,” Emmalia said immediately. “Gideon loves red on a woman… It’s his thing,” she said the last part to Judy. “It’s why I mostly wear red when we go on dates.”

“Really? I… I would like red too.” She told the lady handling her. “We could twin, just like we did back in high school.” Emmalia nodded, not thinking much of that.

“So, how are things like at the office between you two? He did mention things were a little awkward at first when he found that we were friends.” The first day Judy came to visit, she had met Gideon at home and they had both avoided each other like the plague. Emmalia had suspected that it was because they weren’t used to seeing each other in other environments than the office. It also hasn’t escaped her how Gideon always came up with excuses of things that he had to do when she told him Judy was coming over.

“We get along well now.” Judy giggled. “But your husband is amazing, he’s the best person I’ve ever worked for. It has always been my dream to meet him, never did I think I would one day be working for him.”

“Really?” Emmalia smirked. “I didn’t think my friend was such a huge fan of my husband.”

“Oh, she is. But he is taken now, so of course, he’s off-limit. But remember I’m single, if he has any rich cousins or friends, don’t fail to bring them to me.”

“No problem. So where are you going after this?”

“To meet up with a friend at the club.”

“A friend? Male or female?”

“Male.” Judy grinned. “He’s married actually,” she added.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Emmalia gave a side-look. “But he’s just a friend right?”

“We’ll see.” Emmalia frowned but decided not to get involved. She didn’t know much about Judy’s personal life and didn’t want to get involved, though she would have liked to advise Judy not to try anything with the married man, she didn’t know the full story so she kept quiet.

Gideon was filled with guilt, going to the club was supposed to be a once in a blue moon thing. After the birth of his son, he had tried to focus more on his business. He knew the time has come for him to be responsible and focus more on his family, that’s why he had abandoned his old life. He could only imagine how angry Emmalia would be when she found out that her husband was going out clubbing with someone she called a friend. He didn’t know, but her anger wouldn’t be compared to how betrayed she would feel when she found out the desires this friend was arousing in him.

“Will you like to dance?” She asked again.

“No, no, I have to go.” He removed her arm from his. He wanted to, but he didn’t know who was watching. Someone from the news could be around and he didn’t want a picture of him dancing with Judy to grace the papers tomorrow. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Did I do something wrong? Maybe we could just go straight to my apartment and grab that coffee?”

“I don’t think we should have coffee together. Judy…” He sighed. “What are we doing? What’s this, Emmalia is your friend, I’m her husband and your boss, we shouldn’t be here together.”

She was quiet for a while but spoke up before he could walk away. “But we aren’t doing anything wrong.”

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Really? Judy if I come to your apartment for coffee, is that all we are going to have?” The blush on her face gave him his answer. Gideon hissed. “I have to go, this can never happen again.”

“Wait, before you head home, can you at least give me a ride to my house? I can’t catch a cab, I’m drunk and I don’t want to be taken advantage of. It’s an ugly experience I never wish to experience again.”

He didn’t think about his reply twice. “Sure, come on, I’ll drop you home.”

“Thank you.”

The ride home was really quiet, Judy had tried to start a conversation but Gideon didn’t entertain her, instead, he turned on the radio, but turned it off after only Romantic songs seemed to be the theme of the night. “Uh… so Liam, the guy who you used to see, you never explained why you two aren’t together anymore.”

“He… we broke up. His fault, not mine,” she said in a nonchalant tone, reaching forward to tune off the radio.

“Really?” Gideon said once they were in silence. “What happened between you two, I already know you aren’t together, that doesn’t answer my question.”

“He cheated on me with some woman from work. I went on a little vacation with y family, came back to find him canoodling with her on our bed.” Though she tried to sound like she didn’t care, Gideon couldn’t hear the hurt in her voice. “I don’t even care about him cheating on me, it’s the woman he did it with. She was no Angelina Jolie, and I just asked myself what exactly he could have seen in her, or what she gave him that I couldn’t.”

“Sorry about that,” he muttered. Gideon couldn’t help but wonder how Judy could have experienced being cheated on and still it seemed like she was encouraging him to cheat on his wife. He remembered how hurt he was when Emmalia had shared one kiss with his driver. Being cheated on was not a good feeling, that’s why he didn’t understand why she would want that for her friend, his wife.

She shrugged. “Don’t be, you’re not the one who cheated. If you ask me, good riddance to bad rubbish right? I was looking for a reason to end the relationship, and he gave me a strong one. Also, he got a taste of his own medicine a few months ago, after she cheated on him with his best friend.”

“That’s an interesting story.” He cleared his throat and focused back on the road.

“Yeah, how about you, how did Emmalia get her hands on someone like you.”

“It’s a long story. We met at the club also… had one night together, she got pregnant for me, things happened and soon we were getting married.”

“Just like that?” She sounded surprised. “You two met in the club?”

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Look, we’ve arrived.” Gideon slowly drove the car to a stop, just beside the mail-stand before the apartment building. “Now, you know where I live.” She giggled, reaching for her bag at the back of the car. “It isn’t much, but it’s nice and comfy. You should try out my bed sometimes, it’s really-”

“Judy.”

“Fine, I’ll stop. But if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”

“I won’t need anything.”

“You sure about that?” She leaned close to his neck, taking a light sniff. “Why are you so stiff, do I make you nervous?”

“Goodnight Judy.”

She laughed in pure delight, enjoying herself. “Fine, I’ll leave Mr. Brynch, you don’t want to keep your wife waiting.” The second she left the car, Gideon sped away immediately.