FicWad

Week 40

“Tact, tact all the way there, Steve,” Kelly said, walking into the hallway, “I thought it was a great idea that I break the bad news to Gia, y’know, offering a friendly face, and saying it in a friendly way. Instead you barge in a drop the news as soon as you can. What’s wrong with you?”

“Well, you obviously haven’t gotten around to telling her yet, have you?” Steve asked.

“EXCUSE ME!” Gia shouted, silencing them both, “Just what the hell are you two talking about?”

That stunned them both. No more delaying, they would have to tell her. That said, Kelly and Steve looked nervously at each other before finally telling Gia.

“Last night when I was driving home from Nick’s I saw Mark walking into that gay bar around the corner from his flat,” Steve said.

“What?”

“And it’s not a bar where people go to dance, okay?” Steve said, “Kelly was supposed to tell you.”

“Kelly,” Gia said, turning to her friend, “You knew about this.”

“Yes, sorry I didn’t tell you before. It wasn’t easy to break this to you. I mean, we all know you like Mark, but-“

“You listened to Steve! You believed him!” Gia said, growing angrier.

“I know when Steve’s lying, Gia. I can immediately spot it, usually better than Steve himself. And this time I know he’s telling the truth,” Kelly explained.

“I don’t trust Steve.”

“Trust me, then. You know I’m not naïve, or any kind of an idiot. Don’t you think it makes sense. He’s physically uncomfortable being around you, the changing story of his last relationship-doesn’t this just fit all the things you couldn’t understand about Steve?” Kelly asked, looking at Gia.

Gia turned away from them both. “Get out.”

“Gia, come on-“ Kelly began.

“Get out both of you!” she screamed, spinning to face them, face full of rage, “Get the hell out of my flat and never come back.”

Kelly nodded, and looked at Steve, “Let’s go then. We’ve tried our best.”

She walked out, but Steve stopped.

“I told you to leave,” Gia said.

“Just one last thing,” Steve said, “I’ve lied to you and many other people many, many times in my life. I’ve lied to you, specifically to hurt you more than once. But how many times has Kelly lied to you? How many times has she tried to hurt you?”

“Get out or I will call the police.”

“Maybe, just maybe, if Kelly has never lied to you previously, perhaps she’s not lying now when she tells you Mark isn’t telling you the whole truth,” Steve said, “I’ll go now. Just, just check out what we said, okay? You don’t have to forgive me for anything, but I just want you to know I wasn’t lying now.”

Steve turned and left with Kelly, shutting the door behind him. Gia was still fuming, and when she was sure they would be out of earshot let out a scream, which soon broke down into sobs as she fell onto the ground.

She lay there for a while, trying to regain her composure, before stumbling back into the living room. She picked up the phone, and called Mark.

“Hey Gia, what’s happening?” he answered on the other end of the line.

“Oh, not much,” she responded, trying to cover up the dryness of her throat.

“Are you okay? You sound a little off.”

“No, I’m fine. I was just wondering, are you free for dinner tonight?”

“Um, well actually…”

“I really need to see you,” Gia insisted.

“Well, if you’ve got to see me, then I’ll be able to fit you in,” Mark answered.

“Great, I’ll see you at seven, then. Bye,” she said, cancelling the call. She dialled another number.

“Hello,” Nick’s voice came up on the other end.

“Hey, it’s Gia,” she responded, “You know that gay bar around the corner from your flat?”

Gia could only hear Nick’s breathing for a while before he slowly said, “Well, there are a lot of bars nearby here. You’ll need to be more specific.”

“The one that Steve saw my boyfriend walk into last night.”

“Oh. That one,” Nick said, slightly afraid over what was going to happen next, “Yeah, I know it.”

“Good,” Gia said, “Does it have a name? Or better yet a phone number?”