TOMMY GABRINI 2: A PLACE IN HIS HEART (10 page)

Tommy
knew she was exaggerating.
 
She probably
knew it too.
 
But fear of loneliness,
fear of rejection, fear of being left behind just when she was transitioning
out of her youth could take a perfectly secure person like Kelli and plunge her
into insecurity and doubt.

“I’m
not breaking your heart.”

“Yes,
you are!
 
I was next in line after
Shanks.
 
It was supposed to be me.”

Tommy
frowned.
 
This wasn’t the first time he’d
heard about this imaginary line and how other females in his past thought they
were next up too.
 
“What line?” he asked
Kelli.
 
“There is no line and there never
was a line.
 
We were in a non-committed
relationship, Kell.
 
Period.”

“Non-committed
to you.
 
I was committed.”

“That’s
bullshit and you know it.
 
You played the
field more than I did.
  
Now you admit
that.”

“That
still doesn’t mean you weren’t my number one.
 
Because you were.
 
You still are.”

Tommy
continued to hold her chin.
 
“Listen to
me, Kell,” he said.

But
she was shaking her head.
 
“I always knew
you would be there for me.
 
You’re my
best friend, Tommy.”

Even
fresher tears were now dropping freely from her eyes.
 
She was an emotional wreck, and it concerned
him.
  
He lifted her chin even
higher.
 
“Kell, I want you to look at me
and listen to me.”
 
Although she looked
up at him, with her eyes pooled with distress, he doubted if she was fully
listening.
 
“You’re too strong a lady to
behave like this.
 
You hear me?
 
You’re better than this, Kell.
 
Now you need to cut this shit out and pull it
together.
 
Because this playing the
victim isn’t helping you.
 
This isn’t
helping anything.”

She
still looked at him as if she was puzzled by the view, and he knew, right then
and there, that there was no getting through to her.
 
He removed his hand from her.
 
“You’re going to be all right, Kell,” was all
he could manage to say.

“But
I’m not all right,” she replied.
 
“That’s
what I’m afraid of.
 
I’m not all
right.
 
It’s too much, Tommy.
 
When Jilly phoned and told me the news---”

“Jilly?”

Kelli
nodded.
 
Tommy frowned.
 
Jilly, unfortunately, knew a lot of the women
he used to fool around with, since they all ran in the same social circles, and
she was probably phoning each one of them even as he stood in front of Kelli.
 
But although Tommy didn’t subscribe to Sal’s
belief that all of those women would go ballistic when they heard the news, he
wasn’t as firm as he had earlier been.
 
Especially if Kelli was any indication.
 
He would have never expected Kelli to behave like this.
 
She liked drama, but she never liked
weakness.

“When
Jilly told me the news,” she went on, “I thought somebody was playing a cruel
joke on me.
 
It couldn’t be true.
 
I just knew it couldn’t be true.
 
That’s why I phoned you.
 
I knew you would never do that to me.
 
Not with some female you just met.”

“I
didn’t just meet her.”

“Compared
to me you have!
 
And it all became too
much.
 
It’s too much for one person to
have to bear!”

 
Tommy stared at her.
 
More was at work than just his engagement to
Grace.
 
Much more.
 
“What’s really going on, Kell?” he asked her.

Kelli
didn’t respond at first.
 
Then she shook
her head, covered her face with her hand, and then removed her hands.
 
Her entire face looked anguished.
 
“My agent dumped me.
 
After all these years she dumped me.
 
She said I wasn’t cost effective enough
anymore.
 
Cost effective, that’s how she
put it.
 
Which was code for I’m too old.”

Tommy
knelt down in front of her and took her hands.
 
Neither one of them were spring chickens anymore.
 
Both of them were pushing forty hard.
 
“I’m sorry, Kell,” he said, refusing to
sugarcoat her professional plight.

“Then
I hear about you and . . .” She looked at him.
 
“We’ve been friends for so long, Tommy.
 
I don’t want to lose you.
 
We will
at least remain friends.
 
Won’t we?”

An
uncomfortable grimace crossed Tommy’s face.
 
He never enjoyed playing games.
 
Even as a kid he despised game playing.
 
Kelli was never any friend of his, and they both knew it.
 
He’d never spent a full hour in her presence
without fucking her brains out.
 
That, in
truth, was the sum and substance of their entire relationship.
 
They fucked.
 
And went on with their lives.
 
Period.
 
The idea that they were
somehow great buddies who shared more than sex would not be true.
 
And he couldn’t, even to appease her, pretend
that it was true.

“No,”
he said.
 
“We can’t remain as we were, if
that’s what you’re asking.
 
Out of
respect for my fiancée, out of respect for you for crying out loud, the answer
is no.”

Instead
of Kelli objecting, or going on about how devastated she was, she said
nothing.
 
She just stared at him.
 

Tommy,
too, felt that there was nothing more to be said.
 
He felt he had made himself clear
enough.
 
So he was just about to stand to
leave.
 

Kelli,
however, immediately slung off her t-shirt, revealing her long, lithe naked
brown body, and she opened her legs as wide as they could go.
 
It was her body, she knew, that kept him
around all these years, and she decided to play to her strength.

“Fuck
it again, Tommy,” she said as her legs parted.
 
“Lick it and fuck it again.”

Although
Tommy glimpsed her juicy dark folds, and remembered just how wonderful it did
feel to lick and fuck her there, he frowned and stood up.
 
“Kell,” he said in a distressed tone as he
stood.

“Tommy
do me,” she pleaded.
 
“Just one last
time.”
 
She wanted to feel him inside of
her again.
 
She was convinced that if he
only had her again, he’d change his mind.

But
Tommy wasn’t trying to change anything.
 
He was leaving.

“Tommy!”
she yelled as she hurried behind him.
 

She
grabbed him from the back and attempted to stop his progression, but he slung
around and grabbed her by the arms, her breasts bouncing from his grab.

“You
listen to me,” he said, purposely making her squirm by squeezing her arms too
tight.
  
“It’s over.
 
You hear me?
 
It’s over.
 
You can pull every
trick you can think up, and it’ll still be over between us.
 
Now we can end this with our dignity intact, you
can go on with your life and I can go on with mine.
 
Or we can end it bitterly and
divisively.
 
The choice is yours.”

 
Kelli stared at Tommy a moment longer,
stunned that her body failed her this time, convinced that he didn’t bite
simply because he viewed her as too old to bother with now.
 
And she snatched away from him.
 
Every man she’d ever known had hurt her.
 
Every man.
 
And now Tommy, who she thought was an exception, was no exception at
all.
 

He
hurt her too.

Tommy
saw what he thought was hatred in her eyes, and he was sorry that it had to
come to this.
 
But what did she
expect?
 
He told her going in that there
would be nothing more to their relationship than occasional sex, and she had
agreed.
 
She wholeheartedly agreed.
 
She was young and beautiful and had her pick
of the litter back then.
 
She didn’t want
him beyond sex either.
 
Those were the
rules.
 
Her rules especially.
 
Now she wanted to rewrite the rules?

He
left.
 
He walked out of her home, and her
life, without looking back.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sal
Gabrini sat behind his desk in his upstairs office at Diamante’s.
 
It was lunchtime, and the crowd in the upscale
restaurant was lively.
 
Tommy and Sal
owned two restaurants in their business conglomerate: the high dollar
Diamante’s, and their more mainstream Taste of Southern restaurant.
 
Both were turning huge profits and continued
to enjoy surging popularity, but Diamante’s continued to have staff issues that
constantly caused Sal to leave his office at the Gabrini Corporation, and pay
the restaurant a visit.
 

Like
today.
 
Yet another Front of House
manager quit on them, and the chef, who was too brilliant to fire and he knew
it, was demanding that he select the next one.
 
Not Sal.
 
Not Tommy.
 
He, the chef, wanted to select their next
manager.
 
But Sal refused to relinquish
that kind of control to anyone, especially some arrogant-ass cook, and the
battle was joined.

Knocks
were heard on his office door.
 

“What?”
Sal yelled out.

The
door was opened by the assistant manager, who had also put in word that he
wanted to be considered for the top spot.
 
Sal already told him he could forget that.
 

“Excuse
me, sir,” the assistant said, “but that woman’s here.”

Sal
frowned.
 
“What woman’s here?”

“That
black girl.
 
Tommy’s old lady.”

Sal
glared at his assistant manager, a man he’d known for years.
 
“You thought it necessary to mention her
race, did you?”

“You said
you couldn’t figure out what woman I meant.
 
So I described her.
 
What’s wrong
with that?”

“Just
get your ass back downstairs and leave her alone.”

“I
wasn’t bothering her.”

“Just
go,” Sal ordered and the assistant, angry, left.

Sal
exhaled, tossed aside the stack of resumes they had on file from the last time
they had to hire a manager, and then he stood, grabbed his suit coat, and
headed downstairs.
  

Grace
had already been seated.
 
Sal frowned,
however, when he saw where.

“Who
put you here?” he asked her as soon as he walked up to her.

“Well
hello, Sal,” Grace said with a smile.
 
Sal reached over and hugged and kissed her.
 

“Hey,
babe.
 
You okay?”

“I’m
good.”

“Who
put you here?”

“Put
me where?”

“Here.
 
By the bathrooms.
 
Point that fucker out.”

“Sal,”
Grace said, taking his wrist in her hand, “look around at your restaurant.
 
Do you see an empty table anywhere else?”

Sal
looked around.
 
She was right.
 
The place was jammed packed.

“I’m
grateful they had this available,” Grace added.

“They
could have put you in Tommy’s room.”

“They
couldn’t.
 
They already have a party of
thirty in there now.
 
The young man said
the former manager had approved it.
 
He
was really very nice.”

Sal
exhaled, and continued to look around.
 
“But still.
 
Tommy will kill me if
he knows I let you sit by the bathrooms.
 
He’ll have my balls up my ass if he found out about this.”

Grace
laughed.
 
“Then we can’t let him find out
about it.
 
Balls in butts, I heard, can
be quite painful.”

Sal
chuckled.
 
He always did like Grace.
 

“Sit down,
Sal,” she said.
 
“I’m fine.”

Sal
sat down across from her.
 
“Waiting on
somebody?” he asked her.

“Yes,
actually.
  
A friend.
 
Jamie.”

“Oh,
yeah, the gay guy.”

“He’s
gay, yes.”

Sal
leaned forward.
 
“So how’s it going?
 
As the new head of Trammel?”

“It’s
emotional exhausting right now, to be honest with you.
 
There’s so much that needs to change.
 
I’m really going to have to roll up my
sleeves and get this train back on track.
 
Tommy would expect nothing less from me, and I’m not going to let him
down.”

Early
on, Sal used to be a little jealous of Grace’s relationship with Tommy.
 
It was as if she was supplanting him as the
number one person in Tommy’s life.
 
But
over time he grew to appreciate her position.
 
She kept Tommy upbeat and happy in ways no other woman had ever managed
to do for his sometimes sullen brother.
 
And that unbridled joy was what always seemed to be missing from Tommy’s
life.
 
Sal loved him so much that anybody
who was able to put a smile on his brother’s face the way Grace was able to do
it, was especially cool with him.

“How’s
Jillian taking your new role?”

Grace
shook her head.
 
“I haven’t seen her
since the board meeting this morning.
 
But she’s upset, that’s for sure.”

“Watch
that bitch,” Sal warned.
 
“Excuse my
French, but watch her.
 
She’s a
backstabber.”

Grace
hadn’t heard that terminology for a while.
 
“Don’t worry,” she said.
 
“I trust
her as far as I can throw her.”

“And
that’s a big bitch,” Sal said, and they both laughed.

“Not
really, but I get your point,” Grace added.

When
Jamie was escorted back, Sal stood from the table.

“Hey,
girl,” Jamie said as he and Grace hugged and kissed.
 

“You
remember Sal, don’t you?” Grace asked.

“Uh-hun,”
Jamie said with a sudden unfriendly chill in his delivery.
 
It was obvious that he was no fan of Sal’s.

Jamie
wasn’t exactly Sal’s favorite person either.
 
“Nice seeing you again,” Sal said.

“Likewise,”
Jamie replied, sitting down.

“Talk
to you later, Grace,” Sal said and left.

Jamie
shook his head as he placed his purse on the side of the table by Grace’s.
 
“I don’t know how you can stand that little
racist.”

“He’s
not a racist, Jamie.”

“Yeah,
right.
 
He act like he can’t stand the
sight of black people.
 
The only reason
he tolerates you is because of Tommy.
 
He
know Tommy will kick his ass if he doesn’t treat you right.
 
But me, no thanks.
 
I can’t stand his ass.”

Grace
had been through it a hundred times with Jamie over Sal’s purported
racism.
 
Sal had his ways, that was for
sure, and she could see how his sometimes blunt style could be misinterpreted,
but to call the man a racist, she felt, was a bit much.
 
She told Jamie so countless times.
 
But Jamie was too convinced.

“So,”
Jamie said, grabbing her left hand.
 
“Let
me see it.”
 

When
he saw the big diamond ring on her finger, he screeched.
 
“Oh. My.
 
Goodness!
 
This is so beautiful,
Gracie.
 
And look at that diamond.
 
It’s massive.
 
This thing had to cost some serious coins.
 
That man has to love you in a mighty way to
put something like this on it.
 
But
that’s why I like Tommy.
 
That man’s got
class, you hear me?
 
That man has style.”

“I
agree,” Grace said with a smile, and they both laughed.

“And
I heard about him giving you Trammel,” Jamie said.
 
“You didn’t mention that part when you
invited me to lunch.”

“Who
told you?
 
Let me guess.
 
Nayla?”

“You
know it, child,” Jamie said as the waitress arrived to take their drink
orders.
 
When she left, he continued
talking.
 
“She couldn’t wait to tell the
news.
 
She’s so jealous I could smell it
through the phone.”

“I
know.”

“Well
I’m glad you know that.”

“Please.
 
Nobody has to tell me about Nayla
Santiago.
 
I know her.
 
She already put in her request for a
promotion.”

Jamie
laughed.
 
“A promotion?
 
Her ass can barely do the job she’s already
doing, and she’s talking about a promotion?”

“That’s
what she said.”

“What
did you say?”

“I
said no,” Grace said and Jamie laughed.
 
“I’m not thinking about Nay right now.
 
She’s just being greedy, trying to get whatever she can get while she
thinks the getting’s good.
 
She’ll settle
down.”

“I don’t
know, girl.
 
She might have some tricks
up her sleeves.”

“Oh,
I know she will,” Grace assured him.
 
“I
told you I know Nayla.
 
She used to be
really sweet and kind, you know?
 
I used
to trust her with my life.
 
But now, and
especially since I’ve been with Tommy, she’s changed so much.
 
She’s bitter and jealous and complain about
everything and everybody.
 
I don’t hardly
recognize her sometimes.
 
It’s sad.
 
She’s been my friend for so long that I just
hate how much we’ve grown apart.”

“That’s
the problem with NayNay,” Jamie said.
 
“You guys haven’t grown apart.
 
You’ve grown and she stayed still.
 
Instead of working hard to get out of the logistics department and into
top management, she chose to hang around and sleep around and let other people
do her work for her.
 
Now she sees you as
her meal ticket.
 
Now she figure, by
virtue of your friendship with her alone, that you owe her.
 
No thanks.
 
Friends like that can destroy people.
 
I would get rid of her ass, and fast.”

 
But Grace knew that was an impossibility.
  
“I can’t kick her to curb and take away her
livelihood just because of how I think she’s going to respond.
 
I’ll keep an eye on her, that’s for damn
sure, and make sure she’s doing the work she’s supposed to do.
 
But I can’t just dump her like that.
 
That wouldn’t be fair.”

Jamie
understood what she meant.
 
That was why
he loved Grace.
 
She didn’t go along with
the crowd.
 
She didn’t react based on
other people’s conclusions.
 
“That’s why
you’re the boss now,” he said.

“As
far as I’m concerned she has a clean slate at Trammel right now,” Grace
continued.
 
“If she does the right thing,
and get with the program, she’ll move up that ladder.
 
I’ll personally see to it.
 
But if she keeps bitching and moaning about
everything, and if she tries to obstruct our progress, then I’ll have no choice
but to get rid of her.
 
But just as
she’ll have to earn the right to be promoted, she’ll also have to earn the
right to be fired.
 
I don’t like her
little shitty comments, no, but they haven’t risen to that level where I would
fire her yet.
 
Not yet.
 
But stay tuned,” Grace added with a smile
that even Jamie could see didn’t reach her tired eyes.

“Anyway,”
he said.
 
“Enough about NayNay.
 
Let’s talk happy talk.
 
Let’s talk wedding talk.”

And
that was exactly what they spent the balance of their lunch together
doing.
 
No date was even set, but they
were already making all kinds of plans.

Tommy’s
plans were interrupted roundly when he hung up the phone from yet another
conference call and stood up to head across town to yet another meeting.
 
He was in his office, in shirt sleeves and
gold-encrusted suspenders, as his suit coat was flapped over his high back
chair, and he was just about to grab for his coat when the buzz sounded.