Gina sat on the couch staring at the phone. Actually, she’d been doing the same thing for the last two hours. She’d spent most of the night lying awake, staring at the ceiling. Her head was full of shit; there was no escaping it. At the fore was Greg. the party had been wonderful. But then, back at her apartment she’d basically turned down an invitation to have sex with him. What was she thinking? Why do you turn down someone you’re driving yourself mental over? There’s no logic in that. The other thing that was screwing her up was the whole, “How do I tell Fenny that two-timing bastard is engaged to his Australian wench?” situation.

“If I don’t do it now I’ll never do it.” Gina sighed, reached forward and grabbed the phone. She dialled the number and waited.

“Hello?”

“Oh thank Christ you answered,” Gina breathed, thankful it hadn’t been his wife.

“Ryan, what’s up man?” Greg perked back.

“I don’t know what to do about Fenny, do I tell her Brad’s engaged?” Gina asked

“Are you serious, what were you thinking?” Greg bleated.

“Look, can we meet up sometime soon. I really, really need to talk to someone about this. I’m going crazy. I’m a natural gossip and I can’t avoid Fen forever,” Gina begged.

“Haha you. Gee I don’t know, I’m pretty busy,” Greg mused.

“I take it your wife is still in the room,” Gina perked.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Greg replied.

“So she wouldn’t want me to say stuff like, Greg I want you. I want to cover you in chocolate sauce and slowly lick it all off?” Gina cooed.

“No, no she probably wouldn’t,” Greg scorned.

“I want you to take me in your arms and rip off my delicate black lace panties with your teeth and then…” Gina purred.

“Thanks Ryan, ok, I’ll meet you for drinks, later,” Greg babbled.

The phone clicked and the dial tone buzzed in Gina’s ear. She fell back on the couch in a fit of giggles.

Fenny was determined she was not going to fall back under Brad’s spell. The other night had been a temporary slip-up. She’d been weak and stupid and she wasn’t going to let it happen again. Oh, but it had been so good, and not just the mind blowing sex. His soft words, gentle hands and the warmth as they lay together. It had been so perfect, and then, then he left to go back to her. Well, it was all in the past now. She hadn’t heard a word from him since.

“Stupidstupidstupid,” Fenny cussed into her breakfast cereal—her mantra had returned.

She took another mouthful when a knock on the door caught her by surprise. Must be Gina coming to tell her about Greg. Fenny abandoned her cereal and padded over to the door. She opened it casually and was greeted by Brad who looked, as usual, drop dead gorgeous.

“Hey,” he smiled casually.

‘I am definitely not going to fall for his charms, no way, nuh-uh, not gonna happen, I’m a stronger, better woman now,’ Fenny thought. “Hi,” she breathed.

“Sorry, I couldn’t see you yesterday, some shit came up,” Brad cooed as he moved forward and pulled her into his arms.

‘Strong, I am strong…he smells great…better woman.’

“I’ve missed you so much,” Brad breathed and softly kissed Fenny’s neck.

‘Fuck it.’ Fenny slid her hands down Brad’s back and back onto that perfect rear. She then tilted her head up and he kissed her gently at first, and then more hungrily.

“You’re obsessed with my ass,” Brad gasped as Fenny guided him toward the bed.

“I’m obsessed with you,” Fenny panted back as Brad’s hands slid under her pajama top.

“I’m sorry about the other morning,” Brad breathed as Fenny helped him remove his shirt.

“I’m over it,” Fenny gasped as she fiddled with Brad’s belt, between kisses to his chest.

“God, I love you,” Brad growled and pulled Fenny onto the bed.

Gina stood in the park watching some children play on the slide and swings, and then one small boy flew off the end of the slide and landed in a crumpled heap and it just got ugly. She hoped Greg hurried up soon. When he’d called her back and told her to meet him in the park it had sounded like a good idea. Now he was late and it looked like rain.

“What happened?” a voice mused.

“A bad slide incident,” Gina replied as she turned to see Greg next to her.

“Sorry I’m late, we went to lunch,” Greg apologised.

“Right,” Gina nodded, “was it nice?”

“The food or the company?”

“Both.”

“Both were pleasant,” he said bluntly.

“That’s good, really,” she half smiled.

“Enough about me, I don’t have a lot of time.”

“Sorry. So do you think I should tell Fenny or not?”

“I think she has a right to know,” he replied. “I wouldn’t want to see her get anymore hurt than she already is.”

“But she will get hurt,” she sighed.

“If you tell her now, it’ll be less painful than if they were really involved again,” he said matter-of-factly.

“I know, I just hate being the barer of bad news.”

“You’re a journalist, it’s what you do,” he mused.

“Darling, no news is bad news,” she jeered.

“So the decision is, you’re telling Fenny?”

“Looks like it.”

“Great, then it’s sorted out and I can go,” he perked.

“Um, yeah…I guess,” she said, slightly taken aback. He’d babbled about his wife and showed concern about Fenny. Last night he said she was stunning, now he just wanted to leave.

Greg studied her for a moment. “You know, I just can’t work you out.”

“What do you mean?” Gina asked, confused.

“You’re jealous.”

“I am not,” she huffed.

“Oh yes you are. You keep telling me to work things out with my wife and when I try you grow cold. I tell you how I feel about you and you turn me away? What do you want Gina, ‘cos I sure as hell can’t figure it out,” Greg scorned.

“I’ve been you Greg,” she declared, a sudden remorseful quality to her voice. “I was married and I cheated on my husband. I got found out and we got divorced because he hated me so much for hurting him so badly, and you know what I discovered, the day those papers came though? I loved him and there’s nothing I could do about it,” she snapped.

Greg looked shocked, and Gina looked almost in tears.

“Well you could have told me,” he huffed.

“Gee I’m so sorry, it’s not actually something I like to spread around,” she sarced.

“Gina…” he sighed and put his arm around her. She knocked it off.

“Just go, Greg,” Gina rasped.

Greg nodded and walked away. She didn’t turn to watch him leave.

“If sex was an Olympic Sport, I think we’d be gold medallists,” Brad mused as he lay on his back.

“Oh I don’t know, those Russians are pretty good,” Fenny jeered, her head resting on his chest.

“If I asked nicely would you take up yoga?” he asked.

“You think I need to?”

“Have you ever read the Kama Sutra?”

“Like I said, do you think I need to?”

“Ohhh,” he mused and then chuckled.

The ringing of the phone soon filled the room and Fenny clambered out of bed to answer it. She pulled Brad’s shirt on along the way.

“Hello?”

“Fen, it’s Gina.”

“Oh hey, I was going to come over to see you…but, something came up,” she said, smiling at Brad. Brad buried his face in a pillow and laughed.

“I can imagine.”

“You ok? You sound pissed.”

“I’m just tired. Do you want to meet for lunch or something?”

“Um, sure, ok,” Fenny replied, looking and Brad again.

“Cool, same place as usual?”

“Yeah not a problem. I’ll be there in an hour.”

They said their good-byes and then Fenny walked slowly back to the bed.

“I take it that was Gina,” Brad perked.

“Yeah, she sounded really off, though,” Fenny replied as she sat next to him. “I hope things went ok last night.”

“What was last night?” he asked.

“Nothing you need worry about,” she smiled and patted his thigh. “I better take a shower.”

“Can I wash your back?” Brad perked, sitting bolt upright.

“Do you honestly think I’d try to stop you?” Fenny grinned, slid the shirt off and disappeared into the bathroom.

Brad leapt out of the bed and was halfway to the door when something struck him. This was reminiscent of a very similar situation, one he’d shared with Ritza back in Australia. He shook the memories from his mind and strutted into the bathroom.

It was thrashing down by the time Gina approached the diner. The umbrella she’d grabbed was proving to be useless. She reached the diner and stopped outside to close the umbrella; as she did she looked in the window. Gina saw Fenny and Brad, canoodling in a booth. They were giggling and playfully necking like a couple of teenagers. They looked so happy, there was no way in hell she could go in there and tell Fenny he was engaged to another woman, no way at all.

Gina pulled her eyes from the loved-up couple and forced herself to walk away. She chucked her umbrella in the nearest bin, wrapped her arms around herself and walked slowly back to her apartment as the rain seeped through her clothes, dampened her hair and masked her tears.