"Thank-you again for your help, Gabrielle. I'll see you shortly." Ending her call Ariana lowered her sunglasses and tapped on the glass partition. "Silvestro, I will be going back to the St. James if you don't mind."
"Not a problem, Ms. Moretti. Is everything okay?" Jon had instructed him to take her wherever she wanted.
"Yes." With her finger she guided the glasses into place.
She knew she shouldn’t feel like this, but she couldn’t help it. It was the only way she knew how to process this, it was the way she always had. When she called the St. James asking if the penthouse had been cleaned yet, she was not completely surprised when she was told that Mr. Bongiovi had the room reserved for the rest of the weekend. Leave it to Jon to know just how she would be, too. It always touched her heart when he did something like that. Like the song he chose to sing for her last night, the words capturing exactly how she had felt.
“I’ve been loving you for such a long time.”
Yes, she has always loved him. Only now she was ready to accept it. Maybe Cara had been right when she said she had been denying herself this for a long time, and maybe she was wrong not to change it all those years ago, but that was is in the past. She was ready - really ready - for this now. Even without knowing what was going to happen next, this is what she wanted.
Silvestro eased the car in front of the St. James. He stepped out of the car and retrieved her luggage from the trunk as the bellhop assisted Ariana.
“You’re all set, Ms. Moretti.” Silvestro closed the trunk and stepped up on the curb.
“Thank you again Silvestro. It was a pleasure to meet you.” Ariana extended her hand to him.
“The pleasure was all mine.” He clasped his hands around hers. “If you ever need anything Ms. Moretti, please call. Anything.”
“I will. Goodbye.” She leaned over and gave him a gentle hug.
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
Ariana was snuggled nicely under the heavy comforter of the bed she had left only a few hours ago. As promised, the room had not been made up, so his scent still lingered. The soft cotton of the white dress shirt he had worn to dinner at the winery warmed her skin. She had put it in with her things when she packed the last night.
She reached for the remote control and was mindlessly flipping through the channels when the sound of ‘Ole Blue Eyes’ emanated from her phone.
[10:00 a.m.] Jon: About to take off. Are you all tucked in?
[10:02 a.m.] Ari: As a matter of fact, yes. Thank you.
[10:04 a.m.] Jon: You’re welcome. I need to shut down now. I love you. Talk to you soon.
[10:06 a.m.] Ari. Love you too. Ciao for now. 😘
She was just about to shut off her phone when the very distinctive ring announced who was calling her now.
“Yes?”
“Where the hell are you?” The slight annoyance in Cara's voice could be felt through the phone.
“The St. James.”
“Why? Jon has left. You have a home and you should be there, not wallowing in some hotel room.”
“I’m not wallowing. I’m watching a movie.”
“You don’t have a TV at your house?”
“What’s with you Cara?”
“Ari, I will not let you sulk. I’m coming over there and taking you home.”
“I told you I’m not sulking. I just needed to... It’s too hard to explain over the phone. You are more than welcome to come join me, but I am not leaving.”
“Fine. I’m on my way. What’s your room number?”
“I’m in the same room. Jon never checked out.”
“Oh, Ari. I’ll be there is twenty minutes.” With that, Cara hung up the phone.
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
Twenty minutes later, on the nose, Cara was knocking at the door. Ari padded her way across the carpeted floor and opened the door. Standing with a white paper bag in one hand and what looked like a CD case in the other, Cara rolled her eyes at the sight of her friend and stepped into the room.
“Seriously, Ariana? Jon’s shirt?” She asked as she freed her hands by placing the items on the kitchen’s counter.
Ariana gave the door an extra shove, causing it to slam closed. “You have a problem with that?”
“Only if you are feeling sorry for yourself, again.” Cara busied herself opening cabinet doors looking for some bowls.
“Cara, please.” Ariana pleaded.
“Well? Are you?” Cara reached in the bag and pulled out two pints of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
“Is that what I think it is?” Ari peered over the counter.
“Yup. It is your favorite Everything But The... and you will get none until you answer my question.” Cara waved the pint of ice cream at her.
“No.” Ari leaned over and snatched the container from Cara’s hand. “I’m not. It is the only way I know how to process everything.” She accepted the spoon she held out to her.
“It is different this time.” Cara pulled the lid off her container.
“I know. But it is also going to take me some time to change my ways. Look at me. I’m not crying, I’m not drinking. I’m just here,” She waved her hands in the air. “in a hotel room where the man I have loved half my life told me he wasn’t letting me go this time.” She licked a spoonful of ice cream off her spoon. “I’m processing. Now if you want to process with me, make yourself comfortable, grab whatever else it is you brought and follow me.”
Ari pivoted on her toes and strolled into the master bedroom. Cara was not too far behind.
“For the love of God, please tell me you had them change the sheets.” Cara questioned her friend as she shimmied out of boots and jeans.
“Not since yesterday morning.” Ari plopped on the bed tossing the covers over her.
“Hell no! I’m not getting in that bed.” She was about to sit on the couch, when Ari threw back the covers.
“Get in here. Nothing happened last night.”
Cara climbed in the bed with an arched brow, “Really? Your last night together for how long and nothing?” Cara stuck out her container. “Switch.”
Ari passed her ice cream. “Wait. What is that?”
“Seriously? You call yourself my friend. Butterscotch with almonds. Now hand yours over?” They switched containers like they had done many times before. “So, tell me why you didn’t get your freak on last night?”
Ari shook her head. “Is it always about sex with you?” She looked over at her friend. “I need to put aside my physical dependency for a bit ‘til I could sort things out.”
“Oh-kay and the rockstar was fine with this.” The container passed hands once again.
“He was.” Ariana put the ice cream on the nightstand and reached for the CD.
“Poor guy. You sent him away sad and hard. Some girlfriend you are.” Cara licked both sides of her spoon.
Giggling, Ari flipped through the plastic sleeves until she found what she was looking for. She removed the silver disc and walked to the entertainment unit. She pushed the little button on the DVD player. Waiting for the drawer to open, she softly replied, “Not exactly.”
“Excuse me?”
Placing the disc into the player, she gently pushed the drawer closed and turned. Not able to keep a straight face when she looked at her friend, she repeated her words. “Not exactly.”
Cara tapped the empty spot in the bed. “You get your ass back here and spill it. If it wasn’t here, then where?”
Ariana climbed back into bed switched the TV to the DVD player, pressed play and then picked up her ice cream purposely taking her time just to watch her friend squirm. “The car.”
“Hussy.” Cara placed her empty container on the nightstand and fluffed her pillows as Ari did the same.
“Yeah. Yeah.” She snuggled closer to her. “I couldn’t go through with it. We were driving to the airport neither one of us talking, and all I could think of was him at Petit Soho up on that stage singing about having faith and time being our friend. That’s when it hit me. I want him. I’ve always wanted him. And I needed to show him that I was going to be okay.” She looked up. “Does that make any sense?”
Cara smiled down at her. “It does.”
A familiar white plantation sign appeared on the television screen as the images changed, the words Margaret Mitchell’s story of the Old South Gone with The Wind slowly scrolled by. It was Ariana’s favorite movie. She would watch it every year with Lili. Cara knew that she would pick this when she was looking through the case. It was what she needed to close this chapter of her life and start her new one.
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