“Well, I think things have changed in Greece as well, Grandma. I think—”
“Trust me, Gemma, you not know the old country. But I did it. I give it all up for you to be happy. So be happy, okay? You meet a nice guy, you be with nice guy. And if the man not so nice, you get rid of him. For me, yes?”
“Yes, Grandma. I promise.”
“I love you, Gemma, you know? You’re not a Greek name, but I still love you.”
“I love you too, Grandma. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, Gemma. I tell your mama and your papa you call, okay?”
“Thanks, Grandma. Love you. Bye.” I hung up the phone and then leaned back onto the bed again. Why was everything so complicated, why was my family so crazy? Why did they now think that my boyfriend was going to be joining them for lunch in the near future? Because I knew my grandma and I knew she was calling my mom at this exact moment telling her I had a boyfriend and he was coming to lunch next weekend because that’s how my family operated.
But I couldn’t think about that right now. I had enough problems to deal with. First of all, I needed to figure out what to wear, because I needed to look hot when I dumped Connor and I needed to look hot when I fucked Lucas. Because there is nothing worse than looking a hot mess in either of those situations.
Red was an awesome look on me. Even if I said so myself, I stared in the mirror at my reflection and knew, I looked amazing. My dress was a soft red silk, short, with slits at the side, the back and the front. I was wearing no bra and no panties and there was a big V-neck where my breasts were. If I moved too fast to the left or to the right, you could see inside my top and realize I was braless. I knew I was going to drive every single man that saw me tonight crazy. And that’s exactly what I needed and wanted to do, because I knew that tonight was going to be the most complicated and crazy night of my life.
I looked at my phone and realized I had about ten minutes before I had to catch the taxi and go over to Connor’s parents’ house. I was excited to meet them, even if I was going to dump Connor. I just wanted to see the people that had ruined him so much that he was giving up on someone like me because I was a catch and he was losing something good, just because he didn’t want to commit. But that wasn’t my problem. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, put on some more of my red lipstick, smacked my lips together and grinned, “This is it, girl. This is it.”
I grabbed my handbag and headed downstairs to catch the taxi. I took a couple of deep breaths as I waited and then texted Connor, Gemma: On my way. Can’t wait to see you.
Connor: Awesome, babe. Can’t wait.
I then texted Lucas.
Gemma: You’re going to meet me at the Upper West Side, right? Are you on your way yet?
I asked him hoping beyond hope that he was just going to go from his house to the meeting place with me. I needed him to bypass the party at Connor’s house, but I couldn’t tell him that. I couldn’t even bring up the party at Conner’s house because I knew if I did, it would look too suspicious and he might ask questions and the last thing I needed right now was questions.
Lucas: Yeah, babe. I’ll be there at ten, right?
Gemma: Yeah. Perfect.
I responded back to him and took a deep breath. I got into the taxi and smoothed down my dress as I sat in the back seat. The taxi driver tried to make small talk with me, but I was too distracted by my thoughts to really say much to him. He realized that I wasn’t going to be a big talker and turned on the radio a couple of minutes later. Within twenty minutes, we’d pulled up outside a huge brownstone on the Upper East Side and I got out of the car, handed him a twenty and took a deep breath.
I walked toward the brownstone, admiring it. Connor’s parents were rich, but that shouldn’t have surprised