Slowburn

Chapter 83

         Renzo has been avoiding me. I don't know what I did wrong that night we went out. I thought we actually had a great time, but after I gave him that blow job it was like a switch went off. Maybe it was just the stress of whatever happened at work, but something's changed, and I don't really know what to do about it. 

I texted him and barely received a response, and when I did finally get one it was short. He's going off to New York and this pit in my gut tells me he's going to do something bad over there. And I don't even mean it of the criminal variety. 

What I mean is that I think he's going to hook up with other girls, party and do whatever else. He might not even tell me about it either. Val was certainly good at hiding it, and I was in an actual committed relationship with him. With Renzo it was more like a sex pact.

        I don't even know how long he'll be gone. He was sure to keep it vague. I feel as though each time I open my heart to him he throws it far far away. At some point I will have to surrender, but is it that time yet? We got so close. 

I also have a tendency of making a big deal out of something that is nothing. Maybe this is just a business trip and he's busy and not texting me. It's not like we texted all the time before. We didn't. 

Call it a gut feeling though, I know something is off. I just don't know what or the severity of it.

-

        I was glad that Grace asked me if I'd like to come along while she went shopping today. I said yes just to have a reason to get out of the house and out of my own head. Grace comes from money just as everyone else I surround myself with these days. The stores she shops at are stores I wouldn't even dream of buying even the cheapest thing in it. 

Still I just enjoyed walking along and chatting with her. We were slowly getting to know one another a little bit better. 

I was thumbing idly through a clothing rack, while Grace held a blouse up to herself in a floor length mirror that broke up this rack from the other. The saleswoman looked as pristine as Grace always does. The floors were shiny in here and smelt of some classy type of perfume, though there was no source.

        "You know, when Rocco and I spoke of engagements before we actually even got engaged, we had seen it as something we'd do for a while. Like, not rush to a wedding, but now that we are engaged I think I don't want to wait a year or two. I want to plan it now. Is that crazy?" I heard Grace's voice from somewhere behind me. 

She waved for me to follow her to the back of the store where the fancy curtained dressing rooms were. I sat on an upholstered bench just outside. 

"No, it isn't crazy. Weddings take a long time to plan anyway, so it's not like you'd be married within the next few months" I told her.

        Grace pulled the curtain back and showed me the first blouse she tried on. "Pretty" I smiled at her. Grace twisted her body left then right in the mirror and frowned. "Eh" was all she said before pulling the curtains closed again. 

"Next year maybe" she seemed to speak idly while the rustling of clothes sounded. "That's what this whole New York trip is about, you know. The engagement," Grace caught my full attention. "What do you mean?" I shouldn't be surprised that she knows about the trip. I'm sure Rocco tells her everything. 

"My step father. He's kind of the boss guy in the New York syndicate of all this. They have to make everything a business arrangement, and I know that's what they're down there for." It wasn't enough information. I wanted more. 

        "Is it an arrangement? Does your step dad get something out of it?" I was surprised to hear it because they seemed to be marrying for love. "HA, not if Renzo has anything to do with it. He's not one for sharing. I'm sure that's what he's gone over there to tell him."